Review rated by 8 Ciao members on average: helpful
This review received a counterstatement by a party concernedRead Comment
I am biased by owning an N10 previously, and so thinking they would be similar. I thought it would be an N10 with wireless, so I bought it sight unseen. Then I found out it has only proprietary Memory Stick for expansion. It has proprietary plug for charging which is flimsy and precludes any sort of travel charger. It is big, heavy and square, making it not nice to hold like the N10.
Although the screen is bright, it uses a fluorescent tube, not white LEDs like the N10, and it sprays a broad wedge of bright white light out to the right, which could be really irritating to a person sitting beside you. The screen, although bright, lacks contrast and has a bluish tint to parts that should be black. On the plus side, it is very clear and readable in bright light, even full sunlight.
I bought a 512 Meg Lexar MS Pro Duo so I could use the N20w, and it doesn't recognise it at all. Maybe it's the 'Magic Gate' which is Sony's euphemism for DRM. That was the last straw; it killed whatever enthusiasm I might have otherwise had for this device. The part in the blurb that mentions "Awsome expandability" is just ludicrous. Acer was not doing too well in my books until the N10 came along; now the N20 has undone all those good points.
The N20w drops out of sync whenever it feels like it, sometimes while in process of copying or installing things.
So far, I have not been able to get the wireless to work at all, which negates the only reason why I bought the thing in the first place.
The stylus is stored, not in a little hole at the top where you would expect, as in the N10, but fits into a groove on the right side, where it is sure to be quickly lost or broken, as well as adding another 4 or 5 mm to the already excessive width.
If you have the opportunity to acquire an N20, I suggest you stay right away. On the other hand, if you stumble across an N10, grab it, you won't be disappointed. It's hard to believe these two were even made by the same company.
It should be also noted that Acer's technical support, rather than 'totally unhelpful', is actually 'totally nonexistent'. It is this aspect of the company which was responsible for my low opinion of them in the first place. The N10 was such a nice thing, there was no need to go looking for support. The N20 experience recreated the nightmares all over again. Acer's solution to support problems is the same as Iomega's: Stonewall and ignore.
Having heard many bad things about Acer I will always try and stay away from their products. Apparently Asus is another bad one as its so hard to get parts (thats for laptops though so a slightly different market) Rich
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17.10.2006 04:53
Having heard many bad things about Acer I will always try and stay away from their products. Apparently Asus is another bad one as its so hard to get parts (thats for laptops though so a slightly different market) Rich
16.10.2006 18:31
Hi and welcome to ciao
16.10.2006 14:41
Good Review - I'll make sure to stay well away! Jx