staff picks - Page 4

fadex1945 · 10-05-2006, 10:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joefireline

You don't need a custom-made Acer, as there is so much of a choice, that you are guaranteed to find the right one for you.

That's just simply not the case. I think for most users you could find the right Acer for you, but I'm not most consumers. When I buy a new system I'm not overly concerned with price, but I am concerned with getting precisely the system I want, and Acer just doesn't offer one that matches that. I feel that if I'm going to spend a good chunk of money on something, it should be just how I want it, and that I shouldn't have to compromise on any of the parts.

This has always worked out pretty well for me with desktops because I research components that I want and then go to a local store and have people I trust assemble them. With laptops it's been a lot harder to find this level of customization.

**Joefireline** · 10-05-2006, 11:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fadex1945

That's just simply not the case. I think for most users you could find the right Acer for you, but I'm not most consumers. When I buy a new system I'm not overly concerned with price, but I am concerned with getting precisely the system I want, and Acer just doesn't offer one that matches that. I feel that if I'm going to spend a good chunk of money on something, it should be just how I want it, and that I shouldn't have to compromise on any of the parts.

This has always worked out pretty well for me with desktops because I research components that I want and then go to a local store and have people I trust assemble them. With laptops it's been a lot harder to find this level of customization.

Well, I don't see why you need to be so percise with laptops, I think if you are going for a 'percise' machine, you should build your own Desktop. And I found exactly what I wanted with my Acer laptop. It suits me perfectly.

**Cellus** · 10-05-2006, 11:23 AM

I purchased an Acer Aspire 5672 WLMi and found it to be almost exactly what I was looking for (and the price was fairly mid-range too, which suited me just fine). The number of choices Acer has for their laptops is extensive - for the most part you should find something that suits your purposes. This particular one packs some fairly good hardware - you can find its system specs in the My System information dropdown below my avatar.

Don't get me wrong here, while the 5672 WLMi is an excellent laptop for the price you pay, it does have a few issues. First and foremost is heat - it cranks out a lot of heat. The area around the Synaptic Touchpad can become uncomfortably hot to use. Luckily for me I prefer using mice anyways, so I plug an optical mouse into one of the four conveniently placed USB 2.0 ports (two are located on each side). I took the liberty to purchase a Vantec Lapcool 3 Notebook Cooler pad which has kept it running even through the summer heat ($30CAN well spent). Unfortunately the air exhaust vents out the right-hand side so if you're a right-handed mouse user, your hand may get a bit toasty (not much of a problem in winter of course, if not a strange convenience). Another issue is the keyboard - it can be a bit spongy if you're a hard typist, so you'll need to be slightly more forgiving than your standard keyboard. That isn't saying it's a poor keyboard - I type on average 80wpm or more and can safely say I have few problems if any. Finally the pre-bundled software that installs during your first boot will literally take hours to install (mine took 2.5 hours). I can say though that some of the "Acer Empower Technology" software is actually useful - ePower Management makes power management a breeze with convenient sliders and drop-down menus, eLock Management allows you to lock all removable data devices, optical drives, and floppy drives with a simple radio button, and so on and so forth (there are eight utilities in all in the Empower Technology suite which can be also conveniently accessed by pressing the signature "e" button beside the power button).

There are a couple of surprising characteristics with the 5672, such as the fact that the slot-loading DVD+-RW DL "Combo Drive of Doom" literally eats your disc (crunching sound and all), but I have yet to ever lose a disc from it. The 1.3 Megapixel webcam is extremely nifty, and can even be rotated 225 degrees on the Y axis, but it can only be flipped down not up, so you want to be careful not to bend up and break your fine little webcam.

All in all I found the Acer Aspire 5672 WLMi to be an excellent mid/high-range laptop and well worth the price. Sure it has a few interesting quirks and the occasional annoyance, but what it returns in performance (and those actually useful Acer utilities) is astounding. Well worth the buy.

Addendum: By the looks of things the ATI Mobility Radeon X1400 has been somewhat underclocked, however I am honestly not surprised. If that baby was running to spec I am sure the keyboard under my fingers would turn into the consistency of goo from the heat.

fadex1945 · 10-05-2006, 11:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joefireline

Well, I don't see why you need to be so percise with laptops, I think if you are going for a 'percise' machine, you should build your own Desktop. And I found exactly what I wanted with my Acer laptop. It suits me perfectly.

