Buying a new laptop, Acer or Toshiba?

[Estephens]

I am going back to school and I am looking at getting a new laptop. I have narrowed it down to 2 notebooks. The Acer Aspire 5102wlmi:

Processor Brand: AMD
Processor Class: Turion 64 X2 Mobile Technology Processor
Processor Number: TL-50
Mobile Technology: Turion
L2 Cache Size: 2 x 256 KB
Memory Speed: PC2-4200 (533MHz)
Memory Technology: DDR2-SDRAM
Installed Memory: 2 GB
Maximum Memory: 4 GB
Memory Slots Total: 2
Hard Drive Capacity: 120 GB
Drive Controllers: IDE (Ultra ATA/DMA)

Or,

Toshiba Satellite Notebook with Intel® Centrino® Duo Mobile Technology A105-S4094, which has:
15.4" WXGA active-matrix TFT-LCD widescreen display with TruBrite technology and 1280 x 800 resolution




120GB SATA hard drive (5400 rpm)




Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950 with 8-128MB dynamically allocated shared memory; Intel® High Definition audio, SRS TruSurround XT and SRS WOW audio enhancements; S-video out




Express Media Player with CD/DVD launch and control buttons, including play/pause, stop, previous track and next track




5-in-1 bridge media adapter supports Secure Digital, MultiMediaCard, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO and xD-Picture Card




i.LINK (IEEE 1394) interface and 4 high-speed USB 2.0 ports for fast digital video, audio and data transfer




Built-in Intel® PRO/100 VE 10/100Base-TX Ethernet LAN with RJ-45 connector; V.92 high-speed modem




Weighs 6 lbs. and measures 1.5" thin for portable power; lithium-ion battery and AC

I like toshiba, but don't know much about acer...please help.
Thanks

[Alaron]

Both look like fine machines. Acer is good quality.

Can you give us the CPU and RAM in the Toshiba to make a direct comparison?

What are your needs and budget?

[Estephens]

Originally Posted by Alaron Both look like fine machines. Acer is good quality. Can you give us the CPU and RAM in the Toshiba to make a direct comparison? What are your needs and budget?

Intel® Centrino® Duo mobile technology with interrelated Intel® Core™ Duo processor T2250, Intel® 945GM Express chipset, Intel® PRO/Wireless 3945ABG network connection (802.11a/b/g) and extended battery life capability
1.5GB PC4200 DDR2 SDRAM for multitasking power, expandable to 4GB; 533MHz frontside bus, 2MB L2 cache and 1.73GHz processor speed

Budget is around $1000, which they both are around. Needs are for school and maybe some media

[thefultonhow]

The Core Duo is also a better chip than the Turion -- they offer somewhat similar performance but the Core Duo has much better battery life. For $1000 you should also look at the Dell Inspiron E1505 augmented with some Dell coupon codes.

EDIT: http://www.slickdeals.net/#p7866 (good deal on an E1505)

[glc]

Acer also has some Core Duos in that price range.