This new Acer Aspire One 721 is a pretty interesting unit. It sits between the Aspire One 751 running the low-power Atom Z520 and the Timeline 1801tz running a dual-core Pentium ULV. Check our full review after the jump.
The Aspire One 721 also has one of the first units to run the new AMD Athlon II Neo K125 processor running at 1.7GHz.
The netbook has this nice mesh-textured finish on the lid cover which is a slight departure from the usual dark glossy ones of the previous 11.6-inchers of Acer.
At under an inch thick, this ultraportable is one of the slimmest and lightest we’ve reviewed in its category. It’s got a full-sized keyboard and a brushed-metal finish on the palm-rest area.
The trackpad area is a bit small and is only separated from the palm-rest by a thin protruding line. The friction from that brushed metal finish on the trackpad area is a bit uncomfortable though (they should have done a polished finish like in the Timeline 1801tz).
The 11.6″ display has glossy finish but is bright and crisp. However, it is also prone to glare in the outdoors or against bright light sources.
With an on-board graphics chip powered by an ATI Radeon HD 4225, the system can do some decent gaming performance (at low resolution). The built-in HDMI is an added bonus if you want to play HD videos and output it to a larger TV or monitor.
Performance is above average when compared to your normal netbooks, thanks to the CPU and GPU combo paired with a 2GB DDR3 RAM. It can even play YouTube HD @ 720p effortlessly although it becomes choppy at 1080p.
The Aspire One 721 sports a single-core AMD Athlon II Neo running a clock speed of 1.7GHz. Windows Experience Index gives it a base score of 3.4 taken from the graphics card but gets a nice 3.7 sub-score for the CPU. This puts the Athlon II Neo way better then previous Neo MV40 (WEI: 3.1) and slightly edging over the Athlon X2 L310 (WEI: 3.6).
See more benchmarks (Passmark) of the AO721 over at the PC Labs.
Battery life isn’t as impressive as the other Aspire Ones but a median time of around 4 hours on a single charge (based on BatteryBar) isn’t bad at all considering you get a more powerful CPU and graphics combo.
Besides, the 6-cell battery is only rated at 4400mAh. It would have performed better if it were in the 5600mAh range.
Acer Aspire One 721
11.6″ display @ 1366×768 pixels
AMD Athlon II Neo K125 @ 1.7GHz
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4225 w/ 336MB RAM
2GB DDR3 RAM (max 4GB)
250GB HDD
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
3 USB 2.0 ports
HDMI port
Windows 7 Home Basic 64bit
The Aspire One 721 is selling in stores for a suggested retail price of Php24,900 — almost the price of a regular netbook but a performance of an ultraportable. It offers a compromise between system performance and battery life but at that price point, it’s a good alternative compared to the more expensive CULV notebooks.
oo naman po pede palitan os yan, pero kailangan may external dvd drive ka if your os will came from DVD or pede rin yong OS na nasa flash drive na bootable. yong sa akin napalitan ko ng windows ultimate .
thanks po! mga sir at madam, maybe you have an idea which wireless router would be best sa 3-storey bldg pero 2 computers lang nman ang gagamit.
I’ve seen other reviews with this laptop having an AMD Athlon II Neo k325(dual-core, 1.3Ghz), which I think is another version of this netbook and gives better performance. Another is the Acer AO1551. The difference with this one is that the AO1551 has an AMD Turion II Neo k625 @ 1.5GHz which is dual-core processor, with 4GB RAM and up to 640GB HDD. Is there any availabilties of these netbook?
i just bought this notebook…
@Joseph,
You can find the Acer Aspire 1551 locally at PC Gilmore for Php 24K.
Another option is the Gateway EC13N01i notebook. It’s basically the same as the Acer Aspire 1551 since Gateway and Acer are essentially the same brand. Although it is more expensive (I think) at around Php 26K more or less.
Both will be good alternatives to the existing Acer Aspire 1810TZ which is well known for its long battery life but so-so graphics.
All we need now is the Acer Aspire 1830T to be available locally and the 11-inch Acer lineup is complete
sleepygeepy
hey everybody! ‘di ba my 3g sim slot ang 721? does it works for our telecom? what software ung ginagamit for the 3g connection? does the 3g hardware supports GPS?
This would be great if it supports GPS, you can track/trace yourself where you are and even this unit will be stolen. hehe.
@sleepygeepy,
I’m from cebu. might as well have to wait for Acer AO1551 to arrive here in cebu. Anyway, does this laptop, Acer AO721 come with a AMD Athlon II Neo k325(dual-core, 1.3Ghz) processor in another version?
@Joseph
To be honest I’m not sure if the Acer AO721 will be configured with an AMD Athlon II Neo K325 or even the Turion II K625. Better wait and see
As an alternative, you might want to look at these notebooks as well:
- HP DM1z (Athlon II Neo K325 or Turion II K625)
- Lenovo ThinkPad X100e (Turion II K625)
They might be available in Cebu already.
Or you can also inquire at TipidPC and have the vendors there ship the notebook to you. I suggest you look for TipidPC member dm1179. He carries both HP DM1z, Lenovo ThinkPad X100e, Acer Aspire 1830T (and more). He can probably get the Acer Aspire 1551 model for you and have it shipped to Cebu via Air21.
Hope this helps
@Joseph
Here are some TipidPC links get you started…
http://www.tipidpc.com/viewitem.php?iid=6766273
http://www.tipidpc.com/viewitem.php?iid=6800043
http://www.tipidpc.com/viewitem.php?iid=6323298
@sleepygeepy
Thank you for your help. Now I can sit at peace
I’ve bought the bronze-colored one here in the Philippines and it’s amazing. It’s P25,500 (12 months 0% interest) in Gigahertz Computer at SM Cubao. Added an additional 2Gb DDR3 1333 RAM to my 2Gb DDR3 1066 unit since it’s running on 64-bit Windows Home Basic and can handle RAM sizes 4gb and beyond. I’ve tested it’s performance and here are my findings so far:
1. It can play any HD Video format (720p/1080p), except some AVI, smoothly. Probably because some AVI’s do not use H.264 encoding, which is the one supported by the on-board ATI HD4225 video acclerator.
