* 15.4” Widescreen Notebook PC * Intel® Pentium® T2370 Dual Core Processor * Windows Vista® Home Premium * 1 GB System memory * 120GB Hard Drive * 8x Super Multi DVD+/‐R/RW with Double Layer Support * 6 cell Lithium Ion Battery * 5-in-1 Media Card Reader * Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11b/g, 56k Modem
I bought this from Newegg a couple of weeks ago. Upgrading the RAM was a pain, but otherwise am very happy with the machine.
anestho
New Member
posted: Jul. 12, 2008 @ 8:39a
Call 1-800-843-2489 to order. There are plenty of these laptops in Texas. I checked plano area (75093) and Southlake (76092) and both stores had them for $399.
Angoor
Ancient Member
posted: Jul. 12, 2008 @ 8:45a
Its OOS everywhere in NY / NJ area.
anestho
New Member
posted: Jul. 12, 2008 @ 8:54a
bozo007 said: I bought this from Newegg a couple of weeks ago. Upgrading the RAM was a pain, but otherwise am very happy with the machine.
Could you be more specific about how the RAM upgade was difficult?
anestho said: bozo007 said: I bought this from Newegg a couple of weeks ago. Upgrading the RAM was a pain, but otherwise am very happy with the machine.
Could you be more specific about how the RAM upgade was difficult? Acer has a large back panel, unlike the typical 2" x 3" used by others, with multiple small tabs holding it down. You need to be extremely careful in popping them out.
bozo007 said: anestho said: bozo007 said: I bought this from Newegg a couple of weeks ago. Upgrading the RAM was a pain, but otherwise am very happy with the machine.
Could you be more specific about how the RAM upgade was difficult? Acer has a large back panel, unlike the typical 2" x 3" used by others, with multiple small tabs holding it down. You need to be extremely careful in popping them out.Yup. Confirming this with my Acer as well. The one I purchased last BF at WalMart - it is extremely painful to upgrade memory on it, for the very same reason mentioned above. Large back panel with very many screws holding it down at very many positions.
slapointe
Member
posted: Jul. 12, 2008 @ 9:33a
laidbacklarkin said: bozo007 said: anestho said: bozo007 said: I bought this from Newegg a couple of weeks ago. Upgrading the RAM was a pain, but otherwise am very happy with the machine.
Could you be more specific about how the RAM upgade was difficult? Acer has a large back panel, unlike the typical 2" x 3" used by others, with multiple small tabs holding it down. You need to be extremely careful in popping them out.Yup. Confirming this with my Acer as well. The one I purchased last BF at WalMart - it is extremely painful to upgrade memory on it, for the very same reason mentioned above. Large back panel with very many screws holding it down at very many positions.
It's really not that bad. What's a few more screws to work on? How many times do you upgrade your memory on a laptop? Once, twice at the very most. For that price, it's a great deal. I would recommend trying the keyboard before buying though. First Acer laptop I bought, great keyboard. Second one I bought last year, the keys don't repeat very well. It's like they don't respond unless you really hit them hard. I got used to it, but my wife hates it.
slapointe said: It's really not that bad. What's a few more screws to work on? The problem is not the screws, but the additional small tabs on the inside.
barfy
Member
posted: Jul. 12, 2008 @ 9:58a
Just open the screws, pull on the cover and it pops off, Remove memory, install memory.....How difficult is That!!!!!
It really is the easiest thing to upgrade on any Laptop!!
Seems like 2 years ago, I got my Gateway that has same specs, but 40b GB less and one less core for 400 something...
The reality is the extra core makes no noticeable difference. $400 later I would be sitting in front of a machine barely any different than mine.
I'd love a computer, but I think it has to have some noticeable difference. Save your wad for something like blueray writer or SSD. That's the next tangible step. This is same old same old.
jtao
Member
posted: Jul. 12, 2008 @ 10:56a
not really a hot deal, barely warm. if Newegg has it instock for 499 with no tax and 3 day shipping is like 15, you can get it from them for about 514. at CC you have to pick it up and pay local tax, for me it would be 399 plus 45, so about 444. a price diff of about 70 for a laptop that is readily available online is not much of a deal.
thrunner
Member
posted: Jul. 12, 2008 @ 11:02a
Re: opening the back panel to Acer Entensa. It needs to be pried open the proper way or you will exert too much force and may break the panel tabs. It doesn't just pop open. The full instruction is over here: Instruction and link to picture.
