Acer Aspire One: Winning Alternative to a Desktop

Acer Aspire One AOA150-1890 Notebook PC - Intel Atom Processor N270 1.60GHz, 802.11bg Wireless, 1GB DDR2, 120GB HDD, 8.9" WSVGA, Integrated Webcam, Windows XP Home (Seashell White) LU.S040: "Aspire One offers a familiar Windows XP Home operating system that clearly organizes everything needed to surf the Internet, work or simply have fun. Users have the one-time choice of a French or English OS language upon initial start-up. This small but smart laptop comes with built-in 802.11b/g WiFi for easy access to available wireless networks. The Acer Aspire One has an 8.9-inch CrystalBrite display with a resolution of 1024x600 pixels"

This is a winner system!

Okay, to migrate from a Desktop to this...

• A USB Hub (or this one, for convenience)
  
• USB 3.5" Hard Disk Enclosure(s) (for each of your current hard disks)
• USB 5.25" Enclosure(s) for your old (or a new) CD-ROM/DVD Drive
• You need a USB Connected Printer, or a USB-to-Parallel adaptor
• A power bar or multi-headed plug to power all of the devices at once, neatly

You will connect the USB Hub to your laptop with a single USB cable, then all other devices to the hub. the hub is powered and should be on the same circuit as your Hard Disks and your Laptop. Do NOT turn off the hard disks or this hub while your laptop is using the drives.

I recommend the following as a best practise:

• Acronis TrueImage (www) using a frequent, scheduled backup.
  
• An Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) (I recommend APC)
• A Router to isolate you from the Internet better (I have been happy with NetGear)