ACER One Netbook Review

I have recently acquired an ACER Aspire One Netbook to review for possible use in school through the ACER K12 Seed program, which gives you a netbook to review with the option to purchase it at a discount after the review period. I would love to be able to have 1-to-1 computing in my room and I believe that a netbook could make that possible. They are cheaper than full size notebook pc's, fit better on desks, and do everything we need them to do. They have wi-fi, so the students can access Google Docs, the internet, and their email, along with the online programs and sites that we use in class. Their size also makes them easier to store securely.

The model I received is the Blue 10.1" monitor D250-1185. The blue cover is a beautiful, dark shade of blue that is a welcome break to plain old black or white.

It has Windows XP Home Edition, SP 3 pre-installed, along with a 60 day trial of Office 2007. The trial offer is not an issue since I use OpenOffice or Google Docs anyway. The CPU is an Intel Atom running at 1.60 GHz with 1GB of RAM and a 160 GB hard disk drive.

Startup took under 1 minute, which is faster than my Centrino laptop with 2GB of RAM.

The processor is powerful enough to do email, web surfing, document editing, and much more. I wouldn't recommend it for any processor intense applications, but it is more than adequate for 90% of what most people do with a computer.

The size is great. It has a 10.1" (diagonal) WSVGA TFT LCD screen, which is easy to read, even in bright light. It is 10.17" long x 7.24" wide x 1" thick. Yes, it is only 1" thick. It only weighs 2.95 lbs. with the six cell battery.

The six cell battery is a 48.8 W 44oo mAh Li-ion pack with a 6 hour rated life. I found it to be pretty accurate, with average battery life running over 6 hours.

The ACER is very comfortable to hold and carry also.

It has a built in web cam, built in stereo speakers, built in microphone, a multi-card reader which supports SD, MMC, MS, MS Pro and xD cards. Finally, a use for my old SD cards now that my smart phone uses micro-SD cards.

It includes Wifi (802.11 b/g) and a 10/100 Mbps Ethernet port. Built-in Bluetooth and WWAN are available as options.

The keyboard is 89% of the size of a full-size keyboard. I have very large hands and I was able to use the keyboard with minimal issues. After a few hours of use, I had adapted to the smaller keyboard without issues. My wife, whose hands are smaller than mine, had no problems using the keyboard. The Touchpad is a nice size, with two buttons below it and multi-touch commands.

The Aspire One has a variety of I/O ports, including the multi-card reader, three USB 2.0 ports, a VGA port, headphone/speaker/line-out jack, microphone in-jack, the ethernet port, and the DC adaptor port.

The built in speakers are adequate for one person to listen to in a quiet environment. They do not have enough volume to use for much beyond one person without much background noise. They are angled downward at the front of the case, so the surface can deflect some of the sound. I found them fine for my own use. Headphones or external speakers are recommended for any other uses.

I found the Apsire One to be very responsive and easy to use. I was able to do everything that I do on my desktop, including photo editing, web surfing, video watching, and more. I would expect the Atom processor to have some issues with major multimedia editing and creation, but then again the netbook was not designed for that kind of work.

The only accessory I would recommend is a protective sleeve. I bought a neoprene one at Staples for under $20. It protects from scratches, bumps, and moisture.

Overall, I would rate the Acer Aspire One as a 9.1 out of 10. It was easy to set up and use and did everything I needed it to do. It is very portable and easy to carry. It is inexpensive. It is a great option for schools looking to initiate 1-to-1 computing. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a great netbook. I am definately buying this when the review period is up. It will come in handy for me and my wife to use, both at school and as a great mobile device.

Microsoft Power Toys (Alt-Tab, Calculator, Synctoy)

Microsoft has some great, free tools to add some neat functionality to Windows XP.

Check out Microsoft Power Toys. These are small programs that integrate into Windows XP. Microsoft engineers created them for fun, and then Microsoft decided to offer them to the public.

There are currently 14 Power Toys available for download. I currently use 3 of them on my computer.

The first one I use is the Alt-Tab Replacement. This PowerToy lets you see a thumbnail preview of the application you are switching to. For those of you who don't know about Alt-Tab: alt-tab allows you to switch between all of your open applications. Normally, you just see the name of the application. This PowerToy also shows you a preview image, which is very useful.

Another one I use is Power Calculator. This is a great replacement for the built in calculator in Windows XP and allows you to graph, evaluate functions, do conversions, and much more.

The PowerToy that I have used the most though, is SyncToy. Synctoy gives you the ability to sync any two directories, folders, or devices. For instance, I use it to sync the files on my school computer with a flash drive that I can take home or use as backup. Instead of copying the entire directory everytime, Synctoy compares the two directories and only updates the new, deleted, or changed files. It is also great to keep your desktop and laptop sync'd if you connect them.

These free applications can help make your life more easy and efficient when using Windows XP.

Sugarsync - Sync your files

Sugarsync is an online file synchronization and backup service. The service is fee based, but they do have a FREE account option with up to 2GB of storage available. If you need more storage space, you can add more memory at very reasonable rates. Reviews in multiple tech magazines always give Sugarsync high ratings and it's fees are some of the lowest in the industry.

Sugarsync allows you to store files online and even keep the online files sync'd with the files on your computer. I love it because it allows me to have access to my files from any web-enabled computer. You can even access your files from a web-enabled cell phone or smart phone. I no longer have to have a flash drive with me to bring files home to work on.

You can even share file access with other people if needed.

