Computer Advice

[FarminCy]

Was wondering if all the computer guru's out there can take a look at this computer for me.

http://www.amazon.com/Acer-Aspire-Ti..._ob_pc_title_0

My wife and I's current laptop is on it's final stages and it is time to upgrade. We have tossed around many ideas including getting a desktop and buying an Ipad for when we are mobile, buying a huge laptop, getting a Mac, etc. I am not sure that an Ipad would do us any good as my wife and I both already have smartphones and if we need to look at something we just use them, so the idea of a desktop and Ipad i think is done. But we still want something that is very portable to take with us when traveling. I stumbled across this small laptop and i think this hooked up to a 23 inch screen at home would work pretty slick for what we need. Yes I know there is no CD/DVD on it and I am fine with that as I can buy an external one for cheap if I need to. My wife and I both have very high end heavy laptops for work and I hate carrying it around. We are not gamers and all it would be used for is basic use, Picasa, Itunes, Web Browsing, Quicken, and playing digital movies for the kids occasionally. I would most likely get an external hard drive for it as well but not sure if that is necessary. I just like that it has laptop specs but the size of a netbook.

Anyways any advice or concerns on this computer is appreciated or if there is something else that you think would fit the bill I would like to hear that as well.

Thanks

[dmclone]

I've never had an Acer so I don't know about that but as far as specs I think it looks good. I have a big laptop and a small netbook and I pretty much only use the netbook while traveling.


I really don't see a big weak spot. It's a little pricey compared to a netbook but you can't really compare it to a netbook in performance.

The only thing I would wonder about is how the 23" display is going to look that you hook it up to. What looks fine on a 11 inch screen may not look great on a 23". I'm so used to 1920x1200 that I don't know what 1366 x 768 would look like. It would probably be fine. Also, what are docking station options. These small laptop keyboard suck when using the keyboard.

[ISUCyclones2015]

It'll do everything that you asked it too. I personally am not a fan of Acer laptops (Monitors and netbooks on the other hand...) so I wouldn't buy it for myself, but you've got pretty darn good specs for the price. That processor is pretty hard to find in that price range and with 4GB of RAM. Since you're hooking it up to a different monitor you won't have to worry about it being small.

Picked a good laptop for the price I would say.

(2 years of IT experience at a local government agency).

[FarminCy]

I've never had an Acer so I don't know about that but as far as specs I think it looks good. I have a big laptop and a small netbook and I pretty much only use the netbook while traveling.


I really don't see a big weak spot. It's a little pricey compared to a netbook but you can't really compare it to a netbook in performance.

The only thing I would wonder about is how the 23" display is going to look that you hook it up to. What looks fine on a 11 inch screen may not look great on a 23". I'm so used to 1920x1200 that I don't know what 1366 x 768 would look like. It would probably be fine. Also, what are docking station options. These small laptop keyboard suck when using the keyboard.

The keyboard would suck but I will be running it off a wireless mouse and keyboard. Running screen through HDMI and using a single port wireless mouse and keyboard I don't think that a docking station will be needed.

I'm not sure on this but I believe it will output 1920 through the HDMI. The 11 inch built in screen is 1366, so I think it should work on a larger screen just fine. Like I said i'm not sure on that but I know my work laptop runs 1920 on my external monitors and some smaller number on the built in display.

Good points.

[alarson]

Im pretty sure this is the same as the borrowed laptop i was using for a week or so in early july. If CyAggie drops in here i'm sure he'll have some things to say about it as well. I believe this is what he uses now.

Its not a bad little laptop. Its not a full powered processor (its the UM series) but still much better than netbook specs. The keyboard was quite comfortable for me.

Another laptop i like in the thin and light category would be asus's thin and light U series.
Amazon.com: ASUS U31JG-A1 13.3-Inch Laptop (Silver): Electronics

or

Amazon.com: ASUS U36JC-B1 Thin and Light 13.3-Inch Laptop (Black): Electronics


These have the 'thin and light' going for them, but they also have a bit more processor power behind them. Im running last year's version of the second link right now.

[dmclone]

The keyboard would suck but I will be running it off a wireless mouse and keyboard. Running screen through HDMI and using a single port wireless mouse and keyboard I don't think that a docking station will be needed.

