Acer AS1430Z-4677 11.6-Inch Laptop (Diamond Black)

Most helpful customer reviews

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful.
Excellent value and performance
By Egret
Just a quick few comments. I bought a 1430Z (from another vendor, where it was cheaper at the time) mainly because:

o It has more screen pixels than 10.1" netbooks do
o CPU benchmarks I found on the web were much better than for typical Atom processors
o It's considerably lighter and smaller than 13.3" notebooks
o It comes with more memory than typical netbooks do

My intention (as with all my computers) was to run Ubuntu Linux, dual booting occasionally into Windows.

My impressions so far:

Pros:

o Nice compact form factor. It's even a tad lighter than the spec; mine weighs just under 3 lbs
o Ubuntu 10.10 works. But I had to blacklist 2 modules (intel_ips and acer-wmi).
o External VGA gives you a full extended desktop (at least in Ubuntu, haven't experimented in Windows): I get 1366x768 on the notebook and 1680x1050 on a 22" external monitor at the same time. This has not worked well or at all on other notebooks I've had in the past.
o Applications respond snappily -- this is subjective of course. Video is good. I also run my own CPU-intensive simulation benchmark on all my computers to compare them. The 1430Z (Intel U5600 CPU) is about 26% slower than a desktop with an AMD 5000+ CPU, 18% faster than a notebook with an Intel SU7300 CPU, and 11% faster than a notebook with an Intel Pentium M 1.73GHz CPU.

Cons:

o Battery life is OK but unexceptional -- this is only subjective since I haven't measured it. But battery life has never been a high priority for me. For all my laptops it has dropped precipitously after a year or so, no matter how impressive it may have been when new.
o The Keyboard lacks the feel of a great keyboard, like the classic Thinkpads of yore, or a decent desktop keyboard. And the Home/End/PgUp/PgDown/Up/Down/Left/Right are squashed together in the lower right; I don't know if I'll ever learn to find them without looking.

Overall then, this fits the bill for me: portability, performance, and Linux.

44 of 48 people found the following review helpful.
Litle fast Notebook - NOT netbook
By Chris666
I got this Notebook for my wife, and I checked some specification before purchase :
-CPU architecture SandyBridge 32nm, Intel relased it in Jan 2011, very low power consumption -18W.
-3GB latest DDR 3 memory, upgradable to 8GB - more then enough
-wireless 802.11 b/g and latest n
-Windows 7 64bits
-very good HD screen resolution
It is more powerfull then most devices in this size, has around double power then Atom CPU, and pretty fast wireless internet,
with my D-link Extreme 655 router in the basement I got 15Mbps net speed on first floor , (19Mbps when connected with Cat 6 wire).
When I run it first time the speed when not connected to the power cord was slower - some power saving settings, after adjusting it in the Laptop and in the router, I got full speed.
No problem watch YouTube HD (I have very fast Comcast Internet), and streaming my movies over network.
Then we are very happy with it , my wife love it how it looks like and because it is very light.

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful.
Very Good Value for Mini Notebook Performance
By I. R Yumori
I needed to replace my 6.5 lb laptop for travelling. I didn't like the performance and cramped keyboard of the netbooks. I needed it for photo storage and processing plus email.

I'm glad ACER just released the AS1430.

The screen and keyboard are much more useable than the 10.1 netbooks. The screen and 1.3MP HD Webcam (1280 x 1024) are higher resolution than the netbooks.

It really isn't much more cost than a netbook when you compare them. Most netbooks only have Windows Starter. To upgrade it to Home Premium 64 bit would be $80. Most netbooks come with only 1GB and is only upgradeable to 1 or 2GB. The ACER comes with 3GB upgradeable to 8GB. Most netbooks come with 250 or smalller GB. The ACER has a 320 GB.

Despite the specs from ACER, the ram is upgradeable to 8GB. I got the Crucial CT2KIT51264BC1067 8GB 204-PIN PC3-8500 SODIMM DDR3 (4GBx2) for $84.99 from Amazon. It took 15 minutes to replace the RAM. The bottom cover is held by six screws and a bunch of friction clips. You should be gentle in taking it off, because it looks flimsy. The additional memory makes it boot up faster and quicker when multiple windows are open.

The only negative is battery life is only 4.5 hrs vs 8-9 for the netbooks, but it is enough to play a couple of movies on the airplane.

I really like this computer.