It goes on sale on _Newegg for this price once in a while and if you use MS Live search, you will get 2.7% off and depending on where you are, no tax.
barfy said: Just open the screws, pull on the cover and it pops off, Remove memory, install memory.....How difficult is That!!!!! If you had bothered to read the thread fully, you would have realized that this is a problem specific to Acer machines.
yumyum
Member
posted: Jul. 12, 2008 @ 12:51p
Just ordered on the phone to pick up at Newport Beach, CA and the rep mentioned if I wanted a new all-in-one printer free after rebate with a purchase of a new laptop/pc. I said yes. Model is a Lexmark X2690 All-in-One Printer/ Copier/ Scanner. Cost is 79.99 with a $80 rebate. Good deal for $400!. Thanks OP.
Ditto, but also there is a FAR router, D-link WBR-1310, and some MS software I passed on. Great deal!
yumyum said: Just ordered on the phone to pick up at Newport Beach, CA and the rep mentioned if I wanted a new all-in-one printer free after rebate with a purchase of a new laptop/pc. I said yes. Model is a Lexmark X2690 All-in-One Printer/ Copier/ Scanner. Cost is 79.99 with a $80 rebate. Good deal for $400!. Thanks OP.
gamene said: Great deal with the free printer, just got one So what type of memory can be used to upgrade this to 2gb? You can either use 2x1GB or 1x2GB since the maximum it can take is 2GB and comes with 2x512MB
gamene
New Member
posted: Jul. 12, 2008 @ 4:49p
Thanks, can I only use DDR2 PC2-5300 or will other types work?
ykwang
New Member
posted: Jul. 12, 2008 @ 4:58p
bozo007 said: gamene said: Great deal with the free printer, just got one So what type of memory can be used to upgrade this to 2gb? You can either use 2x1GB or 1x2GB since the maximum it can take is 2GB and comes with 2x512MB
fvfquaker said: OOS all around me very informative post fvfquaker, where are you?
bimmyjx
Senior Member
posted: Jul. 12, 2008 @ 5:41p
also have problems with Acer Aspire models with the keys not registering when you hit the first time around. have to hit em much harder. anyway, you should post the model of the Acer you having the keyboard problem with so that we can find out if its all the model or just 1 specific series.
thanks. Score one in 61801 with the freebies. My old wireless router just start to become a bit more unpredictable and it is nice to retire it. I had to call for local pick-up. The rep lady was nice and asked whether I would like those free package.
daaznwangstr
New Member
posted: Jul. 12, 2008 @ 6:01p
barondeluze said: Ditto, but also there is a FAR router, D-link WBR-1310, and some MS software I passed on. Great deal!
yumyum said: Just ordered on the phone to pick up at Newport Beach, CA and the rep mentioned if I wanted a new all-in-one printer free after rebate with a purchase of a new laptop/pc. I said yes. Model is a Lexmark X2690 All-in-One Printer/ Copier/ Scanner. Cost is 79.99 with a $80 rebate. Good deal for $400!. Thanks OP.
daaznwangstr said: barondeluze said: Ditto, but also there is a FAR router, D-link WBR-1310, and some MS software I passed on. Great deal!
yumyum said: Just ordered on the phone to pick up at Newport Beach, CA and the rep mentioned if I wanted a new all-in-one printer free after rebate with a purchase of a new laptop/pc. I said yes. Model is a Lexmark X2690 All-in-One Printer/ Copier/ Scanner. Cost is 79.99 with a $80 rebate. Good deal for $400!. Thanks OP.
The manager also offered me a far spysweeper, router, and printer. There was also a Toshiba laptop in the cc system for 500 which wasn't out on the floor.
Kinda ot, but here's another 500 acer similar to the 3gb OD deal except it doesn't have a c2d.
Switching gears yet again, I love the acer I got. I'm gonna throw xp on it and I'm surprised how well it's running with just a gig of ram right now on vista. I think it's overkill for browsing the web and watching videos which is mainly what I'll be using it for. I would have bought something used, but everyone wants 600+ for their old p4 laptops.
I think the 3gb ram laptops with webcams and mics are good deals for 500, and this is really what I was set on getting at first. My Office Depot said they had the $500 acer in stock, but when I got there they said it wasn't turning on and was broken. I'm happy now that I saved the extra 100 for stuff I don't need. I'm really impressed with the quality of the acer. We'll see how it holds up the next year to few years.