I guess I'm just a very particular person. I play a lot of computer games, I'm on the computer a lot in general. I travel out of town very often with my job and I'd like to be able to do just about anything I can do on my home system while away from home ( a large percentage of my calendar days are spent in hotel rooms.)

**Joefireline** · 10-05-2006, 11:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cellus

I purchased an Acer Aspire 5672 WLMi and found it to be almost exactly what I was looking for (and the price was fairly mid-range too, which suited me just fine). The number of choices Acer has for their laptops is extensive - for the most part you should find something that suits your purposes. This particular one packs some fairly good hardware - you can find its system specs in the My System information dropdown below my avatar.

Don't get me wrong here, while the 5672 WLMi is an excellent laptop for the price you pay, it does have a few issues. First and foremost is heat - it cranks out a lot of heat. The area around the Synaptic Touchpad can become uncomfortably hot to use. Luckily for me I prefer using mice anyways, so I plug an optical mouse into one of the four conveniently placed USB 2.0 ports (two are located on each side). I took the liberty to purchase a Vantec Lapcool 3 Notebook Cooler pad which has kept it running even through the summer heat ($30CAN well spent). Unfortunately the air exhaust vents out the right-hand side so if you're a right-handed mouse user, your hand may get a bit toasty (not much of a problem in winter of course, if not a strange convenience). Another issue is the keyboard - it can be a bit spongy if you're a hard typist, so you'll need to be slightly more forgiving than your standard keyboard. That isn't saying it's a poor keyboard - I type on average 80wpm or more and can safely say I have few problems if any. Finally the pre-bundled software that installs during your first boot will literally take hours to install (mine took 2.5 hours). I can say though that some of the "Acer Empower Technology" software is actually useful - ePower Management makes power management a breeze with convenient sliders and drop-down menus, eLock Management allows you to lock all removable data devices, optical drives, and floppy drives with a simple radio button, and so on and so forth (there are eight utilities in all in the Empower Technology suite which can be also conveniently accessed by pressing the signature "e" button beside the power button).

There are a couple of surprising characteristics with the 5672, such as the fact that the slot-loading DVD+-RW DL "Combo Drive of Doom" literally eats your disc (crunching sound and all), but I have yet to ever lose a disc from it. The 1.3 Megapixel webcam is extremely nifty, and can even be rotated 225 degrees on the Y axis, but it can only be flipped down not up, so you want to be careful not to bend up and break your fine little webcam.

All in all I found the Acer Aspire 5672 WLMi to be an excellent mid/high-range laptop and well worth the price. Sure it has a few interesting quirks and the occasional annoyance, but what it returns in performance (and those actually useful Acer utilities) is astounding. Well worth the buy.

That's a nice laptop you got there Cellus! Although, I wouldn't go for a dual core...

Quote:

Originally Posted by fadex1945

I guess I'm just a very particular person. I play a lot of computer games, I'm on the computer a lot in general. I travel out of town very often with my job and I'd like to be able to do just about anything I can do on my home system while away from home ( a large percentage of my calendar days are spent in hotel rooms.)

Although my laptop may not be considered a 'gaming machine', it sertanly handles all games I have played on it superbly well! the 128MB ATI X700 dedicated graphics card does extremely well for me. It handles practically anything I throw at it, the other day, I had LimeWire running, which takes up a lot of process usage, a Virus scanner running, and ad-aware scanning, and on MSN, and on the internet, and loads of Windows open, and doing some other stuff, and it managed it! Although rather laggy, it took it! I don't see how you could find the right Acer laptop for you. Give a spec, and I will find it

. (Don't try a 5GHz, 10GB RAM, 1TB hard drive ect ect., because you just WON'T get that! Lol!)

**Cellus** · 10-05-2006, 03:13 PM

Wait, why would you not go for a dual core processor? Especially in a laptop?

**Joefireline** · 10-05-2006, 03:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cellus

Wait, why would you not go for a dual core processor? Especially in a laptop?

Because, from what I have heard, from a lot of people, they aren't too great for gaming, and aren't the most reliable, and not really a choice for home use.

**crazijoe** · 10-05-2006, 05:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joefireline

Because, from what I have heard, from a lot of people, they aren't too great for gaming, and aren't the most reliable, and not really a choice for home use.

