Am buying a laptop. Happy with what spec to get but would welcome advice on 
what make. Anyone have experience with Acer? Have thought about getting a 
Dell (and still might, I have one at work) but have been reading some 
unpleasant stuff recently about their quality and support. One factor is, 
cost of laptop including 3 year warranty. Unlike desktops, laptops can be 
buggers to fix yourself. Anyone got an Evesham laptop?

-- 
Tumbleweed

email replies not necessary but to contact use;
tumbleweednews at hotmail dot com

"Tumbleweed"  wrote in message 
news:3kv7thFvp1hsU1@individual.net...

> Am buying a laptop. Happy with what spec to get but would welcome advice 
> on what make. Anyone have experience with Acer? Have thought about getting 
> a Dell (and still might, I have one at work) but have been reading some 
> unpleasant stuff recently about their quality and support. One factor is, 
> cost of laptop including 3 year warranty. Unlike desktops, laptops can be 
> buggers to fix yourself. Anyone got an Evesham laptop?
>
> -- 
> Tumbleweed
>
> email replies not necessary but to contact use;
> tumbleweednews at hotmail dot com
>


I have an Acer Travelmate 240,generally happy with it although some of the 
letters on the keyboard stated to flake off after a few months and now one 
off the mouse buttons has started to loose its silver look and white plastic 
is showing through!
Battery is a bit naff at about an 1-1 1/2 hours at best.
On the plus side it has never missed a beat and has been mega reliable 
considering it is used for at least 12 hours a day both at work and home.

X-no-archive: yes
Tumbleweed wrote:

> Am buying a laptop. Happy with what spec to get but would welcome advice on 
> what make. Anyone have experience with Acer? Have thought about getting a 
> Dell (and still might, I have one at work) but have been reading some 
> unpleasant stuff recently about their quality and support. One factor is, 
> cost of laptop including 3 year warranty. Unlike desktops, laptops can be 
> buggers to fix yourself. Anyone got an Evesham laptop?


I've always bought Dell (both home and work) and have been very happy 
with them.  If you look more at the business and home education section 
you can get 3 years on-site warranty included.  Latitudes are good 
models and there are some great deals at the outlet site 
(dell.co.uk/outlet).  Most of them come with on-site warranties.

The only problem I've had support wise is using their email system, the 
answers appear to me as if they are read off a script (e.g. I had a 
problem with the on-board sound, I explained that the diagnostics (run 
from DOS) detected a problem but they still wanted to me reinstall the 
Windows drivers!) and it can take DAYS before you get an engineer out, 
but if you phone up and get someone on the phone, you can get stuff 
sorted there and then or get the engineer next day if something needs 
replaced.  Getting through on the phone is usually painless.

I think 3 year warranty came out at about 99quid.  When you consider the 
cost of getting laptop bits replaced, thats a bargain.

HTH

Tumbleweed wrote:

> Am buying a laptop. Happy with what spec to get but would welcome
> advice on what make. Anyone have experience with Acer? Have thought
> about getting a Dell (and still might, I have one at work) but have
> been reading some unpleasant stuff recently about their quality and
> support. One factor is, cost of laptop including 3 year warranty.
> Unlike desktops, laptops can be buggers to fix yourself. Anyone got
> an Evesham laptop?


I bought a horse of a thing from www.rockdirect.com

I actually just wanted a portable dvd player that could run some basic apps, 
but as I added to the feature-list, the required laptop got bigger and 
heavier and louder (naturally).

The one I got eventually was great but I knew at once it wasn't what I 
wanted... I was too greedy with what I thought I wanted from a laptop.


Then the graphics chip fizzled to death and it had to go back after a month 
or so. Went away and came back a few days later repaired.
A month later same thing happened again though.

I explained to them I wasn't happy and wanted a replacement -and not only 
that -I wanted a replacement with a 'lesser/cheaper' model and I wanted a 
refund for the difference.

....And they did exactly that. :)

In all, it was a pain I had so much problems, but I couldn't have asked for 
better service once they got onto it.

I'd reccommned rockdirect despite the faulty bit -every company has _some_ 
problems. They dealt with the problems very well indeed.

My replacement hasn't arrived yet, but it's on it's way. The general look & 
feel of the 'snazzier' one was very nice, but as I said... I'm not looking 
forward to my lighter model. :)

 -Kevin.


-- 
Reply to: news@SPAMBEGONEgunthergloop.com

"Tumbleweed" wrote: 


> Am buying a laptop. Happy with what spec to get but would welcome
> advice on what make. Anyone have experience with Acer? Have thought
> about getting a Dell (and still might, I have one at work) but have
> been reading some unpleasant stuff recently about their quality and
> support. One factor is, cost of laptop including 3 year warranty.
> Unlike desktops, laptops can be buggers to fix yourself. Anyone got an
> Evesham laptop? 


Funny you should bring this up - I just bought an Acer Aspire 3022WLMi 
from CCL (after being tempted by the cheap Travelmate Ebuyer are selling 
and then deciding I *needed* something more powerful).

Nice silver body, bright screen, pretty fast - but makes an annoying 
plunky "ding" sound every so often (even with the speakers switched off). 
My best guess is the hard drive is dodgy. Emailed Acer yesterday evening 
and CCL this morning. No response from either, as of yet.

Oh, and it might be worth avoiding Sempron models - they run very hot, if 
mine is anything to go by and the cooling fan is quite loud.

Acer warranties are a bargain, though. Ebuyer, laptopsdirect and others 
are doing Acer 3yrs for 55-60. CCL do Acer 3yrs + Accidental Damage for 
89.50. Compare that with Dell, who want 199 for 3yrs and over 300 for 
AD. Only downside, is Acer charge 100 if the screen needs to be 
replaced.


higgy.

