MSI PR201 013US 12 1 Inch Laptop 2 0 GHz Intel Centrino 2 Penryn P7350 Processor 2 GB RAM 250 GB Hard Drive Vista Premium White

The PR201 uses Intel Core 2 Duo processor and Intel GM45 Express chipset to deliver innovative mobile solutions with unrivaled processor performance, stunning HD capabilities, great wireless connectivity, and long battery life. Additionally, featuring elegant lines and a sophisticated minimalist sensibility, the MSI PR201 is designed to reflect you professionalism at work and your desire for entertainment. In one word, the PR201 is ready made to fit into your life at work and play.For the protection of your confidential information, the PR201 also offers fingerprint reader security function, guarding your information from hackers and unwanted individuals at the office or elsewhere. With the MSI PR201 laptop computer, working hard and playing hard come hand in hand.

User Ratings and Reviews

4 Stars Good 12″ laptop for the money
Pros:

-Good hardware specs for the money

-Good build quality

-Every bell and whistle I’ll ever need

Cons:

-Keyboard has a lot of flex

-Screen is too glossy for my taste

-Power button LED is too bright (creates some glare in low lighting)

I am very happy with this laptop overall. It was the best value I’ve yet seen in 12″ laptops which are dominated by super expensive models. The keyboard is well laid out with dedicated Home/Page Up/Page Down/End and arrow keys while still keeping the right shift key where it belongs. The ports are also well laid out and it has every port I can ever imagine wanting. The build quality is excellent all the way down to the magnetic lid closure.

Linux fans will be happy to hear that the basics work on this machine out of the box with Ubuntu 8.10. No problems with the touchpad, USB ports, display, or keyboard, even the screen brightness and volume control keyboard shortcuts work. However, the speakers play sound even when the headphones are plugged in and the webcam was not detected. I have not tested the following: microphone, HDMI, VGA, antenna, modem, express card, memory card reader, finger print reader.

I have only a few criticisms of the hardware. The biggest of which is that the keyboard had WAY too much flex plus it actually made some rattling sounds which makes it feel and sound cheap so I bought some double sided thermal tape, pulled the keyboard off and taped the heck out of the frame on which the keyboard sits. No more flex or rattle. The next complaint is that it sports a high gloss LCD that acts like a mirror especially in low light situations. I like to use my laptop at low backlight settings and the result is that I end up being destracted by my reflection in the screen, but apparently these screens are becoming popular with many manufacturers. My last complaint, which is admittedly a bit nit picky, is that the power button LED is too bright which is distracting and causes some glare in low light situations.

4 Stars MSI LAPTOP
I love the laptop but the price could have been more reasonable and I dislike the fact that the “C’ Drive was only allocated 43.9GB and “D” was allocated 181GB. It should have been in the reverse.

Buy/More Info

MSI PR201 013US 12 1 Inch Laptop 2 0 GHz Intel Centrino 2 Penryn P7350 Processor 2 GB RAM 250 GB Hard Drive Vista Premium White

The PR201 uses Intel Core 2 Duo processor and Intel GM45 Express chipset to deliver innovative mobile solutions with unrivaled processor performance, stunning HD capabilities, great wireless connectivity, and long battery life. Additionally, featuring elegant lines and a sophisticated minimalist sensibility, the MSI PR201 is designed to reflect you professionalism at work and your desire for entertainment. In one word, the PR201 is ready made to fit into your life at work and play.For the protection of your confidential information, the PR201 also offers fingerprint reader security function, guarding your information from hackers and unwanted individuals at the office or elsewhere. With the MSI PR201 laptop computer, working hard and playing hard come hand in hand.

User Ratings and Reviews

4 Stars Good 12″ laptop for the money
Pros:

-Good hardware specs for the money

-Good build quality

-Every bell and whistle I’ll ever need

Cons:

-Keyboard has a lot of flex

-Screen is too glossy for my taste

-Power button LED is too bright (creates some glare in low lighting)

I am very happy with this laptop overall. It was the best value I’ve yet seen in 12″ laptops which are dominated by super expensive models. The keyboard is well laid out with dedicated Home/Page Up/Page Down/End and arrow keys while still keeping the right shift key where it belongs. The ports are also well laid out and it has every port I can ever imagine wanting. The build quality is excellent all the way down to the magnetic lid closure.