2. It can run any last gen games smoothly. I’ve set the ATI antialiasing to none (you won’t need this since the screen of the netbook is too small to notice serious aliasing) and the rest of the settings to max. Games tested were as follows:
– Neverwinter Nights (very smooth gameplay at full settings and 1366×768 resolution)
– Knights of the Old Republic 1 & 2 (very smooth gameplay at full settings and 1024×768 resolution)
– Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (smooth gameplay at near full settings with all shadow enhancements cranked up and HDR turned on. Played at 1366×768 resolution)
– The Godfather (very smooth gameplay at full settings and 1280×720 resolution)
– Haven’t tried any FPS and racing sims yet, will update you as soon as I get my hands on some.
3. Video and audio output on the HDMI is stellar. I’ve tried connecting them to my 42″ LG and HD video playback is very smooth even at 1080p.
4. All 3 USB ports are powered, so you can connect any external laptop HDDs without trouble.
5. Battery performance is as follows (using lowest brightness settings and full ATI video acceleration) Note: This is with an additional 2Gb RAM installed to a total of 4Gb:
– Browsing with Wifi turned on (around 4.5 hrs)
– Watching HD videos (around 3 hrs max)
– Playing 3D-accelerated games (around 2 hrs max)
– Attaching an external USB powered HDD (battery drains 25% faster)
6. Had a hard time connecting the on-board Bluetooth 3.0 module to my headset but got to it eventually.
7. Doesn’t run too hot even when playing demanding games.
8. Screen brightness is good (too reflective though). Blacks are nice but not well defined at the highest brightness settings. Above average compared with competing netbooks of the same size.
9. Multimedia apps like Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Premiere can be ran without trouble.
10. Wifi signal is strong.
11. Sound from the built-in speakers is average, but the headphone output performs way better.
12. The webcam output is crisp. Tried it using Google video and it’s not bad at all, considering the receiver was watching me in full screen using a 32″ HDTV.
Powerful as the unit already is, I still wished it had the following:
- Longer battery life
- A SIM card slot for on-the-go mobile surfing
- Another 1.7Ghz core.
- Larger stock HDD, 250Gb is not enough nowadays.
- At least a stock 64-bit Windows 7 Home Premium to benefit from the Aero interface
- A scratch resistant screen and bezel, AOD721 is definitely a scratch-o-philiac especially on its bezel.
- A better set of speakers
- support for up to a total of 8Gb RAM
Twitter: thevictorlazo
says:
I’m planning to buy this one. But I’m still thinking where and how.
Ask lang po kung compare natin ito sa HP 311, Alin ang mas ok?
Siyempre Acer AAO 721 (This is just me though). To give some good points of comparison: Radeon 4200HD yung video accelerator nito. It can play Resident Evil 5 and COD Modern Warfare 2 at very decent frame rates. Yung 311 hindi niya kaya at all. Processor-wise, almost pantay sila ng 311. Mas malaki rin stock HDD space ng 721 at 250Gb.
Thanks Darthngan, and OS ng Acer 721 ay home basic hindi starter so pwede ko sya i-personalize. Maybe next or this week bili na ako.
There are 3 places I know where you can buy this. A store at SM San Lazaro (top level), XT Pro Computer at Viramall Greenhills, and Gigahertz at SM Cubao. Cheap RAM upgrades (2Gb DDR3 1333 or 1066) can be bought at PC Options, Gilmore. Make sure NOT to buy Kingston branded RAM, as some store recommend against it as suitable RAM upgrade for Acer Aspire notebooks and netbooks. Nagkakaproblem daw. Haven’t proven this yet pero I don’t wanna waste money just to try, hehehe. I bought an Apacer 2Gb 1333 module. The performance leap is quite noticeable.
I will buy in Gigahertz at SM Dasma, Php 22k for cash, maybe i will check if they have available RAM for upgrades, i will consider your advice. Thanks.
i want to knw what is the best for laptop pls. help jejjejejej
[...] new dual-core AMD-based ultraportable is the Acer Aspire 1551. It’s the fraternal twin of the Aspire 721 we reviewed a while back with an identical design and body. Check out our full review [...]
ano mas ok 1551 or 1721??
I’m planning to buy this netbook. It is being sold at CMK cellphones for just Php 22,000.
hi i got 1 for sale at 20k second hand in good condition,windows 7 ultimate activated.
mga sir ask q lng kasi nagtataka ako masmahal ang acer ao721 kaysa sa acer ao722 ang price kasi ng acer ao721 sa pccorner sa sm manila is 21,500 ang acer ao722 naman ay 20,500 dba mas mataas ang specs ng ao722 look nyo po eto specs
ao722
# 11.6 inch WXGA CineCrystal LED-backlit HD widescreen
# Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
# AMD C-50 Processor (dual-core, 1.0GHz)
# 2GB or 4GB DDR3 RAM
# 250GB or 500GB HDD (5400 rpm)
# ATI Radeon HD 6250 Graphics
ao721
# 11.6 inch WXGA CineCrystal LED-backlit HD widescreen display
# Windows 7 Home Premium
# AMD Athlon II Neo Processor K125 (1.70GHz)
# 2GB DDR3 RAM
# 250GB HDD (5400 rpm)
# ATI Radeon HD 4225 graphics
dba po? check it mga sir and please comment po kau salamat.
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