Hi all,
I am currently looking to buy a new laptop for uni. I saw this deal on The Good Guys website for the Acer V3-371 priced at $699.
The laptop will be mostly be used for MS Office programs and streaming Youtube videos (nothing too graphic intensive). Has anyone had experience in using this laptop or have any other recommendations at the $700 price mark (with a fourth/fifth gen i5).
Thanks in advance!
Why would you deduce that the OP has no idea because they are looking at an Acer?
I think what he was referring to is that the OP is unclear on what he should buy in terms of brand or type of laptop (e.g mainstream, business grade, ultraportable or tablet).
He has set a Core i5 to be his 'minimum requirement' but going by his usage of MS office and Youtube watching, a Core i3 or below will already suffice.
There is a lot more to a laptop than just it's CPU spec. For e.g you cannot really say a Acer Aspire to be as good as a Dell Latitude since one is a mainstream laptop and another is a semi-rugged business machine. See my previous comment
FYI you can get a budget Latitude or XPS laptop from Dell outlet specced with Core i5 easily if you're wiling to go with refurbished — going by past comments Dell does a very good job of refurbishing these machines with nary a scratch (looks just as new).
Thanks for the reply!
I am guilty of not being very clear in my original post :). As mentioned in a later post, there may be some programming required in my uni studies and therefore the i5 was set as a requirement.
I am also looking for an ultraportable which based on what little research I have done is generally quite expensive and more than my budget of $700. I probably should have specified in my original post that it will be best if the laptop is less than 2 kg (the Acer proposed is 1.5kg).
Really appreciate the responses so far! I do not use forums very often and will endeavour to be more specific in my future posts.
I brought an Acer v5-573G last week.
Similar spec but larger screen and fancier graphics… $549
http://cdn.msy.com.au/Parts/notebook.pdf
Everything works.
The only thing wrong is tapping the trackpad. It works sometimes but not all the time, and I'm using the buttons at the bottom of the trackpad instead. But the two finger scrolling and moving on the trackpad works fine.
aspire V5-573G-54204G50AII
CPU: Intel 4th Generation Core i5-4200U 1.6GHz(Turbo 2.6GHz)
OS: Windows 8 64bit
RAM:4GB DDR3
HDD: 500GB SATA
Graphic: Nvidia GF 720M 2GB Dedicated VGA
Screen: 15.6” LED Screen
Thanks guys.
I should have been clearer - the i5 is just for a bit more power in case my subjects require programming.
I went to the Good Guys and had a play with the laptop - keyboard and touchpad and it seems ok.
CPU is the i5 5200u which I think is also used in the xps13.
All in all quite happy with the deal at good guys but would still be open to other suggestions!
I'd recommend waiting a few days if possible. March 9 there is meant to be an announcement of a refresh to the Macbook Air line. I actually despise Apple as company, but you can't go past the quality of the products they make, and the support you get.
Last time a new refresh of the Macbook Air line came out you could grab the older models from anywhere between $500 for an 11" to around $750 for the 13". If the 13" comes close to your actual budget then it is a hell of a machine. You'd have to be pretty confident in it lasting as well, I know some people with 5+ year old macbooks that have batteries working in them near on perfectly still.
BOOTCAMP TOO! Get the best of both worlds if you are looking at an IT degree (as you mentioned you may be doing some programming).
Thanks Lansalot!
I will wait as the Good Guys offer expires on the 16th of March. Like you, I am not too fond of Apple but am definitely willing to check out the refresh of the Air line to see if there are any good deals!
why is an i5 a requirement when it's for youtube and MS Office? I'd go with an i3 or pentium and save a few hundred bucks.
Best way to buy a laptop - if you have no idea what you want (and if you're looking at acer, you have no idea), walk into JB/TGG and try a few keyboards/touchpads. This is what you'll use daily and you'll find that is far more important than an i5. Then sink whatever money you have left over into a SSD so you can boot in sub-10 seconds.