Potentially Buying...

I've recently taken delivery of the desktop I'm currently using, a high powered machine that is fantastic in every way. It's an Acer Aspire M1640.

As such, the brand has cemented it's appeal to me, and on browsing for a netbook this morning in PC World, I saw the One on display. I'm keen on it from what I've seen, BUT I have some questions - will it do everything I want? What I need it to be able to do is...

- Accept standard USB Devices designed for XP/Vista. I'd like a freeview TV tuner for it, were I to purchase. Also, connectivity to my MP3 Player would be handy.
- Is there any where to connect it to an auxilliary sound system? If so, I'll talk to the people I know in ICE (In Car Entertainment) about it in more detail.
- Not really an issue, but is it capable of running any kind of full screen games? It would be a bonus.
- On Linux especially, how long a process is installing software not already on the system? And how hard is it to be shot of McAfee?
- Are there any external DVD drives that can work with it?

Answers for both OS would be much appreciated, I'm leaning towards LInux at the moment, but I'm not really aware of how functional XP is on this system. The RAM upgrade, I'm pretty sure I can manage. I spend my freetime pulling cars and small electronics to pieces, and putting them back together again.

Thanks for any help, in advanced. Your insight is much appreciated

 

The XP version is a standard XP installation, with some additional drivers from Acer. I imagine that any USB bits that work with XP are likely to work with the One XP. Getting hardware to work with the Linux version is much the same as on any other machine, except that quite a lot of hardware is compiled out, so you may need to compile additional kernel modules. There are hints on doing that elsewhere on this forum.

The only audio output is a 3.5mm headphone jack.

On Linux, installing software has a level of difficulty in inverse proportion to how much you know about Linux Unless you are already very familar with Linux, or are keen to put a lot of time into learning, I should steer well clear of the Linux version.

I can't comment on how the XP version behaves, as I have the Linux one. The Linux one suits my needs perfectly, and it's very fast in operation. Don't buy a Linux model will SSD with the idea that you can install Windows on it later -- the SSD is not fast enough for something as IO-hungry as Windows. Upgrading RAM probably won't help here -- it's the disk that the problem.

 

Re external DVD drives: I've got a Pioneer 110 CD/DVD (burner) drive which I tested with the AA1 under Linux, booting etc. worked fine.

So far, machine has worked well overall, build quality is generally regarded good. The built-in Linux is ok if you want to use it for typical netbook use (bit of browsing, emailing, chatting, word processing, YouTube viewin'). Installing additional software is a bit more cumbersome but (reading the faqs from this forum) generally not that difficult. Just be prepared to go thru the motions in that case.

Regards, R

 

Hello Raido-
I have been searching for information on how to use a CD drive with my AA1. What is the difference between an external hard drive and a cd drive?

And specifically what do I do with the CD that came with my AA1?

Thanks in advance.
Stephen.

 

one is a hard drive, the other is an optical drive.

You don't need to do anything with the CD that the AA1 came with unless you need to restore the system to how it shipped to you (software-wise).

 

So, say for example I needed to restore my system with the CD. What device would I need to use the CD? What are they called and how do you use them?

I have seen built-in CD drives (on desktop PCs) but I don't know anything about an external CD drive that I guess gets plugged in to a port on the AA1.
thanks in advance.
stephen.

 

You call those..... External USB CD-ROM or USB DVD-ROM drives. They are pretty common and inexpensive now. Get an external USB DVD-R/RW and you're good to go, now you can even burn stuff on CD/DVD.

 

Yes, it is a full fledged machine except an optical drive, and I am doing everything I do on my other ACER 4710 Laptop or My Desktop

- Accept standard USB Devices designed for XP/Vista. I'd like a freeview TV tuner for it, were I to purchase. Also, connectivity to my MP3 Player would be handy. YES
- Is there any where to connect it to an auxilliary sound system? If so, I'll talk to the people I know in ICE (In Car Entertainment) about it in more detail.YES via 3.5mm Headphone output jack
- Not really an issue, but is it capable of running any kind of full screen games? It would be a bonus. YES, many
- On Linux especially, how long a process is installing software not already on the system? And how hard is it to be shot of McAfee?Not a problem, but I would recommend XP Prof SP3 for full functionality and power
- Are there any external DVD drives that can work with it? YES, many, I use a chinese brand ENTER - DVD Writer, got for 2800/- Indian Rupees about $60. Its ultra portable and small and runs by a single usb powered cable

I would recommend XP as your basic OS

 

Your input is very much appreciated - I'll probably plump for the XP version as I'm more familiar with it anyway - Linux doesn't scare me as such, it's just that this machine will be for ME and as such I want ease of installation with new applications.

Now, I'll begin my search for an XP model. Having this forum alive and kicking is another big plus, as I've found with my car and the asscociated forum. Thanks for all your help.

 

Thanks for the info.
I'll get right on it.
-s.