Acer Aspire One AO722-0828

Acer Aspire One AO722-0828

In a market dominated by tablet PCs, netbooks still have a presence. And with AMD's release of its Fusion APUs, netbooks have gained some oomph in terms of processing power. The Acer Aspire One AO722-0828 ($349.99 list at Costco) features a Fusion APU and rivals Intel's Atom processors in performance. With a huge 500GB hard drive, HDMI port, and 4GB of memory, this netbook is loaded. However, it suffers from a relatively short battery life that may hinder users on the go. The AO722-0828 has an Espresso Black chassis, with a glossy lid that features a ripple design. The system measures one inch thick only because it lacks an optical drive, whereas the Panasonic Toughbook CF-S10 ($2,449 list, 3.5 stars) measures 1.5-inch thick, due to the DVD-RW drive underneath the right palm rest. But the Panasonic CS10 manages to keep its weight down (2.96 pounds). The Aspire One AO722-0828 weighs 2.98 pounds, which still puts it on the lighter side for 11-inch netbooks: The HP Pavilion dm1z ($449 direct, 4.5 stars) weighs 3.4 pounds and the Lenovo IdeaPad S205 ($579.99 direct, 3.5) weighs 3.1 pounds.