Description
The Acer Aspire 1 laptop will inspire you to be more productive at work, school or play because it’s super user friendly, ultra-portable and offers great everyday performance. In fact, this little dynamo is the perfect companion to take with you anywhere with enough juice to power you though every computing journey. Lightweight and stylish, the Aspire 1, with the latest Celeron processor from Intel, delivers a balance of performance and graphics, featuring a 15.6”Full HD screen and 802.11ac WiFi 5 for fast connectivity and reliability that you can count on wherever you venture. With Windows 11 Home in S mode, you’ll experience fast start-ups, a familiar yet expanded Start menu, and great new ways to get stuff done. And with automatic updates enabled, you get all the latest features and security hassle-free. Work, play and share all in one device! (NX.A6WAA.00H)
techygardengirl –
JAN 2023 – The computer is stellar except for two things – USBs become completely defunct after so many hours of usage which require a complete reboot in order to correct the issue and the customer service is dismal. First contacted Amazon who told me the issue was software related and it was not. Finally connected with Acer Customer Service (off shore – of course). Was on hold for 30 minutes to reach someone; the person had me install something off the internet which loaded a bunch of crap onto my computer in order to update outdated drivers. He was on the phone with me for all of about 7 minutes before he told me to call back if it didn’t work because there were other people in the queue. Now, when I informed the wad I had been on hold for 30 minutes to reach a live agent he told me it was not fair to others for him to have to wait to see if my problem was corrected. And, of course, the problem was not corrected!
Sadly, I guess we truly get what we pay for. Going back to HP…
DEC 2022 – My only regret is not purchasing this computer sooner. Bought it to replace a laptop HP that is less than a year old that was an utter disappointment. It cost twice as much as the Acer and far less nimble or ready for anything of significance. It is basically just a great paperweight. The Acer, however, out of the box is lightening fast and incredibly easy to maneuver. The keyboard has a nice bounce and I’m loving having the numeric keypad – highly unusual for a laptop!
Here’s what I didn’t expect which was incredibly nice to have:
1. That annoying webcam peep-hole…Acer provides a couple of plastic covers so you can keep it covered when not in use and open it when you need to show your beautiful face. Now, HP never provided anything like that!
2. They even supply screws for the installation of an additional internal hard drive, should you make such a purchase. Now, how sweet is that?! I would not have an idea how to do that but I did appreciate the thought.
More than anything, the machine has just been solid as a rock and has not flinched at any level. If there’s any regret, it’s the fact that Windows 11 is installed in some odd security mode which makes installing the drivers for printers and other devices nearly impossible. Having to maneuver all of that was more of a headache than anything else and that’s a Microsoft issue, having nothing to do with Acer. Once Windows 11 safe mode is uninstalled, it’s smooth sailing.
Details matter and Acer won me on the details, quality and sturdiness of this computer. Will certainly look to buy more Acers in the future. I am extremely happy with this purchase and incredibly sorry I did not consider this brand in the past. Won’t make that same mistake again.
Highly recommend! In fact, I just might buy another one for work…
DavyandTracy<span class="a-icon a-profile-verified-badge"><span class="a-profile-verified-text"> –
I bought this laptop for writing and taking online classes primarily, and it’s just perfect. Keyboard is nice to use. Screen is bright and crisp. Laptop is lightweight.
This is NOT a laptop for gaming, video editing, demanding graphics work, and you’re probably going to get frustrated if you are a busy, multi-tasker with multiple software and dozens of browser tabs open at the same time.
That being said, for basic computing needs (word processing, watching Netflix, web browsing, blogging, writing a novel, taking classes, etc…), this laptop is near perfect and budget-friendly.
Couple Notes:
– The processor is 1.1 ghz, not 2.8 as listed in description, but really, you wouldn’t be doing anything on this that should ever require that much processor speed.
– Memory is upgradeable, which is nice, but I’ve found that 4gb is fine for what I’m using it for right now.
– Laptop looks stylish, but lacks that “high-end” feel – but it’s a $200 laptop. Still, I like it and keyboard feels good for typing at length.
– Screen is sharp. Colors are decent. Not the best screen out there, of course, but certainly not bad at all. Not a touch screen…slight bummer but not a big deal to me.
– Sound coming from speakers is nice and loud. No, not premium sound, but sufficient to watch movies/video classes and hear it just fine. I’m happy with it, but no audiophile. Use headphones or a Bluetooth speaker if you want better sound.
– Performance has been fast and I’ve been satisfied.
– Easy to switch from Windows S to full Windows Home, which is my preference and why I opted for this over a Chromebook.
– 81gb of available storage space after OS and apps take up a bit of the 128 gb drive. To me, that’s totally fine since I’m not saving anything on this – it all goes in the cloud.
– I don’t think the battery will actually last 9 hours with normal settings, but I get a solid 5 or so hours out of it between charges.
RE: Slowness/Lagginess:
A couple negative reviews mentioned this and when it happened to me, I thought that maybe there WAS something off about this computer.