Gunther Gloop wrote:

> Tumbleweed wrote:
>> Am buying a laptop. Happy with what spec to get but would welcome
>> advice on what make. Anyone have experience with Acer? Have thought
>> about getting a Dell (and still might, I have one at work) but have
>> been reading some unpleasant stuff recently about their quality and
>> support. One factor is, cost of laptop including 3 year warranty.
>> Unlike desktops, laptops can be buggers to fix yourself. Anyone got
>> an Evesham laptop?
>
> I bought a horse of a thing from www.rockdirect.com
>
> I actually just wanted a portable dvd player that could run some
> basic apps, but as I added to the feature-list, the required laptop
> got bigger and heavier and louder (naturally).
>
> The one I got eventually was great but I knew at once it wasn't what I
> wanted... I was too greedy with what I thought I wanted from a laptop.
>
>
> Then the graphics chip fizzled to death and it had to go back after a
> month or so. Went away and came back a few days later repaired.
> A month later same thing happened again though.
>
> I explained to them I wasn't happy and wanted a replacement -and not
> only that -I wanted a replacement with a 'lesser/cheaper' model and I
> wanted a refund for the difference.
>
> ...And they did exactly that. :)
>
> In all, it was a pain I had so much problems, but I couldn't have
> asked for better service once they got onto it.
>
> I'd reccommned rockdirect despite the faulty bit -every company has
> _some_ problems. They dealt with the problems very well indeed.
>
> My replacement hasn't arrived yet, but it's on it's way. The general
> look & feel of the 'snazzier' one was very nice, but as I said... I'm
> not looking forward to my lighter model. :)
>


Oops... That should be I'm NOW looking forward to my lighter model!

 -Kevin.

-- 
Reply to: news@SPAMBEGONEgunthergloop.com

"Tumbleweed"  wrote in message
news:3kv7thFvp1hsU1@individual.net...

> Am buying a laptop. Happy with what spec to get but would welcome advice
on
> what make. Anyone have experience with Acer? Have thought about getting a
> Dell (and still might, I have one at work) but have been reading some
> unpleasant stuff recently about their quality and support. One factor is,
> cost of laptop including 3 year warranty. Unlike desktops, laptops can be
> buggers to fix yourself. Anyone got an Evesham laptop?
>
> -- 
> Tumbleweed
>
> email replies not necessary but to contact use;
> tumbleweednews at hotmail dot com
>
>

I would echo what has already been said, a laptop is about the only thing I
would consider buying an extended warranty on. They are problematic
especially if you are likely to use it regularly.

Rick

"Tumbleweed"  wrote in message 
news:3kv7thFvp1hsU1@individual.net...

> Am buying a laptop. Happy with what spec to get but would welcome advice 
> on what make. Anyone have experience with Acer? Have thought about getting 
> a Dell (and still might, I have one at work) but have been reading some 
> unpleasant stuff recently about their quality and support. One factor is, 
> cost of laptop including 3 year warranty. Unlike desktops, laptops can be 
> buggers to fix yourself. Anyone got an Evesham laptop?



Y'can't go wrong with a Tiny.....but better be quick

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4727143.stm

Joe

"Joe McC"  wrote in message 
news:42ea9913$0$1208$ed2619ec@ptn-nntp-reader01.plus.net...

>
> "Tumbleweed"  wrote in message 
> news:3kv7thFvp1hsU1@individual.net...
>> Am buying a laptop. Happy with what spec to get but would welcome advice 
>> on what make. Anyone have experience with Acer? Have thought about 
>> getting a Dell (and still might, I have one at work) but have been 
>> reading some unpleasant stuff recently about their quality and support. 
>> One factor is, cost of laptop including 3 year warranty. Unlike desktops, 
>> laptops can be buggers to fix yourself. Anyone got an Evesham laptop?
>
>
> Y'can't go wrong with a Tiny.....but better be quick
>
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4727143.stm
>
> Joe


a phrase containing the word 'bargepole' springs to mind :-)

-- 
Tumbleweed

email replies not necessary but to contact use;
tumbleweednews at hotmail dot com

"Tumbleweed"  wrote in message 
news:3kv7thFvp1hsU1@individual.net...

> Am buying a laptop. Happy with what spec to get but would welcome advice 
> on what make. Anyone have experience with Acer? Have thought about getting 
> a Dell (and still might, I have one at work) but have been reading some 
> unpleasant stuff recently about their quality and support. One factor is, 
> cost of laptop including 3 year warranty. Unlike desktops, laptops can be 
> buggers to fix yourself. Anyone got an Evesham laptop?
>
> -- 
> Tumbleweed
>
> email replies not necessary but to contact use;
> tumbleweednews at hotmail dot com


I can't understand why Dell's are even considered, apart from large amount 
of advertising. Don't waste your money, build quality is far inferior to a 
few years ago. Not interested in their customers if it's faulty and will 
refuse even those with Dell IT contracts (mates company dropped them after 
major hassle with faulty new laptops) support line is in India, so expect 
costly phone calls and unintelligible call centre operators.

Buy something else- Acer are good value for money, reliable and sturdy. 
Toshiba are slightly better, but paying for the name and if you compare spec 
to Acer considerably more and not really worth it IMO (I have a Acer and 
Toshiba here) The Toshiba is pretty rubbish- especially the video card. It's 
a P4 2.6ghz and it needs to be in full power to playback DVD's or Mpeg-IV 
movie, tried all drivers etc - but basically video card is POS and not fit 
for purpose. Also sometimes 1fps slowdown, cannot sort it out. Needs several 
restarts, then maybe works. Sometimes fine (nothing changed in 
drivers/settings, just a bit wonky)

My older slower Acer P4 1.6ghz can be in battery saving mode- and it plays 
DVD & Mpeg-IV smoothly. Much better video card.

What's your budget? Looking at slower & longer running times, or a desktop 
replacement? (fast, big screen, fast video card, but short battery running 
times)

"Nath"  wrote in message 
news:42eaaaeb$0$19712$cc9e4d1f@news.dial.pipex.com...

