Acer Aspire One – can it play movies??
- posted by Michael Walsh on June 24th, 2008


- (39)
It’s the first thing that came to mind when I first saw the Aspire One.
It’s a pretty smooth process, and all the necessary controls and features are there.
Sweet!
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hoodmulti wrote, on June 25th, 2008:
Great review, thanks.
What is the format and encoding of the movie?
Cheers.
Morris Lee wrote, on June 25th, 2008:
I would suspect that it should be a simple generic video player that allows codecs and plugins. I recall that this is running linux, only with acer’s own GUI, if possible, you might be able to install stuff like mplayer to play divx files and such. Simple .avi file should be easily playable(unless other codec specified)
24 Hours With The Aspire One | Nothing But Netbooks! wrote, on June 27th, 2008:
[...] Playing a video (no word on the video resolution, appears to skip once or twice) [...]
Mike Silva wrote, on July 11th, 2008:
The Aspire One aleready uses MPlayer to play videos. (best linux player for videos I think).
What video format/codec was the movie you were demonstrating? do I need it install aditional codecs to play divx?
DJ Arts wrote, on July 17th, 2008:
Hi,
I bought an Aspire One last week and I had it running on Linpus, which is fast and very easy to use.
As I discovered no support for DIVX CODECS and GPRS dial up need to create your own script (oops!) I installed XP.
Even though I installed another 1GB of Ram it was dreadfully slow, so I decided to change back to Linpus
Through a friend I find DIVX codecs for Linux on afterdawn.com but installing them is no way like Windows. I wonder as it’s a special version for Acer, if they blocked the installing of codecs/programs?
It would be great if somebody who actually knows about this could tell me, cause it would be great to get these functionalities on the road
- DIVX codecs (or any codecs for that matter)
- GPRS bluetooth and/or USB connect with mobile network. I am using a Nokia E51 communicator which uses the new symbian v.3 same as N95/N82 but much cheaper phone (no flash)
thanks!
Mike Silva wrote, on July 24th, 2008:
Ok, if you are not able to play your standard video files (codec problems), here are some help to upgrade MPlayer (the included player in acer aspire one Linux) to a new version that can play any media files:
http://aspireonelinux.blogspot.com/
I don’t know if there are any new versions of Linux on newer aspire ones selling now (or in future), but the version I got in the middle of July still had this problem.
RobBKK wrote, on August 9th, 2008:
Hi Guys,
I just got the saphire blue One, Linpus OS, and am having the EXACT issues as DJ: no/little codecs, and no way to access GPRS/EDGE via USB connection to my Nokia 6300.
Interestingly, my daughter’s Eee is a cinch to set up with my Nokia via USB – sets up the same as with my Mac – but her “web cam” does not work with the provided messenger! Hard to use a webcam when it is not even supported!
Anyway, the reason I went with the One was because the sales person showed me that the webcam works with the provided messenger. Good, but not being to use a USB modem SUCKS – not acceptable. Hoping someone can help – thanks! I am a Mac fanatic, so I have some idea of the Linux feel, but am really blank when it comes to lines of code… what’s the best way to break that cherry?
Michael Walsh wrote, on August 9th, 2008:
Hello everyone,
I’m, delighted to admit that I’m in the same boat as the rest of you – meaning that I’m writing this reply on my own Aspire One.
Over the next few weeks – if for no other reason than the fact that Simone’s on holiday – I’m going to be looking into ways of cracking it so that it works with my Vodafone 3G dongle.
The moment I have something, I’ll be sure to post it.
RobBKK wrote, on August 11th, 2008:
Michael Walsh:
PLEASE!!!! anything you can do would be great! I cannot believe that they would dink with the connection manager so severely, handicapping such a basic ability!
My daughter’s entry level Eee PC 4G Surf (the CHEAPER competition) has a very nice, normal, connection manager, and using the EDGE/GPRS via a USB cable to my 6300 is as simple as it is on my Mac……
SOOOOOOOO Let’s prey that we can get this fixed!
By the way: here is an excellent site that got my media player working to play divX files: http://www.aspireoneuser.com
Check it out!
~R.
RobBKK wrote, on August 12th, 2008:
DJ:
I got VLC installed and running PERFECTLY on my AAO – it has all the codecs to run anything; music, video, etc. Here is the link to explain it to you – I followed the guy’s advice that added a second command to tie it into Mozilla too – it’s great!
http://www.aspireoneuser.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=167
now if we can fix the GPRS situation – we have both the E51 and the 6300 – again, both work fine on my dayghter’s Eee PC 4G Surf….
~R.
Clark Gregory wrote, on October 13th, 2008:
Interesting comments, but no answer:
Can it play movies? – Is it possible to do so legally without the DVD? I know it is possible to rip a DVD with certain programs and write them to a SD card, but I don’t believe this is legal even if you own the DVD. Besides, most now honor copy protection.
