Acer Aspire AO721-3574 11.6-Inch Netbook


  • The 11.6-inch Aspire One AO721 Netbook is light and less than 1-inch thin, while boasting a full-size keyboard and excellent connectivity for the best of both worlds: portability plus usability
  • The AMD Athlon II Neo processor is designed to deliver the balanced performance you need to enjoy your favorite applications; Browse the Internet, read and send email, watch videos, and play games - all on the go
  • The AO721 boasts HD resolution and ATI Radeon HD 4225 Graphics with 384 MB of dedicated system memory delivering the performance so you can experience smooth, streaming Internet videos from popular sites like Hulu.com or YouTube
  • The 6-cell battery fits flush into the chassis, further streamlining the Netbook's look and providing up to 5.5 hours cable-free battery life on a single charge
  • HDMI output lets you pipe HD content and high quality audio to a large display or big screen HDTV via a single cable so you can share HD entertainment with family and friends anywhere

Product Description
Acer Aspire AO721-3574 Netbook comes with these specs: AMD Athlon II Neo Processor K125, Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit), 11.6-inch HD Widescreen CineCrystal LED-backlit Display, AMD 880G Chipset, 2048 MB DDR3 Memory, ATI Radeon HD 4225 Graphics, 250 GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive, Built-In Webcam 1.3MP (1280 x 1024), Multi-in-1 Digital Media Card Reader, High-Definition Audio Support, 802.11b/g/n WiFi CERTIFIED, Gigabit Ethernet, 3 - USB 2.0 Ports, HDMI Port, Multi-ges... Read More About This Product >>

4comments:

bobbersaid...

I also have an Acer Timeline 11.6 (T1810) that has a smooth, gloss cover surface. Got the one being rated here for my mom... Sure wish mine had the same cover texture! No finger prints show on her's, while mine's always needing to be wiped down!


Am also surprised that they made unique batteries for her's compared to mine - same basic shape and attachment method, but they are "just" different enough to not be compatible. Too bad, mine is an 8hr battery, her's is a 4hr! Planned on buying a spare battery like mine for her's - but I guess not!


Otherwise, it's a great little netbook with a nice bright screen. Price was main reason for choosing this for her rather than getting her a twin of mine (processor, ram, HD size, and battery life are main differences). She's quite happy with it, but she doesn't multi-task like I do with mine.
Rating: 5 / 5

Brian Cairnssaid...

There are several advantages to the AO721:

- Very light and portable

- Reasonably well built (plastic, but not poorly made)

- Excellent graphics performance for the size/cost

- Athlon II CPU is decently fast

- Good screen resolution for a small notebook

- Keyboard is full sized and has a decent layout

- Good port selection: Gigabit Ethernet, HDMI, SPDIF out, VGA, SD, 3x USB

- Only one DIMM slot filled, so you can upgrade to 4GB with just a 2GB DIMM


Unfortunately, there is one big problem with the AO721 that's causing me to return it: it didn't work Intel X25-m G2 SSD. The same SSD works fine in my ThinkPad T400, but it's not even detected in the BIOS on the Acer AO721. I can get the SSD to show up by booting off of a USB live Linux CD, but Windows will not install to or boot from an X25-m in the AO721. This is particularly disappointing when you consider the fact that my previous notebook was very similar (Acer 1410) and supported my X25-m just fine.


There is no reason why this issue can't be resolved with a BIOS upgrade, but considering the cost of the notebook it's anyone's guess when (and if) such a fix will happen.


If you plan on using the AO721 with the stock hard drive, it's still a good option. But the Intel SSDs are some of the more popular options on the market, and if you intend on upgrading at some point in the future you should probably consider a different machine. I can't comment on non-Intel SSDs (or even HDDs), but there's a chance you could see a problem there too.
Rating: 3 / 5

R. Fusillosaid...

From its first announcement I looked forward to this machine. It seemed just what I wanted for travel. I bought one as soon as it was available. At the same time I bought a cheap reconditioned Asus Eee netbook ( well used from the sign of the worn touchpad) with XP, merely in order to have access to several hundred MasterCook recipes that aren't usable with Windows 7.

And the Asus runs rings around the Acer. It boots up in half the time, it finds internet sites that are not even hinted at with the Acer, and even boosting the Acer's signal with an Alfa USB adapter, I run into the painfully common and still unaddressed by Microsoft problem of "No internet access." That never happens with the Asus.

A great disappointment.
Rating: 2 / 5

pashashowsaid...

Pro:

- Very light and portable

- Reasonably well built (plastic, but not poorly made)

- Excellent graphics performance for the size/cost

- Good screen resolution for a small notebook

- Keyboard is full sized and has a decent layout

Contra:

- Acer WEB site specified it as dual core CPU but NOT.
Rating: 2 / 5

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