That is just not true. I run a dual core processor in my desktop and I couldn't think of ever going back to a single core. I do way to much multi-tasking and that dual core does me justice.
Actually I am looking at a laptop to replace my desktop and it will definitely have a Merom CPU.

**crazijoe** · 10-06-2006, 04:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joefireline

You don't need a custom-made Acer, as there is so much of a choice, that you are guaranteed to find the right one for you.

When our company bought our laptops in January, Dell was the only one that could give us true dual monitor setup with a docking station. Meaning extending the desktop to another screen. Levono offers it now but not at the time we puchased the units.

Zealot · 10-07-2006, 04:18 PM

For my purposes, gaming/school yet portable my asus W3J suits me well. I bought it in august and it has a t2500, 2 gigs of ram and a x1600 ati card. it may not seem like much but when you consider the 14.1 inch screen, its an unreal notebook. Extremely happy with it so far, build quality is great. Asus is a great company.

Zealot · 10-07-2006, 04:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zazula

Well, what I've come to understand is that users are extremely idiosyncratic when it comes to portable computers. They tend to select a specific brand for some esoteric reason and then the following things happen:
a. When they upgrade to a newer portable, they are far more inclined to buy from the same brand.
b. They will always justify whatever negative experience they're getting from their portable.
c. They will always scorn other brands for the things they detest on them.

The above don't happen only if a user becomes subjest to a disastrous experience during the very first stage of his virgin purchase. In this case, he/she blames everything on that laptop's brand, and starts looking for a different one. However, if this initial stage concludes smoothly, then he/she becomes hooked for ever. The user can only lay his/her hands on this specific keyboard, operate only this specific trackpad, plug usb devices only when the ports are on the "right" place, and so on. (Do all these sound to you like a cult? Yes, they do...)

We could discuss many laptop-selection-related issues here, yet we'd be still be missing the main point: People buy things motivated by their feelings, not their logic. Give someone the most logical arguments - they won't agree. Tell them "but ya don't wanna be called stupid, do ya?", thus triggering their emotions rather their logic, and presto - they're on your side! I repeat what marketeers learn in their very first lesson: People buy only for sentimental reasons - period! So, let us present ideas here, but not become tempted in exchanging them; we can't force-feed anyone... Just try to remember why you bought your cell phone or why you like the food you like... you may be able to cite some reasonably-sounding (at least to you!) arguments, yet the underlying truth is that this is what you simply like!...

WHAT I'VE SEEN SO FAR
1. Alienware are best to be avoided.
2. Sony are overpriced and too proprietary.
3. Acer support site is totally unacceptable.
4. Hp/Compaq support site is pathetic.
5. Dell support site is acceptable.

BEST PRACTICES I RECOMMEND
1. Choose a built-to-order, easily expandable laptop.
2. Buy a full Windows installation disc (oem).
3. Check out their support site before buying.

WHAT I PERSONALLY LIKE (in case anyone cares)

Fujitsu-Siemens Celsius H series

Specs:

1. Windows® Vista, XP Professional and Linux (certified for RedHat and Novell Linux)
2. Intel® 945PM Express motherboard, Intel® Core™ Duo Processors T2300, T2400, T2500, T2600, 667 MHz System Bus, 2MB Second-level cache, Memory max. 4 GByte, dual-channel DDR2-667 SDRAM.
3. Floppy disk drive (USB) is optional.
4. Optical drives DVD-ROM, CD RW/DVD combo, DVD+-R / +-RW DL.
5. Hard disks you can have totally two SATA up to 100GB @ 7200 rpm or 120GB @ 5400 rpm.
6. Slots: 1 x PC-Card type II, 1 x Express Card, 1 x SmartCard, 1 x SD/MMC.
7. Interface: 1 x IrDa V1.1, 4 x USB 2.0, 1 x IEEE 1394, 1 x microphone in, 1 x combined headphone / S/PDIF out, 1 x modem, 1 x LAN, 1 x TV-out, 1 x docking connector for PortReplicator, 1 x VGA.
8. Display / Resolution 15.4 inch TFT WUXGA, 1920 x 1200
9. Graphic: ATI Mobility FireGL V5200, PCI-Express
10. Video RAM: 256MB, GDDR3
11. Audio: ALC262, HDA
12. Modem: Built-in V.90 international modem
13. LAN: Broadcom BCM 5751M, Built-in 10/100/1000 Mbit/s Ethernet (WLAN optional)
14. Weight: approx. 3.2 kg
15. Battery: 1st Li-Ion, 8 cells, 14.4V, 5200mAh - 2nd Li-Ion, 6 cells, 10.8V, 3800mAh
16. Options: 2nd HDD, optical drives, 2nd battery, BlueTooth, WLAN.

