Acer Laptop

[calibanjr.]

What's the skinny on Acer laptops? Looking to buy a laptop. Looking at 512 MB RAM, 80ish gig HDD, wireless, etc., that level Looks like HP, Sony, Fujitsu brands are around 40-45k. I've seen an ACER with that gear for 29k. What do you think? Made by the same robots, similar quality? Or not worth it to go with an off brand?

Thanks,

DD

[boppia]

I'm no computer expert but I can say that ACER has been around awhile. I think it is well known throughout Asia. It seems like the HP or Dell of Asia.

[calibanjr.]

Yeah, I started looking around and they have some decent reviews on CNET.com, looks like they're Taiwan Chinese, so the hardware is probably not a problem for drivers, etc.

[Phil Conners]

I've had an Acer Travelmate 4600 for about a year and very happy with it. No complaints at all in fact, so recommended.

Had a Sony before this, every little bit fell off, needed special Sony drivers for everything and they were never updated regardless of many problems. Never Sony again!

Friends with HP tell me they have quality issues and are unhappy. Other friends using Dell tell me they are very happy with theirs. FWIW.

[digitele]

I have had a TravelMate 370 for almost 2 years. I added RAM (1 Gig).

No problems and is a nice machine. I reco Acer

[h90]

acer travelmate: 2350 and working perfect

2 compaq -->dead

1 HP --> full of problems

[Firefoxx]

Acer is the #1 selling notebook in Thailand, by a very large margin. Reason is that the notebooks it sells have very good specs at good prices. They're not the best built, but they're great value. They also come with a 1 year insurance plan... basically, no matter what happens within that year, you can get it fixed for only 10% of the usual price (this is from your own fault... manufacturer defects are covered in the normal warranty). Acer also tends to be first in the market... they had Core Duo notebooks out months ahead of any other brand.

However, because they sell so well, you'll hear both good and bad stories about Acer notebooks. The people who've had bad experiences (with Acer or any other brand) tend to be very vocal, so take those comments with a grain of salt.

[calibanjr.]

Thanks for the input, looks like I'll go with this Acer deal at Pantip Chiang Mai then:

Travelmate 2424

Celeron M 1.6

1 gig RAM

60 Gig HDD

Dual Layer DVD

Wireless, etc.

14.1" LCD

Bag

27000 THB (VAT Included)

Sound good? I hate shopping and the inevitable buyer's remorse.

[tracker]

have an acer 1690 now, 1 year and 3 months = ok. Before an acer 2012, also 1.5 years, also no problems.

plastic covers tend to wear off of a bit. Sound is horrible (compared to my 1998 compaq laptop) and the 2012 keyboard was terrible if you want to type fast.

[tutsiwarrior]

I'd say go with Acer...they are a local SE Asia product and servicing is easy to find...a major consideration.

I spent a bundle on an HP Pavillion dv4000 in March with higher specs than you've got and already gots loads of problems...never again...

[dominicscaife]

Thanks for the input, looks like I'll go with this Acer deal at Pantip Chiang Mai then:

Travelmate 2424

Celeron M 1.6

1 gig RAM

60 Gig HDD

Dual Layer DVD

Wireless, etc.

14.1" LCD

Bag

27000 THB (VAT Included)

Sound good? I hate shopping and the inevitable buyer's remorse.

That looks like an excellent deal... though does it have one of those new nice bright screens (I believe Acer call it 'CrystalBrite technology', I know my next laptop has to have one of those.

I have used an Acer Travelmate 4500 I bought in Europe for the last 18months and am very happy, the Acer servicecentres here in Thailand have always come through for me, I personally use the service centre at Zeers (Rangsit) who are normally not busy but don't speak great english. Compare that with the Pantip service centre that whenever i've gone near always has BIG queues.

Oh and finally, not sure this is relevant to Thai purchased Acers but under the international warranty, if your taking your Acer in for repair ensure you take your passport, apparently they need evidence that your not a Thai resident to validate the international warranty. Go figure...