Turns out when I logged into my Microsoft account, it started syncing my existing desktop computer with this laptop, and with only 4gb of memory and slower processor, it just bogged it right down for about 20 minutes or so as it synced apps, desktop icons, etc…. Once everything synced up, it was fine and has been ever since.
So if you experience slow, laggy performance when you first get this, and you’ve logged into your Microsoft account, set it down and let it sync for 20 minutes or so, or better yet, adjust the sync settings to be more selective.
All in all, it’s a great, inexpensive laptop that is super lightweight, super portable, looks nice, performs great, and is perfect for basic computing, an older child/teen, college courses, etc…
EC –
Not very found of Windows S Mode, you can only download from the Microsoft store. And of course Microsoft constantly advertises. But for the money it’s easy to use and fast. No problem multitasking, and still get great download and upload speeds.
Dave Jackson –
I bought this lap top for international travel. It is low cost solution for me and will get beat up with enough travel. This was my solution to obtain a low cost lap top for this kind of travel.
One issue is the lack of keyboard lighting. A little deal I know. In low light (which this will be used in) it is difficult to see the keys. Another issue is 10 key on the far right serves other functions like the HOME and END keys. The operator has to shift to operate those keys to get the HOME, END and a couple of other functions.
The transaction was very good. Well packed and well shipped. Came early.
Initial start up seemed to be less than fully intuitive, and with enough time got to understand features.
Would I do it again? Likely because of cost and purpose. For other purposes maybe not.
Jack –
this laptop is pretty nice for a low-end laptop in 2023. nice 1080p IPS display, long lasting battery, NVME ssd standard, DDR5 ram, etc. i thought it was a perfect replacement for my laptop, but it wasn’t (although good enough for my needs) i figured this laptop would be like other newer acer laptops in which it had some soldered ram and a empty ram stick slot. i purchased some extra ram to go with the laptop so i could play some games on it without worrying about going over the allotted memory. however, it only has soldered ram. the game i mainly play on it—plays fine on 8GB (FNAF security breach), but only when you have dedicated VRAM. after about a couple days of using this laptop the game crashed 4 different times compared to when it never did on my old laptop due to upgradable ram. the laptop works well for everything else and actually lasts throughout the day easily unlike my old laptop and even has a bunch of awesome features, but unfortunately that one drawback is a pretty big problem. i hope in the future their lower end laptops will have upgradable ram as thats the only thing keeping me from giving this 5 stars.
Bobbi –
Needed an affordable computer with a Webcam for school and did not want a chrome book. This computer is perfect. Great size and not very heavy. The keyboard doesn’t have b as delighting but I was willing to give that up for the price. The screen has a weird quality to it and took a while to get used to it.
Amazon Customer –
This is an economy laptop that is marginally better than the average Chromebook. Do not expect it to run the latest games or any graphically intensive applications. With that stated, I am utilizing these at a non profit charity that which mostly utilizes cloud based applications. These computers work very well at this task while providing the future proofing of being Windows 11 compliant.
We are replacing ACER Aspire E15 series laptops with this model. The E15s were mostly generation 7 & 8 I3 and i5 models with SATA III SSDs and 8GB of RAM. The NVMe drives are much faster than the older SATA III drives. I miss the extra RAM, but not enough to crack open these cases for upgrades. My volunteers appreciate the lighter weight and slimmer size. I don’t remember the last time we actually utilized an optical drive or card reader which were lost with the slimmer case.
These have smaller batteries than our older models. That coupled with the CPU and RAM workload increase, means that I anticipate 5 – 6 hours of battery life utilizing basic cloud based applications. Streaming movies or playing basic games will decrease the life more. Non CPU intensive desktop productivity software should increase the battery life. The power port is proprietary so you will need to carry the brick and cords if you need more battery life during your day. From an IT prospective, this is a blessing due to the number of infected USB C chargers that have begun popping up in public spaces.
Most of the volunteers in the organization are older and greatly appreciate the larger display size. There is no touch display option. The maximum resolution is 1920×1080, but the overall quality does not keep up with mid level or elite laptops. The viewing angle is about 120 degrees from the side and less from the top. Graphics performance is low. The colors are not as rich and the contrast is not as dynamic as better displays. This does include HDMI 2.0. I do not think it could drive a display with higher resolution very well though. It is fine for plugging presentations in to a projector or large display. I do not see much improvement on this display vs the 2017 – 2019 ACER E15 series laptops these are replacing.
The webcam is basic. The speakers are small and face down. There is a single microphone. If you speak on calls, a headset is a must. If you listen on calls, this is adequate provided your space is quiet enough for the small speakers. The overall sound quality is a compromise between value and quality leaning heavily on value.
The keyboard is textured. It is not backlit. There is not indication that Caps lock or Number Lock are engaged. So far, I prefer it to the usual flat chiclet keyboards that haunt modern laptops. The key response is good. The number pad keys are smaller than the regular keys and some of the buttons are not in standard 10 key locations. The keyboard also does not use the standard inverted T for the arrow keys. This is either a learning curve or an annoyance depending on the user. Time will tell regarding dust and foreign debris issues and how difficult it is to change a key, switch or the entire keyboard.