>
> "Tumbleweed"  wrote in message 
> news:3kv7thFvp1hsU1@individual.net...
>> Am buying a laptop. Happy with what spec to get but would welcome advice 
>> on what make. Anyone have experience with Acer? Have thought about 
>> getting a Dell (and still might, I have one at work) but have been 
>> reading some unpleasant stuff recently about their quality and support. 
>> One factor is, cost of laptop including 3 year warranty. Unlike desktops, 
>> laptops can be buggers to fix yourself. Anyone got an Evesham laptop?
>>
>> -- 
>> Tumbleweed
>>
>> email replies not necessary but to contact use;
>> tumbleweednews at hotmail dot com
>
> I can't understand why Dell's are even considered, apart from large amount 
> of advertising. Don't waste your money, build quality is far inferior to a 
> few years ago. Not interested in their customers if it's faulty and will 
> refuse even those with Dell IT contracts (mates company dropped them after 
> major hassle with faulty new laptops) support line is in India, so expect 
> costly phone calls and unintelligible call centre operators.
>
> Buy something else- Acer are good value for money, reliable and sturdy. 
> Toshiba are slightly better, but paying for the name and if you compare 
> spec to Acer considerably more and not really worth it IMO (I have a Acer 
> and Toshiba here) The Toshiba is pretty rubbish- especially the video 
> card. It's a P4 2.6ghz and it needs to be in full power to playback DVD's 
> or Mpeg-IV movie, tried all drivers etc - but basically video card is POS 
> and not fit for purpose. Also sometimes 1fps slowdown, cannot sort it out. 
> Needs several restarts, then maybe works. Sometimes fine (nothing changed 
> in drivers/settings, just a bit wonky)
>
> My older slower Acer P4 1.6ghz can be in battery saving mode- and it plays 
> DVD & Mpeg-IV smoothly. Much better video card.
>
> What's your budget? Looking at slower & longer running times, or a desktop 
> replacement? (fast, big screen, fast video card, but short battery running 
> times)


Its a desktop replacement, so battery life is irrelevant. Looking for 512Mb, 
DVD rewriter,15 inch screen. Seems you can get this for around 650 now.

-- 
Tumbleweed

email replies not necessary but to contact use;
tumbleweednews at hotmail dot com

On Fri, 29 Jul 2005 18:39:05 +0100, "Tumbleweed"
 wrote:


>Am buying a laptop. Happy with what spec to get but would welcome advice on 
>what make. Anyone have experience with Acer? 


Our outside team use Acer laptops. Various models bought over the last
5 years so I can't recommend a particular one. ISTR they have  a 2
year warranty. The only one that went wrong was picked up by DHL under
guarantee and returned within 10 days. Seem fairly robust but I'd
advise a usb palm mouse rather than the touch pad. It wears.  Battery
life isn't great but most laptops share that problem. Any time I've
had to call their tech support they have been fairly quick in
answering. That may mean they are well staffed or it may just mean I
got lucky.


>Have thought about getting a 
>Dell (and still might, I have one at work) but have been reading some 
>unpleasant stuff recently about their quality and support.


We've used Dell and Toshibas. I loved the Tosh portege but I'm not
sure if they are still made in up to date spec. 


> One factor is, 
>cost of laptop including 3 year warranty. Unlike desktops, laptops can be 
>buggers to fix yourself. Anyone got an Evesham laptop?


sorry but no.

X-no-archive: yes
Nath wrote:

> I can't understand why Dell's are even considered, apart from large amount 
> of advertising. Don't waste your money, build quality is far inferior to a 
> few years ago. Not interested in their customers if it's faulty and will 
> refuse even those with Dell IT contracts (mates company dropped them after 
> major hassle with faulty new laptops) support line is in India, so expect 
> costly phone calls and unintelligible call centre operators.
> 
> Buy something else- 


It doesn't matter which manufacturer you pick, someone will have had a 
bad experience with them.

I personally will stick with Dell.  YMMV.

I bought a "Medion" from TOYS R US about 19 months ago and it has worked 
fine apart from a small conflict causing it to lock up a few times which was 
solved after some updates were applied.  Otherwise its been great value with 
4 USB ports and X4 memory card reader (something that ALOT of laptops still 
omit) It has 512MB RAM and DVD Writer and 40GB HDD too which was pretty good 
back then.

The only thing i wish it had was internal wi-fi as opposed to a card.

Have to add I bought it 3 weeks before Xmas on a Sunday and shop was packed 
with frustrated parents and even more frustrated kids.  Caught one of the 
staff and he gave a quick demo on an instore machine - I then agreed to buy 
one and we then proceeded to a closed till (which he opened) took my payment 
and then I went to the collection point and picked it up and walked out. 
JOB DONE! In all it took about 10 mins from walking in to walking out and 
avoided all the queues too.

Must say I use it alot more than I thought I would even though i have a 
desktop too.

Acer:  Two friends have puchased this brand, 1st one bought top of the range 
model which failed after a few weeks (forget problem) Samsung coleected and 
returned in a few days and its been ok ever since.  2nd friend bought one 
about a yr ago and that has worked perfectly.

In article , 
invalid@invalid.com says...

> 
> We've used Dell and Toshibas. I loved the Tosh portege but I'm not
> sure if they are still made in up to date spec. 


IME Toshibas are good tough machines. My old one was dropped 
downstairs, had a breadboard dropped on it, fell off things several 
times, and still worked fine. Finally a fall from the bed did in the 
screen, and we hooked it up to a pc monitor for the kids. It was then 
involved in a major flood (by which I mean, it was actually submerged 
for several hours, we picked it up and water poured out of it). The 
clean-up-after-disasters company wrote it off for the insurance 
company, but still took it and dried it out - and apart from the 
still-non-functioning screen, it still works!

My new one hasn't had quite the same level of abuse, but still gets 
mistreated regularly - no problems with that either :-)

-- 
Hedgehog

"Graham"  wrote in message 
news:3l0soiF105g1lU1@individual.net...

> X-no-archive: yes
> Nath wrote:
>> I can't understand why Dell's are even considered, apart from large 
>> amount of advertising. Don't waste your money, build quality is far 
>> inferior to a few years ago. Not interested in their customers if it's 
>> faulty and will refuse even those with Dell IT contracts (mates company 
>> dropped them after major hassle with faulty new laptops) support line is 
>> in India, so expect costly phone calls and unintelligible call centre 
>> operators.
>>
>> Buy something else-
>
> It doesn't matter which manufacturer you pick, someone will have had a bad 
> experience with them.
>
> I personally will stick with Dell.  YMMV.


