8204 question

Is it safe to buy an 8204 now considering they had time to fix all the bugs and screen leakages ?

 

Considering that most people were probably satisfied from day one, I'd say yes.

 

Ohh another safe question, define what's safe, is it safe to assume that you will get a "perfect" (TM) PC? No.

Blunt answer, if you want a perfect PC, don't buy one, because no laptop can guaranteed be perfect, it could have a pixel issue (known problem with LCD displays), I've had NO issues with my 8204 and I got it as soon as CDW started to stock them.

 

Considering that you don't know what you're talking about, I'd be careful...

 

It depends on your luck. Lol,don't be scared(sorry if I scared ya ). Now,seriously - all notebooks are produced in mass. You can find a bad unit here and there. The 8204 is a high end "luxury" model from Acer,so unless you get a bad unit, I'd say it's "safe". Since you are shelling out a high price for the notebook,even the first builds would be really good.

 

It doesn't seem like there is much difference if it's high or low end Acer. They had some serious problems with quality control of first few batches and it looks like things are getting better now, but I wouldn't say that it is "safe" to buy Acer (or any other cheap notebook) at all... All cheap companies are trying to save money somewhere - it could be components, materials or quality control... In TM8204's case quality control was the weakest element so far... So I would suggest you to buy it in a store where you can return it with no problems. Just in case...

 

I don't know what I'm talking about (having read many opinions on the machine on this and many other forums, and working as a product reviewer myself) - but you do (because you had a bad experience that may or may not even have been what you claim it to be, and you automatically discount anybody else's good experience)?

That's funny.

 

LOL - once again showing that you just want to bash, and know nothing of what you're talking about.

Do you have access to Acer's warranty repair / return info? No. Hence you are completely unqualified to comment on "problems" in the "first few batches".

Also, if you knew *anything*, you'd know that Acer doesn't make a single one of the notebooks it sells, and nor does almost any vendor - including the likes of name brands with a supposedly good reputation like Apple, HP, Compaq, Dell, Alienware, etc. In fact, chances are that those machines were made in the exact same factory, by the exact same people, with the exact same quality control procedures as most of these Acers.

Acer doesn't have initial batch problems any more than any other company does. What they do have (and plenty of other companies have this too) is one or two extremely vocal complainers, who either had a little bad luck and believe that one experience automatically means the company doesn't have a single happy customer, or just have sour grapes for whatever reason.

 

I suggest you to check february-march archive then (check the other forums' archives as well)... Your so called opinion is based on what people say now, you have no idea about problems that a lot of users had in the past, so stop pretend that you're TM8204 expert. You don't know sh*t about it.

 

It really seems to depend, there were definately a number of people having issues back in Feb/March, however how good a percentage of users this was, who the hell knows? That's the problem with these things, my guess is that a reasonable "silent" majority were happy, however it's purely a guess on my part.

Without Acer's input (how many 8204's did the have returned, how many needed a "service" immediately etc etc) I don't think anyone can say, maybe dealers could give answers, but I don't believe there are any dealers here, so it's just all hearsay.

 

How do you know what I've already read? (Hint: you don't).

I've already read most every thread related to the 8204 on this site, notebookforums, and quite a few other sites as well. I'm also not biased on one side or another. Even for the early machines, there were many satisfied customers, and the early adopters also tend to be the most likely to have unrealistically high expectations of perfection and/or think they know more about changing drivers etc. than they really do, and subsequently a small number of users flood forums with complaints, drowning out the satisfied customers few of whom bother to share their reports (because we tend to post to complain, not to praise).

 

@Arla:
Sure, but you cannot ignore strong negative feedback from quite big group of early users and that's what gweilo8888 is trying to do. He constantly implies that there were only "one or two extremely vocal complainers" which is completely false! Fortunetely, it's easy to verify by reading some older posts...

 

You've READ about problems and I've EXPERIENCED problems - that's the main difference... I didn't say "don't buy Acer" - I said "be careful" - that's it...

 

Jaad75, you are right, and if I knew that the "big" group that was complaining was really a good percentage of users, I might be more inclined to say don't buy one. However I've no idea what actual percentage of people had issues, also the fact that so few people are now posting issues either says no-one is buying this notebook anymore, or that everyone buying it either isn't having issues, or isn't posting about them. Yes, initially they had a few issues, however the only one that seemed to actually cause issues was perhaps the screen problem, and I've not seen anything about that recently (also I've got one of the originals and still don't see the problem).

 

Guys, the bashing needs to stop now.

This thread was created to find out about the 8204, not to see who knows more than who or whose opinion is correct. You can still give your opinion about Acer, but you need to respect other's opinion also and not criticize each other.

Please take your personal issues with each other off of the forums.

 

definately ask a dealer if you can find one, i have not heard much about TM8204's, like one person said that the touchpad stopped working but i would think that that is just ONE case

 

definatly try asking a dealer they would know best on how many need repair. it is a "high end" notebook so i think they are faily good quality, but there are buggs in ALL manufactures

 

I've had mu 8204 since June 2006, and it has been working well.

If you're not really sure about buying one, I'd suggest you create a safety net i.e. buy the warranty extension. And I don't know in your country if the repair/exchange is a separate option?

In any case never leave the store without one..

 

I am going to write about the screen because that's the only thing my TM8204 has a problem with - everything else is just peachy, working as advertised, and the machine is fast as hell (still!).

If you are concerned about the screen make sure to buy it at a place with money back guarantee or at a place (not online) where you can walk in the store and have a very good look at the screen before purchase.

I am saying this because screen issues really affect different users differently. My screen is dim and has minor leakage, but no bad pixels. I can live with it, even though I am somewhat bummed - realistically speaking though, high res screens like this are still rare and have issues. There are exceptions but by and large that's how it is.

Bottom line is, if you work outside a lot, the screen may be too dim and if you are a graphics designer, movie producer or professional photographer, just forget about the TM8204 right now and get a MacBook Pro.

If you are doing email, web, gaming, photos, CD burning, whatever - no problem. Build quality is solid. Mine came with a 3 year warranty. Service is excellent. I had the battery replaced under warranty. I also tried to get the screen replaced for (very faint) horizontal lines but since those really are not visible except in test cases Acer didn't go for that.