Go cheap or buy quality? opinions?

Jima101 · 5th April 2006, 11:24 PM

Quick question

My girlfriend is looking to buy a new laptop and we have narrowed it down to two laptops, the cheap option which is what she is leaning towards buying
the ACER Aspire 3627WXMi at $1299 with 512 ram

Or the in my opinion the quality product
the Toshiba Tecra A6 at $1900 with the 1gig of ram and a bag

Does anyone know anything about these products/own these products and have any advice. I know a bit about the Tecra but haven't heard anything about the acer, from the specs it looks slow but how slow? i cant find any reviews

She'll be using it for her honours year at uni = basic stuff, word processing, internet etc so a little slow is exceptable

Thanks

stmok · 6th April 2006, 12:18 AM

Always quality over cheap. (especially with laptops).

I usually lean to quality brands, but find the cheapest price for them. (shop around).

Cheap bits are favourable (and tempting) in the short term, but cost you time and money in the long run. Over time, cheap laptops are more likely to break because the manufacturer cut corners to something in order to save money, thus passing the saving to the consumer.

A good quality product with a relatively long warranty (3yrs?) is the way to go.

Tony · 6th April 2006, 7:26 AM

I'll give you a stark example. I got one of those $1,000 HPCompaq units. Upgraded the mem and it ran sweet until one day it up and died. Has to go back to a repairer for a $1,000 m/b swap. Anyway this whole mess has left a bad taste in my mouth.

The build quality of these cheap laptops is suspect as well.

ie. ok for home use but not for road use.

I have a spare IBM Thinkpad - top of the line $3,000+ unit from a few years back.

It has seen some abuse. It's a tank with superb build quality.

At this rate I'd rather take a good 2nd hand unit. My needs for laptops are fairly meagre as it turns out.

I don't need huge battery life nor all that great graphics.

I just use them for net and remote to servers so Win2000 on 256Mb is even enough.

Blowtus · 6th April 2006, 8:50 AM

I've sold about 20 Acer travelmates in the last few years and have had no problems with them at all. Not trying to suggest any conclusions myself

just providing some info.

sml_nail · 6th April 2006, 9:15 AM

The DELL Inspiron 6400 Core Duo Models look like they are great bang for buck.
Can't comment on the build quality as I haven't seen them in real life but there are a couple of people on OCAU who do have them (just search for some threads on them)

Andres · 6th April 2006, 7:10 PM

I don't think the Acer is that evil! I have one and it travels (a lot) in a backpack style notebook bag. Its had some troubles with the DVD burner, but its under warranty, and I doubt Acer even makes the drive. Probably outsourced like the ones in the Toshiba etc.

Cheap and 3 years warranty is the way to go IMO.

Cos if you're fancy one breaks in 13 months time, well, ouch...

I love my notebook (in sig). Does soo much, and its only shortcoming is that it can't play the latest FPS all that well. (But thats not what its for!)

edit: The other thing i would recommend, is not too get too caught up with some of the options from the dealer. I got my notebook with 256 ram (about 18 months ago) and it only cost me about $150 to upgrade to 1gig. Woulda cost a lot more to get "acer" ram!

silverbullet · 6th April 2006, 7:19 PM

The build quality on the cheaper Acer notebooks leave alot to be desired, i had one and i was pretty disgusted with it so much so that i returned it after it also started making a screeching sound and locking up after 2 days from purchase.

montfort · 6th April 2006, 9:15 PM

i have had 3 acer notebooks die on me about a month after the warranty ran out

will never touch acer again!

fR33z3 · 6th April 2006, 11:44 PM

I haven't had a good time with acer in the past. Toshiba is so-so, but if they break it takes ages to get them fixed.

I don't think i'll buy another laptop that isn't IBM or HP. IBM's look butt-ugly but as someone else said, they are built like tanks. HP's are a little slimmer, probably lose for robustivity to IBM, but is second only to IBM in those stakes.

One catch....even in HP (IBM too?), they sell the "cheaper" models. In HP its the NX models - they come with all the bling to make them sell, and a pretty good price too normally. I tend to steer away from them, in preference for the NC series. Less bling, but i need reliability from my unit, not super huge numbercrunching power.

-BLiTz1911 · 8th April 2006, 12:28 PM

Toshiba isnt tha tmuch of a step up from Acer, the build quality would be better but it still aint good

i ended up purchasing the Acer your GF is looking at and its great, just chucked in a 1GB stick of ram.

commando · 8th April 2006, 6:17 PM

Consider the IBM Thinkpad range; these guys make bulletproof laptops

I have a T42 and couldnt be happier, never a single crash and the build quality is top notch. No squeaks or rattles here.
They are quite expensive though (as you'll probably find out!)

andy8 · 20th April 2006, 6:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fR33z3

In HP its the NX models - they come with all the bling to make them sell, and a pretty good price too normally. I tend to steer away from them, in preference for the NC series. Less bling, but i need reliability from my unit, not super huge numbercrunching power.

