Looking for a utilitarian netbook/laptop <$150- any reason not to buy a used Acer Aspire One?

[whynottoday]

Like the title says, I'm looking for a cheap utilitarian computer to use for school. After looking at the options I've narrowed it down to a used Acer Aspire One (with Windows 7); I figured it would be good to get some experienced opinions before picking one up.


Approximate Purchase Date: w/n 6 months

Budget Range: $75-$150

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Internet, MS Office, etc.

Additional Comments: In order of importance:
-Portability (lightweight, thin, durable [thrown around in backpack etc.], long battery life)
-Price (can be lost/stolen/broken without too much headache)
-Lifespan (plan to use this for 2-5 years, doesn't have to be A-Grade, but would prefer at least B/B+ & some future proofing)


Other models I've looked at:
-Samsung (misc. N150 etc. good exp. in past)
-Acer Aspire
-Asus EEE (had bad exp. in past)
-HP Mini
-Dell Mini
-Toshiba Mini (hate Toshiba b/c of past exp.)

Thanks guys. I plan on looking at what's available used, then plugging specs into CPUbenchmark & picking based on price. If anyone could tell me what the minimum is I should settle for I'd appreciate it. This is just a portable computer for me, doesn't need to play games etc. My desktop is a home built i5 750 w/ 4GB ram and it is fine for my daily needs (thanks toms!)

 

[ratedk]

I've resold about 2 dozen of the Acer Aspire Ones retail and they're pretty good machines. It all depends on the level of abuse they received from the previous owners. The Intel Atom processor is stable - just make sure you get a dual core one since they only run 1.6 GHz - which makes them great on battery usage as well. You can get an extended life battery that will keep it running 6+ hours, but it will add some bulk to the unit (but not to bad considering).

This is pretty much true with any of the netbooks, same power/processor. The Eee Pc's use a much smaller power connection and are more likely to break. The Aspire One uses the same connector as a full size Acer which makes it more durable in comparison.

 

[whynottoday]

Wow thanks, pretty much the perfect answer. Can you (or anyone else) shed some light on the following:
-Screen size- I *think* there are two different sized Aspire One models (a ~10" and a 11.6") I'm guessing there are many variants of each of these so I'll just do some research on whatever I find. Just wondering if one was notoriously better/worse.
-SSD- I'm interested in throwing in a cheap ~40gb drive. Worth it? (regarding speed & battery life)

 

[ratedk]

10.1" & 11.6" On such a small screen the resolution on the 11.6" is 1366 x 768. The 10.1" is 1024x768. Not much difference, but bigger is better I suppose.

In regards to the SSD, It's 6 one way - half a dozen of the other. If you do, there's some settings to tweek:

http/www.tomshardware.com/forum/298629-32-what-recommended-settings-win7
The 'Best Solution' has a link to more detail.