Dur, I'm being stupid. We just got a bunch of new laptops at work with docking stations so I had that in my head.

I run a mouse via blutooth on my laptops.

[dmclone]

The more I look at this the more I think I could replace my laptop and netbook with this once laptop. Must resist....

I'm going to wait until SSD's become more standard in laptops.

[FarminCy]

The more I look at this the more I think I could replace my laptop and netbook with this once laptop. Must resist....

I'm going to wait until SSD's become more standard in laptops.

So I just learned what an SSD is. That will be nice to have that option so I don't have to worry about my hard drive.

What is an expected time frame on these in laptops. I don't have much time to spare, but if we are talking within 6 months I may just see if I can keep our old POS running for awhile.

[CyAggie]

IF you want to wait for SSD that will work, but there will always be something newer and better.

We run 3 of the same model, not a netbook, not quite a full power, but it runs 99.99% of everything most everyone wants in a 11.1" hd package.

We replaced netbooks for these (pm for a netbook deal) and have been very happy.

Typing is not a problem and they really are full power for the money.
Basically a tweener.

[dmclone]

I've just been spoiled by the PC I built a couple of years ago with an Intel SSD. They make even more sense in laptops. Low power usage, low weight, fast boot up, etc. The big downside is the price/size ratio. I'd go ahead, you can always swap out the hd with an SSD in a couple of years.

[cytech]

Amazon.com: Samsung Series 5 3G Chromebook (Titan Silver): Electronics

Just something to consider since you mentioned you both already have other laptops and smartphones.

$430 with just wifi or $499 with 3g which includes 100mb of access a month for 2 years.

has a long battery life nice HD screen and boots in less than 10 secs.

[CyBer]

My father has a Acer and I've used it a couple times. Seems to be a pretty good computer for what it was intended to do. Since you are asking if its a good computer on a forum I assume you only need the basics.

[kilgore_trout]

I've had good experiences with Acer. They fixed an LCD monitor for me (power supply issue) 35 months into a 3 yr warranty without any protest. The Acer laptop that I own has never given me any problems. fwiw.

[drednot57]

Was wondering if all the computer guru's out there can take a look at this computer for me.

Amazon.com: Acer Aspire TimelineX AS1830T-6651 11.6-Inch Laptop (Black): Computer & Accessories

My wife and I's current laptop is on it's final stages and it is time to upgrade. We have tossed around many ideas including getting a desktop and buying an Ipad for when we are mobile, buying a huge laptop, getting a Mac, etc. I am not sure that an Ipad would do us any good as my wife and I both already have smartphones and if we need to look at something we just use them, so the idea of a desktop and Ipad i think is done. But we still want something that is very portable to take with us when traveling. I stumbled across this small laptop and i think this hooked up to a 23 inch screen at home would work pretty slick for what we need. Yes I know there is no CD/DVD on it and I am fine with that as I can buy an external one for cheap if I need to. My wife and I both have very high end heavy laptops for work and I hate carrying it around. We are not gamers and all it would be used for is basic use, Picasa, Itunes, Web Browsing, Quicken, and playing digital movies for the kids occasionally. I would most likely get an external hard drive for it as well but not sure if that is necessary. I just like that it has laptop specs but the size of a netbook.

Anyways any advice or concerns on this computer is appreciated or if there is something else that you think would fit the bill I would like to hear that as well.

Thanks

Per the folks at TechRepublic.com (a blog site run by IT pros nationwide), Acer ranks as the worst in laptop computers for reliability, service and value. I would take their word even over Consumer Reports. Toshiba, Lenovo, MSI, and ASUS rank at the top of their list. Take this FWIW. My wife owned an Acer desktop at one time and we would not purchase another one ever again. If their laptops follow their desktops, then stay away from Acer.

[alarson]

Per the folks at TechRepublic.com (a blog site run by IT pros nationwide), Acer ranks as the worst in laptop computers for reliability, service and value. I would take their word even over Consumer Reports. Toshiba, Lenovo, MSI, and ASUS rank at the top of their list. Take this FWIW. My wife owned an Acer desktop at one time and we would not purchase another one ever again. If their laptops follow their desktops, then stay away from Acer.

Their timelinex series is a definite upgrade from their past laptops, imho.