Linux fans will be happy to hear that the basics work on this machine out of the box with Ubuntu 8.10. No problems with the touchpad, USB ports, display, or keyboard, even the screen brightness and volume control keyboard shortcuts work. However, the speakers play sound even when the headphones are plugged in and the webcam was not detected. I have not tested the following: microphone, HDMI, VGA, antenna, modem, express card, memory card reader, finger print reader.

I have only a few criticisms of the hardware. The biggest of which is that the keyboard had WAY too much flex plus it actually made some rattling sounds which makes it feel and sound cheap so I bought some double sided thermal tape, pulled the keyboard off and taped the heck out of the frame on which the keyboard sits. No more flex or rattle. The next complaint is that it sports a high gloss LCD that acts like a mirror especially in low light situations. I like to use my laptop at low backlight settings and the result is that I end up being destracted by my reflection in the screen, but apparently these screens are becoming popular with many manufacturers. My last complaint, which is admittedly a bit nit picky, is that the power button LED is too bright which is distracting and causes some glare in low light situations.

4 Stars MSI LAPTOP
I love the laptop but the price could have been more reasonable and I dislike the fact that the “C’ Drive was only allocated 43.9GB and “D” was allocated 181GB. It should have been in the reverse.

Buy/More Info

Acer Aspire One AOA150 1447 8 9 Inch Netbook 1 6 GHz Intel Atom N270 Processor 1 GB RAM 160 GB Hard Drive XP Home 6 Cell Battery Sapphire Blue

Acer redefines mobile connectivity with the Aspire one, a netbook (or mini-notebook) packed with fun and powerful computing features in a diminutive 8.9″ form factor weighing as little as 2.2 lb. Aimed at business professionals, students and world travelers, it offers a choice of operating systems, wireless connectivity, Internet access, built-in webcam and the storage space needed for digital photos. It’s time to simplify your life with the Aspire one.

User Ratings and Reviews

4 Stars Great mobile communications and basic computing device
We got this for an overseas trip. Now it goes with us everywhere. It fits into a side pocket of a carry-on or a thick folder if necessary, or in a backpack with ease. We’ve had no problems with what it can do, but we don’t ask it to play graphics-intensive games or do number crunching. A great travel computer for keeping in touch, taking notes, navigating, geocaching, etc.

Advantages:

Full keyboard

Really bright

Amazing battery life with larger battery. (over 8 hours with extended battery, over 5.5 with standard battery)

Transportability and size

Built-in wireless

Disadvantages:

Slow startup and slow application load

Screen too bright

Sometimes “hangs” coming out of stand-by

If you have “fat fingers” like me, you may need to adjust your typing style for the compressed keyboard.

No CD-ROM or DVD port (easy to overcome by loading CD-ROM to another computer and transferring content via SD card USB memory stick)

Extended life battery is heavy can can come out or come loose if the unit is dropped–which you shouldn’t do anyway!

5 Stars Great little laptop!
This thing is fantastic! Runs forever on a charge, has decent processor performance all things considered – you wouldn’t want to sequence DNA with it, but for most mundane tasks its great. Get the “CaseCrown” bag for it!

Only real downsides – the wireless switch is a spring loaded slider, kinda hard to use. A nit. The other is that it doesn’t have a CF slot. It has two card readers built in, a universal that reads just about everything (except CF, understandably), and a second stand alone SD slot – how I wish this second slot were CF instead. The universal slot will read SD, so why is the stand alone SD as well? I do understand that the stand alone SD slot is intended more as storage expansion in the Linux models, but it could have been CF and achieved the same results. CF is still heavily used by professional level camera equipment – I now have to carry a seperate USB/CF reader. No biggie, but it would have been nice to have CF capability built in.

