Hardware and Performance:
With looks, ergonomics, and software out of the way, all that's left is the One's hardware. Not that hardware isn't important, it's just that nearly the entire current generation of netbooks is based on the same platform, leaving little room for differentiation.

Acer waited for Intel to launch its Atom processor before bringing the One to market. The Aspire's Atom N270 CPU is interesting, offering goodies like SSE3 extensions and Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST), but dropping support for 64-bit EMT64 extensions. Despite being clocked at 1.6GHz and possessing Hyper-Threading, the N270 does not feel noticeably faster than the Celeron that powered Asus' first batch of Eee PCs, even though in some cases the Atom operates at three times the Celeron's clock speed.

Any performance issues with the One seem to be software rather than hardware problems. In situations where media files did not play, for example during a visit to Gametrailers.com to view some HD content, it seemed that the hardware was willing but the media player plug-in could not decide if it wanted to play the file. We've seen Linux-based netbook distributions struggle with streaming video before, and we haven't observed similar issues under Windows. Using the Linpus OS, I longed for XP because it simply works without fuss.

The One's keyboard and palm rests don't get too hot...

Although the device's warmest point is its left front corner (right front in the picture above)

One promise of Intel's new Atom platform is reduced heat. When running on battery power, system temperatures never exceeded a comfortable range. And when plugged in, the One's Atom CPU demonstrated its low 2.5W TDP and never got too hot despite the system's almost silent fan. Typing this on a supernova-hot MacBook, it seems silly to complain about the One's peak 115-degree Fahrenheit surface temperature. These temperatures were measured with an IR thermometer after streaming a standard definition Flash movie for one hour.

Acer specs the One with 512MB of system memory, which suits the included OS and its modest requirements. The operating system and bundled applications are efficient enough to make do with limited memory. If you plan to install Windows or a full Linux distribution, you might want to crack the One open and pop an extra gigabyte of RAM into the Aspire's spare SO-DIMM slot. The system only supports up to 1.5GB of memory, though.

While some netbook makers have moved to mechanical storage, the One's solid-state drive offers almost instant-on performance and reduces the number of moving parts in the system. Capacity is limited, though; the OS and bundled applications only leave about 6.4GB free to work with. Of course, additional memory can be added via either memory card slot, with the one on the left-hand side of the system neatly integrating the added capacity into the system volume. The OS does a good job of handling removal of cards installed in this slot, too; a notification pops up informing users of changes to storage capacity when cards are inserted or removed. That's pretty slick.

Likely thanks to its SSD, the One's boot and shutdown times are extremely fast by Windows standards. It takes just under twenty-two seconds to cold boot the system and just under fifteen seconds to completely shut it down.

The One's 802.11b/g Wi-Fi performance is good. Post-boot, it takes a little while to get connected, but the system holds a signal well. The sluggish connection time may be a software issue, and we've noted similarly slow wireless connection times with Asus' Linux-based Eee PC 1000 40G. There isn't much to say about the Ethernet port other than it works. It isn't clear whether Acer will support users who add their own WWAN card or whether that will officially be a factory-only option, but the prospect of a One with 3G connectivity is rather appealing.

Last, but not least, we come to the battery. Our test unit arrived with a 3-cell battery good for 11.1 Volts and 2200mAh/45Wh. You can expect to get about 2 hours 20 minutes away from an electrical socket with the Aspire while surfing, writing, and watching online videos over Wi-Fi—typical netbook stuff. Acer also offers a slightly more expensive model with a 6-cell battery and theoretically twice the battery life. Given the One's portability, we'd probably be more interested in the 6-cell version. It seems silly using a netbook tethered to a power cord.