Acer Aspire 1410: Conclusion

The Acer Aspire 1410 is a great alternative to the netbook class of devices. With its single-core ultra low voltage processor, it runs single threaded applications well and offers far better performance than any Atom-based (non-ION) netbook. Add to this the higher resolution screen, Windows 7 Home Premium, double the memory, and it starts to look a lot more appetizing than a netbook for just $60 more.

Take, for example, the ASUS Eee PC 1001p, our favorite current netbook. The Acer is on a different level entirely when it comes to performance, in both computationally and graphically intense tasks. Plus, the all-important benchmark of smooth 1080p video playback is pretty much accomplished here. (HD Flash, on the other hand…not so much.) The Acer gets knocked for its lack of multithreaded processing, but that doesn’t make any difference in basic usage, and as a laptop to use for standard tasks, the SU3500 offers a much smoother and less painful experience than the Atom N450. Typing comes nicer, with the full sized keyboard and the overall Windows experience is more pleasant because of the upgrade to Home Premium and the shininess of Aero Glass.

The screen could be a debatable point—the AS1410 has a higher resolution (and thus far less limiting) screen, whereas the Eee 1001p has a far higher quality panel that offers much better contrast ratios and a matte finish. Honestly, while I love the way the 1001p display looks, I prefer the openness and more usable resolution of the 1410. Windows was built for at least 768 vertical pixels, and in a netbook, you really miss that extra real estate. For those that prefer numbers, a 1366x768 panel offers a whopping 70% more pixels than your standard 10.1" 1024x600 netbook display.

The 1410 loses out in a couple of places: styling is not that great, and neither is build quality. The Acer also has a slightly larger footprint and weighs a bit more, though the 0.3 lb (10%) weight increase doesn’t make any difference when thrown in a backpack or carrying case. But the real problem is battery life. It gets hammered on the battery life front, with runtimes down 35% from the ASUS. However, with 6-7 hours of battery life still on tap, it’s still a fairly long running laptop—just not up to the netbook standards or the top of the CULV class.

If you can live with the hit on battery life, there are many, many reasons to spring for an Acer 1410 or a similarly low priced CULV ultraportable notebook, even with a single-core processor. They offer adequate performance, embarrass the Atom, and come equipped with some nice features that most netbooks leave on the wayside to reduce cost as much as possible.

Acer Aspire 1410: Battery Life
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  • barich - Thursday, May 6, 2010 - link

    I have the 1410 with the dual-core Celeron SU2300. At $450, it's only $50 more than the reviewed single-core unit, and it's clocked at the same speed as the SU7300 in the 1810T. The only differentiating factor in the CPU is that it has less cache. I suspect that it performs much closer to the 1810T than the 1410 in this review. I don't think it can be beat for performance for the money considering the size.
  • Roland00 - Thursday, May 6, 2010 - link

    Unfortunately the 1410 with the su2300 seem to have disapeared from the market. A quick google search shows only 5 places carry them new, 2 of them have it on backorder and the other 3 are small online stores I have never seen before and don't have much google ratings and thus I wouldn't trust.

    Now the 1410 with the su2300 is an awesome laptop. I have the blue version with 160gb hard drive. Got it for $349+8.25% sales tax a couple of months ago.
  • JarredWalton - Thursday, May 6, 2010 - link

    Don't forget that the Gateway EC14 is pretty much the same thing as the Acer 1410:
    http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtool...

    SU2300 is a 1.2GHz chip, so SU4100/SU7300 as 100MHz faster and have 2x to 3x the L2 cache, but overall the SU2300 is an interesting option. When you could find those laptops for under $400, it was even more interesting.
  • xeopherith - Friday, May 7, 2010 - link

    I just bought a nice little Asus 1201T because of this article. I was waiting for a netbook with a decent resolution and affordable price before buying. Newegg has them for 369 today.
  • AkumaX - Saturday, May 8, 2010 - link

    its too bad AT didn't have this article when the AS1410 came out in oct/nov 09 with the SU2300 (celeron) part for around $400 (forget about the celeron 743...). the differences between the SU2300 and SU3500:

    SU2300 vs SU3500
    1.2ghz ---- 1.4ghz
    1MB L2 --- 3MB L2
    10w -------- 5.5w
    2 CPUs --- 1 CPU

    they're still both based on the Penryn arch.

    which one do you think's better ;)
  • Probedude - Sunday, October 3, 2010 - link

    I have the SU2300 version of this laptop. Since day one it will discharge the battery 5% per day when turned completely off. Tried everything, even sent it in for repair only to be told 'it's normal.'

    I see Acer just came out with a bios in the last couple of weeks that may fix the problem. 2 users have already said it has worked for them. I'm waiting until tomorrow to check mine.

    Anyways, if you too have battery drain problems with this laptop when off, update the bios and see if it fixes the problem for you.

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