I have a nx6120 I (think) it is same as the nc, I take it down the road with me everyday have extended to 3 year onsite warranty, break a few thing they have replace it under warranty cost me 1700 in July 2005
I was a owner from evo n600c

happy with my purchase

phoen8x · 21st April 2006, 11:48 AM

Acers are not too bad a laptop. We have a few here. The only problem is battery. On the TM360 Series laptops we have they tend to become useless after a bit over a year. Other than that they are okay, just like the toshiba and ibm. We did have 1 laptop (my own) with mb problem but that's probably because I have used to have it on 24/7 running at 100% cpu utilization for folding@home for almost a year. It got really hot.

Viper · 21st April 2006, 12:48 PM

Buy whatever offers the best value for money. And always purchase a 3 year warranty on laptops, so equate that into the price. It may save you $$$

Toshiba are now nowhere near what they used to be. All but the high end Qosmio are made in china like every other laptop on the market. At the retailer I work at, we see just as many, if not more Toshiba's in for return. LG are generally the best

The Dell 6400 is about the best bang for your buck atm for $1399

battleaxe · 21st April 2006, 2:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Viper

The Dell 6400 is about the best bang for your buck atm for $1399

followed closesly by the tecra A6

5th April 2006, 11:24 PM	#1
Jima101 Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 1	Go cheap or buy quality? opinions? Quick question My girlfriend is looking to buy a new laptop and we have narrowed it down to two laptops, the cheap option which is what she is leaning towards buying the ACER Aspire 3627WXMi at $1299 with 512 ram Or the in my opinion the quality product the Toshiba Tecra A6 at $1900 with the 1gig of ram and a bag Does anyone know anything about these products/own these products and have any advice. I know a bit about the Tecra but haven't heard anything about the acer, from the specs it looks slow but how slow? i cant find any reviews She'll be using it for her honours year at uni = basic stuff, word processing, internet etc so a little slow is exceptable Thanks

6th April 2006, 7:26 AM	#3
Tony Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia Posts: 9,915	I'll give you a stark example. I got one of those $1,000 HPCompaq units. Upgraded the mem and it ran sweet until one day it up and died. Has to go back to a repairer for a $1,000 m/b swap. Anyway this whole mess has left a bad taste in my mouth. The build quality of these cheap laptops is suspect as well. ie. ok for home use but not for road use. I have a spare IBM Thinkpad - top of the line $3,000+ unit from a few years back. It has seen some abuse. It's a tank with superb build quality. At this rate I'd rather take a good 2nd hand unit. My needs for laptops are fairly meagre as it turns out. I don't need huge battery life nor all that great graphics. I just use them for net and remote to servers so Win2000 on 256Mb is even enough. __________________ "Nowadays things are completely different, and auto makers are much more global in structure. Its difficult to see ANY new car these days as the product of any one company or country. There are honourable exceptions that prove this rule though. The R32, R33 and R34 series Skylines were the babies of an intensely focused faction inside Nissan, a group who still feel their heritage & family tree come from the Prince regime of ex-aircraft engineers who were really serious about racing and making great cars. Sadly, this group now seems to be feeling pressure to change." I drive a stock R33 non turbo automatic Skyline - 120kW at the wheels! OCAU Nissan Skyline Club Member

6th April 2006, 7:10 PM	#6
Andres Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Adelaide Posts: 5,516	I don't think the Acer is that evil! I have one and it travels (a lot) in a backpack style notebook bag. Its had some troubles with the DVD burner, but its under warranty, and I doubt Acer even makes the drive. Probably outsourced like the ones in the Toshiba etc. Cheap and 3 years warranty is the way to go IMO. Cos if you're fancy one breaks in 13 months time, well, ouch... I love my notebook (in sig). Does soo much, and its only shortcoming is that it can't play the latest FPS all that well. (But thats not what its for!) edit: The other thing i would recommend, is not too get too caught up with some of the options from the dealer. I got my notebook with 256 ram (about 18 months ago) and it only cost me about $150 to upgrade to 1gig. Woulda cost a lot more to get "acer" ram! __________________ His: Acer 1682 Hers: Dell XPS M1330 \| MGB LE Project Car\|Over 50 OCAU Trades - PM for full list

6th April 2006, 7:19 PM	#7
silverbullet Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Marcoola, Sunshine Coast Posts: 1,216	The build quality on the cheaper Acer notebooks leave alot to be desired, i had one and i was pretty disgusted with it so much so that i returned it after it also started making a screeching sound and locking up after 2 days from purchase. __________________ Q6600 \| P965P-DS3P \| Zotac GTX275 \| 4G Gskill 1066 \| 500Gb WD Greenpower HD \| Coolermaster 850 extreme power \| Lian Li V1000B.

