Acer launches Aspire One Cloudbook laptops for $170 and up

1. It seems … ?

   https://us-store.acer.com/aspire-one-ao1-131-c9pm-cloudbook

   But I am looking for ASUS Eeebook E202 🙂

2. So combine 16 GB of storage with an operating system with is supposed to receive continuous updates that are reportedly difficult to turn off. How long till the hard drive is completely full with just the OS and the system is unusable? 32 GB should be the minimum and 64 GB should be optional.

   1. Remains to be seen, the updates may just replace previous updates… It’s not the exact same system as before and there is more free space to start with as the system needs about 6GB less space than W8 did, even with WIMBoot compression… So we’ll see but you can usually delete files that you know you’re not going to need, like for undoing a update you know will be permanent, etc.

      It’ll be at least easier than maintaining the previous W8 16GB, with WIMBoot, and 32GB devices with normal installs.

      But yeah, maybe in another year we’ll see the same devices with at least 64GB, especially as the cheaper storage options become more wide spread/available…

3. I’d rather wait for Asus E202 and E403SA

4. It is irresponsible to sell a Windows machine with only 16GB of storage. I understand why they are calling it a “cloud book”, they expect you to store all your stuff in the cloud and maybe use web apps for most of your programs. 16 GB of storage still seems way too small.

   1. And for the price one might as well get a chromebook for less than $170. I think I saw some on Ebay, last years models in the $150s

      1. Well, these are intended to compete directly with Chromebooks… but if looking on eBay then you can find full laptops for cheap too… What matters is the price you can get a new unit for, not second hand or refurbished as they don’t reflect market value.

         Anyway, I should probably point out W10 requires less space than W8 did… So, unlike those sub $99 W8 tablets with 16GB of storage. A W10 Cloud Book needs less than 10GB for what the W8 required the 16GB for…

         Still limiting but not as crippling and more manageable than you may be giving it credit for… While W10 also has the advantage that you can choose to run apps from the microSD card, which W8 really didn’t allow.

         Anyway, for less than $200 it’ll likely appeal to at least some people who rather not pay for a fuller system option and in many ways this price range still caters to the previous netbook users who really don’t have many other choices to fill that former niche market.

5. Battery life is terrible.

6. Having just set up a Win10 machine for some relatives I find my love of ChromeOS very much reaffirmed.
   I’m very surprised after being able to read nothing about Google for the past couple years without some reference to them being ‘creepy’ or ‘knowing even more about you’ that there is almost nothing in the tech press about the massive data grab which is Windows10.
   I would think the workers in the US embassy in Moscow have historically enjoyed more privacy and freedom from being watched than somebody using the default setup of Windows10.

   1. Having just set up windows 10, I find my love of windows reaffirmed.

      There were articles in the mainstream media a few days ago scaremongering how windows was now reading everyone’s data, so yes it got that criticism same as Google. And it’s nothing different to what Google have been doing for years.

      1. It is different. I think Microsoft got rid of its ad business recently as I recall. So what are they doing with my data exactly? It’s obviously not just for tuning their services. And who are their ‘trusted partners’. It’s not fear mongering when their TOS gives them rights to look at everything on my box – explicitly including private folder and files if they ‘have a good faith reason to’.
         Google has an ad business, they sell against profiles. Outside companies nor ‘trusted partners’ ever see ‘my’ data connected to me. They’ve been clear about that. They’ve done it for years.
         If Microsoft wants my data then they are going to be one whole hell of a lot more clear about what they do with the data and what anyone else has a chance to do with it, including their ‘trusted partners’.
         As for the rest of Windows large parts are a mess. It is clear, as some watchers have pointed out, that they launched early and unfinished to make the ‘back to school’ market.
         My ‘Mail’ app is crashy as hell. It is also the only mail app provided and the defacto system default – but doesn’t work with mapi:send to. So you can’t send a file to an e-mail recipient nor directly send the Snipping Tool or any number of other programs. You just get an error that there is no default mail client. That seems odd because when you look Windows assures you there is a default mail client and everything is fine.
         The settings are all over the place. Here, there, everywhere…
         The login screen, using multiple accounts, makes you first select the user in the lower left then jaunt all the way back to center screen to hit the ‘login’ button. That’s amazing.
         Xfce is way ahead of Microsoft on UI and UX at this point.

         1. Well, part of the data does go into the actual services… Namely Cortana, which does need to know your habits, etc to better optimize itself to your needs, learn to respond more accurately to you, etc.

            While the ad business is still there, what made you think they got rid of it?

            There’s still ads in apps, the whole App Store, Bing, etc…

            A lot of the other reasons are because MS is moving most of its products to services, like Office 365, etc. and are using user feedback from actual usage to help determine whether they are designing their products efficiently or not…

            Also, some of this is hold over from the fact they’re continuing the Insider program… Meaning MS is still using select volunteer users as Beta Testers and the feedback means the user doesn’t have to be a tech expert to provide detailed feedback to them. So the same agreement may cover both type of users…

            It actually remains to be seen if they’ll be any real potential abuse of privacy but that’s what people are worried about and for now it’s more worry than anything concrete but we’ll see…

            It’s kinda funny considering how many people previously complained about MS not listening to them and now they are :-p

            But this means issues like the remaining UI problems and problem apps will likely get addressed pretty soon…

            But you can do things like not log in with a MS account, and you can change many of the defaults, which likely means a 3rd party app will be available eventually to do all of that automatically sooner or later…

7. Cloudbook 11″ 16GB and 32GB have the same price.
   Why would someone buy the 16GB version?

   1. Sorry that was a typo. The 32GB model is actually $20 more.

8. I’d rather buy the Asus Eeebook X205TA, cheaper, more memory and 12h battery

   1. And it is thinner and slightly lighter.

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