UncleBeer wrote:Plenty of Chrome users have commented on the lack of a bookmark toolbar. There is one; it's just up top. You can put nested folders up there, too.
The latest version of Firefox for Windows 7 works the same way.
On the subject: I also have one of those little Acer Aspire One AOA150 netbooks. Mine is running the original XP-Home that came with it, and it works fine.
The only thing that prevents its wider use is the low screen resolution. But it's enough for when a bigger computer isn't an option. I often take mine with me when I travel so that I don't have to use my gubmint laptop for personal stuff. It's small enough to stuff in my briefcase along with my work computer.
I bought the 6-cell battery for this computer off ebay, and it lasts about five or six hours running XP. (There was a problem with the first-gen BIOS on this computer and it would not recharge batteries properly if they became fully depleted. Problem was solved when I reflashed the BIOS.) I'm using a Microsoft Arc Touch wireless mouse, which straightens to very flat so that it will fit in a small briefcase pocket, but can be bent into a curve for us (doing so also turns it on). The dongle is sufficiently tiny. I am normally happy with a touchpad, but the one on that particular Acer is dreadful, with the buttons in the wrong place. The mouse is to expensive for this computer, but it's so portable use it also on my gubmint laptop when I need more control than with the trackpad.
Performance hasn't been a problem for me. I use OpenOffice and CorelDraw X5 home suite, which includes PhotoPaint. It's a reasonable substitute for Photoshop when I need to do something quick, like adjust curves, sharpen, and downsize a digital photo made during a trip. It has a built-in SD card reader, which is fine for when I have my little Leica digicam with me on a business trip. It will not read compact flash cards, though, so when I'm on vacation with my big Canon and this is the computer I'm using as a digital wallet for photos, I have to bring a card-reader with me.
I bought an external USB DVD combo drive, but I often don't carry it with me. I do when I'm traveling on vacation and take this computer as my only computer.
By the way, this computer, the power brick, the external optical drive, and the wireless mouse fit perfectly in a Bible case that I bought at a Christian book store. Maybe it won't be such a theft target if potential thieves think it's a Bible. (Hey, I do have Bible-reading software loaded on it.)
On the subject of this netbook versus others, the keyboard was the only issue. On this model, it is compressed slightly, but I'm still able to go nearly full speed on it once I remind myself of the narrowness. A poorly place backspace key is a bigger problem (I NEED my backspace key!). But I prefer the narrow conventional buttons to the newer weird-feeling buttons, even though the latter are conventionally spaced. That more than anything becomes discriminating between netbooks for those who will do production typing. I have found Acer's support site to be reasonable, and also these netbooks have been popular enough to attract aftermarket stuff that works (such as that six-cell battery).
I have played with an iPad, and I have an iPhone. The iPad is big, but it's nearly as big as the Acer, and cannot be used for typing by the ten-fingered. I find it no easier to hunt and peck on the iPad than on the iPhone, and both are exquisite torture. The iPhone, however, has a key advantage: It's already in my pocket because I have to have a phone with me. The iPad would be in my briefcase, which isn't always with me. And if I had an iPad, I would still have to have the iPhone. For e-reading on airplanes (and I re-earned United Premiere status for 2011 three weeks ago, even though I've flown on four different airlines this year), I prefer a Kindle--it's easier to read and a battery charge lasts for weeks rather than hours. The iPad and its imitators do not fulfill my requirements.
On the subject of soldering on the motherboard of the Acer, I would not consider it, and I have plenty of experience soldering electronics as a hobby. These boards are designed for surface-mount technology, and the pins on the memory chips are tiny and close together. It takes a very well control soldering iron with a slender and sharp point, meticulous static control procedures, a steady hand, and a strong magnifier. Solder bridges are likely, and difficult to see and correct. Too much heat and the chip is toast. You could very easily turn the motherboard into a computer sculpture rather than a working computer, and then have no way back.
That said, I haven't really run into memory issues on mine, but I don't use it for intensive applications.
Rick "who uses the Acer a lot--when it's appropriate" Denney