Shame even internet sites saying Dell are shite customer service. You're 
telling me Dell refusing a IT company's order of laptops (delivered faulty) 
is ok? They had to be taken to court. Any company that does that shouldn't 
be defended. Unless you're a Dell fanboy.

"Tumbleweed"  wrote in message 
news:3l0i60F103anoU1@individual.net...

>
> "Nath"  wrote in message 
> news:42eaaaeb$0$19712$cc9e4d1f@news.dial.pipex.com...
>>
>> "Tumbleweed"  wrote in message 
>> news:3kv7thFvp1hsU1@individual.net...
>>> Am buying a laptop. Happy with what spec to get but would welcome advice 
>>> on what make. Anyone have experience with Acer? Have thought about 
>>> getting a Dell (and still might, I have one at work) but have been 
>>> reading some unpleasant stuff recently about their quality and support. 
>>> One factor is, cost of laptop including 3 year warranty. Unlike 
>>> desktops, laptops can be buggers to fix yourself. Anyone got an Evesham 
>>> laptop?
>>>
>>> -- 
>>> Tumbleweed
>>>
>>> email replies not necessary but to contact use;
>>> tumbleweednews at hotmail dot com
>>
>> I can't understand why Dell's are even considered, apart from large 
>> amount of advertising. Don't waste your money, build quality is far 
>> inferior to a few years ago. Not interested in their customers if it's 
>> faulty and will refuse even those with Dell IT contracts (mates company 
>> dropped them after major hassle with faulty new laptops) support line is 
>> in India, so expect costly phone calls and unintelligible call centre 
>> operators.
>>
>> Buy something else- Acer are good value for money, reliable and sturdy. 
>> Toshiba are slightly better, but paying for the name and if you compare 
>> spec to Acer considerably more and not really worth it IMO (I have a Acer 
>> and Toshiba here) The Toshiba is pretty rubbish- especially the video 
>> card. It's a P4 2.6ghz and it needs to be in full power to playback DVD's 
>> or Mpeg-IV movie, tried all drivers etc - but basically video card is POS 
>> and not fit for purpose. Also sometimes 1fps slowdown, cannot sort it 
>> out. Needs several restarts, then maybe works. Sometimes fine (nothing 
>> changed in drivers/settings, just a bit wonky)
>>
>> My older slower Acer P4 1.6ghz can be in battery saving mode- and it 
>> plays DVD & Mpeg-IV smoothly. Much better video card.
>>
>> What's your budget? Looking at slower & longer running times, or a 
>> desktop replacement? (fast, big screen, fast video card, but short 
>> battery running times)
>
> Its a desktop replacement, so battery life is irrelevant. Looking for 
> 512Mb, DVD rewriter,15 inch screen. Seems you can get this for around 650 
> now.
>
> -- 
> Tumbleweed
>
> email replies not necessary but to contact use;
> tumbleweednews at hotmail dot com
>


Checkout Acer Aspire range. Widescreen, large hard drive, decent video card, 
I think also 3.5" 7200 RPM hard disc, fast, lots of memory, full size 
keyboard with number pad.  Also Travelmate series.

http://www.laptopshop.co.uk/acer-travelmate_2702_wlmi_v2-laptop-2-n2.htm

Processor Type Pentium P4
Processor Speed 3.06GHz CPU
RAM  256MB
Hard Drive 60GB
Display 15.4 inch TFT display
Widescreen Type WXGA (1280 x 800)
Video Chipset ATI Mobility Radeon 9000
Optical Drive Dual DVD
Operating System MS WinXP Home
Wireless LAN Built in Wireless LAN 802.11g 54Mbps
Weight Kg 3.40

http://www.laptopshop.co.uk/Acer-TravelMate_4101_LMi-laptop-1-n2.htm

Processor Type Centrino Pentium M
Processor Speed 1.6GHz CPU
RAM  512MB
Hard Drive 60GB
Display 15 inch TFT display
Screen Resolution 1024 x 768
Video Chipset ATI Mobility Radeon X600 PCI Express
Video RAM 64MB
Optical Drive Dual DVD
Operating System MS WinXP Home
Wireless LAN Built in Wireless LAN 802.11g 54Mbps
Weight Kg 2.91

Centrino battery life is far better than P4, and cooler as well.

One has 256MB, but at least memory has dropped down (think only 35

Shop Acer also had  a
 Aspire 1801WSMi v2 80GB  for 700 last week (gone up now)

Pentium 4 515 (2.93GHz/533Mhz FSB/1MB L2 Cache),)
17" CrystalBrite TFT active matrix WXGA+ (1440 x 900)
512MB (2*256MB)
80GB HDD
DVDRW Super Multi DVD writer & CD-RW Combo
ATi Mobility Radeon X600 128MB DDR Graphics
Wireless LAN 802.11g, Gigabit Ethernet 56k Modem
5-in-1 card reader, supporting MultiMediaCard (MMC), Secure Digital (SD), 
xD-Picture CardT, SmartMedia, and Memory Stick
S/PDIF (Sony/Philips Digital Interface) support for digital speakers
4.5Kg,
1.5 Hours Battery Life

Dimensions (WxDxH) 402 x 278.3 x 41/45 mm


Software: Windows XP Home, Norton Anti-Virus 2003, Power DVD, NTI CD-Maker
I/O Ports: 4x USB 2.0, Firewire, S-Video, Audio in/out, Infrared, PCMCIA 
slot

"Tumbleweed"  wrote in message 
news:3l0i60F103anoU1@individual.net...

