acer d255
Acer’s new D255 mini laptop is smarter than previous Acer Aspire mini laptops. It offers excellent battery life and comes at an attractive low price. The Acer Aspire D255 is the only netbook available that dual boots with both Android OS and Windows OS, making it stand out from the rest of the competition.
Design
The Aspire One D255 shares the same chassis as the Acer Aspire D260. The cover attracts fingerprints but they are not easily visible. It looks good and sports a two-tone color scheme. The palm rest and touchpad share the same color as the lid. The machine weighs just 1.25kg with its 6-cell battery.
Operating system
As I said before, the machine boots to Windows and Android operating systems. However, when you first turn on the laptop, it instantly boots into Android before transitioning to the Windows XP operating system. Basically, Android acts as a quick-start operating system that allows you to get online in a few seconds. However, if you are like me, who always puts your computer in standby mode, the inclusion of an additional operating system (Android) would not benefit you much.
screen and keyboard
The Acer D255 has the same screen as its older cousin, the Acer Aspire D260. The screen has a resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels and is backlit by LEDs. The webcam sits above the screen and is good enough for Skype video chats.
The D255’s keyboard is pretty good too. It has large, flat top keys that manage to provide a decent typing experience. The touch panel has a smooth matte finish and is very responsive. Multi-touch gestures also work well, including pinch-to-zoom and two-finger scrolling.
Hardware, performance and storage
Acer Aspire One D255 has standard mini laptop specifications. It has an Atom N450 CPU, 1GB of RAM, 160GB hard drive, and Intel GMA 3150 graphics. You get three USB 2.0 ports, VGA port, Ethernet, card reader, and standard audio jacks (headphone and microphone).
Performance-wise, it scored 6/34 on the Worldbench test, which is the score for all Atom N450-powered netbooks. That doesn’t mean poor performance, as it plays 480p and 720p YouTube videos without a hitch.
In my typical Wi-Fi web browsing test, the mini laptop scored a brilliant 7 hours. If you switch to the conservative power plan, you’ll be able to squeeze even more power out of that 6-cell battery.
Verdict
The Acer D255 retails for $300, which is a decent deal for a 10.1-inch mini laptop. I would definitely recommend getting one if you’re on a tight budget and can’t afford higher priced models.