Acer notebook 11.6" (AMD c-60) $197 from Target

[lopgok]

Target is selling the Acer Aspire One 722 (AO722-0473).
The specs from Acer show 2gb of ram, but the target web site show 1gb of ram.

Acer link: http://us.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/model/LU.SFT02.171
Target link: https://www.target.com/p/Acer-AO722-...k/-/A-13821981

Target specs:
Maximum Resolution: 1366 x 768
Display Features: Widescreen, LED Display, High-Definition, Backlit Display, Acer CineCrystal
Computer Features: Touchpad, Built-in Speaker
Processor Brand: AMD
Processor Speed: Up to 1.0 Ghz
Processor Type: AMD Dual-Core Processor C-60
Cache Memory Installed Capacity: 1MB L2 Cache
System Bus Speed: Up to 1.6 Ghz
System RAM: 1024 MB
Memory RAM Type: DDR3
Maximum RAM Supported: 1024 MB
Data Storage Capacity: 320GB Hard Drive Capacity
Hard Drive Speed: 5400 RPM
Built-In Graphics Card Model: Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3150
Wired Technology: 10/100 Ethernet LAN
Wired Connectivity: USB 2.0
Wireless Technology: Wi-Fi Enabled
Wireless Standard: IEEE 802.11b/g/n
Built-In Card Reader Type: Multi-in-1 Card Reader
Input Type: Microphone, RJ-45, VGA, USB, Headphone Jack
Audio Features: High Definition Audio Support, Built-In Speakers
Built-In Webcam Features: Built-In 0.3 Megapixel Webcam
Battery Charge Life: Up to 7 Hours
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Software Included: Adobe Acrobat Reader, Adobe Flash Player, WildTangent, McAfee Internet Security Suite (60 Day Trial), Windows Live Essentials, Acer eRecovery Management, Microsoft Silverlight, Microsoft Office Starter Edition
Includes: Battery, Power Cord, AC Power Adapter

I am buying it because it uses little power (amd c-60) and has a 6 cell battery.
It is currently in stock at the two Target stores I called.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

Specs from Target are wrong, just like the last time. It comes with 2GB DDR3 1066MHz, but it has only one DIMM slot. You can upgrade it to 4GB using a single stick, and the RAM can be accessed from a large access panel on the bottom (no need to remove keyboard). From what I've heard these come with either a 250GB or 320GB 5400RPM HDD, so it'll depend on your 'luck'. You can also upgrade to a cheap SSD if you want the system to feel faster. If you do that it'll be around the same speed as a normal desktop for usual tasks.

CPU clock speed is up to 1.33GHz when running a single thread since the C-60 supports Turbo CORE. When running two threads it'll run at the base 1GHz. The IGP is also wrong; it has a Radeon HD 6290M instead of a god-awful GMA 3150. The 6290M also supports Turbo, and can go up to 400MHz.

As far as speed goes, the C-60 is over 50% faster than the Atom N270 in both single and multi-threaded. In comparison to the E-450, that should be 25% faster in single-threaded and ~65% faster in multi-threaded. The HD 6290M can play 720p Flash video flawlessly as long as you're using the latest version of Flash and a recent browser, and it can play 1080p MKVs too if you use a program with support for hardware decoding and have the latest Catalyst drivers.

In terms of battery life, what Acer quotes is pretty accurate. You can expect 6:30 to 7 hours of battery life when web surfing and doing using productivity software like Word. The idle power draw of this should be in the 5W range and at full load around 12-15W.

For $200 it's impossible to do better than this, especially if you're a college student. Only concerns I'd say are the build quality, but if you take care of it, it should hold fine.

 

[Stoneburner]

Target is selling the Acer Aspire One 722 (AO722-0473).
The specs from Acer show 2gb of ram, but the target web site show 1gb of ram.

Acer link: http://us.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/model/LU.SFT02.171
Target link: https://www.target.com/p/Acer-AO722-...k/-/A-13821981

Target specs:

Built-In Graphics Card Model: Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3150

Wha?

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

Wha?

I listed the correct specs.

 

[DarkTXKnight]

anyone used this with xbmc ? thinking of using it as a nettop in the media room..

 

[Pardus]

I listed the correct specs.

Thanks for the detailed specs.

 

[cubeless]

this is a great little netbook... throw a 64gb ssd in it and it screams... got a couple of them on the last deal... i threw a 4gb dimm in, too, but it really doesn't need it for its role in life... for this price it's untouchable...

 

[wadewood]

I grabbed one of these for HTPC in bedroom and for travel PC. Debloated the software and it's running great. Plays my 720p mkv files no problems. Great machine for $200 - I'll take this over any ipad/ android pad any day.

 

[Zap]

For $200 it's impossible to do better than this, especially if you're a college student.

The 1366x768 11.6" screen is a lot more useful than the typical 1024x600 of a 10" netbook. I have both. Trust me on this. Also, the 10" netbooks are only a hair smaller and around the same weight, so not much more portable.

 

[VirtualLarry]

So tempting. My current laptop has a bad battery. For twice the price of the battery, I could have a whole new netbook.

Btw, does this unit include a DVD-RW, or not? I guess judging by the screen-size, probably not.

 

[bigi]

So tempting. My current laptop has a bad battery. For twice the price of the battery, I could have a whole new netbook.

Btw, does this unit include a DVD-RW, or not? I guess judging by the screen-size, probably not.

No DVD drive included.

I grabbed one from the last deal. Upgraded memory to 4GB and HDD to SSD I had. Very good, little laptop for the price.

The keyboard is good, so for the price this is very nice little laptop.