1 Star Mouse pointer problems
My Acer Aspire One’s mouse pointer causes me a lot of trouble.

One problem is that the pointer freezes and concentric circles radiate from it. This is not the same kind of thinner concentric circles you can get if you set the computer to show where the mouse pointer is when you touch the Ctrl key. These thicker circles occur when I’m not touching any key but am moving the mouse pointer. The computer freezes for about a minute while the thick concentric circles are around the pointer’s point.

The other problem is that the mouse pointer moves by itself and wherever it goes, it thinks that’s a command. It doesn’t wait for me to click on a mouse button.

So I’ll be typing an email and suddenly the text I am typing appears in the middle of a word a few paragraphs higher in the email.

Or I will delete a spam email in the inbox, and if I don’t immediately move the pointer off the Trash icon, the emails below the spam also are dumped into Trash. I have to go into Trash and move those emails back into the inbox.

My brother, who recommended this computer after buying one for himself, is also annoyed by these features. Neither of us has found any way to disable the concentric-circles-computer-freeze feature, or to make the mouse pointer remain where we put it, or to set the mouse pointer to only do things when we click on a mouse button.

Aside from the mouse pointer, the Acer Aspire One seems to be a good computer. Its small size and light weight are very handy.

5 Stars I LOVE this little computer!!!
I don’t have anything negative to say about this little guy. It is convenient in almost every way. I’ve loved taking it to school with me. It is easy to type on, easy to carry around, and it does everything that my other laptop would do and then some.

The only thing that makes it a little inconvenient is that it has no disk drive because it’s so small, but you can buy an external drive at Wal-mart for like $40-50, so it’s not all that bad.

1 Star BEWARE Horrible Customer Service
Ok, So I bought 2 of these acer Aspire ones. And After only a month, One of them wont charge, and its clear that the power port is dysfunctional. I called and of course I get some one in India, who I can barely understand. I explained the problem and that it had been over 15 days and walmart wont take it back. He said that is not covered in the warranty and wanted to charge me $199 to fix it!!! Since my ordeal, I have researched and have found that the power ports on these are very cheaply made and super delicate. Bottom line, if you have $300 to spend, save a few more bucks and get something decent from another company. Never again will I buy another Acer Product.

Buy/More Info

MSI PR201 013US 12 1 Inch Laptop 2 0 GHz Intel Centrino 2 Penryn P7350 Processor 2 GB RAM 250 GB Hard Drive Vista Premium White

The PR201 uses Intel Core 2 Duo processor and Intel GM45 Express chipset to deliver innovative mobile solutions with unrivaled processor performance, stunning HD capabilities, great wireless connectivity, and long battery life. Additionally, featuring elegant lines and a sophisticated minimalist sensibility, the MSI PR201 is designed to reflect you professionalism at work and your desire for entertainment. In one word, the PR201 is ready made to fit into your life at work and play.For the protection of your confidential information, the PR201 also offers fingerprint reader security function, guarding your information from hackers and unwanted individuals at the office or elsewhere. With the MSI PR201 laptop computer, working hard and playing hard come hand in hand.

Buy/More Info

MSI PR201 013US 12 1 Inch Laptop 2 0 GHz Intel Centrino 2 Penryn P7350 Processor 2 GB RAM 250 GB Hard Drive Vista Premium White

The PR201 uses Intel Core 2 Duo processor and Intel GM45 Express chipset to deliver innovative mobile solutions with unrivaled processor performance, stunning HD capabilities, great wireless connectivity, and long battery life. Additionally, featuring elegant lines and a sophisticated minimalist sensibility, the MSI PR201 is designed to reflect you professionalism at work and your desire for entertainment. In one word, the PR201 is ready made to fit into your life at work and play.For the protection of your confidential information, the PR201 also offers fingerprint reader security function, guarding your information from hackers and unwanted individuals at the office or elsewhere. With the MSI PR201 laptop computer, working hard and playing hard come hand in hand.

Buy/More Info