Independent Review Of The Acer Aspire One 522 Netbook

Acer have released the Aspire One 522 10.1-inch netbook powered by the new AMD Fusion chip with an impressive specification and a design and chassis that look identical to the newer models released last year. The decision to use the AMD chipset rather than the common Intel components allows the AO522 to make use of the newly announced AMD C-50 Ontario APU (Accelerated Processing Unit, dual core 1GHz) technology and Radeon HD 6250 graphics capable of running 1080p video and featuring HDMI output for HDTV. Having this excellent graphics card means the 522 also supports Direct X and UVD3 acceleration.

The new AO522 also includes 802.11 WiFi, optional 3G and Bluetooth. The AO522 does look and feel very much like almost every other Acer we have tested; the multi-card reader, 250 GB hard drive and one GB Ram are unchanged.

The case is offered in black only, and the familiar design is also found in the Aspire One D255 and Aspire One 533. The plastic case is OK; the surfaces are coated with a glittery materiel which is quite acceptable but not very fingerprint resistant. The interior is a mix of matt and high-gloss surfaces (display bezel). The slimline Acer A0522, although plastic, feels strong apart from the wrist rest which is easily twisted and can produce a snapping sound -- not what you want to hear. It pays to be careful when opening the lid as it is only possible with both hands due to the low total weight.

Acer offers the WLAN standard 802.11 b/g/n (Atheros AR5B95) and a somewhat older fast Ethernet controller (10/100 Mbit/s). Even the latest and fastest Bluetooth standard, 3.0+HS (24 Mbit/s maximum) is still on board whereas the first mobile devices already support this standard.

Acers fine tip keyboard is standard on the new model. Touch typists will be happy with the clear marks on the F and J keys, although the arrow keys remain tiny and difficult for some people to use. Once again the wrist rest is a potential problem area as the hands can slide off when touch typing.

The Synaptics touchpad has two subtle lines separating it from the wrist-rest, which looks pretty cool, and the slightly corrugated surface allows effortless and accurate navigating. Beside multi-touch gestures, both horizontal and vertical scrolling is supported, though only the vertical one has been marked.

As with most Acer's the screen is a Samsung product and has 1280x720 resolution. Because the screen is very shiny it makes it difficult to see in bright lighting.

Acer is a well-known brand, and the features on this model including the HDMI socket and multi-card reader are good selling points. The HD display is also a feature many would emulate but the glossy surfaces let the machine down somewhat. The AMD C-50 APUs performance, together with a 1 GB RAM, is only partly convincing; there are better rivals around, but the Aspire One 522's biggest advantage is the smooth HD playback.

Although the fan is whisper quiet it does seem to run all the time, and the battery life is not as good as some of its rivals.