Netbook Review: Acer Aspire One AO721

Choosing a mobile PC can feel like an exercise in compromise. We want the system we carry to be portable and affordable, but we also want it to offer solid performance and a load of features. Maybe this is why so many netbooks are equipped so similarly, with vendors having apparently decided that a near-perfect balance has been found. But while most netbooks differ in only the most minor of ways, a few seem to represent their manufacturers' ongoing quests to find a new sweet spot or set a new standard.

Take, for example, Acer's Aspire One AO721-3574 ($430). Here we have a netbook that is looking to slug it out with ultraportable notebooks, like a lightweight boxer trying to make it in the welterweight division.

It sports a faster processor, more memory and storage, a better graphics adapter, and a larger screen and keyboard than one might typically find in a netbook, all at just 3.1 pounds (including the 6-cell battery). But does the Acer walk the walk as well as it talks the talk? Let's take a look and find out.

AMD Inside

At the heart of the AO721 is a 1.7GHz AMD Athlon II Neo K125 processor. While not a speed demon by any stretch of the imagination, it offers a bit more bang for the buck than you'll get out of an Intel Atom-powered netbook. In PCMark Vantage, the Acer posted a score of 1,918; in Cinebench 11.5, it rendered the sample scene in just under 15 minutes. This is nowhere near on par with a full-sized notebook, needless to say. But it is a fair bit better than most netbooks can manage.

Also noteworthy is the inclusion of 2GB of DDR3 RAM (upgradable to 4GB) and a 250GB hard drive, both of which are generous for a netbook. And while it will come as no surprise that there's no optical drive included, the built-in "multi-in-one" card reader should do the trick for many users, with external USB drives meeting the needs of others.

Where the Aspire One really shines is in its graphics capabilities. Powered by an ATI Radeon HD 4225 graphics adapter with 384MB of dedicated system memory, the AO721 isn't going to impress any gamers, but again, it offers better performance than you might expect -- witness a perfectly respectable score of 1,233 in 3DMark06, more on par with what one would expect from an Intel-graphics-equipped notebook than a netbook. The system ran through Cinebench 11.5's demanding OpenGL animation at 2.5 frames per second.

The Acer's 11.6-inch, 1,366 by 768-pixel LED-backlit display is far better suited for HD content than the more commonly found 10.1-inch, 1,024 by 600 netbook displays. A standard HDMI port permits even better viewing on an HDTV set. And while the AO721's audio capabilities are less noteworthy than its graphics, they are about as good as one can reasonably expect out of a netbook.

With great power, though, comes great energy consumption. And so it's not surprising that the AO721 doesn't have the longest battery life of the netbooks we've reviewed here at HardwareCentral. With screen brightness upped to meet my preferences, I got just over three hours of battery life out of the Aspire One's battery, which was a little disappointing for a netbook. This was with mixed use that included running benchmarks, watching online videos, browsing websites, and installing programs. Users with less taxing needs will get some more life out of the system, but I doubt it'll be the five hours that Acer says the AO721 is capable of.

As far as wired connections go, the netbook comes equipped with three USB 2.0 ports; VGA, HDMI, and Ethernet ports; and headphone and microphone jacks. Also standard is 802.11b/g/n wireless with what Acer boasts is enhanced antenna efficiency, thanks to SignalUp technology.

Rounding out the AO721's hardware features are the larger-than-normal (for a netbook) keyboard and the integrated webcam and microphone that should meet users' basic videoconferencing needs. The keyboard is surprisingly comfortable to use and about the size you'd expect to find on a full-sized notebook. The webcam, meanwhile, is less inspiring. It gets the job done, but its video quality isn't much to write (or Skype) home about.

As for software, the AO721 comes with the 64-bit version of Windows 7 Home Premium, and it isn't overly laden with bloatware. There are, in addition to Acer's various utilities, trials of Microsoft Office, Norton Online Backup, McAfee Internet Security Suite, MyWinLocker, Skype, and a few other programs. But while it wasn't the most bloatware-free install I've seen, it's nowhere near the worst.

So How Does It Stack Up?

As is often the case with products that seem to bridge gaps between existing product lines, the AO721's biggest weakness is that it doesn't quite know what it wants to be. There are manufacturers, after all, who market similarly sized 11.6-inch systems as ultraportable notebooks rather than netbooks. In fact, Acer sells several. So where exactly is the line drawn?

The AO721 is clearly a capable netbook, one that's more capable than many alternatives. Its keyboard, screen, and performance make it a real pleasure to use compared to an average netbook. But with a price of $430, it winds up competing with the ultraportable laptops that it so closely resembles, rather than with 10.1-inch netbooks, which used to cost $350 to $400 but are now $300 to $350.

Acer is counting on this netbook satisfying shoppers who are looking for a just-the-right-sized, in-between kind of mobile mini, and for many users, it will. But consumers shopping in this segment will find it best to look past labels and pick the machine that best meets their needs, whether it's being marketed as a netbook, a notebook, or something else.