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Just short of the mark
Was waiting for this unit and snapped it up when on sale for $399.000 CAD. Only had it a week but so far a couple of issues have given me second thoughts about keeping it.

No Bluetooth means having to use up a USB port with a dongle that then often likes to interfere with other USB devices and/or their drivers.

What frustrates me is the HDMI output. If I choose 1280X720 for my TV display, the resultant window on the Samsung 42" TV is banded with about 1/2" on all sides. Trying to adjust up or down a bit from this setting does not solve the problem. The same settings from my HP Pavillion notebook result in no banding, so not sure why this unit does this.

I have not gotten used to the layout of the keyboard yet, the enter key in particular I find frustrating.

Update: The letterboxing issue was resolved by finally tracking it down to the underscan settings. This gave me a chance to try the Acer support system, which is about the worst I've encountered. The first reply asked me for my serial number etc., the second told me no support unless I registered, the third gave me canned instructions on how to hook a computer to a TV. I kept trying, so the fourth offered me support via phone for a fee. Finally the fifth response had a link which outlined how to change the underscan settings in the Catalyst Control Center. I sent them a reply telling them that solved the problem, and they sent me another offer suggesting I try their paid support. However, now that I was happily using it to watch media on the TV, I noticed it would stutter when playing back 720P mkv files (tried more than one file, no other apps running, in both Media Center and Media Player after installing the correct codecs). Then when I saw it do it again playing a standard definition AVI file, the decision was made to take it back. I also noticed that battery life seemed to fall well short of 4 hours if you were not being conservative in your settings, but I went from finding the keyboard layout annoying to down right hateful, specifically the odd minimized design of the 'enter' key and the left 'shift' buttons was something I could just not adapt to.

So this machine would not be to bad if you do not need the following:
- Using it to view HD media files without noticable intermittent stutter.
- Using it for Satellite navigation because no Bluetooth to connect to your BT GPS receiver.
- Using it to touch type, due to odd keyboard layout (this alone would now cause me to return it as I can't seem to adapt).
- Suppport unless you're prepared to pay.

If you do consider purchasing this model be sure to test drive the keyboard first. Otherwise you may want to wait and see what the new entery level i3 and i5 based models are like.

Excellent Portability - Good Battery Life!!
I was looking for portability so I could read e-mails, surf the web, read articles, etc. while hanging around the house. This "baby" is it!! Great screen size and definition. Battery life is approximately 5 hours, works for me.

Mesh texture should be on all netbooks!
I also have an Acer Timeline 11.6 (T1810) that has a smooth, gloss cover surface. Got the one being rated here for my mom... Sure wish mine had the same cover texture! No finger prints show on her's, while mine's always needing to be wiped down!

Am also surprised that they made unique batteries for her's compared to mine - same basic shape and attachment method, but they are "just" different enough to not be compatible. Too bad, mine is an 8hr battery, her's is a 4hr! Planned on buying a spare battery like mine for her's - but I guess not!

Otherwise, it's a great little netbook with a nice bright screen. Price was main reason for choosing this for her rather than getting her a twin of mine (processor, ram, HD size, and battery life are main differences). She's quite happy with it, but she doesn't multi-task like I do with mine.

Good laptop - but comes with Windows 7!
OK, here is the deal - this is a great laptop, the size is good, the keyboard is one of the best I uses, it's light, I can get 5 hours of battery out of it. HOWEVER - it comes with WINDOWS 7.

Windows 7 is UNSTABLE. I use it on two computers, one of them is a massive 16 gig RAM icore7 and it is not stable even on that computer!

I use this netbook only for emails, word processing and surfing the web, yet still the computer "hangs" there for a few seconds every now and again. Skype is problematic, I even have problems with Internet Explorer. Firefox unstable, Thunderbird is unstable... So this is a good laptop but as soon as you receive it downgrade it to Windows XP!

It is too late for me because I already have all my stuff here and I don't want to go over it again... but if you are just getting it, DOWNGRADE!

HERE, 88 Reviews about how JUNK Windows 7 is:

http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Windows-Home-Premium-Upgrade/product-reviews/B002DHLUWK/ref=cm_cr_pr_hist_1?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0&filterBy=addOneStar

25 more:

http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Windows-7-Home-Premium/product-reviews/B002DHGMK0/ref=cm_cr_pr_hist_1?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0&filterBy=addOneStar

Maybe if you are slower than Windows 7 and you keep only one window open at a time and only use one software at a time it doesn't make problems for you, but if you are using it for anything more than that, then it sucks.