Careful, though! If you look it up in Fujitsu-Siemens' e-shop, you WON'T find it under laptops; it's listed under Workstations (for obvious reasons

). Actually, F-S calls this beauty a Desktop (!!!) Corporate PC. A very-decent-spec one is at £ 1,255.89 ex VAT (£ 1,475.67 inc VAT) and this price includes WinXP Pro. See it here.

WHY? (RATIONALIZATION FOLLOWS)
It's an exceptionally superb computer that moreover happens to be a not-so-heavy laptop! It is truly a series of business-spec models and NOT consumer-type ones. Thus the level of built-quality, dependability, stability, overall system integration and customer service for a Celcius is in another galaxy, compared to a typical Fujitsu-Siemens Amilo or whatever other laptop, targeted to the consumer market. Plus I never play Games so I never bother to have the "games playability" in my priority list - when dependability is numero uno! I can have 3-D apps running when making a presentation to a customer. Plus, it simply seriously kicks you know what...

Another good built laptop is the asus Z96J and the compal hel 80 but they have good graphics cards (although it isnt a priority for you) those are some good custom laptops.)

minster9 · 10-08-2006, 11:56 PM

Having just built another desktop,should've bought a OEM Windows cd to begin with. My brother did most of the software install from floppys & a bootleg cd. Yeah,so what I saved a little money,took a month to get the unit in operation. Depends on your budget,I guess.

**Fr4665** · 10-09-2006, 12:04 AM

i have an Averatec laptop to be specific an 5110(i think gota look it up)
I have it since two and a half years and support from averatec was great.

There was an issue with the wifi interfering with the lcd so i sent it back after a year and a half and they replaced the screen for free and paid for shipping as it was still under warranty.

the laptop was dropped from the back of my car once or twice and its not broken yet. also battery life still after almost 3 years is awsome on a single battery for 4 hours w/o wifi and for 2 hours with wifi.

It suites me and does the job for what i need it checking email and the once or twice gaming cs 1.6 in the hotel room.

**Cellus** · 10-10-2006, 11:52 AM

By the way to put the issue of dual-core laptops and gaming to rest, I among many things do a lot of gaming on my Acer Aspire 5672WLMi and it uses an Intel Core Duo processor. I have found my games benefit quite well to it. The only exception is older games that do not play nice with multiple cores/CPUs, but that is fixed by simply changing the CPU affinity.

**TheMatt** · 11-13-2006, 05:58 PM

I would just like to recognize another brand. ABS uses third party parts in their laptops. You will often find that their laptops come with kingston RAM in them. They make some good gaming laptops, including one with an AMD Turion Mobile MT37 and a Mobility Radeon X1600. I also remember one with a Mobile Athlon 4000+ and a Mobility Radeon X700, but I can't seem to find it. There is also one with a Core 2 Duo and a GeForce Go 7900GTX! I would love to get my hands on one of those.

