I recently found myself in need of a brand new laptop. With a decent budget and moderate needs, I knew it wasn’t going to be simple to seek out a product that will do what I needed and still be in my price range.
As a Network Technician and a Net Designer, I required a machine that may have enough storage to store all my software, projects for my purchasers, and still be able to handle an occasional temporary operating system backup from a client’s machine. The qualifying candidate also had to have a decent quantity of RAM and a fairly quick processor to keep up with the demands of multitasking and using Studio MX ‘04 on a daily basis.
At first, I checked the auction sites, the refurbished shops, and therefore the wholesale warehouses. I found some good deals for underneath $five hundred, however nothing that would handle the processing load that Studio MX 2004 would place on it. The common machine had 256MB of PC133 RAM, a 20GB HDD, and a 1.0GHz Pentium processor. Not too shabby for a student machine, except for daily service within the fields I work in, not nearly enough space or power to keep up with my demands.
I quickly realized that a new laptop would be needed in order to meet my needs. Realizing that most decent laptops are priced at over $one,000, I wasn’t expecting an entire ton after I started looking around. However, to my surprise, a native retail chain had a special running on the Acer Aspire 3004WLCi for $600 when a $150 rebate. This was the prime end of my budget, but the specs were far a lot of than what I assumed I might notice during this price range.
Quick Specs:
AMD Mobile Sempron 3100+ (1.8GHz) w/ 256K L2 cache
512MB DDR333 SODIM RAM (expandable to 2GB)
60GB 4200rpm Laborious Disk Drive
15.four Wide Screen WXGA Monitor
CD-RW/DVD-ROM Combo Drive
3 USB 2.zero Ports (1 front / two side)
Front Audio / Microphone jacks
Integrated Microphone / Speakers
Integrated Audio Controller
Integrated Video Controller (up to 128MB shared)
Integrated 56Kbps Information/Fax Modem
Integrated 802.three 10/a hundred Ethernet NIC
Integrated 802.11b/g WiFi
Most screen resolution: 1280 x 800
External monitor maximum resolution: 2048 x 1536
One kind II PCMCIA Slot
AC Power Adapter / 4-cell lithium-ion battery
1.five”Hx14.three”Wx11″D / 6.2lb. w/ Battery
Microsoft Windows XP Home SP2
OK, before I go into the Execs and Cons of this method, let me 1st say this… As a Network technician, I am a bit of a stranger to Acer products. I’ve seen them before, however I’ve never used them. In an trade dominated by Dells and HPs, Acer appeared additional of an “off-complete” to me. With that in mind, I wasn’t expecting a whole lot for my money. Fortunately, I was not disappointed, however neither was I entirely wrong.
Additionally, it is worthy to notice that before I used this machine, XP Home was trashed in favor of XP Professional SP2 and I went through the system and performed many minor software performance tweaks on the operating system; all of which will be performed using the native Windows XP Professional utilities.
Pros:
The Acer Aspire 3004 WLCi may be a fairly powerful system for $600. Even at the initial $750, this system is tough to beat in the performance department. The Sempron 3100+ processor is surprisingly quick and capable. It handled running Dreamweaver MX 2004, Fireworks MX 2004, Microsoft Word 2003, Microsoft OneNote 2003, Firefox 1.5, Internet Explorer 6.0, Opera 8.5, Resize Browser, CPick, Java JRE, NOD32 Anti-Virus, Hotmail Popper, and many system services and minor utilities running within the background simultaneously and did not complain or turn out any unacceptable sustained CPU usage spikes. This can be partly because of the generous and quick 512MB of DDR333 RAM, however even therefore, the processor stunned this long-time AMD user.
The 60GB exhausting drive provides an ample amount of storage for average users. It’s on the lower end of my needs, but sufficiently giant enough to handle all my installed software, over 12GB of service software needed for service calls, all my client comes, and it still has enough area left over to simply accommodate a 20GB client system backup.
Additionally, this technique contains a terribly sensible Broadcom WiFi controller. In my three story townhouse, which has excellent insulation, this system will be used anywhere in my home with a sign strength of “Very Good” to “Glorious”.
The system is ergonomically laid out. I’ve got rather giant hands, and most modern laptops are entirely too tiny for me to realistically use for any extended amount of time. Usually, among 20 or 30 minutes, my wrists and hands begin to ache from trying to take care of a terribly unnatural position so as to type the documents I am operating on. Not so with the Aspire 3000 series. These laptops have a comparatively large chassis with a keypad that is virtually excellent for someone with giant hands. I’ve really found that I can type nearly as fast (roughly 35wpm) on this laptop as I will on my desktop system that has an ergonomic split keyboard (40wpm).
Cons:
If you are wanting for a Multimedia system, or if you propose to try to to any graphics intensive gaming, persevere looking; this system isn’t for you. Even with the widescreen WXGA show, this machine is not well fitted to watching DVDs. The integrated video controller is solely acceptable and the monitor needs a heap of “fiddling” with so as to find the “just right” position for viewing. Furthermore, the glare on the screen of this unit is terrible. I’ve found that in most brightly lit rooms I’m spending more time straining my eyes to work out past my very own reflection. Conjointly, the viewing angle is unimpressive. If you are trying to view the screen from anything larger than 15 degrees in any direction, you’re either trying at a washed out or negative variation of the original. I’ve never been a massive fan of LCD. I’ve perpetually felt that a prime quality CRT continually looks better, but this screen is a lot of harking back to a LCD of three years ago than a whole new product.
The integrated audio and video controllers are a particular sore spot as well. I’ve continually most popular growth controllers over integrated controllers, but in this worth vary, I knew I’d be stuck with the therefore-so quality of an integrated controller. No surprise here. As usual, the quality and performance is sub-par with these controllers, except for my desires, they do the job. But, if you propose on paying attention to any audio playback on this machine, you had higher pack a high quality set of headphones. The tiny speakers on this machine are terrible sounding. Once more, no huge surprise.
Currently, about battery life. I do not know who was in command of defining this side of this machine, but they need a checkup from the neck up. Battery performance on this machine is completely unacceptable. Unless you tune the system down considerably, it’s terribly tough to squeeze a lot of than an hour of real usable day out of this system’s battery life. The manufacturer states that it can run for 1.five hours on the battery. I’ve never been able to get additional than an hour out of the unit. In this point in time, this is not acceptable. Fortunately, there are terribly few occasions after I would like to use this method where I am not shut to a power outlet.
My only other major complaint is the lack of expandability of this system. You get 2 SODIM memory card slots (crammed with 256MBx2 sticks from the factory), 3 USB 2.zero ports and a Type II PCMCIA slot on this machine, and that is it. No internal enlargement capabilities, no firewire, no serial or parallel connections, and you can not swap out the combo drive easily. Given the price vary of this method, I am very not surprised, however I’m a bit disappointed. Fortunately, there are an abundance of USB adapters on the market that enable me to try to to whatever is needed.
Outline:
If you simply need a basic system for work or faculty connected tasks the Acer Aspire 3004WLCi is a solid performer which will handle average use with ease. I would positively recommend this unit to school students or traveling professionals who want an cheap, user-friendly laptop, but who don’t plan on using their laptop on batteries very usually, or who don’t intend on taking part in many games or movies. For the value aware customers out there, this technique is certainly price the money. In my humble opinion, you get more than what you pay money for, but not by much.
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