about to buy my acer aspire one!! need some answers please

hello guys
I just signed up on this forum because i will be meeting a seller with a acer aspire one. here is the ad.

"ACER ASPIRE ONE A110-1698 ATOM N270 1.6GHZ 1024MB/16GB SSD WIDESCREEN 8.9 INCH TFT WSVGA LAN ONIX BLACK LINUX OS WINDOWS COMPATIBLE
BRAND NEW UNOPENED." price is $295 canadian dollars

I spoke with this person on the phone he seems pretty decent. He said he doent know if it has 6 cells or 3 cells but it will last at least 3.5 hours.

My questions are:

1)is this a good deal? should i ask for a lower price or is this a bargain?
2)for SSD hard disk, is it true that the bigger the storage the slower the write speed? I worried that the 16gb is actually inferior to the 4gb.
3)I heard that there is a black screen of death in the first gens. so is this a first or second gen?
4) will i be able to install games like diablo, warcraft3 and such on this linx OS? I never used linx before.
5)what should i look for when i go inspect it tomorrow? any thing particular that i should be aware? like serial number and stuff?


lol thats a lot of questions so thank you all, any input will help!

 

1)is this a good deal? should i ask for a lower price or is this a bargain?

It's lower than the price at NewEgg. This is apparently the 16 gig SSD, 1 Gig of RAM Linux version.


2)for SSD hard disk, is it true that the bigger the storage the slower the write speed? I worried that the 16gb is actually inferior to the 4gb.

My *GUESS* on this, and it is only a guess--as the SSD drives are more expensive, I think that as they got above 4 gigs (judging this completely on the fact that anything over 4 gigs by both Asus and Acer seem to get the complaint) they start using the slower models, because they cost less. So, if I'm right, yes, it probably is slower. (But probably no worse than the 8 gig.)


3)I heard that there is a black screen of death in the first gens. so is this a first or second gen?

I'm not sure--I think it's second, but I managed to get the black screen on mine, which I believe was second gen. My fault, I'm sure, I threw all sorts of things on it, and I seem to remember that in both cases, it happened after I made the failed attempt to install Mandriva via USB drive--which might have been a factor. At any rate, 99 percent of the time, it seems to be easily fixed by flashing the BIOS which is relatively trivial if you have a USB drive.



4) will i be able to install games like diablo, warcraft3 and such on this linx OS? I never used linx before.

I'm not a gamer, so I don't know which of those have Linux versions. In general, even Linux fans will say that WIndows is better for gaming, but I'm not talking from experience.


5)what should i look for when i go inspect it tomorrow? any thing particular that i should be aware? like serial number and stuff?

I don't have the answer to that one, perhaps someone else does.

Specs from NewEgg

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 16GB%20SSD

I missed copying your question about the battery, but I believe it is the three cell, which seems to only give about 2-1/2 hours of life. That doesn't mean the person is lying, he was probably told it's 3.5 hours. I see NewEgg claims 3 hours for it.

 

I got mine several days ago and am already using this little fellow (XP, 160 gig HDD) for more than I'd expected, parking my big new Dell laptop temporarily. Given that experience:

. I wouldn't go for those tiny flash drives. I ran a 20gig laptop a few years and ran out of disk, to the point of installing a larger drive.

. I wouldn't go for Linux if you have another Windows computer and want to network with it, avoid Linux/Windows compatibility issues.

. My only regret is I didn't get a 6 cell battery. The double time would be well worth the price.

I noticed FutureShop has marked down a Linux/8 gig Flash drive model to about the same as your seller is asking, and wants another $75 for my model.

 

1: yes that is a good deal the 512/8gig ssd version sells for about that price new
2: SSD are pricey and when they use larger drives in low cost devices like the one they will use slower drives to keep costs down. It is fast enough for linux though.
3: I have had one of my ones since they released it and never had bsod, the early bois had issues that caused some bsod but that has been fixed the model your looking at will come with a newwer bois
4: maybe have a look at the windows 1024/120 gig model at futureshop for $375
5: a receipt anything to prove its not stolen if its bnib there is no reason to not have proof of purchase.

 

Since price is in Canadian dollars, it might have a bilingual keyboard...

 

hey guys, thanks for the info. i decided not to get the linux version due to difficulty installing programs and games plus i really like the idea of setting up lan between AAO and my PC. Do you think i should wait a bit till the next version of AAO comes out? i hate buying it now and next week there is a better one on the market. Anyone know? thanks again.

 

Yes wait for the rest of your life mate because you dont seem to know what you want.Your question was answerd. There will always be better versions of everything in the future. No problems downloading programs. As for games its a netbook and bloody good at games it can play, You just seem to be fishing for answers to slag off linux . If your from Canada stick with windows if you want to point and click.Simple things for simple minds

 

It sounds like you've made your decision but just in case not, I thought I'd add my comments. I purchased one with 1GB ram, 160GB HD (not a SSD) and the 6 cell battery one week ago from newegg.com for $399. It came with XP Home. I was considering one with Linux and also one with the SSD hard drive but changed my mind and am glad I did. I'm a gamer and this machine will NOT play the kind of games you listed. No way. But I don't feel that netbooks of any brand are really meant for that type of gaming. I'm not sure of the exchange rate right now with Canadian $$ but I highly suggest you check newegg.com and other sites to get a comparison. There seemed to me, as I watched the netbook scene and especially the Acer Aspire, which I decided was the one I wanted, that there is a variation in prices and configurations. This is nice, IMO, because everyone can pick just what THEY feel is what they need and want. I'm pleased with XP and actually very surprised at how snappy it is and how fast it boots. I'm also VERY pleased with the 6 cell battery and glad I got it. I'm getting between 6 and 6.5 hours of use on a charge.

Acer's site confirms what I've read elsewhere, they'll be adding 3G to this machine later this year. I've read that there's a place for it on the ones shipping now along with a SIM slot. For me 3G isn't needed right now and if I feel a need for it later I have no problem with adding it on one way or the other, even with a dongle.

Hope this helps. Good luck.... many of the sites seem to be selling out of a lot of the configurations of this snazzy machine! I know that my particular one is now on waitlist on newegg, or at least was the other day.

 

People have lots of good reasons to prefer XP including linkups with existing home or workplace equipment, without slagging Linux in any way. As a Canadian one of my reasons for buying now is that the machines in the stores now were bought at near parity with the U$, and the C$ has fallen quite a bit - I was concerned retail prices will go up near term on the currency exchange, rather than down. (Be aware of the exchange rate if you order from a US internet vendor.)

Of course all the news is that every other manufacturer is bringing out comparable equipment and 6 months from now one always feels a little envious of something better and cheaper. There's an article out today speculating that US cellphone providers might sell netbooks for $99 with a two year contract. But this really is not big dollars - I spent four times as much on my Dell last January. Good luck.

 

Just bought my AAO 150-1249 with Linux yesterday, went with 120 GB model, on sale at BCom in Edmonton for $339.99. there is a learning curve, but not to bad, lots of online help etc. do not go with anything SSD. good luck