Netbook Scoop

Acer Aspire One D250

Summary

The Acer Aspire One D250 comes in two basic versions.  The base-cost model is configured with a three-cell battery and without a Bluetooth adapter.  The high-end model ships with a six-cell battery and adds Bluetooth support.

Other than those differences, the versions are identical, so we will cover bosheth here.

What’s Special

• Thinner (1.0″) and lighter (2.4 – 2.8 lbs) than preclvious Aspire One models
• Mouse buttons are now below the touchpad
• Solid netbook at a great price – one of the best netbook values around

What’s Not So Special

• The touchpad is smaller than most
• Keyboard is the same as the Aspire One 9″ models, which was good in its day, but competitors’ 10″ models have roomier keyboards.

Recommendation

If you are looking for a quality netbook for under $300, this in the one you want.

Rating:  

Acer Aspire One Keyboard

Outside

Appearance and Build Quality

The Aspire One D250 is one of the very thin and super light weight.  While the Asus Eee PC 1008HA, with its seashell design looks sleeker, in reality the two netbooks have nearly identical thickness (1.0″) and weight (2.4 pounds).

Even though it loses the beauty contest to the 1008HA, the Aspire One D25o is still quite attractive.  Perhaps more importantly, the D250 looks and feels a lot sturdier.

The D250 is available in five colors: Diamond Black, Pink, Ruby Red, Sapphire Blue and Seashell White.

Display and Keyboard

The 10.1-inch screen is a glossy display providing 1024 x 600 resolution.   I like having the extra 24 rows of pixels compared to the 1024 x 576 that many netbooks offer today.

The keyboard on the Aspire One D250 is the same keyboard that was shipped with the original 9″ Aspire One models.  In its time, this was the best netbook keyboard available.  However, it is disappointing that Acer chose not to fill the extra space with a larger keyboard.  As a result, other 10″ netbooks, like the Samsung N120, offer a larger, more comfortable keyboard.

The touchpad is a tad small when compared to other netbooks.  In the D250, Acer finally moved the mouse buttons where they belong, under the touchpad.

Acer Aspire One Side View

Webcam, Audio and External Ports

The Aspire One D250′s 1.3 megapixel web camera is significantly better than the 0.3 megapixel camera configured in some netbooks.

The D250′s two speakers are located below the front edge.  Sound quality and volume are average for a netbook.

The Aspire One D250 sports a rather typical array of external ports:

• three USB ports
• 5-in-1 card reader
• VGA-out
• Audio in/out
• Ethernet

Inside

Processor, Graphics and Storage

The Acer Aspire One D250 is powered by a 1.6 GHz Intel Atom N270 processor which is standard for most of today’s netbooks.

The D250 is configured with 1GB of RAM. The graphics accelerator is an Intel GMA 950. The hard drive is 160 GB spinning at 5400 RPM. These features are typical for a netbook.

Communications

The 802.11b/g wireless adapter is the baseline for most netbooks, although some of the higher-end netbooks have started to offer 801.11n support, which is faster, offers a wider range and is more reliable.

The high-end Aspire One D250 model (the one with the six-cell battery) also offers a Bluetooth adapter.

Battery

Battery life is slightly above average compared to other netbooks.  The three-cell battery version provides about 3 hours of real-world life.  The six-cell model offers about six hours.

Operating System

The Aspire One D250 is configured with Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition.

Wrap Up

The D250 extends Acer’s tradition in the Aspire One product family of offering solid netbooks with competitive features for a price significantly lower than the competition.  If you are looking for a quality netbook at a discount price, you won’t find a better buy.