this a good laptop deal?? (1 Viewer)

[speed2]

hey guys, i'am looking for a laptop for uni and came across this on the net selling for about $1900 and at harris tech for $1999.

Acer TravelMate 4064WLMi
• Intel® Pentium® M Processor 760 (2GHz, 2MB Cache, 533MHz FSB)
• 2x512 MB PC4200 DDR2-SDRAM
• 100 GB EIDE hard drive
• DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Optical Drive
• PC CARD 1 Type II slot
• Intel® 915GM integrated 3D graphics
• Lithium Ion battery (8-cell) up to 5 hours life
• Variable Memory Allocation with up to 128 MB VRAM
• Integrated audio, twin speakers
• Built-in 56Kbps international fax/modem
• 10/100 LAN + 802.11b/g Wi-Fi with SignalUp Technology
• Built-in full size keyboard with four easy-launch buttons
• Built-in touchpad pointing device with ergonomic buttons and four-way integrated scroll key
• Three USB 2.0 ports
• Weight: 2.94KG
• Windows® XP Professional Edition
• 15.4" Widescreen with WXGA Resolution (1280 x 800)

do you guys reckon this is a good deal??

 

[Wolfowitz]

For a laptop it has a few things you may not need:
• Built-in touchpad pointing device with ergonomic buttons and four-way integrated scroll key
• DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Optical Drive

Also, you could probably get better specs on the V-card, mother and RAM if you shopped around.

 

[seremify007]

Isn't it 1gb of RAM? Seems decent but I don't really like Acer notebooks.

As for the touchpad- isn't that.. kinda important for a laptop?! The four way integrated scroll key ois alright- I've used it before on Acer, but then most PCs now come with that Alps pointing software where there are scroll wheels on the side of the touchpad (right side is vertical scroll, bottom is horizontal scroll)- they actually work quite well.

For your uni needs- that laptoop is pretty well specced and will definitely handle all your needs (except gaming)- internet, email, chat, assignments, etc...

EDIT:
Btw don't forget there are smaller laptops out there for that price (check Dell perhaps?)... a 15.4" widescreen is going to be a big laptop (and 3kg is pretty heavy)- try looking at a 12" screen if you want portability. Also check out battery life because a heavily specced machine will kill off your battery fast- maybe consider a Centrino processor? I'm not sure if that Pentium M thing is the same, but I know that mobile processors are meant to automatically slow down CPU speeds to suit the tasks at hand.

 

[euskadi_warrior]

Isn't it 1gb of RAM?

yeh, 512 x 2 = 1024. I think they split the RAM into two chips as it runs faster or something like that. That's what I heard anyways.

The laptop looks great but there are lighter ones out there as seremify007 said. My friends have a 3kg laptop for school and they are always complaining about it. I myself dont mind carring a 3kg laptop...but I dont do so regularly.

I like Acer. I reckon its a good brand. Personally, I dont like Dell. Whilst they are usually cheap, they have been prone to a tonne of errors (throughout my experience with them).

 

[Templar]

Acer has very good battery life.

Centrino = Pentium M + Intel 915/855 chipset + Intel PRO wireless

The only reason why a Pentium M equipped laptop does not constitute as a Centrino is because it uses some third party (better) wireless solution. It will still come with all the power saving features for the processor and chipset.

 

[Purp|e]

as far as i've seen there really isnt much in the way of 12"ers with semi-decent video in the ~2k range ... this makes me a sad panda and the whole mac student discount keeps making me think i want a 12" powerbook... but im not sure the whole mac compatability thing will go down well with my sexy windows home pc

 

[seremify007]

yeh, 512 x 2 = 1024. I think they split the RAM into two chips as it runs faster or something like that. That's what I heard anyways.

It could be for one of two reasons I think... in some motherboards they need the ram in pairs, but the other reason is that it's cheaper to buy 2 x 512, than 1 x 1024 <-- this is usually the case for why laptops split the ram as well. Bear in mind alot of notebooks only have 2 ram slots, so if you get 2x512, it'll be difficult to upgrade without losing a ram module.

