Acer 1.5GHz Celeron M Laptop - Any good?

[426Hemi]

My sister is looking for a new laptop and she found this one that on sale at the Bay:

ACER Celeron M 14.1" widescreen laptop
Price: $699.97
· 1.5 GHZ Celeron M-370 processor
· 14.1" WXGA CrystalBrite widescreen
· 40 GB hard drive
· 256 MB Ram
· CD-RW/ DVD-R drive - burn your own CD's
· Windows XP Home
· 1-year warranty
· 8.0211 G built-in wireless Ethernet

All she does is use MS office, watch movies and listen to music.

So is this laptop worth it? Is Acer a reliable brand?

[conundrumfp]

I've got the slightly older version of that, minus the DVD burner. It's slow to start up or come out of hibernation, but after that it's fine for what you suggest. I doubled the ram though.

If it were me I'd lean toward spending more money for a Turion with more standard ram and HD space.

Is it the Travelmate? Apparently the Aspire brand isn't as good.

[ynchu]

It's a bit heavier.

[nsx]

IMHO, Dell Inspiron 1300 is a better deal.

$699 with 512M memory, 60GB HD and 15.4" screen.
http://configure.dell.com/dellstore/...P1300C_FEAT_E1

[426Hemi]

Apparently the price after discount and taxes is $730.

I've got the slightly older version of that, minus the burner. It's slow to start up or come out of hibernation, but after that it's fine for what you suggest. I doubled the ram though.

If it were me I'd lean toward spending more money for a Turion with more standard ram and HD space.

Is it the Travelmate? Apparently the Aspire brand isn't as good.

Not sure if its an Aspire. Here's the direct link:
http://thebay.flyerservices.com/nonc...16B9%7D&NL=eng

It may be the same as this one, but not sure:
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applicatio...0-3623XCI%20CA

[conundrumfp]

The way they've worded it, it probably just has a cdrw burner, like mine. (And you'll probably want more ram pretty quickly.) I'd pass, but I would trust the travelmate brand more than dell or hp/compaq.

[426Hemi]

The way they've worded it, it probably just has a cdrw burner, like mine. (And you'll probably want more ram pretty quickly.) I'd pass, but I would trust the travelmate brand more than dell or hp/compaq.

Well, if I upgrade the ram, then the price becomes almost the same as the Dell.

Ok, new question: Acer or Dell laptop?

[lazybum131]

Your sister will probably appreciate the smaller size of the Acer. A 15.4" just isn't as portable as a 14", and the 1300 weighs 6.7lb.

It's personal preference here, but the Acer also has a glossy screen while the Dell is matte.

[426Hemi]

Your sister will probably appreciate the smaller size of the Acer. A 15.4" just isn't as portable as a 14", and the 1300 weighs 6.7lb.

It's personal preference here, but the Acer also has a glossy screen while the Dell is matte.

so does the glossy screen make a huge difference over the matte screen?

[akito925]

so does the glossy screen make a huge difference over the matte screen?

looks nice not bad at all with the glossy screen, but it reflects light if your in a bright lite room, ie seeing yourself lookinag the screen,

I current'y own the acer aspire 5670