Is this a good notebook? Acer Aspire 3500 15.4 Widescreen

[Bradjar]

Hey folks,

I'm a first time notebook buyer: what do I need to know?

I'm a non-techie, headed back to school this fall. My old computer from my undergrad is pooched. I'm doing an MBA, and want a notebook to serve me well over the next two years. Notebooks are mandatory in the program, and the school is WIFI'd. I'll be using internet, Word, Powerpoint, and Excel like a hound. The notebook will be used all day, every day for years, and lugged to and from school every day. A good screen & good battery life are also important.

I have a good line on one of these for $950:

Acer Aspire AS3502WLCi
http://www.acer.ca/acerpanam/page4.do?dau22.oid=9694&UserCtxParam=0&GroupCtxParam=0&dctx1=27&CountryISOCtxParam=CA&LanguageISOCtxParam=en&crc=3118600210

http://www.acer.ca/acerpanam/wr-resource/2135619480/upload/E0Entity3/1/Aspire3500_normal.jpg

In sum:
- 15.4 Widescreen, Crystalbright
- 1.4MHZ Celeron M
- 512 RAM/ 60GB HDD
- WIFI
- 6.2LBS

I have not seen one in person yet. Any suggestions? Experiences? Should I look at something different? Will my battery be toast in a few months?

TIA

[ak47num1]

I am not very knowledgeable in this area, but the following are some of my thoughts:

1. The price is very decent (warm, but not hot).
2. This might be a little too heavy to carry around. Perhaps a 14 inch monitor one would serve you better since work is your priority, rather than entertainment.
3. The processor is Celeron M, which doesn't have Speed-Step (correct me if I am wrong please, sorry in advance) like Centrino. Centrino would offer longer battery life. Also, an 8-cell battery would be better than a 6-cell or 4-cell.
4. People I know who own an Acer laptop are very pleased with their purchase. Acer seems to offer one-year in-house warranty. They would come to your door to pick up your laptop, attempt to repair it in 48 hours, and return the laptop to you at no charge. This is a nice thing to have, although one-year is rather short.
5. It looks good, which is always a plus. It can make you work happier, if not faster.

Anyway, good luck!

[coriolis]

Look at the ASUS z91n, it's a pretty neat model with a good price tag.

[Amourek]

Battery life will suck. Look for a Pentium-M or a Mobile Sempron notebook if you can't afford it.

Celeron-M - no SpeedStep, will always run at full speed.
3500 series - 4-cell Lithion-Ion battery. Decent lappy should come with a 8-cell.

[c h u d]

you might want to look around here, there are reviews and comments for lots of notebooks: http://www.notebookreview.com/

[testinz]

Celeron is super slow. Avoid any computer/laptop with Celeron processor :)

Hey folks,

I'm a first time notebook buyer: what do I need to know?

I'm a non-techie, headed back to school this fall. My old computer from my undergrad is pooched. I'm doing an MBA, and want a notebook to serve me well over the next two years. Notebooks are mandatory in the program, and the school is WIFI'd. I'll be using internet, Word, Powerpoint, and Excel like a hound. The notebook will be used all day, every day for years, and lugged to and from school every day. A good screen & good battery life are also important.

I have a good line on one of these for $950:

Acer Aspire AS3502WLCi
http://www.acer.ca/acerpanam/page4.do?dau22.oid=9694&UserCtxParam=0&GroupCtxParam=0&dctx1=27&CountryISOCtxParam=CA&LanguageISOCtxParam=en&crc=3118600210

http://www.acer.ca/acerpanam/wr-resource/2135619480/upload/E0Entity3/1/Aspire3500_normal.jpg

In sum:
- 15.4 Widescreen, Crystalbright
- 1.4MHZ Celeron M
- 512 RAM/ 60GB HDD
- WIFI
- 6.2LBS

I have not seen one in person yet. Any suggestions? Experiences? Should I look at something different? Will my battery be toast in a few months?

TIA

[2000fordfocus]

risky~

[hot_potato]

Yeah, I would say get a pentium-m which has better power management than a celeron. I used to buy celerons, but only until the tualatin 1.4 ghz. I would recommend you check it out in person and play around with the keyboard to see if you like the feel. After all, you'll be using this everyday for the next few years! Better pay a few extra bucks and get a laptop with a keyboard that you feel comfortable with. Otherwise you'll have to lug a fullsize keyboard around with you to plug into the laptop to type! Good luck! Also consider getting the laptop from RFD, you might be able to get a more powerful laptop for the same price range.

[skanji]

Also consider getting the laptop from RFD, you might be able to get a more powerful laptop for the same price range.

Over the past couple of weeks, I have not seen any such deals...

Please post any further info if you have it...

[Driftwood]

The Celeron M's aren't that bad, they're about as fast as the 1MB Pentium M's of the same clock speed. While its true they don't have SpeedStep, you can still run them in a power saving mode to extend the battery life. I can get mine to last about 4 hours on an 8-cell battery.

[skanji]

Look at the ASUS z91n, it's a pretty neat model with a good price tag.

where from? ncix doesn't sell it...

any other distributors?

[TenzoR]

Celeron is super slow. Avoid any computer/laptop with Celeron processor :)

Celeron-M = Pentium-M with half the cache
that alone doesn't make it significantly slower. The biggest downfall for Celeron-M is the fact that it's power management is not as advance as Pentium-M

in any case, the only bad component to this laptop is the chipset which is SiS, so this means this computer is not a "centrino" certified.

[TenzoR]

where from? ncix doesn't sell it...

any other distributors?

if you need it local, check out PC Cyber

[FuNPoLiCe001]

It's an Acer, and they suck IMO

their notebooks are really cheap, but construction is shoddy, and their screens are not as good as other brands. Also, they often include 4 cell batteries instead of 6 or 8 cells, which really cuts down in battery life to 1.5-2 hrs

Just don't buy it.

If you want something portable, a 15.4 widescreen is probably too big anyways. Check out something like Toshiba Tecra's, IBM T4x series, Dell 600m/D600 (if you're on a budget), or Asus Z61/Z63 (63 is widescreen, 61 is non-widescreen, both 14 inch screens).

[Bradjar]

Thanks guys