The laptop looks great but there are lighter ones out there as seremify007 said. My friends have a 3kg laptop for school and they are always complaining about it. I myself dont mind carring a 3kg laptop...but I dont do so regularly.;

I have a 3kg laptop and it's great to use, and carrying it around isn't such a big deal... but university is different. It's not like carrying it around a house or short-distances, but you're going up and down stairs, in and out of tight classrooms, catching buses and trains, etc... I think I'd rather just carry pen/paper.

I like Acer. I reckon its a good brand. Personally, I dont like Dell. Whilst they are usually cheap, they have been prone to a tonne of errors (throughout my experience with them).

You might wanna test out the brands (as in to the topic creator)- I personally am an avid Dell fan... all our PCs are Dell now- but every man to himself? You can try out Dell PCs at their little booths in shopping centres like chatswood, hornsby, parra, etc... For uni needs, I'm looking at the Dell Inspiron 710M (12.1" screen, ultraportable)... spec-wise for price it's not "that great" until you take into account the ultraportable nature.

*quick configuration*
Intel Pentium M 735 (1.7ghz) <-- might seem slow to you, but when you're on the move, the CPU slows down to suit whatever your doing anyway- if you want to you can pay a bit more and get more CPU speed, but u might as well invest that money in a laptop bag =]
2x512mb pc2700 ddr
80gig hdd
8x dvd +/- rw
4 cell battery (can upgrade to 6 cell for $60)
intel pro wireless 2200 (can upgrade to dual band 2915 for $23)
internal 56k modem
microsoft works 7 oem
.. $1822aud with Bonus 2nd battery (4 cell) and Bonus Free Delivery.

However- no floppy disk drive though- that's $40 for external one.

It seems to suit your uni portability needs with the 12.1-inch (Wide-Aspect TFT XGA active-matrix TruelifeTM display with 1280 x 800 resolution), 1.7kg weight, has sufficient i/o (although 2usb may not be enough for you? it has firewire, svid, audio, sd card, etc..)

You can also look here at the laptop- http://www1.ap.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/inspn_710m_au?c=au&l=en&s=bsd

as far as i've seen there really isnt much in the way of 12"ers with semi-decent video in the ~2k range ... this makes me a sad panda and the whole mac student discount keeps making me think i want a 12" powerbook... but im not sure the whole mac compatability thing will go down well with my sexy windows home pc

LOL I like the look of Macs but the Mac OS pisses me off unfortunately. What do you mean by 'semi-decent video'? As in the video card...? or quality of screen? *is confused* For a budget uni notebook, video card shouldn't be too important.

 

[Templar]

It's 2x512MB both because 1024MB modules cost more than 2 512MB modules, and that the chipsets allow dual channel RAM access ie twice as fast if two identical sized modules are installed.

 

[Purp|e]

ahh sorry, i ment video card ... well hopefully in the future ill be doing some architectural CAD stuff. basically i was advised to leave it mainly to home, since the recommended video memory is 128mb, and its better on larger display (which i have both of at home anyway). but i was hoping to get a smallish laptop, that could still 'kind of' handle this sort of stuff. maybe something with 128mb shard might do so? but im not sure, and generally unsure about integrated graphics.

edit- oh, the other appealing thing about the mac's is the iLife thing that's included it looks pretty good from what i've heard.

whats the go with virtual pc on mac's ... is it *really* like having windows on there?

 

[Templar]

Shared memory would never work. RAM bandwidth is simply too low in comparison to dedicated VRAM, even with DDR2/PCIe etc. So stay away from TurboCache (nVidia) or HyperMemory (ATi) if you want a real video card.

 

[speed2]

thanks for all the relpies guys!

iam a bit confused about this Centrino thing, will i be able to use the laptop i mentioned above as part of my wireless networg at home and at the network at uni?

and about the weight, i dont really mind the 3kg as i wont be taking it to uni everyday but just occasionaly. plus i'll need the bigger screen.

is the 2x512mb RAM a problem? will they give the same/similar performance of a 1024mb??

