Acer

Acer Aspire One 521 Overview

At the time I am writing this review analysis, the Acer Aspire One 521 is still one of the most powerful 10-inch netbook on the market. If you are in the market of netbook, you should know that almost all existing 10-inch netbook has a specs that combines Intel Atom processor with integrated GMA3150 graphic chips. This combination works perfectly fine for normal computing tasks but not for gaming or high-def videos playback. The Acer Aspire One 521 which runs on AMD 1.7GHz Athlon II Neo K125 processor and ATI Radeon HD 4225 graphics performs way better than those Atom powered netbooks, and promises 1080p playback thanks to ATI Radeon HD 4225 graphics.

Specification of Acer Aspire One 521:

• 10.1-inch WSVGA LED-backlit Display
• 1.7GHz AMD Athlon II Neo Processor K125
• ATI Radeon HD 4225 Graphics
• 1GB DDR3 Memory
• 250 GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
• Windows 7 Starter
• Built-In Webcam (1280 x 1024)
• Multi-in-1 Digital Media Card Reader
• High-Definition Audio Support
• 802.11b/g/n WiFi CERTIFIED
• Bluetooth 3.0
• Ethernet
• 3 – USB 2.0 Ports
• HDMI
• Multi-gesture Touchpad
• 6-cell Li-ion Battery (4400 mAh) up to 5.5 Hours of Battery Life
• 2.76 lbs. | 1.25 kg (system unit only)

Review Summary

Design:
The Acer Aspire One 521 has a glossy lid with a big Aspire One logo on it. While the huge logo design does not bother me much, some reviewers find it tacky. It depends on personal preference. Keyboard and touchpad of this netbook is pretty decent. It has the same chiclet keyboards that Acer’s been using on its recent netbooks, which the keys are big enough to be comfortably type on. The touchpad although is a bit small, is still usable and works fine for navigating. An improvement that you will find on the 521 compared to Acer’s previous netbook is that is that it has 2 dedicated right and left mouse buttons.

In terms of portability, it weights 2.8 pounds and measures 1.1-inch thick at its thickest point, making it a highly portable machine which you can carry around with easily.

Performance:
Looking at the PCMark benchmark score, the performance of the Athlon II Neo CPU on the AO521 is right in between Intel Atom and Intel ULV CPUs. Everyday performance is relatively snappy especially after uninstalling McAfee Internet Suite. It has no problem handling multitasking even when playing a 720p video.

Graphics:
With the ATI Radeon HD 4225 graphic chip, the Aspire One 521 plays local 720p and 1080p video flawlessly, even when outputted to a 40-inch HDTV via HDMI. It also has no problem playing 720p video from YouTube, but will start to show some shuttering when it plays 1080p video from YouTube. Engadget has tested playing War of Warcraft on this machine and gets 28 frame per second which is pretty good for a netbook.

Battery life:
The Acer Aspire One 521 comes with a 6-cell 4400 mAh battery. It lasts for 4 hours on Engadget’s video rundown battery test, which loops the same standard def video at 65 percent screen brightness. And according to Brad from Liliputing, he gets close to 5 hours of run time under normal usage.

Conclusion
The Acer Aspire One 521 has better graphics and performance than almost every 10-inch netbook currently available on the market. While it has shorter battery life than other Atom-based netbooks, 4 to 5 hours of battery life should be good enough for most people’s everyday use. With this in mind the MSRP of $349 is very attractive. I certainly recommend this netbook.

Video Review

Source: Amazon, Engadget, Liliputing