OK just to shut people up, I will copy here what people are saying about Windows 7:

Cons:
This should be Windows Vista Service Pack 3 not a new operating system. This was a cheap ploy buy Microsoft. Instead of fixing their broken operating system they charge you full price for the fixes to it.

This is not at all a new operating system. 7 still demands more memory and processor power than Windows XP did. It still has the annoying pop ups to approve all sorts of actions (though not quite as many as Vista they are still there).

Home Group is just more useless interfacing loaded on top of a network which actually causes more problems than it resolves. File sharing is more complex and you have to not only set up the net work like on Vista but now you have to set up Home Group as well for the exact same functions you had in the old system.

Driver updates are not all out yet which is surprising considering this is basically Vista, and the action message center that now pops up with frequent error messages fails to correct most of them.

****

I purchased this software because the Windows XP that I was running was contaminated even though I had Norton 360. However, when I ran the compatability check before installing Windows 7, I found that neither of my printers would work, programs that I had would not work and everything had to be changed into a new format. I wasn't about to buy new printers, find alternate programs and redo all the files so I gave it away (Windows 7) and reloaded Windows XP. It works great and I'll just cruise along with it until I can no longer use it. Be sure you run the compatability program BEFORE you purchae Windows 7!

*********

I purchased a new computer from Amazon a few weeks ago.

The computer has been a reasonably pleasant experience, except for the fact that it came equipped with Windows 7. I am a long time user of computers, which means that I have a library of software and files that I need to have accessable when I travel.

Unfortunately, very few of my old workhorse programs--non microsoft products all--work in the new Windows environment. Several admittedly ancient programs cannot be loaded and other more recent ones crash more than half the time that I try to run them--for example, a post 2000-version of Quatropro crashs most times I try to access it (on which I have a series of very useful data bases).

******

I use it with my work PC. Windows explorer crashes all the time, problem with running SQL server 2005, and SLOW. I actually prefer running Vista - UI is annoying, but is much more stable running applications. It is a real productivity killer for IT professionals. Also comes with Internet Explorer 8 which crashes all the time. Must reboot the computer every morning due to some security patch download - which takes forever to shutdown & install.

*****

I usually do not write reviews but I had to on this one. I bought this to do a complete clean install on a hard drive that had been partitioned properly and formatted NTFS to install windows. I have tried to install this over a dozen times and it gets everything up until "completing installation" then it just stops and shuts down my computer.

****

I thought maybe this time Microsoft was going to fix everything wrong with its previous versions of windows.
But no. I have had it for a week now and with the initial excitement of the new look and feel gone,
it's turning out to to be the same crap as all other versions. It takes long to load -- longer than XP.
If MS says otherwise they are LYING. After it installs security updates, whatever the hell - it doesn't matter
because Windows is never secure no matter how many patches you install, it restarts Windows several times without
my permission. And after it comes up following the nth reboot, it spends a good 3 to 5 min "reconfiguring windows" while I sit
staring at the screen. And now I discovered that my Nikon coolscan scanner wont work with the Vista drivers. Nikon hasn't
released 7 drivers yet but I thought Vista drivers should have been upward compatible with 7. Apparently not.

*****

Just freshly installed Win 7. Accidentally installed some software utilities from my computer manufacturer that were for Win Vista 32. Ran system restore to fix and it FAILED!!! Right out of the box and freshly installed a critical feature of the Windows operating system doesn't work. Looks like Microsoft is still producing the same unreliable programs as always. My advice, continuing using Win XP and wait a year to see if they fix this one because you know its gonna have some serious problems coming if this is already an issue.

*****

Attention: Windows 7 will not let you open windows or links in Internet Explorer 8. I repeat, Windows 7 WILL NOT not let you download anything from a link, like a program, or open a new window, like to send an email. MicroSoft has posted a fix-it solution on their support website, but it does not work. I repeat IT DOES NOT WORK.

****

I was kind of shocked by how completely unimpressive this is. Not to mention buggy and bad.
I could make clever lists to note point by point how terrible it is, but only if I had hours to waste, which I don't.
This is what finally through me over the edge.

*****

SHOULD I CONTINUE?

Acer Aspire AO721-3574 11.6-Inch Netbook
Pro:
- Very light and portable
- Reasonably well built (plastic, but not poorly made)
- Excellent graphics performance for the size/cost
- Good screen resolution for a small notebook
- Keyboard is full sized and has a decent layout
Contra:
- Acer WEB site specified it as dual core CPU but NOT.