 

[sunny]

iam a bit confused about this Centrino thing, will i be able to use the laptop i mentioned above as part of my wireless networg at home and at the network at uni?

Centrino is just a marketing badge, if you've got a wireless card its a wireless card.

is the 2x512mb RAM a problem?

No not really. You're using a laptop at uni (for work), not playing the latest cutting edge 3D game or decoding the human genome in class - a 2GHz processor and 1GB of RAM no matter what flavour they are is enough to run Word. Picky minor technical details are really not that relevant with laptops.

 

[Templar]

is the 2x512mb RAM a problem? will they give the same/similar performance of a 1024mb??

On that laptop 2x512 would give you better performance than 1x1024.

 

[Collin]

For those specs, that's an unbelievable price. There's another Acer around with pretty much the same specs too; Acer Aspire 1644WLi.
Anyway, when you configure that deal on a value model from even Dell (i.e Inspiron 6000), you should still be paying around $2,000-$2,300. Pentium 760/1GB RAM laptops don't usually come anywhere near as cheap as two grand. If you're an Acer fan, go for it.

 

[vizman]

extreme value for money

 

[seremify007]

thanks for all the relpies guys!

iam a bit confused about this Centrino thing, will i be able to use the laptop i mentioned above as part of my wireless networg at home and at the network at uni?

and about the weight, i dont really mind the 3kg as i wont be taking it to uni everyday but just occasionaly. plus i'll need the bigger screen.

is the 2x512mb RAM a problem? will they give the same/similar performance of a 1024mb??

Well as long as you aren't gaming- but what I'm still trying to figure out is if you want a laptop which is portable or a laptop which will make a good desktop replacement. If you are serious about CAD work and so on, and aren't planning to carry the laptop, maybe try speccing it with a 3d accelerator? My Inspiron 8600 has a cheap graphics card (nVidia Geforce FX 5200 Go) but the 64mb memory is good enough to play a lot of games surprisingly well.

 

[speed2]

Well as long as you aren't gaming- but what I'm still trying to figure out is if you want a laptop which is portable or a laptop which will make a good desktop replacement. If you are serious about CAD work and so on, and aren't planning to carry the laptop, maybe try speccing it with a 3d accelerator? My Inspiron 8600 has a cheap graphics card (nVidia Geforce FX 5200 Go) but the 64mb memory is good enough to play a lot of games surprisingly well.

well i'll be carrying it sometimes but most of the times it will be used at home. i'am not doing any CAD work or any intense graphic work but a lot of multi-tasking (like having excel, word, firefox... open at the same time).

 

[LexxY]

For a laptop it has a few things you may not need:
• Built-in touchpad pointing device with ergonomic buttons and four-way integrated scroll key
• DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Optical Drive

Also, you could probably get better specs on the V-card, mother and RAM if you shopped around.

Onboard graphics are shit. Get a proper graphics card. If you are prepared to spend more money, have a look at asus laptops. They use ati graphics cards that are fairly decent.

 

[Collin]

well i'll be carrying it sometimes but most of the times it will be used at home. i'am not doing any CAD work or any intense graphic work but a lot of multi-tasking (like having excel, word, firefox... open at the same time).

Well, whenever you seek a new computer, you must isolate exactly your needs. You obviously know you're gonna multitask alot, and need it for generalist apps regarding work and study.

So something with lots of RAM (1GB preferred) and a decent processor are integral. You may need to take it with you to uni too, so again the Centrino-based systems would be useful in the respect that they offer excellent battery life, and integrated wifi for you to tap into those hotspots around the place. With all of that said, that Acer is an unbelievable deal, which appears to suit your needs.

Since you're not doing anything graphically needy, that integrated graphics card is fine too.

 

[speed2]

well guys i finally bought the laptop yesterday from Computer World at Lidcombe, got it for $1890 plus a free bag! Seems pretty good so far, thanks for all your help