Which LapTop ?

[BAZZER 10]

My Son & I are after a couple of Laptops.

He’s thinking of an ACER 5920 (Blu-Ray) at £499. I was also considering this machine,,, hoping to get a deal on buying 2.

In the end tho’ for my use, the 15” screen is too small. I’d love a very similar machine but with 17” screen. I have a budget to work to, so am looking for an entry level machine (or should that be ‘entry level price’ ?).

My local PCWorld man said that one of the Acer 17” was a bad buy – in that they had dozens of returns on it. Does anyone know anything about this ?

If I godda – I could do without the Blu-Ray on the 17” item.

Doesn’t have to be Acer,,,,,, any ideas folks ?

[zab 47]

For a start avoid PC World!

Acer have a good reputation so I'm surprised at that comment, might be be worth checking elsewhere to see if they concur. I've just bought two of these for the kids,

http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/products...;l=en&s=dhs

Nice machines and they seem like excellent value, you can customise the components when you order.

[littlebro 234]

Hi,

The Acer is fine - when it works, however there are a couple of snags (though our machine is 2 years old and new ones may differ.Worth asking the retailer).

Problem 1: The power jack is in the rear and can be jarred causing motherboard damage.

Problem 2: Acer package XP to their own style losing out on some of the XP features. Not sure what they do with Vista.

I have a colleague with a Dell and his only gripe is the cost of calling their support team.

[ube 38]

i`ve got toshiba 17"....Equium.....349 boys.....the reason i brought this because i brought my youngest the acer and it sh1t its self....sayin that we got it replaced and this one as been ok touch wood....although simular the tosh is of a better build quality

you must stay away from pcworld.....complete tw#ts

[BAZZER 10]

thanks folks,

I've had an Acer Desktop for some years now,,,, & the unit - by & large - has been good enough. I found that the biggest drawback with Acer is Customers Care - there dosn't seem to be any.

Here comes my usual quote "all companies are just about all right when things are going well - but it's the way that they rectify problems that separates mediocre companies from GREAT ones"

My Son came up with the Acer 5920 because it's packed with features,,,, as well as Blu-Ray player. Whilst it might suit him for carrying about a lot, I found the screen too small for my needs,,,, so would like a 17" with the same features. Saying that - I'm not too bothered about the Blu-Ray bit, cos I can get an external burner at a later date,,,, if I need one !

UBE: I do like Toshiba stuff & have two of their TV's - one of them is IMHO the best TV ever made (36ZP48) in the lounge & a LCD in the boudoir (it ain't a patch on the CRT !)

LittleBro: Thanks for that. These only come with Vista unfortunately. This is the first time that I havn't jumped at updating my O.S,,,, am waiting for the next Windows - which they are rushing to produce in light of peoples concerns over the former. I'll let my son know to be careful with the power in jack.

ZAB: PC-World swapped me a keyboard just the other week. I bought a new USB item, & found it to be "a bit sticky" in that the keys wern't firm enough / clicky enough & too slow to react when writing text. I called them & they said "no prob, bring it back & we'll swap it or cash refund". I explained that I had difficulty in getting around & she sent me a replacement (higher spec') by courier & said to keep the other.

I have found PC-World (or DSG in general) a bit 'hit & miss' to deal with. Sometimes they seem GREAT,,,, sometimes they just can't be arsed.

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My son took delivery of a 5920 yesterday (but they sent a none BluRay item by mistake - at the concomitant price),,,, but the machine looks good enough & I think he'll keep it.

So now I fancy a 17" version,,,, but am worried about the model number that the PC-W guy mentioned. I was rather hoping it was well known amongst Laptoppers.

thanks for your input guys - as usual - taken on board.