Was just emailed this link - email was a bit deceiving as it didn't state refurbs but still good pricing in my books.
I recently purchased one of the laptops in the link for $900 they are selling for $497 - top little unit, haven't been able to fault it yet bar the position of the touch pad due to having a full num pad.
Desktop pricing looks good to - priced up a similar spec unit on a few sites and looking at $1K+
Believe it or not I've had a really good experience with ACER. I have an ACER Extensa 2300 and it has been running 24/7 for the last 5 years (connected to mains). Previous to that, the 2-3 years it gave was also good.
Each to their own I guess.
really i havent heard any good stories about acer , so glad to hear one , sure there is more.
i have heard extensa is a good model but with little exposure to them i wouldnt know.
no offense intended . will revise my acer negativeness :)
I've also had good experiences with Acer. I have an Aspire One that's been great, and also a laptop for a family member that's had a workout for more than three years and hasn't missed a beat. I'm not saying they're the best brand out there, I just think they're a good buy.
@Wampus: Thank you, validation my view of acer is outdated lol i will renew my expectations when looking at acer now
@Mikinoz: In my experience 3 years ago every type of Acer we bought at my old work had problems. Almost all the optical drives in the desktops failed, half the 20" LCD monitors had to be replaced, the servers were very painful to work with and the laptops were unreliable. When I needed to find drivers on their website I found half the links didn't work, each country had a different Acer page which might have the drivers you wanted.
In a recent report, Apple was rated by far the best in terms of teach support and Acer was by far the worst, both laptops and desktops:
http://www.crunchgear.com/2010/03/11/consumer-reports-says-a…
That's all quite a shame as I like the look of their ultra slim/lightweight models with the CULV CPUs
@parta: For me, Apple is the WORST when it has come to a notebook. Again from my experience,
1) Charger died while overseas, came back and it took 10 working days to get a replacement. (Pre-apple store, had to go to an authorised repairer).
2) My battery has issues despite me exercising it correctly. (could be related to the dodgy charger, but Apple never replaced it despite my concerns)
3) The case is splitting/fraying at the edges. It's a common problem on the 13" MacBooks.
http://getsatisfaction.com/apple/topics/is_anyone_elses_macb…
4) My HDD failed, also another common problem.
http://www.apple.com/au/support/macbook/hd/repairextension/
5) I've also had issues with the scrollwheel of my mighty mouse, which stopped working 2 months after it was purchased.
You'd think having apple care would help, but every time I must trek to the Apple store (back and forth), and in any case, none of the problems have been an instant fix. I've had to wait to book for a genuis as well to look at the issue which also meant I was waiting for a week. On the 3 occassions I've had to have my MacBook serviced at the Apple store I've had to drop it off, and pick it up (so 6 round trips to the city). Compare this to say HP, Lenovo or ACER and they pick up and return for you.
In terms of customer service, the worst I've experienced also goes to Apple. Houman is a person who worked at the store as the genius manager and I found him to be the most condescending person on earth.
Also after the last time I dropped my MacBook to be repaired, it has come back whining making loud noises at all times where as previously, it made no noises unless the CPU was under load or the hard drive was seeking. Does anyone else have a similar issue with their MacBook?
@Mikinoz: I am not criticising your opinion at all, just giving you and others a heads up from experience. The issue is that models often change in the industry. Even the more expensive brands like HP can have their faults as well.
The great thing about OzBargain is that users can share their own personal experiences about a product or a brand.
Stay safe mate :)
I'll second that, been running my Acer for 2 years 24/7, and i've been happy with it's performance.
Had an Acer lappy for over 5 years, would say they are better than most rather than the knockers on here. Clearly they are just going on appearance which a lot of people do.
Pretty does not make a good machine!!
Repaired many a laptop in my day and the content and build quality of the Acer mostly is better than others.
Yes, it's refurbished, but the price reflects that. That's some decent specs for a $500 notebook with a warranty.
1) It's AMD
2) It's Vista
3) It's Acer
4) It's refurb
5) It's not that cheap
Neg.
Re # 2 .. Vista SP2 is better than W7
# 3 .. Acer lappys are better build than most. Cosmetically thay may not be the prettiest but if you can live without pretty then go for one.
I agree with the AMD comment though… go the Intel in laptops.
hmm im tempted to buy.. are you sure this not a bargain ?
