eMachines EMD350 Netbook Review

The eMachines EMD350 is the cheapest 10-inch Intel Atom N450 with a 6-cell battery netbook coming from a big-name manufacturer in the Philippines. It's basically a rebadged Acer 532H and continues the Acer practice of selling virtually identical netbooks under its four brands: Acer, Gateway, eMachines and Packard Bell, with the only differences being slight changes in design.

Specifications

OS: Windows 7 Starter

Processor: Intel Atom N450 (1.6 GHz)

LCD: 10.1" LED LCD (1024x600)

Memory: 1GB DDR2-800 Memory (Kingston)

Storage: 160GB HDD 5400 rpm (Hitachi)

Video: Intel GMA 3150

Audio: Realtek High Definition Audio

Card Reader: 2-in-1 card reader

LAN: 10/100 Mbps

WLAN: 802.11b/g/n (Atheros AR5B95)

Bluetooth: Bluetooth 3.0

Webcam: eMachines webcam with microphone (640x480)

Battery: 6-cell Li-ion battery (4400 mAh)

Ports: 1x RJ-45, 1x D-SUB (VGA), 2x USB 2.0, 1x Microphone jack, 1x Headphone jack

Design

The differences between the Acer 532H and the eMachines EMD350 is mainly in design. The Acer's lid has a glossy design including the screen bezel and the palm rest, thus making it easily susceptible to fingerprints. Meanwhile, the eMachines has an all-matte design besides the glossy LCD screen which it shares with the Acer. The matte design may look plain to some, but for me it looks more professional than a glossy screen and is much easier to keep clean.

Glossy LCD screens are said to be better than matte screens indoors. However, outdoors it is a totally different story as you would have a hard time seeing what's happening on the screen due to the reflective nature of the glossy screen.

Keyboard

The EMD350 shares the same keyboard as the rest of the Acer lineup. This is Acer's version of the chiclet keyboard now popular in many notebooks. While better than the old keyboard design, the ASUS Eee 1005PE and Toshiba NB305 have superior chiclet keyboards. However, it is by no means unusable, its just worth mentioning that those two netbooks offer better keyboards.

Touchpad

The touchpad is a Synaptics Multi-touch and is much wider compared to previous Acer/eMachines touchpads. In my opinion, it is better than the pimple-style touchpad of the ASUS 1005PE. They both share a single rocker button for left and right click, which is inferior to the dual-button layout of the Toshiba NB305.

Internal Components

Inside, you'll find the usual Intel Atom N450 running at 1.6 GHz which does not offer much in terms of improvement in performance compared to the past two generations of Intel Atom processors. The graphics is now the Intel GMA 3150, which is an improved version of the Intel GMA 950, but still pales in comparison to other integrated graphics chipsets which offer hardware video acceleration for improved Flash and HD video playback. There is a single slot of RAM occupied by 1GB running at 800MHz, it is upgradeable to 2GB but you'll have to buy a 2GB stick because of the lack of a second RAM slot. The hard drive is only 160 GB, but it is enough if this will only be your second computer, otherwise consider upgrading it.

Operating System

The model I purchased comes with Windows 7 Starter. In terms of functionality, Windows 7 Starter is comparable to the higher versions of Windows 7 and there is no limit on how many applications you can have running at the same time. However, if you've gotten used to the Aero effects available in the higher-priced editions of Windows 7, you might not be too happy about Windows 7 Starter since it forgoes these Aero features such as Taskbar Previews, Aero Peek, Aero Snap and transparency. You're also unable to change the wallpaper although there are many downloadable tools to circumvent this. Jumplists are still here as well as Libraries. Overall, if you're unconcerned about how looks, Windows 7 Starter should not be any problem for you as it offers all of the basic functionality of Windows.

Bundled Software

The eMachines comes pre-installed with a few applications, most of which are pretty useful such as Google Toolbar, Norton Internet Security, Microsoft Works, Microsoft Office 2007 Trial, Windows Live Essentials, Skype, eMachines Games and eMachines Recovery to create restore discs which aren't included in the box.

PROS

• Non-glossy matte lid, palm rest and body
• Slim and professional design
• Cheapest 6-cell Atom N450 Netbook among known brands
• 6-cell battery at 4400mAh which may last up to 8 hours
• Battery only bulges a little unlike the older EMD250
• Large touchpad, non-stiff button
• Bluetooth and WiFi-N
• Easy access panel for hard drive upgrade, unlike ASUS 1005P
• EMD350 is basically a rebadget version of the Acer 532H except for one less USB port and different branding
• eMachines is the value brand of Acer so you can expect the same great Acer Customer Support and Warranty Service.

CONS

• Only two USB ports and they're even beside each other
• No option to buy without the included Windows 7 Starter
• Weaker battery than top models of ASUS EEE 1005P and Acer 532H which has 5800mAh
• ASUS EEE 1005P and Toshiba NB305 chiclet keyboard is nicer
• Not as well-known as an ASUS, Toshiba or Acer, but who cares
• Got it for 15,995 Philippine Pesos or just about $349 U.S. Dollar which is expensive compared to its price in other countries.
• I couldn't wait and got the version with Windows 7 which is 2,000 pesos more expensive than the one without an OS but hasn't been released yet