>
> "Nath"  wrote in message 
> news:42eaaaeb$0$19712$cc9e4d1f@news.dial.pipex.com...
>>
>> "Tumbleweed"  wrote in message 
>> news:3kv7thFvp1hsU1@individual.net...
>>> Am buying a laptop. Happy with what spec to get but would welcome advice 
>>> on what make. Anyone have experience with Acer? Have thought about 
>>> getting a Dell (and still might, I have one at work) but have been 
>>> reading some unpleasant stuff recently about their quality and support. 
>>> One factor is, cost of laptop including 3 year warranty. Unlike 
>>> desktops, laptops can be buggers to fix yourself. Anyone got an Evesham 
>>> laptop?
>>>
>>> -- 
>>> Tumbleweed
>>>
>>> email replies not necessary but to contact use;
>>> tumbleweednews at hotmail dot com
>>
>> I can't understand why Dell's are even considered, apart from large 
>> amount of advertising. Don't waste your money, build quality is far 
>> inferior to a few years ago. Not interested in their customers if it's 
>> faulty and will refuse even those with Dell IT contracts (mates company 
>> dropped them after major hassle with faulty new laptops) support line is 
>> in India, so expect costly phone calls and unintelligible call centre 
>> operators.
>>
>> Buy something else- Acer are good value for money, reliable and sturdy. 
>> Toshiba are slightly better, but paying for the name and if you compare 
>> spec to Acer considerably more and not really worth it IMO (I have a Acer 
>> and Toshiba here) The Toshiba is pretty rubbish- especially the video 
>> card. It's a P4 2.6ghz and it needs to be in full power to playback DVD's 
>> or Mpeg-IV movie, tried all drivers etc - but basically video card is POS 
>> and not fit for purpose. Also sometimes 1fps slowdown, cannot sort it 
>> out. Needs several restarts, then maybe works. Sometimes fine (nothing 
>> changed in drivers/settings, just a bit wonky)
>>
>> My older slower Acer P4 1.6ghz can be in battery saving mode- and it 
>> plays DVD & Mpeg-IV smoothly. Much better video card.
>>
>> What's your budget? Looking at slower & longer running times, or a 
>> desktop replacement? (fast, big screen, fast video card, but short 
>> battery running times)
>
> Its a desktop replacement, so battery life is irrelevant. Looking for 
> 512Mb, DVD rewriter,15 inch screen. Seems you can get this for around 650 
> now.
>
> -- 
> Tumbleweed
>
> email replies not necessary but to contact use;
> tumbleweednews at hotmail dot com
>



256 MB memory module for that 256MB P4 is only 23.49 inc vat. Or  47 for 
512MB (so have  768MB) :-)

Sure I read just recently that they had closed down the internet support 
part of their customer service because of the bad press they were getting???

"Tumbleweed"  wrote in message
news:3kv7thFvp1hsU1@individual.net...

> Am buying a laptop. Happy with what spec to get but would welcome advice
on
> what make. Anyone have experience with Acer? Have thought about getting a
> Dell (and still might, I have one at work) but have been reading some
> unpleasant stuff recently about their quality and support. One factor is,
> cost of laptop including 3 year warranty. Unlike desktops, laptops can be
> buggers to fix yourself. Anyone got an Evesham laptop?
>


First off... please try and avoid AMD.  The chips run way too hot, I've even
seen some melt... especially dangerous for a laptop.  (Someone mentioned the
Sempron which is a rubbish chip anyway, very slow/basic by comparison).

Evesham I think are pretty good so well worth considering...

I'm not a fan of either Dell or Acer myself though....

One thing that confuses me is why people go for "desktop replacements" - why
not just get a desktop system? ;)  Some systems are tiny now, far more
upgradeability of course.

I work in a computer repair shop, and the laptop makes we see come in tend
to be Dell or Acer - either a measure of their popularity or reliability, or
both!

Samsung I believe make some pretty nifty laptops now, too.

"Sprite" wrote: 


> "Tumbleweed"  wrote in message
> news:3kv7thFvp1hsU1@individual.net...
>> Am buying a laptop. Happy with what spec to get but would welcome
>> advice 
> on
>> what make. Anyone have experience with Acer? Have thought about
>> getting a Dell (and still might, I have one at work) but have been
>> reading some unpleasant stuff recently about their quality and
>> support. One factor is, cost of laptop including 3 year warranty.
>> Unlike desktops, laptops can be buggers to fix yourself. Anyone got
>> an Evesham laptop? 
>>
> 
> First off... please try and avoid AMD.  The chips run way too hot,
> I've even seen some melt... especially dangerous for a laptop.


I would imagine you're talking about the old thunderbirds - AMD haven't 
been *that* bad for a while. Even then, you had to run them without a 
heatsink before they'd combust.

Heat is certainly still an issue - though also for P4's, from what I've 
read.
 

> (Someone mentioned the Sempron which is a rubbish chip anyway, very
> slow/basic by comparison).


The Sempron line are just rebranded Athlon XP's. Decent performance and 
generally a bit better than Celerons.


higgy.

Tumbleweed  wrote:


> Am buying a laptop. Happy with what spec to get but would welcome advice on
> what make. Anyone have experience with Acer? Have thought about getting a
> Dell (and still might, I have one at work) but have been reading some
> unpleasant stuff recently about their quality and support. One factor is,
> cost of laptop including 3 year warranty. Unlike desktops, laptops can be
> buggers to fix yourself. Anyone got an Evesham laptop?


I love Apple !!!
-- 
substitute domaininvalid.com with ntlworld.com for email

X-no-archive: yes
Nath wrote:


> Shame even internet sites saying Dell are shite customer service. You're
> telling me Dell refusing a IT company's order of laptops (delivered faulty) 
> is ok? They had to be taken to court. Any company that does that shouldn't 
> be defended. Unless you're a Dell fanboy. 


I know nothing or your particular problem with Dell.  All I am saying is 
that any problems I have had with their equipment has been sorted out in 
short order.  If the service goes downhill at some point in the future 
then I will look elsewhere.

So far so good though, so I will continue to purchase from them.

As I said before, pick *any* manufacturer and someone somewhere will 
have a bad word to say about them.

"Nath"  wrote in message 
news:42eb6221$0$19699$cc9e4d1f@news.dial.pipex.com...