6th April 2006, 11:44 PM	#9
fR33z3 Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Perth Posts: 1,885	I haven't had a good time with acer in the past. Toshiba is so-so, but if they break it takes ages to get them fixed. I don't think i'll buy another laptop that isn't IBM or HP. IBM's look butt-ugly but as someone else said, they are built like tanks. HP's are a little slimmer, probably lose for robustivity to IBM, but is second only to IBM in those stakes. One catch....even in HP (IBM too?), they sell the "cheaper" models. In HP its the NX models - they come with all the bling to make them sell, and a pretty good price too normally. I tend to steer away from them, in preference for the NC series. Less bling, but i need reliability from my unit, not super huge numbercrunching power. __________________ Nothing here. Please move on.

6th April 2006, 12:18 AM	#2
stmok (Taking a Break) Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Sydney Posts: 6,271	Always quality over cheap. (especially with laptops). I usually lean to quality brands, but find the cheapest price for them. (shop around). Cheap bits are favourable (and tempting) in the short term, but cost you time and money in the long run. Over time, cheap laptops are more likely to break because the manufacturer cut corners to something in order to save money, thus passing the saving to the consumer. A good quality product with a relatively long warranty (3yrs?) is the way to go.

6th April 2006, 8:50 AM	#4
Blowtus Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Brisbane Posts: 539	I've sold about 20 Acer travelmates in the last few years and have had no problems with them at all. Not trying to suggest any conclusions myself just providing some info.

6th April 2006, 9:15 AM	#5
sml_nail Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Newcastle, NSW Posts: 790	The DELL Inspiron 6400 Core Duo Models look like they are great bang for buck. Can't comment on the build quality as I haven't seen them in real life but there are a couple of people on OCAU who do have them (just search for some threads on them)

6th April 2006, 9:15 PM	#8
montfort Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 58	i have had 3 acer notebooks die on me about a month after the warranty ran out will never touch acer again!

8th April 2006, 12:28 PM	#10
-BLiTz1911 Member Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Sydney Posts: 331	Toshiba isnt tha tmuch of a step up from Acer, the build quality would be better but it still aint good i ended up purchasing the Acer your GF is looking at and its great, just chucked in a 1GB stick of ram. __________________ Penguin Mints for Sale - Just Shoot me a PM MINT & CMOY Headphone amplifiers for sale, Send another PM

8th April 2006, 6:17 PM	#11
commando Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Bankstown, Sydney Posts: 4,423	Consider the IBM Thinkpad range; these guys make bulletproof laptops I have a T42 and couldnt be happier, never a single crash and the build quality is top notch. No squeaks or rattles here. They are quite expensive though (as you'll probably find out!) __________________ Intel E6400 @ 3.2Ghz \| Gigabyte GIGABYTE 965P-DS3 \| 2GB Corsair VS DDR2 667 \| Stock Intel Cooler \| Albatron 7900GT 256MB Click Here To Add Me To Your ICQ List My Avatar Folding@Home 25000 Points Milestone

21st April 2006, 11:48 AM	#13
phoen8x Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Land of OZ Posts: 1,182	Acers are not too bad a laptop. We have a few here. The only problem is battery. On the TM360 Series laptops we have they tend to become useless after a bit over a year. Other than that they are okay, just like the toshiba and ibm. We did have 1 laptop (my own) with mb problem but that's probably because I have used to have it on 24/7 running at 100% cpu utilization for folding@home for almost a year. It got really hot.

21st April 2006, 12:48 PM	#14
Viper Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Milky Way Galaxy - Brisba Posts: 315	Buy whatever offers the best value for money. And always purchase a 3 year warranty on laptops, so equate that into the price. It may save you $$$ Toshiba are now nowhere near what they used to be. All but the high end Qosmio are made in china like every other laptop on the market. At the retailer I work at, we see just as many, if not more Toshiba's in for return. LG are generally the best The Dell 6400 is about the best bang for your buck atm for $1399 __________________ sdf. I don't own a computer. Done and Recommend Trades with: chuna, DiVi8, ARC99, Ehhhe Yebeb, D r M u t l e y, Febs, marknaton, Ahux, Bosisto, Julz, pete_pumpkin, sml_nail, C0V3R, psychoneurosis, i-spi, rommy, and fenerli Last edited by Viper; 21st April 2006 at 12:50 PM.