Acer Praise

I bought a refurbished Acer AO532h-2588 netbook a few weeks ago at Micro Center. It was $199.99 + 7% tax. It came with:

• 1GB DDR2 667MHz RAM
• 160GB HDD
• 3 USB ports
• 10.1" screen
• 1.66GHz Intel N450 processor
• 3 USB ports
• SD/media card reader
• Windows 7 starter

Things I thought I might not like about the computer's specs:

• No HDMI
• No Bluetooth
• Windows 7 starter

But I have to say, as I have used this computer for the previous month, I find no inconvenience caused by these three points. 10.1" have been surprisingly enough space for me to see into, so I haven't wanted to output video. Bluetooth, you know - hardly ever useful. And Windows 7 Starter, which I thought would give me the most prominent inconvenience, has not given me the slightest reason to want to change it so far. I'm quite impressed - I was almost sure that 2010 wouldn't pass without me doing a new Ubuntu installation. But nope, it's all good. This may be related to the predominance of internet applications in these times, thus making me focus on the browser instead of the rest of the OS. Then the praise would be for Chrome rather than for W7. But still, I use my share of desktop applications, and W7 has given me no problem.

Windows 7 Starter doesn't let me change the desktop background. And fairly surprisingly, I don't care. I like the default backgrounds it come from, very much. Even the start login screen that shows when the computer boots up - it's a pretty cool green-and-white-diagonal-stripes design with a modest "Acer" print on the lower right. I like the default desktop background it comes with. Blue, smooth, gradient background - light blue Windows logo dead center, and two or three strands of plant-like nature highlighted by a sunlike glare, which itself is the cause of the blue gradient background. It's just nice. I like my new computer.

PS: I played WoW on it, which I think is a fair test of gaming performance, and it was great (the performance, not the game). Also, the battery lasts for a really long time. I'd say at least 3 hours while doing full video chat with full screen brightness. (Dunno what would a more standard benchmark test be). I even like the keyboard, which seems tiny but is actually quite comfortable. And I do have fair keyboard requirements (see Mac Dislikes, bullet point 6).

Anyway, I think my Acer was a great deal. Just saying.