No it really isn't
http://www.officeworks.com.au/retail/products/Technology/Com…
Plus that one is Intel.
AMD processors on laptops eat batteries like a powered up pacmem eat ghosts.
lol have to agree with that the intel would be money better spent , if you want something cheap go the asus earlier today .
or buy my s10-2 lol
thx for your offer miki but im not considering netbook anymore, i realise the small screen would be too painful for watch movie - also cant watch H264 movies !
im now in market of 15.6 notebook with decent battery life. more than 5hours would be good
@CyberMurning: fair enough , same for me now i am realising the netbook under 10.4 is a fad
although i am really comfortable with the 12-13" models light enough to carry and big enough to see the screen
I have an ACER Aspire 5520 AMD laptop, it's about 2-3 years old running Windows 7 x64 and it lasts a couple of hours on battery.
This is surfing the net, watching videos, email etc over WiFi and the brightness two notches lower than full.
I wouldn't say that is bad!
Although I can't vouch for this particular model.
That's certainly not great but!
@PainToad: We have some Intel laptops that have poor battery life, it depends on the specific model and configuration. It's probably best not to bash AMD, as in my experiences they aren't bad, in some cases they are better equipped and have a cheaper pricepoint.
I do admit in some areas that Intel may have an edge on AMDs (and vice versa, check my reply to someone else further down in the thread) but you have to compare oranges with oranges and apples with apples.
When it came to desktops we found the E7300 (dual core) to be terribly inefficient and poor in terms of performance and value for money. At the price we were able to buy an AMD Phenom 9950 (quad core) which outperformed it heavily for the same price (at the time).
I don't want to start an AMD vs Intel argument, but always remember the merits and how difficult it can be to get a fair comparison in these situations (regarding CPUs and hardware).
Paintoad, I do agree though the deal doesn't represent great value for money, nor does it represent poor value for money. It's just "meh" hence the neutral vote from me :)
Not everyones cup of tea but for someone on a budget I think it's a good deal! $280 less than a new model (although AMD not Intel). Great buy for under $500 IMO
battery only 3 hours.. so poor
Not great laptop or price
Voted NO because of AMD processor… Go Intel in laptops, well worth the extra $$$.
You are voting no because the processor is an AMD rather than an Intel? That's pretty harsh mate.
Case in point, friend wanted an entertainment laptop.
Options were:
1/ AMD Athlon Dual Core with ATI Radeon 3200 graphics
2/ Intel Pentium Dual Core with Intel GMA X4500 graphics
The Intel had the worst performance of the 2 in terms of CPU and graphics as well as costing 30% more (a major difference in this price bracket).
Both choices were from the same manufacturer and had equal amounts of RAM and HDD space. So I guess, because it's an AMD processor, you would have paid the extra 350-400 bucks and gone for the poorer performing Intel machine?
NOTE: I normally wouldn't do this but I want to remind people of voting on the merits of a deal. I agree the deal doesn't represent great value (hence why I haven't given a positive vote), but by bashing a whole company without a valid reason it's a pretty stupid thing to do.
We can't just say, oh it's AMD/ACER/Hyundai/coloured silver and is thus crap. Give us a reason why, if so validate what you have to say. I do not disagree that in many cases Intel processors outperform their AMD equivalents in terms of efficiency/battery life, but mention that next time in your post rather than just saying
"Voted NO because of AMD processor… Go Intel in laptops, well worth the extra $$$."
because it ends up making you look like a fanboy, and that's the last thing OzBargain needs. (Try not to take it as a personal attack, rather constructive criticism).
Peace
You have effectively pointed out WHY we require an explanation of a negative vote. So at least people can understand and evaluate the negative votes.
We do not delete negative votes that have a reason which can be understood. Unless the vote is blatantly wrong - eg negative because this product is blue, when it is blue.
By giving a reason, then others here like yourself can express an opposite opinion which helps everyone.
But as mods we will never win either way as when we can neg votes for having no reason we are told we are anti neg voting!!
Like I said, people should explain why they vote neg and give a valid reason. It's like saying, Oh don't buy this Holden Commodore, get the Falcon instead (example).
I didn't post the deal, so I'm not asking for the neg to be removed, rather the comment as it serves no purpose (no explaination why other than a "it's AMD").
eww refurb acer , thats asking for trouble least it has warranty