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Member since:27.02.2006
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After a small windfall, me and my husband decided to treat ourselves, my hubby got his Sat Nav (see my review) and I got my long awaited laptop.
I have got a desktop, but was sick of my front room loking like an office and listening to my kiddies games whilst trying to watch TV. So after a great deal of homework I decided to go for the New Aspire 3692WLMi.
My main reason for choosing this laptop was a) the price, it cost me £399 from Comets, and (b) the memory. Aside from that I was also impressed with the design and layout on the whole.
Well before I go into more detail I will get the specifications buff out of the way.
The Aspire comes with an Intel Celeron M Processor 420.
The Screen is 15.4" and has WXGA Crystalbrite LCD.
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 Storage Hard Drive 60 GB Memory 1024 B DVD-Support Multi Double Layer (supports DVD+R Double Layer/DVD+RW 1GB DDR2 (support dual-channel) 802.11b/g wireless LAN 4 USB Ports
They state the battery life as
2.5 hours, but I personally think that this is more like 2 hours. When using the laptop by battery only, you receive a warning message on screen notifying you how much battery life you have left, which is good if you are in the middle of writing something and havnt saved it, it allows you the chance to save all wanted things in case the laptop was to closed down.
The software preloaded is what you would normally expect from Windows ie. Accessories (games, paint, wordpad, notepad), Outlook Express, Internet Explorer, Adobe Acrobat, Windows Media Player, Instant Messenger and lts more, but does contain everything you need to get started and for quite a while unti you want to add new software. Here is my personal opinion:-
When purchasing the Aspire watch out for which XP package is pre-loaded, this can be either XP Home Edition or XP Media Centre Edition. If you are not sure of the difference, then here is a quickie, Home Edition is like having a mini-office, provides you with software for spreadsheets, tables, projects etc and is a good word-processing package. The XP Media Centre Edition is more for the technical buff. This is an ideal package for music, photos, videos, and a great viewing package.
********************************************************************** CLOSED FRONT VIEW
When the laptop is closed and you are looking at the front view, you have 9 different facilities.
These include the following:-
1. Speakers - there is one speaker located on the left and one on the right.
2. Bluetooth Communication Button/Indicator - this is to enable/disable the bluetooth function ad indicates the status of the comunication to bluetooth. 3. Wireless Communication Button/Indicator - indicates the status of LAN connection.
4. Power Indicator - Indicates the power status of the computer.
5. Battery Indicator - Shows the battery status. A green light indicates the charge left.
The DC Jack for operating your laptop from the AC adaptor.
S Video/TV-out (NTSC/PAL) port - this allows you to connect to a display device such as a LCD Projector or an external monitor.
The ventilation slots to enable the computer to stay cool are also located here, and from my experience so far this continues even after prolonged use.
********************************************************************* BASE VIEW
Here is where your battery is located and has a locking facility to keep the battery in position.
Your hard disk bay and memory compartment are also located here, the hard disk bay is secured with screws.
There are further ventilation slots here and also a cooling fan (which should not be obstructed, as this would cause overheating). **********************************************************************
YOUR LAPTOP WHEN OPENED
The Keyboard itself is well spaced out, you have ample room for moving your hands around, not like some keyboards which seem to be squashed together so much it's hard to type. The Keyboard itself is black set on a silver background.
The Touchpad which acts like a computer's mouse is touch sensitive and I found this very easy to get the hang of (something I was a bit concerned about with a laptop).
There is plenty of room for your wrists to rest as well, so typing etc is very comfortable.
Below the Touchpad you have a left and right click button (as you would on a mouse) and a four way direction button in the centre for scrolling.
There is an internal microphone located to the right of the palm rest which is for sound recording.
To the right of the keypad there is a TV/Media/Volume buttons, these are for use when using media programs or for playing acer arcade games.
The main powers button is located here along with easy-lauch buttons:-
E - Acer Empowering Technology P - User-Programmable Web Browser Mail
My package was the Windows Media Centre Edition, this is great software if you use your computer a great deal for photos, CD's,DVD's . The only drawback with this software is that it only comes with notepad and wordpad, so if you create a great deal of documents or need spreadsheets, tables etc then go for the XP Home Software
Along with my Laptop came a 60day free trial with Norton Security and the option to take my laptop to a supplier(list enclosed in package) to have a free upgrade to Windows Vista.
In conclusion, I am really pleased with my Acer, it is very easy to use, the set-up was really easy. It is comfortable to use, very light, not at all complicated to get used to the different programs, and for the price I think it is really good value, especially with it's great memory. It is reasonably light to carry (2.8kg) and is extremely slimline, making it easy to store.
This laptop does not come with a carry bag so that is an option to think about if your going to be taking it out and about.
I highly recommend this laptop and I think for the price you can't go wrong, The Acer comes with a 1 year guarantee and a helpline direct to Acer. If they cannot solve your problem over the phone, they come and collect it directly from your door, so can't complain about that service (hopefully I won't need it). .
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
(+) cool and quite robust trackpad, good display,64-bit windows 7 (-) few connectors,dell drivers only, not realy for gameing (most models), finger print prone!
Very nice review, I have had a look at these systems and they are good for the price.
My only concern is its "readiness" for Vista.
Vista requires a min of 512mb of memory, so 1GB should be enough, however do expect it to run slow when multi tasking, as Vista will use 500mb (roughly) of that memory from boot. Among other factors i would check are the graphics card capacity (reg. 128mb min and processor speed)
If you would like to run an analysis on this laptop for Vista there are plenty of PC websites that offer an evaluation of your system, just type "vista readiness test" into google, and choose from the many listed.
However i commend again your review, these are fine laptops with great price tags. And are just the ticket for people who need something simple and affordable.
astrababe 07.01.2007 15:35
A very good review. I have a different Acer model, also from Comet, and am pleased with it too.
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Nov 6th, 2006
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