Dominic

[joka]

As far as the display goes, you can get CrystalBrite on the 3004 and the 3624 models, for around the same price. only 256MB of ram though, and to tell you the truth , i haven't seen any laptops around with that level of ram in that price range, it might be a dealer special. the 3004 has an Amd processor and a 15 inch screen, the 3624 has the intel 1.6M celeron and a 14 inch screen. i don't have the 2424 in my brochure here, but there is a 2423, which has windows, whereas the two i mentioned come with linux.

[Crushdepth]

I've had an Acer notebook for the last 4 years or so. I would give it an 'average' rating, particularly in terms of build quality.

Had a lot of problems with loose connections (the screen flickers and nobody has ever been able to fix it, the USB ports no longer work, and neither does the PS2 port). But then it is pretty old...

Nobody in my office will touch a Compaq laptop ever again (*rust* coming out the holes?!?). They have all moved to various IBM Thinkpads and all are quite happy with them. Not cheap but very nice.

Me, I'm still stuck with the Acer...

[Plus]

I've had an Acer for about 6 months now and there were no major problems yet. However, occasionally I lose black color - it changes to bright green, right from the boot up. At first I freaked out and updated all drivers and flashed BIOS, but then i found that I need to fiddle with the display a bit to get it back. The problem seems to be with the connectors. I'll take it to Acer next time I'm at Pantip or Fortune.

I don't like that the fan is on the right and it blows hot air to the spot where people usually put a mouse, but I hardly ever use external mouse anyway.

I don't like Crystalbrite displays - they reflect everything, but then you can even use them for shaving on the road.

Overall it's a very good value for the money comparing to similar spec Fujitsu that costs nearly double.

[PeaceBlondie]

We paid 29,900 for an Acer Aspire 3004NWLMi laptop about a month ago at Panthip Plaza, first floor near the entrance. It's been great, and seems to be a terrific value.

[Guest endure]

I have an Acer Ferrari 4005 (brooom brooom) and it's absolutely fabulous!

[Jared]

Im just about to buy the Acer Aspire 9804WKMi

Intel Core Duo Processor T2500 2.00GHz

20.1" WSXGA+ Widescreen TFT CrystalBrite 6-Lamp Display

200GB Hard Drive

2048MB DDR II RAM Memory

massive screen, good processor, huge hard drive and huge memory. Im buying this in the Uk for £1697.88 (120,991.85 THB) and bringing it with me when I move to Thailand in July. Ive had a little look for this one a few thai computer websites but im yet to find it. Ill add a link, let me know what you think, should i buy it in the Uk or buy it in Thailand?

http://www.shopacer.co.uk/sess/utn;jsessio...cer=Aspire+9800

Jared

[astral]

Im just about to buy the Acer Aspire 9804WKMi

Intel Core Duo Processor T2500 2.00GHz

20.1" WSXGA+ Widescreen TFT CrystalBrite 6-Lamp Display

200GB Hard Drive

2048MB DDR II RAM Memory

massive screen, good processor, huge hard drive and huge memory. Im buying this in the Uk for £1697.88 (120,991.85 THB) and bringing it with me when I move to Thailand in July. Ive had a little look for this one a few thai computer websites but im yet to find it. Ill add a link, let me know what you think, should i buy it in the Uk or buy it in Thailand?

http://www.shopacer.co.uk/sess/utn;jsessio...cer=Aspire+9800

Jared

That sounds very impressive. How many pounds (tonnes?) does it weigh.

A little expensive!!

I have just bought the Compaq NX8220, $1975 and I am extremely pleased with it.