>
> "Tumbleweed"  wrote in message 
> news:3l0i60F103anoU1@individual.net...
>>
>> "Nath"  wrote in message 
>> news:42eaaaeb$0$19712$cc9e4d1f@news.dial.pipex.com...
>>>
>>> "Tumbleweed"  wrote in message 
>>> news:3kv7thFvp1hsU1@individual.net...
>>>> Am buying a laptop. Happy with what spec to get but would welcome 
>>>> advice on what make. Anyone have experience with Acer? Have thought 
>>>> about getting a Dell (and still might, I have one at work) but have 
>>>> been reading some unpleasant stuff recently about their quality and 
>>>> support. One factor is, cost of laptop including 3 year warranty. 
>>>> Unlike desktops, laptops can be buggers to fix yourself. Anyone got an 
>>>> Evesham laptop?
>>>>
>>>> -- 
>>>> Tumbleweed
>>>>
>>>> email replies not necessary but to contact use;
>>>> tumbleweednews at hotmail dot com
>>>
>>> I can't understand why Dell's are even considered, apart from large 
>>> amount of advertising. Don't waste your money, build quality is far 
>>> inferior to a few years ago. Not interested in their customers if it's 
>>> faulty and will refuse even those with Dell IT contracts (mates company 
>>> dropped them after major hassle with faulty new laptops) support line is 
>>> in India, so expect costly phone calls and unintelligible call centre 
>>> operators.
>>>
>>> Buy something else- Acer are good value for money, reliable and sturdy. 
>>> Toshiba are slightly better, but paying for the name and if you compare 
>>> spec to Acer considerably more and not really worth it IMO (I have a 
>>> Acer and Toshiba here) The Toshiba is pretty rubbish- especially the 
>>> video card. It's a P4 2.6ghz and it needs to be in full power to 
>>> playback DVD's or Mpeg-IV movie, tried all drivers etc - but basically 
>>> video card is POS and not fit for purpose. Also sometimes 1fps slowdown, 
>>> cannot sort it out. Needs several restarts, then maybe works. Sometimes 
>>> fine (nothing changed in drivers/settings, just a bit wonky)
>>>
>>> My older slower Acer P4 1.6ghz can be in battery saving mode- and it 
>>> plays DVD & Mpeg-IV smoothly. Much better video card.
>>>
>>> What's your budget? Looking at slower & longer running times, or a 
>>> desktop replacement? (fast, big screen, fast video card, but short 
>>> battery running times)
>>
>> Its a desktop replacement, so battery life is irrelevant. Looking for 
>> 512Mb, DVD rewriter,15 inch screen. Seems you can get this for around 
>> 650 now.
>>
>> -- 
>> Tumbleweed
>>
>> email replies not necessary but to contact use;
>> tumbleweednews at hotmail dot com
>>
>
> Checkout Acer Aspire range. Widescreen, large hard drive, decent video 
> card, I think also 3.5" 7200 RPM hard disc, fast, lots of memory, full 
> size keyboard with number pad.  Also Travelmate series.
>
> http://www.laptopshop.co.uk/acer-travelmate_2702_wlmi_v2-laptop-2-n2.htm
>
> Processor Type Pentium P4
> Processor Speed 3.06GHz CPU
> RAM  256MB
> Hard Drive 60GB
> Display 15.4 inch TFT display
> Widescreen Type WXGA (1280 x 800)
> Video Chipset ATI Mobility Radeon 9000
> Optical Drive Dual DVD
> Operating System MS WinXP Home
> Wireless LAN Built in Wireless LAN 802.11g 54Mbps
> Weight Kg 3.40
>
> http://www.laptopshop.co.uk/Acer-TravelMate_4101_LMi-laptop-1-n2.htm
>
> Processor Type Centrino Pentium M
> Processor Speed 1.6GHz CPU
> RAM  512MB
> Hard Drive 60GB
> Display 15 inch TFT display
> Screen Resolution 1024 x 768
> Video Chipset ATI Mobility Radeon X600 PCI Express
> Video RAM 64MB
> Optical Drive Dual DVD
> Operating System MS WinXP Home
> Wireless LAN Built in Wireless LAN 802.11g 54Mbps
> Weight Kg 2.91
>
> Centrino battery life is far better than P4, and cooler as well.
>
> One has 256MB, but at least memory has dropped down (think only 35
>
> Shop Acer also had  a
> Aspire 1801WSMi v2 80GB  for 700 last week (gone up now)
>
> Pentium 4 515 (2.93GHz/533Mhz FSB/1MB L2 Cache),)
> 17" CrystalBrite TFT active matrix WXGA+ (1440 x 900)
> 512MB (2*256MB)
> 80GB HDD
> DVDRW Super Multi DVD writer & CD-RW Combo
> ATi Mobility Radeon X600 128MB DDR Graphics
> Wireless LAN 802.11g, Gigabit Ethernet 56k Modem
> 5-in-1 card reader, supporting MultiMediaCard (MMC), Secure Digital (SD), 
> xD-Picture CardT, SmartMedia, and Memory Stick
> S/PDIF (Sony/Philips Digital Interface) support for digital speakers
> 4.5Kg,
> 1.5 Hours Battery Life
>
> Dimensions (WxDxH) 402 x 278.3 x 41/45 mm
>
>
> Software: Windows XP Home, Norton Anti-Virus 2003, Power DVD, NTI 
> CD-Maker
> I/O Ports: 4x USB 2.0, Firewire, S-Video, Audio in/out, Infrared, PCMCIA 
> slot


The man problem with acer is there is too much bloody choice!

but I have just discovered their config app which is quite good.

-- 
Tumbleweed

email replies not necessary but to contact use;
tumbleweednews at hotmail dot com

"Sprite"  wrote in message 
news:3l1e5hF10g7laU1@individual.net...

