Acer Aspire One 532h reviewed – good value for money

Acer’s first Pine Trail netbook, the Aspire One 532h has seen its first review from Engadget. The 10.1-inch (1024 x 600) AO532h has pretty standard specs, for this new Pine Trail generation. You’ll get a 1.66GHz N450 Atom processor, 1GB RAM, a 160GB HDD and Windows 7 Starter. You’ll also get a 6-cell battery for a bargain-busting $299.

You don’t get anything more than a plastic chassis for that kind of money, but thankfully it doesn’t feel any cheaper than its rivals. It’s also reasonably lightweight at 2.4lbs and just an inch thick, thinner than both the Asus Eee PC 1005PE and MSI Wind U135. The 532h comes with a chiclet keyboard, although it isn’t the best implementation with small spacing between keys and shallow travel. The palm rest-integrated touchpad is a bit too “grippy” although it is multi-touch enabled.

The 6-cell 5600mAh battery lasted for 6 hours and 31 minutes (Engadget were testing a higher specced SKU, the $299 model comes with a 6-cell 440mAh battery). Overall, they feel it should sell well, even it is for its value pricing. They still recommend the Asus Eee PC 1005PE for the superb battery life if you can afford the extra $80.

Update: Laptop Mag also have their review up where they scored it four stars. In a gist, the design, battery life and value make it one to keep an eye on.