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@ 2011/02/17AMD's Ontario APU has all the makings of an Atom killer. We take a look at Acer's Aspire One 522 netbook to see whether this CPU/GPU hybrid, coupled with a 720p display and $330 price tag, can achieve netbook nirvana.
At least the Starter version of Windows is perfectly usable with the default configuration, even with only 747MB of RAM accessible to the OS. Like most netbooks, the system is fast enough to get things done but noticeably less responsive than budget ultraportables with more potent processors. Applications take a second to load, and multi-tabbed browsing with Flash-heavy sites is a little sluggish. Those tabs will quickly eat through the available system memory if you're not careful. The experience feels similar to using a dual-core Atom, which is Ontario's primary competition.
At least the Starter version of Windows is perfectly usable with the default configuration, even with only 747MB of RAM accessible to the OS. Like most netbooks, the system is fast enough to get things done but noticeably less responsive than budget ultraportables with more potent processors. Applications take a second to load, and multi-tabbed browsing with Flash-heavy sites is a little sluggish. Those tabs will quickly eat through the available system memory if you're not careful. The experience feels similar to using a dual-core Atom, which is Ontario's primary competition.
