Reply to: £199 laptop

[miffy]

It's probably due to a combination of the XP license and the hard drive - and, of course, the shorter battery life

For some reason, I don't remember reading the second line of the OP.

My phone has been ringing a lot today, so I probably got distracted (thats my excuse anyway). I keep being told blokes can't multitask.

I still think @ £249 it would be a lot more desirable with XP. £299 is just too much when you can get a better lappy for that kind of dosh.

[NickFitz]

I emailed Dell back to cancel the engineer, they promptly phoned back to find out what they didn't know

At least they're eager to learn

[Spacecadet]

Is anyone good with repair and support these days? I phoned Dell once and gave up and solved the problem myself in the end. Fortunately their machines have been reliable in my experience - my main PC is 8 years old and still going strong.

Snap!!

Network card stopped working, Dell offered to send someone round to replace it as they felt it was a hardware issue

After the phone call I tried a last resort, I uninstalled the card via the hardware manager, did a hardware scan to detect it and windows reinstalled it and it worked fine.

I emailed Dell back to cancel the engineer, they promptly phoned back to find out what they didn't know

To be fair to Dell though it did seem like a windows problem rather than a Dell specific issue

[blacjac]

Pray it never goes wrong and has to be returned to Acer for repair ...

I have had dealings with support as it happens.

I simply enquired as to if the IR port on it was full IRDa for data transfer or just input only for a remote control.

After 2 months of going round in the circle of:

1. Acer saying it is ful IRDa
2. Me saying it's not working
3. Acer directing me to download the drivers, which unclude a readme stating that it is input only and will not do data transfer
4. Me reporting this to Acer
5. Acer passing me on to another tech support.
6. goto 1.


I gave up.

I should probably of given up after the first itteration of part 3, but I do like a good argument

[TimberWolf]

Pray it never goes wrong and has to be returned to Acer for repair ...

Is anyone good with repair and support these days? I phoned Dell once and gave up and solved the problem myself in the end. Fortunately their machines have been reliable in my experience - my main PC is 8 years old and still going strong.

[Platypus]

However I was persuaded to earlier this year, and am amazed at the difference in build quality.
Admitidley the last one was about £400 2 years ago and this one was closer to £800...

Pray it never goes wrong and has to be returned to Acer for repair ...

[zeitghost]

It will almost certainly be a recovery disk... that sets it back to factory fresh, sans all your applications & data.

[TimberWolf]

Was it a Sony?

They have the disk image on the hard-drive which you're supposed to burn to a DVD when you get the PC home.

All my last 3 PCs (inc. laptop) have been Dells. I do have a recovery disk for the older one, but I don't recall what CDs came with my more recent laptop purchase, but certainly there was not a proper Windows installation disk. I might have to check what's on the hard-drive, but don't expect to find a full Windows install.

[Moscow Mule]

I imagine Windows only installs to a hard-drive (rather than a solid state storage) anyway?

The solid state stuff presents itself as a drive.

[Moscow Mule]

The inclusion of the hard drive probably explains the reduced battery power.

Does anyone own their own XP/Vista disc so they could install Windows using that? If so, would Windows Update detect and refuse to update? My last PC came with Windows installed, and no CD.

Was it a Sony?

They have the disk image on the hard-drive which you're supposed to burn to a DVD when you get the PC home.

[TimberWolf]

Windows Update will not work if the XP installtion has not been 'activated'.

Activation requires a licence code, and if you try to activate the same licence code too many times Windows Update will stop working.

(MS allow a certain number of activations per licence for reinstalls after crashes, new hardware etc... I think the number is 3).

I imagine Windows only installs to a hard-drive (rather than a solid state storage) anyway?

[blacjac]

Windows Update will not work if the XP installtion has not been 'activated'.

Activation requires a licence code, and if you try to activate the same licence code too many times Windows Update will stop working.

(MS allow a certain number of activations per licence for reinstalls after crashes, new hardware etc... I think the number is 3).

[TimberWolf]

The inclusion of the hard drive probably explains the reduced battery power.

Does anyone own their own XP/Vista disc so they could install Windows using that? If so, would Windows Update detect and refuse to update? My last PC came with Windows installed, and no CD.

[NickFitz]

The £199 acer looks ok for surfin on the sofa. Not sure why it's £299 if you choose XP over Linux. OEM XP doesn't cost that much and you could buy a better lappy for £299 with Vista on it.

It's probably due to a combination of the XP license and the hard drive - and, of course, the shorter battery life

[miffy]

I'm all for the cheaper laptops. I've never spent above £400 on a lappy and don't believe I ever will.

Depends what you want. I just want something to write word docs on, a bit of project, visio, surfin, remote access and occasional visual studio for knocking up a utility to help me do something.

If I'm walking around with a cheaper lappy then I don't care about throwing it into the boot of the car, it getting crushed on the tube, me dropping it or it getting robbed.

£300-£400 buys you something pretty good these days. That said, I've always bought HP laptops and they've never let me down.

The £199 acer looks ok for surfin on the sofa. Not sure why it's £299 if you choose XP over Linux. OEM XP doesn't cost that much and you could buy a better lappy for £299 with Vista on it.

I can see it selling pretty well though.