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Acer N30

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Acer n30 the laptop that fits in your pocket)

Acer N30 - rated by johnsearner Jan 31st, 2007 (Nov 14th, 2007)

Advantages:
very customisable

Disadvantages:
a little out of date (certainly not obsolite yet though)

Recommendable: Yes 

Detailed rating:

Look & Feel

Memory / capacity

Comfort & Portability

Ease of use

Value For Money

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johnsearner

About me: I am a student, I have a relatively large DVD collection, enjoy buying new gadgets and I got married...

Member since:24.01.2006

Reviews:7

Members who trust:4

Review rated by 7 Ciao members on average: very helpful

I bought my acer PDA almost 3 years ago after looking through a variety of similarly priced PDAs, I think that because the brand is less well known it costs less for better specs but I'm not sure. All I know is that at the time every PDA with the same specs was twice the price. It's an increadible reliable piece of eqipment and brilliantly versatile too. It's stood up to the punishment of being bashed about inside a satchel and living inside a coat pocket for 3 years perfectly.

I've added this section because I've had some people ask for extra info. It has a 266MHz Samsung Processor and a 3.5 inch screen (which is a nice size even for watching full leangth movie without making you cross eyed). It uses a nice little stylus which slots in to the back (as with most PDAs). Mine lasted a year and a half before it broke and I had to get a new one, it was my first stylus so I don't know if this is a long time for one to last or if this is pretty bad. I would advise getting some replacements at time of purchase though as it can be annoying waiting for a new one to arrive in the post. Also the stylus is NOT the same as is used in the n50 despite what some sites claim, the sizes are completely different, so get the actual n30 ones even though they cost more, it's worth it to make life that bit easier.

I would recommend getting a few expension cards (SD cards) though as its onboard memory is a little small. It runs applications very speedily and can allow a few to run at once (e.g. listen to an MP3 on media player while writing in word). It's bluetooth enabled aswell which basically means you can use it with your mobile phone (if it's bluetooth) to surf the net or use skype. Also if you look on the web you can get a bluetooth portable (fold into pocket size) keyboard for arround £30 or £40 and you can get a LAN SD card (to use in WiFi zones) for about £30 and basically make the PDA into a laptop that fits in your pocket (though without the typical windows applications and the DVD or CD reader/writier). I use it to write papers on the train and watch movies (thanks to a pocket full of £10 1GB SD cards from amazon kept in a credit card sized SD carry case that you can get almost anywhere) when I get bored. Seriously, get this PDA you won't regret it and your wallet will thank you. It's a PDA built for the long haul.

Also, for those of you who plan on playing a lot of media on their PDA, the acer n30 runs windows mobile for pocket PC (2003) and uses either windows media player or pocket TV (included on acer instalation disk, it's worth about £10 or £15) to play media. Pocket TV plays pretty much all MPG or MPEG files you throw at it, windows media player is more limited for video but plays MP3 even when closed (handy to have trust me) For .avi .ogg or others I'd recommend going here http://www.download.com/Sompy-Media-Player/3640-2176_4-10518631.html?tag=ta b_ur free download, not used it yet myself (UPDATE just used this programme and it froze the PDA right up, do not use! CNet has a ton of others though so shop around), I normally just use pocket TV and it suits me OK.

About headphones and speakers, it has an external speaker and as for headphones it depends on where you buy from but normally they're not supplied. It takes the smaller jack plugs that are used in some hands free sets for mobiles, you can get a stereo set for a nokia for arround £10 or £15. The onboard speaker isn't perfect and isn't too great at discriminating sounds but it does the job, most of the time I listen through the headphones though so I would recommend getting a pair of stereo headphones. Also forgot to mention it has an in built mic which is surprisingly good quality, used it in lectures and in meetings many times, the recording software is really good at filtering background noise (unless it's power tools etc.).

Although I've put down a list of things to buy this list is pretty important and will still end up costing you less than a better known brand with similar stats, plus you have all this extra stuff which makes it an amazing little electronic buddy to have around. Anyway, I hope this helps, any more questions just send me a message. Cheers, John

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Comments about this review
wingnut888

wingnut888

05.05.2007 18:16

hi i have re-rated the review. good work

MAFARRIMOND

MAFARRIMOND

04.02.2007 20:12

Re-rated. Maureen

wingnut888

wingnut888

31.01.2007 19:27

hi and welcome to ciao

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This review of Acer N30 has been rated:

"very helpful" by (86%):
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  3. flumpet
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