> "Tumbleweed"  wrote in message
> news:3kv7thFvp1hsU1@individual.net...
>> Am buying a laptop. Happy with what spec to get but would welcome advice
> on
>> what make. Anyone have experience with Acer? Have thought about getting a
>> Dell (and still might, I have one at work) but have been reading some
>> unpleasant stuff recently about their quality and support. One factor is,
>> cost of laptop including 3 year warranty. Unlike desktops, laptops can be
>> buggers to fix yourself. Anyone got an Evesham laptop?
>>
>
> First off... please try and avoid AMD.  The chips run way too hot, I've 
> even
> seen some melt... especially dangerous for a laptop.  (Someone mentioned 
> the
> Sempron which is a rubbish chip anyway, very slow/basic by comparison).
>
> Evesham I think are pretty good so well worth considering...
>
> I'm not a fan of either Dell or Acer myself though....
>
> One thing that confuses me is why people go for "desktop replacements" - 
> why
> not just get a desktop system? ;)  Some systems are tiny now, far more
> upgradeability of course.
>


getting one for my daughter at university. Way too much hassle to 
pack/unpack a full system, much easier with a notebook. (have you ever 
experienced how much stuff a student *female* needs to have? ) A full system 
is way too scary on top of that, and takes up precious car space on the 200 
mile journey to uni! As she is doing a  graphics course I want to gets 
somethimg with a decent card in case she needs to do any editing.

-- 
Tumbleweed

email replies not necessary but to contact use;
tumbleweednews at hotmail dot com

"Stuart Hutchinson"  wrote in message 
news:1h0iwrw.5c82ia1bcz6k0N%stuart.hutchinson@domaininvalid.com...

> Tumbleweed  wrote:
>
>> Am buying a laptop. Happy with what spec to get but would welcome advice 
>> on
>> what make. Anyone have experience with Acer? Have thought about getting a
>> Dell (and still might, I have one at work) but have been reading some
>> unpleasant stuff recently about their quality and support. One factor is,
>> cost of laptop including 3 year warranty. Unlike desktops, laptops can be
>> buggers to fix yourself. Anyone got an Evesham laptop?
>
> I love Apple !!!


nice but too far off base :-(

though reading some ugly stuff about how buggy Tiger is.

-- 
Tumbleweed

email replies not necessary but to contact use;
tumbleweednews at hotmail dot com

> First off... please try and avoid AMD.  The chips run way too hot, I've 
> even
> seen some melt... especially dangerous for a laptop.  (Someone mentioned 
> the
> Sempron which is a rubbish chip anyway, very slow/basic by comparison).


Yes. I have just replaced an AMD laptop with an Intel one - I am amazed at 
how cool the Intel one runs. The AMD got so got the fan was blowing all the 
time.

Seeing as you had a "Bad Dell" story, maybe I could relate the story of a 
previous company I worked for who received a load of Acer Laptops that 
didn't work, and Acer refused to replace them.

Tumbleweed wrote:

> Am buying a laptop. Happy with what spec to get but would welcome advice on 
> what make. 


IBM seem to be the most durable apparantly.

 > Have thought about getting a

> Dell (and still might, I have one at work) 


I also have a dell "desktop replacement" Inspiron 9100 - its heavy! But 
lighter than a desktop that's for sure :) I think the replacement for 
this "laptop" is now the 9300 though I could be wrong.

 > but have been reading some

> unpleasant stuff recently about their quality and support. 


Take my word for it dell's are great when everything works. As you say, 
it's only when it comes to solving problems that they fall short.


> One factor is, 
> cost of laptop including 3 year warranty. Unlike desktops, laptops can be 
> buggers to fix yourself. Anyone got an Evesham laptop?


I advised someone in another group to visit and commence reading the 
forums below:

Useful for information on each type of notebook\laptop ever released:
http://www.notebookreview.com/
http://www.notebookreview.com/forums/default.asp

Extremely useful for buying advice:
http://www.whatlaptop.co.uk/forums/default.aspx

Overclocking your laptop:
http://notebookforums.com

Search the above forums using the model numbers of the laptops you are
interested in.

If you ask in the newsgroup: uk.comp.sys.laptops you should find an Acer
service engineer, at least there was one in there a few months ago. IIRC
he advised a 3 month repair turnarouond isn't unusual, so hope nothing
goes wrong with the laptop. Another group you may like to ask in is
comp.sys.laptops.

Tumbleweed wrote:

> "Stuart Hutchinson"  wrote in message 
> news:1h0iwrw.5c82ia1bcz6k0N%stuart.hutchinson@domaininvalid.com...
> 
>>Tumbleweed  wrote:
>>
>>
>>>Am buying a laptop. Happy with what spec to get but would welcome advice 
>>>on
>>>what make. Anyone have experience with Acer? Have thought about getting a
>>>Dell (and still might, I have one at work) but have been reading some
>>>unpleasant stuff recently about their quality and support. One factor is,
>>>cost of laptop including 3 year warranty. Unlike desktops, laptops can be
>>>buggers to fix yourself. Anyone got an Evesham laptop?
>>
>>I love Apple !!!
> 
> 
> nice but too far off base :-(


Probably not now intel processors are being used in Mac's infact if what 
I have read is correct, you could soon have a choice of operating system 
when you boot your new mac.

"BarmyOne"  wrote in message 
news:Za4He.730817$ub.183103@fe07.news.easynews.com...

> Tumbleweed wrote:
>> "Stuart Hutchinson"  wrote in 
>> message 
>> news:1h0iwrw.5c82ia1bcz6k0N%stuart.hutchinson@domaininvalid.com...
>>
>>>Tumbleweed  wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>>Am buying a laptop. Happy with what spec to get but would welcome advice 
>>>>on
>>>>what make. Anyone have experience with Acer? Have thought about getting 
>>>>a
>>>>Dell (and still might, I have one at work) but have been reading some
>>>>unpleasant stuff recently about their quality and support. One factor 
>>>>is,
>>>>cost of laptop including 3 year warranty. Unlike desktops, laptops can 
>>>>be
>>>>buggers to fix yourself. Anyone got an Evesham laptop?
>>>
>>>I love Apple !!!
>>
>>
>> nice but too far off base :-(
>
> Probably not now intel processors are being used in Mac's infact if what I 
> have read is correct, you could soon have a choice of operating system 
> when you boot your new mac.
>

In a year or so, maybe, but I need to buy in the next few weeeks.

-- 
Tumbleweed

email replies not necessary but to contact use;
tumbleweednews at hotmail dot com

"Tumbleweed"  wrote in message 
news:3kv7thFvp1hsU1@individual.net...