Sugarsync is easy to sign up for and very easy to use. You can simply upload files to your Sugarsync account and access them from the web. I recommend installing the file manager on your main computer and then selecting the files that you want to be sync'd to Sugarsync's system. You will be able to access all of those files from any other web-enabled device. The service has built in security and has it's own backup system for your data.

The web access looks just like a typical file explorer on a computer, but it is all web based. You can download files, move them to other directories, send them to people, or even edit them using their WebSync technology. WebSync allows you to edit your files from any internet connected computer and have the changes automatically backed up to the SugarSync servers. This means that you do not to manually download the file, edit it locally, and then re-upload it to the server.

Backup copies of your files and access to them anywhere - for free. You can't beat that.

Welcome to the Web

Welcome to the Web is a great free resource for teaching anyone, child or adult, about the internet. It is easy to use and guides the user through 7 different lessons. Each lesson introduces the user to a different part of the internet, from vocabulary, to searching, to online safety. There is even a challenge exercise at the end of the series to test the user.

The site is a great resource to use with your students in class or as an at home exercise.

XP Math

XP Math is a great math resource for any age group. The site contains math games by subject area, a math careers exploration area, forums and homework help, and a math resources section that contains eBooks, worksheets, videos, and teacher resources.

Teachers can use this site in their classroom, or just let their students know about the site as a help resource. The site is free, easy to use and navigate, and is well designed. The games and resources are fun and well-designed. Some of the free videos are from the Standard Deviants School series.

The site is a must-use for any math teacher or student.

Online Curriculum Resources

Anneberg Media's Learner.org site is a collection of curriculum resources for all subject areas, and sorted by subject and grade. Grade level areas are K-4, 5-8, 9-12, and College/Adult.

The resources include lesson plans, on demand free videos, and links to DVDs and other materials that can be ordered for a fee.

The free on-demand videos are great for enhancing your curriculum or lesson with short video clips that can engage your students while explaining or exploring a concept.

There are also resources for teachers for professional development and training.

Many of the video clips are from public broadcasting programs. The free videos are a great resource for any teacher.

Job search for teachers

K12 JobSpot is a site that has listings of open teaching positions around the country. I did a little bit of searching on it and found quite a few positions out there.

It is easy to use and you can search by keyword, location, and job type. It does have a good number of teaching positions listed, but I was able to find more through a local agency and my teaching union site. I'm guessing that a lot of districts don't know about the site yet, so they haven't listed their vacancies on it.

Google Image search - Similar Images

Google has a new way to search for images. You can search for similar images instead of using words. The site is very easy to use and the results are very good.

You can do your own search or search for images similar to example images that Google provides.

On the start page, I clicked on a picture of the shuttle launching and got a huge number of results, including many that were exactly the same picture, but on different sites. There were also a lot of variations of a shuttle launch.

I did a search for "helicopter" and it came up with a large number of images. I then clicked on the similar images link under a picture of a helicopter that I liked and got a great return of images.

Google Similar Images is very easy to use and is a great new way to search the web for images.

Google Chrome Web Browser

Google Chrome is Google's own web browser. It is available for free for Windows computers, and is in final development and testing for Apple and Linux.

Chrome takes a very minimalistic approach as a web browser, keeping the interface simple and the screen uncluttered. Chrome is extremely fast, ranking 1st or 2nd in web tests, including Acid, V8, Sunspider, Celtic Kane, and Slickspeed. Web pages load quickly and simply, without problems.

When you download and install Chrome, it can import your favorites and other settings from you current browser, making the transition to Chrome very easy.

Chrome has tabbed browsing, crash control (which prevents one tab crashing from affecting your other open tabs), private browsing, safe browsing, instant bookmarking, and more. You can even create application shortcuts with Chrome and Google Gears. These shortcuts allow a web page or web application to run as if it was a native software application. This keeps the window layout much cleaner.

Chrome only has one area to enter a webpage or search. Google calls this the Omnibox, and you can enter a web page URL or a search term. As you type, Chrome automatically brings up related pages and past searches that you can quickly search. This makes web searches and entering web page URLs very simple and quick.

If you use a lot of other Google Web Applications, such as iGoogle, Blogger, or others, you will find that Chrome works flawlessly with them.

The bookmarks toolbar is very easily customizable, and there are some great user scripts that you can add to it. I have added "Clip to Evernote", "TinyURL", and "Google Bookmark" scripts to my bookmarks toolbar. This allows me to very easily clip a web site to my Evernote account, create a TinyURL for the web page I am browsing, and add the page I am viewing to my Google Bookmarks account. More scripts are out there and being developed everyday. Chrome does not have the kind of add-ons that Firefox has, but there are some and more are being worked on. Many companies, such as Evernote, have bookmarklets available for Google Chrome.

When you click on a new tab, Chrome brings up thumbnail images of your most visited websites. This is very convenient, allowing you to quickly visit important, often used web sites. This feature can also be disable for privacy.

I find Chrome works better than Internet Explorer, is the fastest at loading web pages, and I like it's interface and layout better than Firefox, Opera or Safari. I have not had any problems with it and it makes a lot of sense for me to use it because I use so many other Google products. Try it out and see what you think. A browser, like many other things, is a lot about personal preference.

For more information on Google Chrome, go HERE.

Some other Chrome resources:

http://www.google.com/support/chrome/?hl=en

http://www.pctipsbox.com/ten-tips-and-tricks-for-google-chrome/

Education Grant Resources

Tech&Learning has a free downloadable calendar of education grants for the 2009-2010 school year. Check it out HERE.