Acer AS1430Z-4677 11.6-Inch Laptop (Diamond Black) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Just a quick few comments. I bought a 1430Z (from another vendor, where it was cheaper at the time) mainly because:
o It has more screen pixels than 10.1" netbooks do
o CPU benchmarks I found on the web were much better than for typical Atom processors
o It's considerably lighter and smaller than 13.3" notebooks
o It comes with more memory than typical netbooks do
My intention (as with all my computers) was to run Ubuntu Linux, dual booting occasionally into Windows.
My impressions so far:
Pros:
o Nice compact form factor. It's even a tad lighter than the spec; mine weighs just under 3 lbs
o Ubuntu 10.10 works. But I had to blacklist 2 modules (intel_ips and acer-wmi).
o External VGA gives you a full extended desktop (at least in Ubuntu, haven't experimented in Windows): I get 1366x768 on the notebook and 1680x1050 on a 22" external monitor at the same time. This has not worked well or at all on other notebooks I've had in the past.
o Applications respond snappily -- this is subjective of course. Video is good. I also run my own CPU-intensive simulation benchmark on all my computers to compare them. The 1430Z (Intel U5600 CPU) is about 26% slower than a desktop with an AMD 5000+ CPU, 18% faster than a notebook with an Intel SU7300 CPU, and 11% faster than a notebook with an Intel Pentium M 1.73GHz CPU.
Cons:
o Battery life is OK but unexceptional -- this is only subjective since I haven't measured it. But battery life has never been a high priority for me. For all my laptops it has dropped precipitously after a year or so, no matter how impressive it may have been when new.
o The Keyboard lacks the feel of a great keyboard, like the classic Thinkpads of yore, or a decent desktop keyboard. And the Home/End/PgUp/PgDown/Up/Down/Left/Right are squashed together in the lower right; I don't know if I'll ever learn to find them without looking.
Overall then, this fits the bill for me: portability, performance, and Linux.


Click Here to see more reviews about: Acer AS1430Z-4677 11.6-Inch Laptop (Diamond Black)


At just over 3 pounds, the Acer Aspire 1430Z (model AS1430Z-4677) notebook PC offers great performance features in a netbook size that lets you travel light. Enjoy music, video, photos and more on the 11.6-inch HD display and work comfortably on the full-size keyboard wherever you are with Wireless-N Wi-Fi networking and long battery life--up to 4-1/2 hours. It's powered by a dual-core, ultra-low-voltage Pentium processor and includes 3 GB of installed RAM.
The Acer AS1430Z laptop with 11.6-inch display and Intel Pentium processor (see larger image).

Get 2% OFF

Click here for more information about Acer AS1430Z-4677 11.6-Inch Laptop (Diamond Black)