Thanks,
Clark
Morris Lee wrote, on October 13th, 2008:
yes, it has the horse power to play movies, but you do need either the codec purchased from acer or you can just download vlc player(it can play 720p moveies fine to)
should be legal to rip your own DVD and put it on a SD card for YOUR own use, and for digital media I recall it that it is perfectly legal to make yourself a backup copy.
enjoy your movies, cheers~
Morris Lee
Morris Lee wrote, on October 14th, 2008:
aha, just watching this video again, impossibiliy large flash drive, ahah, funny now you put it. I havea 8GB SDHC card, yeah, I share the same feeling too.
Clark Gregory wrote, on October 14th, 2008:
First, I much appreciate the quick reply!
I looked for Acer codec, I gather it is a driver to read movies, but will it get by incription? I can play moves on my large computer by just placing the DVD in the drive. Windows, Nero, etc. recognize them.
The real problem is that in the U.S. my understanding is it is illegal to decrypt and copy anything copy protected – even for back-up. With software, one back-up is fine, but not movies; correct me if I am wrong. Most software available now including Alcohol 120% won’t copy CSS, not sure about Daemons tools. If I can copy and not break encryption and codec will play it back, that may be legal???
I am not a big movie watcher, but with grand kids coming, should I consider a regular laptop. BTY I will be getting the windows version with 6 cell battery.
Many thanks,
Clark
Morris Lee wrote, on October 14th, 2008:
oh, if you are getting the Windows edition one, the codec problem is not in your way, but the DVD rom. however, you can purchase a separate USB dvd drive then you can watch DVD’s from it.
Michael Walsh wrote, on October 14th, 2008:
Morris,
That flash drive is 32GB. Talk about overkill…
Morris Lee wrote, on October 14th, 2008:
WOW, uhm, yeah, uhm… 32.. uhm oh, I am uh, wordless now…
Clark Gregory wrote, on October 15th, 2008:
That’s where I figured I would end up. So much for watching movies on it. If I have to attach it to an external drive, I might as well use my big computer with a big screen. The lack of a DVD is a problem regardless of the OS – at least in the US. Perhaps, some studios will start releasing movies on SDs or they will eventually pass a fair use law allowing us to copy movies (backup) as long as we retain both the original and the copy.
In anycase, appreciate the reply and information.
Thanks, Clark
Morris Lee wrote, on October 15th, 2008:
ahah, anytime my friend. yeah, use the big screen if you are not travelling.
Clark Gregory wrote, on October 16th, 2008:
That’s my point. I have seen a number of references to watching movies on it. I thought wow, someone knew something I didn’t.
It’s otherwise a neat machine. With young grand kids coming in November, and maybe a trip to the mountains, it would be nice to also use it to show movies while riding in the car or outside where there is no power. 5+ hrs on a battery would do that. If I could buy a Disney movie DVD and copy it to the hard drive or to an SD card, it’s a great feature. But if I need to be tied to an external DVD somewhere to watch the movie, it kills that idea. I am now tied to home or to a location where there are better options. So any claim of using it to watch movies is not valid in the US.
Thanks,
Clark
Tee wrote, on December 1st, 2008:
I just ordered this Acer One with Windows OS. I was hoping I’d be able to put a DVD onto a SD card easily…but I guess not. Does anyone know if you can download vidoes from Netflix and watch that easily? Or are there problems there also?
Morris Lee wrote, on December 2nd, 2008:
no idea, but technically it is illegal( I think ) to rip the dvd, but if you put it into avi, you can play it just fine with the right codecs installed. you can use DVDFab, cause it seems to be legal, it can rip dvd videos to mobile devices such as the PSP etc, you can also just make it out put a avi file with selectable codec.
mick c wrote, on December 11th, 2008:
can the acer aspire one with linux linex lite run WoW without any problems ?
mick c wrote, on December 11th, 2008:
by WoW i mean world of warcraft
Morris Lee wrote, on December 16th, 2008:
@Mick C
Sorry for the low 4 day delay(may have missed it on one of the day where there are too many comments that filled the “recent comment” column”. to run WOW, you need to maybe look into wine, but I highly doubt that it will properly, I tried to run Halo PC, never get it working. Best bet is to use windows(if SSD use my ewf mod and since WOW takes over 7 GB, you might wanna install wow on a USB HDD), on the other hand, HDD version will do just fine with Windows.