> Am buying a laptop. Happy with what spec to get but would welcome advice 
> on what make. Anyone have experience with Acer? Have thought about getting 
> a Dell (and still might, I have one at work) but have been reading some 
> unpleasant stuff recently about their quality and support. One factor is, 
> cost of laptop including 3 year warranty. Unlike desktops, laptops can be 
> buggers to fix yourself. Anyone got an Evesham laptop?
>
> -- 


I bought one from www.novatech.co.uk

Has been very reliable, with heavy use over the last two years.

"Tumbleweed"  wrote in message
news:3l1v93Fvrif2U1@individual.net...

>
> "Sprite"  wrote in message
> news:3l1e5hF10g7laU1@individual.net...
> > "Tumbleweed"  wrote in message
> > news:3kv7thFvp1hsU1@individual.net...
> >> Am buying a laptop. Happy with what spec to get but would welcome
advice
> > on
> >> what make. Anyone have experience with Acer? Have thought about getting
a
> >> Dell (and still might, I have one at work) but have been reading some
> >> unpleasant stuff recently about their quality and support. One factor
is,
> >> cost of laptop including 3 year warranty. Unlike desktops, laptops can
be
> >> buggers to fix yourself. Anyone got an Evesham laptop?
> >>
> >
> > First off... please try and avoid AMD.  The chips run way too hot, I've
> > even
> > seen some melt... especially dangerous for a laptop.  (Someone mentioned
> > the
> > Sempron which is a rubbish chip anyway, very slow/basic by comparison).
> >
> > Evesham I think are pretty good so well worth considering...
> >
> > I'm not a fan of either Dell or Acer myself though....
> >
> > One thing that confuses me is why people go for "desktop replacements" -
> > why
> > not just get a desktop system? ;)  Some systems are tiny now, far more
> > upgradeability of course.
> >
>
> getting one for my daughter at university. Way too much hassle to
> pack/unpack a full system, much easier with a notebook. (have you ever
> experienced how much stuff a student *female* needs to have? )


Certainly, for I was one ;)


> A full system
> is way too scary on top of that, and takes up precious car space on the
200
> mile journey to uni! As she is doing a  graphics course I want to gets
> somethimg with a decent card in case she needs to do any editing.


Sounds like you're on the right lines though! Just a tip - make sure when
she does eventually use it, whichever one you go for, that she doesn't leave
it running off the power the whole time as this will kill the battery.  Use
the battery, then charge it up, or just take the battery out and run off the
mains :)

-- 
Sue

In message <dciu7o$ji3$1@news.freedom2surf.net>, Dave White 
 writes

>
>"Tumbleweed"  wrote in message
>news:3kv7thFvp1hsU1@individual.net...
>> Am buying a laptop. Happy with what spec to get but would welcome advice
>> on what make. Anyone have experience with Acer? Have thought about getting
>> a Dell (and still might, I have one at work) but have been reading some
>> unpleasant stuff recently about their quality and support. One factor is,
>> cost of laptop including 3 year warranty. Unlike desktops, laptops can be
>> buggers to fix yourself. Anyone got an Evesham laptop?
>>
>> --
>
>I bought one from www.novatech.co.uk
>
>Has been very reliable, with heavy use over the last two years.
>
>

I had a Wildfire from Novatech. I eventually got a full refund, nothing 
but trouble. I think it was a Friday machine.
-- 
gillie

On Sat, 30 Jul 2005 06:40:29 +0100, Tumbleweed  wrote:


>
> "Nath"  wrote in message
> news:42eaaaeb$0$19712$cc9e4d1f@news.dial.pipex.com...
>>
>> "Tumbleweed"  wrote in message
>> news:3kv7thFvp1hsU1@individual.net...
>>> Am buying a laptop. Happy with what spec to get but would welcome advice
>>> on what make. Anyone have experience with Acer? Have thought about
>>> getting a Dell (and still might, I have one at work) but have been
>>> reading some unpleasant stuff recently about their quality and support.
>>> One factor is, cost of laptop including 3 year warranty. Unlike desktops,
>>> laptops can be buggers to fix yourself. Anyone got an Evesham laptop?
>>>
>>> --
>>> Tumbleweed
>>>
>>> email replies not necessary but to contact use;
>>> tumbleweednews at hotmail dot com
>>
>> I can't understand why Dell's are even considered, apart from large amount
>> of advertising. Don't waste your money, build quality is far inferior to a
>> few years ago. Not interested in their customers if it's faulty and will
>> refuse even those with Dell IT contracts (mates company dropped them after
>> major hassle with faulty new laptops) support line is in India, so expect
>> costly phone calls and unintelligible call centre operators.
>>
>> Buy something else- Acer are good value for money, reliable and sturdy.
>> Toshiba are slightly better, but paying for the name and if you compare
>> spec to Acer considerably more and not really worth it IMO (I have a Acer
>> and Toshiba here) The Toshiba is pretty rubbish- especially the video
>> card. It's a P4 2.6ghz and it needs to be in full power to playback DVD's
>> or Mpeg-IV movie, tried all drivers etc - but basically video card is POS
>> and not fit for purpose. Also sometimes 1fps slowdown, cannot sort it out.
>> Needs several restarts, then maybe works. Sometimes fine (nothing changed
>> in drivers/settings, just a bit wonky)
>>
>> My older slower Acer P4 1.6ghz can be in battery saving mode- and it plays
>> DVD & Mpeg-IV smoothly. Much better video card.
>>
>> What's your budget? Looking at slower & longer running times, or a desktop
>> replacement? (fast, big screen, fast video card, but short battery running
>> times)
>
> Its a desktop replacement, so battery life is irrelevant. Looking for 512Mb,
> DVD rewriter,15 inch screen. Seems you can get this for around 650 now.
>


You could buy a Toshiba refurb from Morgan Computers like I've just done.
It looks like new and I am very pleased with it so far. I was going to buy
an Acer myself as the spec seems very good for the price, but then I found
out that their aftersales service is terrible, so I changed my mind.

They've stopped selling the model I bought, but this is a slighty faster
and more expensive version.

http://www.morgancomputers.co.uk/shop/detail.asp?ProductID=1936

Fred X