Which laptop is better?

[bonita!]

Hello,

I plan to buy a laptop. I'm not looking to play games or anything just for normal uses. A friend recommended me these two from a local store. They are refurbished but I don't mind as they come with a 1 year warrenty. I would like to know which one sounds better? They are both under $700, I believe.

Here are the specs:

Acer Aspire 6930-6557 Notebook ~ Intel Core 2 Duo T5800 2GHz CPU, 4GB DDR2, 320GB HDD, 16.0" WXGA (1366 x 768), Intel GMA 4500MHD, DVD+/-R/RW, 802.11b/g, GigaLAN, V.92 Modem, Webcam, 6-Cell Battery, Windows Vista Home Premium

or

Acer Aspire 6920-6097 Notebook ~ Intel Core 2 Duo T5550 1.83GHz, 3GB DDR2667 320G Hard Drive, 16" Widescreen, Nvidia 9500M GS 512 M, DVD+/-RW, Webcam, 802.11 A/B/G Wireless, Windows Vista Home Premium (LX.APQ0X.251)

Thanks!:-0

[Jucius Maximus]

I would never buy an Acer under any circumstances. Do a search on this board, you will find a lot of complaints.

[Kwirky]

I would suggest the second laptop; the slightly slower CPU and less RAM is offset by the discreet graphics that will give you a lot of power for HD content and gaming.

[bonita!]

I would never buy an Acer under any circumstances. Do a search on this board, you will find a lot of complaints.

Which brands would you recommend ex. ASUS, Toshiba? These seem to be the that I see most.

Thanks

[Kwirky]

Which brands would you recommend ex. ASUS, Toshiba? These seem to be the that I see most.

Thanks

Here's PCMag's survey results for notebooks (a good column to compare is "percentage needing repair"): http://www.pcmag.com/image_popup/0,1871,iid=212926,00.asp

[mr_raider]

By that survey Acer seems to do better than most, including the Macs. Still, industry average 18% repair rate is huge for any consumer electronics. Even Chrysler and VW build better cars than that.

[jackwest]

That survey can't possibly be accurate. There's probably 100 things that wouldn't pass a scientific study. If they just use reponses, guess who's more likely to comment.

[bonita!]

By that survey Acer seems to do better than most, including the Macs. Still, industry average 18% repair rate is huge for any consumer electronics. Even Chrysler and VW build better cars than that.

Yes, it says that ACER has the lowest repair rate of 12%. Now I'm a bit confused as to which brand is better lol...

[Kwirky]

By that survey Acer seems to do better than most, including the Macs. Still, industry average 18% repair rate is huge for any consumer electronics. Even Chrysler and VW build better cars than that.

Laptops are bad by consumer electronics standards (and always have been, I believe), but don't compare to vehicles. 18% represents 18 problems per 100 laptops, compared with 87 to 167 problems per 100 vehicles within the first year alone: http://www.autoblog.com/2008/06/04/j-dd-power-releases-2008-initial-quality-study/

That survey can't possibly be accurate. There's probably 100 things that wouldn't pass a scientific study. If they just use reponses, guess who's more likely to comment.

Yeah, no doubt an unhappy customer makes a louder noise about it than a happy one; that's the big problem with saying "Do a search on this board, you will find a lot of complaints." Having said that, Consumer Reports own survey found similar results, both in the average repair percentages and the brand rankings, but their survey showed a much smaller difference between the best and the worst. I'm not going to publish their full results though, don't want to get RFD in any legal trouble for hosting copyrighted content.

Really, there's nothing wrong with Acer's quality anymore, it's just peoples perception of it.

[bonita!]

Laptops are bad by consumer electronics standards (and always have been, I believe), but don't compare to vehicles. 18% represents 18 problems per 100 laptops, compared with 87 to 167 problems per 100 vehicles within the first year alone: http://www.autoblog.com/2008/06/04/j-dd-power-releases-2008-initial-quality-study/



Yeah, no doubt an unhappy customer makes a louder noise about it than a happy one; that's the big problem with saying "Do a search on this board, you will find a lot of complaints." Having said that, Consumer Reports own survey found similar results, both in the average repair percentages and the brand rankings, but their survey showed a much smaller difference between the best and the worst. I'm not going to publish their full results though, don't want to get RFD in any legal trouble for hosting copyrighted content.

Really, there's nothing wrong with Acer's quality anymore, it's just peoples perception of it.


Thanks Kwirky for your help. It will definetly help me when making the final decision on which laptop to buy.

[jackwest]

also a slightly more subtle problem...the differences in brands in that survey can be meaningless, how?

well you will attract a different clientile for each brand, for example, if I hike up the prices 100 bucks, that's going to wipe out alot of the cheaper users. the remaining will be much more likely to be business users

if a business user's laptop craps out, then he's prob much less likely to whine about it on the internet or in a survey.

so just increasing your price improves customer satisfaction!!

hence that is why apple and lenovo may have lower complaint rates,

the effect may be completely the opposite, who knows

[sickcars]

Acer Aspire 6920-6097 Notebook ~ Intel Core 2 Duo T5550 1.83GHz, 3GB DDR2667 320G Hard Drive, 16" Widescreen, Nvidia 9500M GS 512 M, DVD+/-RW, Webcam, 802.11 A/B/G Wireless, Windows Vista Home Premium (LX.APQ0X.251)

is the better laptop.

I own an acer and have yet to have any problems with it (2 years old) I also know a bunch of ppl with acers & have no problems. Its all luck, & how you take car of the laptop. you might get a good one or you could get a lemon.

[Jucius Maximus]

Which brands would you recommend ex. ASUS, Toshiba? These seem to be the that I see most.

Thanks

If I was buying a Windows notebook for myself, I'd consider Sony, Asus, LG, Toshiba, Fujitsu, Lenovo probably some others.

[mau108]

Acer is definately a good product, even with my sisters abuse (the lcd screen actually has now detatched from the body) i'm still able to see clean video (just the screen needs back support lol)

Everything else including the battery which has seen the poorest condition still works.

I have to vouch for Acer, albiet it may feel cheap and look butt ugly but they make some good cheap laptops and back in some great hardware in it.

She's getting a new laptop soon (probably a dell as thats the cheapest deal I can find going on a regular laptop, no way in hell me or my parents are dropping big coin on laptop for her lol)

But anyways, Acer is a good product, and if its within your budget and you like the weight and feel of the machine go for it, I'm pretty sure you won't abuse it like my sister did....such as leaving in on 24/7, getting dropped several times (several as in more then fakin 10!) the acer should hold up till you want to upgrade.

[RCGA]

^ meh, in a laptop, I'd go with quality over specs all day long.

That Acer you described sounds like a POS haha :lol:

[mau108]

^ meh, in a laptop, I'd go with quality over specs all day long.

That Acer you described sounds like a POS haha :lol:

its not a gaming machine never intended for it, just a student laptop for word processing and online stuff and it did its job...im sure if my sister was a bit better with electronics in general, it would be still be in once piece.