 

[Pardus]

tried 2 stores all sold out.
got one at 8am this morning, they had 3 just come in.

ram upgrade: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231341

 

[Zivic]

my local target had at least 5... I picked up two. one for me, one for a gift. seems very nice for the money

 

[Kenmitch]

Thanks OP

I just picked one up at my local Target for my Daughter's Xmas gift. Seems good for the money. Got it as a just in case nothing better comes up for the money between now and Xmas

 

[formulav8]

So the deal is still going.... I may pick one up.

 

[TwiceOver]

Excellent timing. Co-worker was looking for something basic to travel with. Shows in stock locally. Going by the pictures at Target.com this is also one that doesn't have the stupid water drop lid.

EDIT: I'm guessing that since it lists Intel video that the specs are all fouled up and the picture is probably not the right one. Either way, I'll let her go look and decide.

 

[Zivic]

Excellent timing. Co-worker was looking for something basic to travel with. Shows in stock locally. Going by the pictures at Target.com this is also one that doesn't have the stupid water drop lid.

EDIT: I'm guessing that since it lists Intel video that the specs are all fouled up and the picture is probably not the right one. Either way, I'll let her go look and decide.

it does have the " stupid water drop lid"

 

[Kenmitch]

You can get better images at newegg and correct specs and for the record the price at the egg makes the deal look even hotter

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834215174

 

[Pardus]

Excellent timing. Co-worker was looking for something basic to travel with. Shows in stock locally. Going by the pictures at Target.com this is also one that doesn't have the stupid water drop lid.

EDIT: I'm guessing that since it lists Intel video that the specs are all fouled up and the picture is probably not the right one. Either way, I'll let her go look and decide.

 

[knightc2]

I bought one of these back in August when they were $250 and came with a $30 Target gift card. At $220 I thought I got a great deal. At $197 it is a steal. Only negative is the lack of an optical drive but for the price it isn't that big of a deal. Finding a more capable netbook at this price point would be tough.

As Lol_Wut_Axel states, this takes 4GB max of RAM and only has one slot so if you are upgrading you'll need to scrap the 2GB chip and throw in a 4GB. I bought more RAM but still haven't gotten around to putting it in and with 2GB it seems to work well enough for web surfing. And yes the battery life really is great. I usually get well over 5 hours on a full charge and have come close to 7 hours although my usage is mainly web browsing.

I highly recommend this netbook. It runs great right out of the box and would be really snappy with 4GB of RAM and a SSD.

 

[Fayd]

I bought one of these back in August when they were $250 and came with a $30 Target gift card. At $220 I thought I got a great deal. At $197 it is a steal. Only negative is the lack of an optical drive but for the price it isn't that big of a deal. Finding a more capable netbook at this price point would be tough.

As Lol_Wut_Axel states, this takes 4GB max of RAM and only has one slot so if you are upgrading you'll need to scrap the 2GB chip and throw in a 4GB. I bought more RAM but still haven't gotten around to putting it in and with 2GB it seems to work well enough for web surfing. And yes the battery life really is great. I usually get well over 5 hours on a full charge and have come close to 7 hours although my usage is mainly web browsing.

I highly recommend this netbook. It runs great right out of the box and would be really snappy with 4GB of RAM and a SSD.

i agree. never went the ssd route, but it serves me extremely well for my purposes. turn it on at the start of the day, close it up, open it up, close it up, open it.. several times during the day, and get home with 40%+ of battery left.

for 200, it's ridiculously good.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

The 1366x768 11.6" screen is a lot more useful than the typical 1024x600 of a 10" netbook. I have both. Trust me on this. Also, the 10" netbooks are only a hair smaller and around the same weight, so not much more portable.

Definitely. Another big plus is the high pixel density. Text looks much better and overall content is much more "crisp" than on a 15" screen at 1366x768. The higher res is also much better for productivity or multitasking. With 1024x600 displays you often find yourself scrolling horizontally on websites, and the fact they're typically in 10" netbooks means the small trackpad will make it a PITA.

The weight of this is just under 3 pounds, so it's simply perfect for carrying around.

Since we don't have Target here I'm looking at another deal in Costco where you get this same netbook but with 4GB RAM and a 500GB 5400RPM HDD for $250. Link to that is here.

 

[knightc2]

One other plus is this thing has Win 7 Home Premium 64 vs Win 7 Starter found on many similarly priced netbooks.

 

[SunnyD]

As far as speed goes, the C-60 is over 50% faster than the Atom N270 in both single and multi-threaded. In comparison to the E-450, that should be 25% faster in single-threaded and ~65% faster in multi-threaded. The HD 6290M can play 720p Flash video flawlessly as long as you're using the latest version of Flash and a recent browser, and it can play 1080p MKVs too if you use a program with support for hardware decoding and have the latest Catalyst drivers.

You're joking, right? The E-350 absolutely destroys the C-60 in benchmarks, by around 30% on average. The E-450 being higher clocked is just going to make that difference bigger.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

You're joking, right? The E-350 absolutely destroys the C-60 in benchmarks, by around 30% on average. The E-450 being higher clocked is just going to make that difference bigger.

How is it in any way a joke? They use the exact same architecture. All differences will come down to clock speeds, and at clocks this low scaling is 99-100%.

Yes, those are the differences. The E-450 is 25% faster in single-threaded since the C-60 can Turbo to 1.33GHz while the E-450's CPU doesn't support it, meaning it stays at 1.65GHz. In multi-threaded the C-60 can't Turbo and therefore stays at the base 1GHz, giving the E-450 a 65% advantage over it. Seems fairly obvious, and overall the difference is bigger than 30%.

In terms of CPU speed the E-450 would only be ~3% faster than the E-350 no matter the workload.