The Aspire One is also fairly well constructed. The hard, candy-colored exterior (it comes in a number of hues; my favorite: Sapphire Blue) is fairly polished and feels solid to the touch--certainly tough enough to withstand being tossed in your bag. And a huge, well-secured bezel keeps the 8.9-inch, 1024-by-600-pixel display in place. The screen itself, though, is a little too glossy. Even with the brightness cranked up, you might find it tough to see outside. Then again, many full-priced, full-featured notebooks stumble with the same problem.

Now, when I think of the average netbook (as some people call this class of mini-notebook)--certainly ones in the $400 price range--the word that comes to mind is "compromise." You get Linpus Linux Lite, not Windows XP. You get OpenOffice.org instead of Microsoft Office. You get an 8GB hard drive and 512MB of RAM. It just doesn't sound like a great deal.

Then I used it. I was genuinely surprised at the relatively smooth sailing that comes with the OpenOffice.org suite (after the 10-second load time for OOO 2.3). I didn't mind the locked-down launch page for the Aspire One. All the basic tasks I'd likely throw at the machine were all right in front of me, on screen. Firefox 2 is the default browser--no surprise there. The built-in messenger client supports AIM, MSN Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, and Google Talk accounts. A serviceable RSS reader is built in as well. Wi-Fi connectivity isn't an issue on this little laptop, either. A quick toggle flick, and it's connecting without a hitch.

Performance aside, you'll need some more room to grow. Aside from the standard-issue USB ports, ethernet jack, and VGA out, the Aspire One comes with two storage card slots. Why two? One is tasked for "storage expansion"--pop in an SD card, and the mini-note will format the flash storage to serve as extra internal hard-drive space. The other slot serves the usual purpose: for files you want to transfer from a digital camera or other device you have on hand.

If you're not sold on the storage space--or on Linux, for that matter--Acer will also offer a slightly pricier, XP-loaded flavor of the Aspire One (though the company hasn't revealed exact pricing, expect this version to cost around $600 sometime this fall). It'll have an 80GB hard disk and 1GB of RAM.

Just think of the Ocean or a lavender field. It will immediately make you feel better. This is the power of colour. The Aspire One Happy comes in four delicious colours that fill your life with excitement and joy: Candy Pink, Lavender Purple, Lime Green and Hawaii Blue. Colours that make you think of summer all year round. Colours that make your life shiny. Choose your colour of joy.

Keep in touch with your social networks, finish your school projects while you’re on the bus, check your e-mails or surf the net. With 8 hours of battery power life, integrated Wi-fi connection, you can get online in just few clicks and stay connected all day long. You can also share photos and music in a matter of seconds via Bluetooth®. Need more? Then can chat face-to-face with your friends with the Acer Crystal Eye webcam and built-in microphone.

You Can Download Aspire One Happy Manual Owners Guide Click Here