The touchpad is large enough to cover the display area adequately. It is sensitive enough to cover tap clicking or actual clicking depending on user preference. I do miss the button that disables the touchpad to eliminate palm pressing, but that disappeared with optical drives on every computer.
The ports are great. This laptop has 2 USB 3.2 and one USB C on the left side, and one USB 2.0 on the right side. It also has gigabit ethernet and HDMI 2.0 on the left side and a headphone port on the right side. The SD card reader has disappeared to no big loss. Many of my volunteers prefer corded mice and happen to be right handed. A USB port on the right side is really nice. The power port is proprietary since this is USB C instead of Thunderbolt 3/4. That is a nice range of current and future connectivity. The average user will not need to utilize a dock or USB hub with this laptop.
The WI-FI supports both 2.4 and 5.0 Ghz protocols. It maxes out at WI-FI 5 speeds. The built in ethernet port is gigabit which maxes out at 125mbps. Both are adequate for streaming, web browsing, email, and basic Internet use. Most home networks are gigabit so this slots in very well. I was able to maintain transfers at 2.3GBe with a USB 3.2 to 2.5GBe adapter. There is no wireless upgrade option.
You can access the main board and components with nothing more than a 00 Phillips screwdriver. There is a single RAM slot and it utilizes NVMe 3.0. The base model is a little light on both RAM and storage, but for a workstation, it is adequate. For a more power user, you can upgrade both, which is nice and becoming rare in most laptops. The NVMe drive is not heat shielded nor is it installed in a place with good airflow. I would not be surprised to encounter heat throttling during periods of heavy use. The overall drive life may be compromised as well. Time will tell. There are no additional unused SATA, PCI, or NVMe ports for expansion. You cannot upgrade the CPU and there is no expansion port to add discrete graphics. No surprise there.
I immediately exited Windows S mode during initial setup. Any program that won’t allow a user to even utilize a different browser, isn’t right for me. This may be nice if you are attempting to keep users away from applications and websites of questionable origin but our desktop software will never be listed in the MS store and our cloud based software is not stable in Edge.
The bottom line is that this laptop is designed for non power users and companies looking for a laptop that is more powerful and less controlled than the average Chromebook. If your user experience is surfing the Internet, streaming videos, checking email, and running software that will never be listed in an App Store, this is a great option. If you want to play games, or edit video or graphics, this is not the right choice for you. Based on previous ACER experience, we anticipate 5 years of service out of these which is a great return of investment.
Richard A McFarland –
Dislike that NO operating instructions were included: I looked and looked again; finally after some hit and miss on the key boards I began to gain access and insights into the ACERs operation.I like the features although this being my first purcashed Lap Top ,I had little experiences in which to compare to. I like the construction and the feel over all of the unit And the positive yet soft feel of the key board. I believe I have made a quality purcash. Regarding battery life I would say ‘satisfactory?’ I find the color tasteful.
Hans A. Jensen –
This Acer laptop computer is wonderful! I’m not a “tech” person at all, but it was very easy to set up and to operate. It is sleek in design and has very good graphics. For the money, this really is an excellent lap top computer in my opinion.
P. Wallace –
I was surprised to discover the battery is embedded, in other words can’t be removed. There is a process to charge the battery fully so it will take a full charge throughout its life. You have to drain it until it reaches about 18%. A popup should warn you when you reach this battery level; instead you have to keep checking. Not used to babysitting this computer, the battery ended discharging completely. I thought connecting the adapter would get the computer up and running. Not so. I placed a call to Amazon tech support and learned about battery reset located on the bottom of the computer, a tiny pin-hole that you press a toothpick into for four seconds to reset the battery. Then you need to long-press the power button for ten seconds to boot it up. Today I had about 76% battery power left and closed the lid briefly and it turned off. It took another battery reset and long-press to get it going again. Chrome tells me it didn’t shut down properly, click to restore tabs. Something with Alexa too, doesn’t quite work properly. So it was a software glitch that caused the problem. I don’t expect this to be the last time this happens.
Otherwise this is a well-running machine, no other problems and I’ve had it 3 – 4 weeks. Keyboard works fine; I think the screen display is satisfactory (but then again I’m not a techie). The cover is made of aluminum material and is very attractive with the raised ACER logo in silver. I can tell that in time, depending on wear and tear, the logo could fall off; I don’t think it’s that securely attached. I paid just below $250, a brand new computer with Windows 11 S mode, which you can disable. Back to the battery; it will take over 1,000 + charges if maintained properly; it’s all in the user manual that can be downloaded from the ACER website. That adds up to about three years of usage. The main thing I don’t like is having to babysit the battery; you have to go as far to the extremes of discharge and recharge to get maximum usage of it over its lifetime. So I kind of feel tethered to this thing. For the price it can’t be beat though for looks and basic functioning and I got it at a steal on cyber Monday. This is my first off-brand computer, ACER not having the brand recognition of Toshiba, sadly; they only market to the business sector now, in case you’re wondering why you don’t see them anymore.