Intel® Centrino® Mobile Technology

• Intel® Pentium® M Processor 770

• 2.13 GHz , 2 MB L2 cache, 533 MHz FSB

• Intel® Wireless LAN 802.11b/g Mini PCI card, integrated Bluetooth

Operating system installed

Genuine Windows XP Professional

Chipset

Mobile™ Intel® 915PM Express Chipset

Standard memory

1 x 1024 MB

Maximum memory

Up to 2048 MB

Memory slots

2 SODIMM slots

Memory upgrade

Upgradeable to 2048 MB maximum

System features

Internal hard disk drive

80 GB

Portability

Weight

2.63 kg (with weight saver), 2.77 kg (with optical drive)

[lingyai]

I have had a 3003NWLCi for 5 months.

(mobile sempron 3000+ 15.4 crystal brite screen, 60gig HD, dvd/cdrw, wireless)

The sound could be better and louder, but other than that it works fine. I added 512 stick of ram so now have 768 which I recomend if you are going to have multiple programs. Even though the processor is not top of the line, I run photoshop, internet, word, excel at the same time with no problems, again get extra ram.

The people at the offical ACER shop in pantip were helpful and they put in the extra ram for only 200baht. Even though putting ram is relativly simple job for $5 why take the risk of messing it up. Though their prices for products like ram seemed a bit higher (I got mine in the US).

Edited June 18, 2006 by lingyai

[Jared]

I think the weight is around 7.5kgs, pretty dame heavy

[The Coder]

If I was wanting a laptop to last as long as possible, I'd get one with a 64-bit cpu. This strategic advantage is something people mostly aren't aware of for 2 reasons. First, Intel doesn't offer 64-bit cpu's for laptops so they keep very quiet about it (this will probably change after a few months). Second, the last iterations of 32-bit Windows and major applications are in the pipeline so it still looks status quo. But not so long from now 32-bit systems will be seen as dinosaurs and new software & windows versions won't run on them. But this also depends on you--do you have to have the very latest and greatest installed or are you satisfied running stuff that is back a generation or so.

[gcrutcher]

Bought my Acer 5674 WLMi at Pantip Plaza, Bangkok.

Got a good price, including VAT for less than retail list.

Included a 3-year warranty.

Very good and fast computer!!!

[tom yum goong]

I had two Acers prior to my current Dell laptop. Both Acers gave me around 2 to 3 years good service with only minor faults and were replaced when they became out of date.

My current laptop, the Dell, is a pile of crap and has broken down more times than i can remember. I dont take it out of the house or move it around very much but in 2 years i have had to replace the screen, the cd drive and the keyboard (twice). To top it off, there is no service centre in Thailand and all parts have to be sent from malaysia, with an extortionate shipping fee.

My vote is go for Acer. At least if something goes wrong parts and service will be straightforward.

[Insight]

Must be one of the few people with negative experiences with an Acer laptop, and I'm not a local.

For the P4 it claimed to be, the performance was terrible. Also hung repeatedly for several seconds whenever the sound card kicked in - couldn't even move the mouse while it was doing whatever it was doing.

I work as a software developer so I need performance. This laptop didn't come close to giving me that performance I required.

However, we suspect in the office it was a problem with that laptop itself. We bought a batch of the same model, and it was only mine that suffered with these problems (although other people are doing different jobs). When I handed my Acer onto somebody else, he also had similar complaints.

[Jared]

Where would you reconmend me going in Bkk to buy a Acer Laptop instead of buying one in the Uk

[Firefoxx]

You can buy Acers at most computer centers (Pantip, IT Mall, Seri, etc) as they're sold by pretty much everybody. All are guaranteed by Acer themselves, so about the only difference between stores would be price and freebies.

When getting a notebook, remember to budget for extra RAM. Notebooks traditionally have slow harddisks, so the performance burden falls on the RAM, and the more you have, the better.

[Lannig]

I've had quite bad experience with two Acers too. But I tend to play rough with my notebooks, carry them a lot, use them in non airconditioned places for long times etc.

Thinkpads and Toshibas are far more robust, even if they give much less bang for the bucks.

It really depends on whether it's pretty much a desktop replacement or a real mobile computer you want, and how long you expect to keep it.

FWIW

--Lannig