As far as putting xp drivers on, this person wrote a decent guide on the process. The extensa 6420 xp and vista drivers are also here.
<edit> Disclaimer/Rant: I still miss my old xp2500 puter which I loved and never really had a problem with. It obviously had it's limitations, but it worked great for 75% of what I needed it for. This is also my first laptop, and anything that could run the same stuff as my old xp2500 barton I consider adequate. I think it's insane what you can get for 500- in a laptop now, and I don't know why people complain that these low priced laptops are too slow and are only good for browsing and such.
I have a amd64 X2 2.11 ghz HP desktop with a 8600gt card and there's more than a few laptops for under a grand that can outperform it. For everything I can think of right now except graphic intensive programs, the acer laptop is every bit as fast as my desktop for everyday tasks.
It is a good deal if it will not broken. I bought Acer Aspire 5100 laptop for $500+tax from BestBuy one year ago. But last week, the network adapter, wireless adaptor and PCMCIA port broken at the same time. It is the 3 monthes passed warranty. The new motherboard will cost me at least $235 from eBay even if I can change it by myself. I do not know what to do with it. Everyone thought that it was a good deal in one year ago at FatWallet. It have another two problems with my laptop. When I use it to watch movie or play game it often freezed in a blue screen even if I change memoy to 2G and DVD(R/W) drive often go out off connection socket. I have to puch it back and restart the laptop. You cannot lock it firmly when you carry it around. I used it carefully. It still look like brand new.
toneii said: price is great but not exciting to me.
Seems like 2 years ago, I got my Gateway that has same specs, but 40b GB less and one less core for 400 something...
The reality is the extra core makes no noticeable difference. $400 later I would be sitting in front of a machine barely any different than mine.
I'd love a computer, but I think it has to have some noticeable difference. Save your wad for something like blueray writer or SSD. That's the next tangible step. This is same old same old.
I beg to differ. Dual Core processors are much faster than Intel's other processors - including the Pentium M and Pentium D models. We compaired a PC running a Pentium D to a PC running a Core 2 Duo. A process that typically took 1.5 hours on the Pentium D took only 45 minutes on the Core 2 Duo. The PC's were identical in specs and both were right out of the box. The upgraded processor is well worth the money.
In case anyone is interested, several flavors of Linux run fine on this lappy.
I played with mine over the weekend and got PC Linux OS (MiniMe 2008) dual booting. Seems pretty snappy too.
One warning:...if you're installing Linux on a Vista machine, and you want to dual-boot into Vista, do NOT let your Linux installer try to re-size an existing Vista-partition. If you're wiping out the hard drive completely for Linux and don't care about Vista, then go ahead and use the installer. But if you want to keep Vista, or the Acer eRecovery partition, don't let Linux re-size it. I learned my lesson the hard way.
The issue: The new version of NTFS that Vista uses is not compatible with most existing Linux distros...at least ones more than a few months old. (Or any?) If you let your Linux installer try to make some hard disk space by re-sizing an existing partition, you'll screw up your system. You likely won't be able to boot into Vista, do an Acer eRecovery from the hard drive, or even rebuild from your recovery DVDs. (You did make recovery DVDs or CDs before you started all this, didn't you?)
Thankfully, I was able to recover my Vista by going back into Linux (booted from a live-cd) and deleting the 50GB NTFS partition "D", which DiskDrake had messed up during the install. Then I was able to boot back into Vista and re-sized the D partition, which I should have done in the first place.
Lesson learned: It's better to delete an existing Vista partition, or re-size an existing partition using Vista BEFORE you start the Linux install. That way your Linux installer can work with that empty space and there should be no problems.
Dual, triple, multi-OS Booting: PC Linux OS setup a GRUB install which lets me chose between the Acer eRecovery Partition, Vista Home Premium 32(on C: partition), and Linux (on a new 10GB partition, made by reducing D down from 50GB to 40GB).
Most everything in PC Linux OS seems to work out right of the box, except the Atheros Wifi chip. Atheros is notorious for being difficult to use under Linux without some tweaking. I just need to find a Windows driver that will run under ndiswrapper and I should be set.
Have not been able to find anyone who has the modem working on this lappy under Linux. That doesn't bother me, but it would still be nice to have it.
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