Accer notebooks--any good?

[eshort]

ive finally had it with used notebooks--too many problems--so--id like to buy my first new notebook......use it for wen surfing, occasional light gaming and some business use.

want to spend under $750.

CompUSA has an Accer with a 17" screen/intel core duo 1.66 mhz (I believe) cpu on "special" for $699. Would this be a good choice (vs a Dell Inspiron for a bit more $$--with an Athlon X2 processor)?

Generally- is the Athlon X2 "faster" than the Intel Core duo (both with same speed ratings)..which cpu wld u recommend (ie for speed/reliability).

I notice dell prices their inspiron and latitudes abt the same level--i understand the latitudes r generally better built/heavier duty??

thanx.

[YukonMaster]

Hi

Im sure someone else will be able to tell you which is faster but, I have an Acer Aspire 5100 with

AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-50 1.6 GHz
15.4 Inch WXGA Crystal brite screen
ATI radeon express 1100
DVD-RW
120 GB HDD
1gb DDR2

This laptop is super fast and came in $899 CAD. I'm not saying this is the one for you but this ACER has been through some rough spills and drops and been banged around quite a bit and still works fine. Quality is outstanding and have had no problems so far. IMO dell has been kinda slack in their customer service but that opinion is only based on my experience with them.

YukonMaster

[eshort]

tx

im in compusa now playing w/ an acer aspire 9410--seems fine to me ltho i read an opinion that really dished acer notebooks...i notice the Țspecial priceȚ is gone tho-on the acer (in compusa).

the search continues....

ps not sure if i like the new Vista o/s??

[TimPoet]

Don't know much about Acer. Glc and others like Dell for laptops, they speak highly of the errrr, I think it's the 1501. (http://www.dell.com/content/products/results.aspx/notebooks?~ck=anav&c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&a=9323~0~49300&navla=9323~0~49300) going for about $600 now. Though it is AMD. Intel's Core 2 Duo chips are better performers.

I'd avoid Vista until the bugs are worked out- around 2009, perhaps. Well, maybe sooner.

EDIT:
I forgot that you are forced to go with Vista on a new computer. Dang!!! I'd get no less than 1 Gig of RAM, then, which comes with the $750 version which also has longer battery life than the previously mentioned version.

[glc]

Acers are decent quality, but they are absolutely packed with garbage freebie apps all loading at startup. They also partition the drives weird - unless this has changed with Vista. The XP models have three FAT32 partitions - a recovery partition and 2 equal size main partitions - one for everything that's on it and the other is empty. I still MUCH prefer the Dell Inspiron E1505 with an Intel processor. They start at $749 with Vista and 1gb ram.

[Khalil]

I own several Acer laptops for my compay and I think they are great. I don't like how they come with FAT32 partitions. I format them and reinstall XP back in one NTFS partition.
Like glc said, they come with alot of garbage on them which gets whiped out when I reinstall XP. They don't provide you with an XP disc so be careful not to wipe the HD if you don't have another XP installation disc.