Byron Jason wrote, on December 29th, 2008:
Hallo, I’m a fraustrated owned of an acer aspire 5735z. I have all sorts of problems with it, biggest one. . .i want to play WoW on it. I do not understand what u sudjested as a solution to this problem.Firstly i deleted some programs that i thought interfered with me playing the game and taking any realtime/live action online such as skype, world of warcraft and live tv. Nothing worked although i do not regret removing McAfee. Then someone told me it is my connection that’s the issue. . .called them up they said it is not our problem u have to figure it out here’s some info on how to create ports for your rooter. Did that still. . .i get kicked after about 1min of live vid or wow play. I’m starting to think this computer will decorate my garbage very well. . .I made the connection just for wow and i’m bound to it for 1year plus i paid 2 months of game time. . .and so far lost 1 cuz i’ve been trying to fix this. Plz e-mail me or something and help me solve this if u can.
P.S. sry about the essay
Morris Lee wrote, on December 29th, 2008:
@Byron Jason,
Try direct connection, which means no router. just your laptop directly to the modem. if that works, you can try “DMZ” option for your router again.
help me pls wrote, on February 28th, 2009:
help me please
i am an newbie here and having acer aspire one laptop
i have downloaded movies in my hard drive
but i can not watch it in my acep mini laptop
please be patient and easy giving me instructions how and what i am going to do so i can watch movies.
it is always saying no code require etc…
please help me
i will be waiting for you guys
for me
i am having hard time following all the emails above.
so please make things so easy
thank you
Morris Lee wrote, on February 28th, 2009:
hello there, just install vlc player then you are all set, google for instructions.
you can get the vlc installer here
http://support.acer-euro.com/drivers/notebook/as_one_110.html
under then linux applications the “vlc.sh” should do the trick
Terry V wrote, on March 12th, 2009:
I have a new Acer Aspire One WITH XP and it works beautiful also play dvd with external dvd dirve no problem.
My mother just bought the newer one with xp and a 10 display. She can get it to play DvDs. She is useing the same samsung slim drive as i have and has loaded Win Dvd. She cant get them to play even on Win Med Player. Can you help me.
Thanks
Terry
Morris Lee wrote, on March 12th, 2009:
@Terry V,
Go to windows update and get the latest updates, and install this codec pack
http://www.cccp-project.net/
hopefully it will work now
Terry V wrote, on March 17th, 2009:
Thanks for tip.
She tried it but it didn’t work.
Dont know what the deal is. She even ran a factory restore.
Any more ideas.
This is the massage she’s getting.
Thanks
Worked on the Acer yesterday for a while, not today. The last error message I got was: Windows media player cannot play DVD because there is a problem with digital copy protection between DVD drive, decoder & video card. Try installing an updated driver for your video card. Error Code # COOD1163. I tried to download 1 updated driver, but no go
Morris Lee wrote, on March 17th, 2009:
@Terry V,
did you try googling the error code? Sometimes people can experience the same problem most likely, then a solution is posted, give that a shot.
Michael Walsh wrote, on March 17th, 2009:
@Terry V
Another solution could be to use the WinDVD software installed on the 8.9″ version and install it onto your 10″ one. Simone’s looking into which versions are used on production models and where it all is. Have patience as he’s still only using samples so it might take longer than you’re prepared to wait.
Unless of course you have an 8.9″ version and want to give it a shot first.
Clarence Gadowski wrote, on April 2nd, 2009:
Just a comment, I have been updating this POS ACER Aspire one. There is so little info and any info is either in complete or weblinks are broken. To many hours are spent reading and trying to install VLC. In todays world one should not ave to run command lines, strings of text to install a simply video / media player. Acer or the Linux community should put out more info and help if they want this to work and to make it more mainstream. Personally I think the Aspire One maybe a good idea but it is way to complex for most computer user
Morris Lee wrote, on April 2nd, 2009:
@Clarence Gadowski,
here is a page for the softwares,
http://support.acer-euro.com/drivers/notebook/as_one_150.html
under Linux Linpus Lite, look for vlc.sh, download and you should be able to install that like cupcake.
if that fails, you can use the official way of installing it. install livna first(google for it) then in terminal type “sudo yum install vlc” without the quotes, and yes to all the answers
Hari Singh wrote, on April 20th, 2009:
To play youtube videos, you need to update the flash player from Adobe for the Mozilla Firefox. Go to Adobe site at: http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/
and download the yum for Linux version which loaded fine from the standard GUI package.
YouTube now works fine for me in the browser!
Regards, HS
sam wrote, on July 28th, 2009:
hi i was just wondering if there’s any way to play avi video files on acer aspire one linux
Sumit wrote, on December 13th, 2009:
hey folks…
i bought Acer aspire one D250 few weeks ago. It came with Linpus installed within, but the guy i got it from asked me to install XP. & so did i.
I have installed all the drivers that came in the CD, installed VLC media player also K-lite codec pack.. but my netbooks is horribly slow at times. with firefox running, even playing a .mp3 file becomes an issue.
playback of .avi files is even more horrible, voice stutters, voice lags & i also get blue-screen-with-something-written-in-white-on-it sometimes..
NEED HELP !! is it a software problem or a hardware problem.
any info is appreciated.. thanks