10-05-2006, 11:23 AM	#63 (permalink)
Cellus Moderator Networking Team Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Canada Posts: 2,526 OS: Windows Vista Business SP1, Windows XP Professional SP3 My System	I purchased an Acer Aspire 5672 WLMi and found it to be almost exactly what I was looking for (and the price was fairly mid-range too, which suited me just fine). The number of choices Acer has for their laptops is extensive - for the most part you should find something that suits your purposes. This particular one packs some fairly good hardware - you can find its system specs in the My System information dropdown below my avatar. Don't get me wrong here, while the 5672 WLMi is an excellent laptop for the price you pay, it does have a few issues. First and foremost is heat - it cranks out a lot of heat. The area around the Synaptic Touchpad can become uncomfortably hot to use. Luckily for me I prefer using mice anyways, so I plug an optical mouse into one of the four conveniently placed USB 2.0 ports (two are located on each side). I took the liberty to purchase a Vantec Lapcool 3 Notebook Cooler pad which has kept it running even through the summer heat ($30CAN well spent). Unfortunately the air exhaust vents out the right-hand side so if you're a right-handed mouse user, your hand may get a bit toasty (not much of a problem in winter of course, if not a strange convenience). Another issue is the keyboard - it can be a bit spongy if you're a hard typist, so you'll need to be slightly more forgiving than your standard keyboard. That isn't saying it's a poor keyboard - I type on average 80wpm or more and can safely say I have few problems if any. Finally the pre-bundled software that installs during your first boot will literally take hours to install (mine took 2.5 hours). I can say though that some of the "Acer Empower Technology" software is actually useful - ePower Management makes power management a breeze with convenient sliders and drop-down menus, eLock Management allows you to lock all removable data devices, optical drives, and floppy drives with a simple radio button, and so on and so forth (there are eight utilities in all in the Empower Technology suite which can be also conveniently accessed by pressing the signature "e" button beside the power button). There are a couple of surprising characteristics with the 5672, such as the fact that the slot-loading DVD+-RW DL "Combo Drive of Doom" literally eats your disc (crunching sound and all), but I have yet to ever lose a disc from it. The 1.3 Megapixel webcam is extremely nifty, and can even be rotated 225 degrees on the Y axis, but it can only be flipped down not up, so you want to be careful not to bend up and break your fine little webcam. All in all I found the Acer Aspire 5672 WLMi to be an excellent mid/high-range laptop and well worth the price. Sure it has a few interesting quirks and the occasional annoyance, but what it returns in performance (and those actually useful Acer utilities) is astounding. Well worth the buy. Addendum: By the looks of things the ATI Mobility Radeon X1400 has been somewhat underclocked, however I am honestly not surprised. If that baby was running to spec I am sure the keyboard under my fingers would turn into the consistency of goo from the heat. __________________ TSF Networking Team HijackThis 5 Step Process Donate! Last edited by Cellus : 10-05-2006 at 11:29 AM.

10-05-2006, 03:13 PM	#66 (permalink)
Cellus Moderator Networking Team Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Canada Posts: 2,526 OS: Windows Vista Business SP1, Windows XP Professional SP3 My System	Wait, why would you not go for a dual core processor? Especially in a laptop? __________________ TSF Networking Team HijackThis 5 Step Process Donate!

10-09-2006, 12:04 AM	#73 (permalink)
Fr4665 aka mr.fraggs Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: USA or Germany Posts: 2,959 OS: Win XP,Knoppix My System	i have an Averatec laptop to be specific an 5110(i think gota look it up) I have it since two and a half years and support from averatec was great. There was an issue with the wifi interfering with the lcd so i sent it back after a year and a half and they replaced the screen for free and paid for shipping as it was still under warranty. the laptop was dropped from the back of my car once or twice and its not broken yet. also battery life still after almost 3 years is awsome on a single battery for 4 hours w/o wifi and for 2 hours with wifi. It suites me and does the job for what i need it checking email and the once or twice gaming cs 1.6 in the hotel room. __________________ I don't subscribe to threads please PM me if i miss a reply. ------- Everest SensorView Pro DriverCleaner how to fix your game

10-10-2006, 11:52 AM	#74 (permalink)
Cellus Moderator Networking Team Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Canada Posts: 2,526 OS: Windows Vista Business SP1, Windows XP Professional SP3 My System	By the way to put the issue of dual-core laptops and gaming to rest, I among many things do a lot of gaming on my Acer Aspire 5672WLMi and it uses an Intel Core Duo processor. I have found my games benefit quite well to it. The only exception is older games that do not play nice with multiple cores/CPUs, but that is fixed by simply changing the CPU affinity. __________________ TSF Networking Team HijackThis 5 Step Process Donate!

10-07-2006, 04:18 PM	#70 (permalink)
Zealot Registered User Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 4 OS: xp pro	For my purposes, gaming/school yet portable my asus W3J suits me well. I bought it in august and it has a t2500, 2 gigs of ram and a x1600 ati card. it may not seem like much but when you consider the 14.1 inch screen, its an unreal notebook. Extremely happy with it so far, build quality is great. Asus is a great company.

10-08-2006, 11:56 PM	#72 (permalink)
minster9 Registered User Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 168 OS: windows 2000	Having just built another desktop,should've bought a OEM Windows cd to begin with. My brother did most of the software install from floppys & a bootleg cd. Yeah,so what I saved a little money,took a month to get the unit in operation. Depends on your budget,I guess.