Acer 3003WLCi display question.

My $499 notebook was just delivered from Tiger Direct. On their site they list my machine as having a 15.4 WXGA with Crystal Bright Technology.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1640628&sku=A180-1160

Everything else about the laptop seems right on, but I expected the screen to be much more glossy and bright. I mean it has a good display, but any new notebook should.

The sticker below the keyboard lists the specs, but doesn't say crystalbrite. Can anyone here tell me if my expectations were wrong? Or should this display be drastically different?

Thanks,
Chris

 

That model should have CrystalBrite - if it is glossy, then it's a CrystalBrite. You can't mistake it for a matte.

Acer doesn't have the best displays, so that's another reason why they're not that bright or vibrant as others are. Be fortunate that you have one of the nice CrystalBrite's - Acer's matte screens are terrible.

 

I had this exact same question, and also ordered mine from tigerdirect. I'm completely unconvinced its crystalbright, because as Chaz mentioned in my post, it should be very reflective when off. Its not really reflective. But, I have to assume its crystalbright for two reasons. First, I called tech support and asked them if mine had crystalbright or not from the serial number. They said yes. Also, as Chaz mentioned above, I've heard the matte screens are awful. This screen, while not as glossy as trubrite etc has quite a nice display imo. Frankly, I'm not a big fan of the highly reflective screens like those offered by toshiba. That said, I am probably going to make one more call to tech support since, as I work in a call center myself, know misinformation is sometimes given out. I suggest you call in with your serial number, and ask what kind of screen yours is equipped with. If you can, post back what you're told here, as I'm curious since I bought tigerdirect as well.

EDIT: I got a reply on an email I had sent to acer on this issue.

"Thank you for contacting Acer America. According to the serial number you
provided your notebook did not ships with CrystalBrite Technology."

Guess I'll be contacting tigerdirect after I check out some models in the stores to make sure I want crystalbrite. Then, after acer returns my laptop from fixing the speaker, I can send it back to tigerdirect.... oh yea!

Edit #2: So after looking through some customer review for tigerdirect, I was very concerned I'd have to jump through flaming hoops to get this fixed. I cancelled my acer repair, and talked to cust service at tigerdirect. He was very helpful, and professional. They gave me two options. They can temp. charge my card again, and send out the new laptop immediatly, or I could send in my laptop, and they'd send out the new one upon receiving the old. I opted for option one, since that way worst come to worst I have the new laptop and can pull some leverage with the creditcard company if problems arise from here on out. Shipping was not charged for the new order, and the return order will suppousedly be free as well, but I have to wait for a label to be sent UPS, and I guess they were supposed to email something to me which I have yet to get, but the call was just placed less than an hour ago. Anyway, I checked my new order #, and it is being shipped today. Since this has rebates, I also contaced onrebate, and was told using the new documentation will be fine.

From all of the horror stories I've heard about their cs and rebate redemtion, I'm taking all of this with a grain of salt. I'm hopeful, but still worried problems will arise along the way. Hope this info was helpful for the OP. Try and let me know how your return goes as well. Oh, and try calling in the afternoon hours EST. I called around 2am last night and the guy I got was very standoffish.

Also important is that you contact Acer with your serial #. Get them to give you some sort of confirmation # that your product is defective/has the wrong LCD. Tigerdirect will want this if you want your shipping covered. They sounded like they weren't going to pay shipping, until I said I had already called Acer w/ my serial to confirm it did not have CrystalBright.

Slightly off topic, but I'd have to disagree with Chaz as far as the regular LCDs being awful from acer. It's no crystalbright, but I almost kept it just because theres less glare.

Good luck!

 

I came here tonight to ask the question that was originally posted. Seems like I didn't get the Crystal Bright Technology screen either! I also got mine from tigerdirect. Seems like fraud to me. I will call Acer to find out what the deal is with mine. I'd like to know if anyone else who bought this laptop from tigerdirect had the same problem.

 

I know it's unfortunate for this to happen, but I'm glad I am not the only one having this issue. It seems that I too got the NO Crystal Bright screen box from tiger direct. On top of that, I can't even submit my rebate because the UPC label on the box is partly ripped off (see pic).
Anyway, it is 1:20 AM EST, I called TD customer service and spoke with a tech support rep. Stated that I did not get the model with the crystal bright screen. UPC is not completely there. I basically complained about the bad experience I am having with tiger direct. Of course he was not able to help me as there are no superiors at hand. He took a good 15 min to take his notes. I am going to call back later today. He informed me to call between 9am to 5pm EST, otherwise forget calling as it will not be of help.

I am really upset about this mishap. I feel like TD has deliberately done this to their customers. I just hope that they can redeem themselves and take care of out problems.

Ruk


On a side note how do you add pictures in here?

 

I spoke to TigerDirect CS last night, after talking to Acer support and going to Circuit City and confirming with my own eyes that my screen is NOT CrystalBrite.

The supervisor I spoke to tried to argue a little...but in the end I told him to either send me the correct computer, or to give me something that added comparable value to my machine. He agreed to give me an additional 512MB memory. Actually I'm OK with this compromise, because this screen is not all that bad, but the high definition of the other would be great.

I'm a little concerned about the rebate though...the sticker on my box is mostly ripped off too. Why would they do that? Someone mentioned rebate horror stories, can anyone please share?

 

clsiburt, as long as your 512mb of ram works out for you, that sounds like a great compromise. Like you say, the screen isnt bad, its just not crystalbright. I'm going to be using my laptop for lots of video, so I decided to go with the crystalbright. As far as rebates, I would call in about the UPC being messed with. Although I have no personal experience with the rebates, reseller.com doesn't paint a pretty picture, and over at anandtech, the forum pretty much laughs at the idea of bothering. That said, it sounds like as long as you make copies of everything, and make sure you follow the requirements of the rebate to the 't', you should be ok. You may need to bug them about it after some time though, and send in copies.

As far as this being a scam.... I kind of think so as well. However, keep in mind everything else is the same between the laptops, so considering tigerdirect seems to have some troubles to begin with, the huge flood of traffic I assume they received after thanksgiving makes me think it could just be a shipping mistake as well. Either way, there's no reason for them to give anyone a hard time on an exchange.

 

my upc has been ripped as well. but i am hopefull when i read this: http://www.tigerdirect.com/sectors/Rebates/index.asp

it says advertised rebates are guaranteed:


To qualify for the TigerDirect.com Rebate Guarantee you must comply with the following:

1. Complete the attached rebate form and follow all the instructions that apply.
2. Submit the rebate via Postal Service: Certified Mail Return Receipt Requested by the required postmark date to the address on the rebate form.
3. Please make copies of all materials submitted:
* Rebate Form
* UPC, Barcode or Serial Number
* Invoice or Receipt
* Postal Tracking Information

For more information on the TigerDirect.com Rebate Guarantee Click Here.
Please Note: Maximum of 5 Rebate Guarantee claims per household per year.

 

Well, I got home and checked the package, and tigerdirect managed to screw it up again. Now I have 2 non-crystalbright laptops charged to my credit card

I'm waiting on the ups return label for the first laptop, which better make it here early next week so I can get one back. I'll have to call them again tomarrow and tell them they need to get it right this time. Cripes. Scratch any optimism I had earlier, this return is obviously going to be a pain the ass.

If anyone manages to get a crystalbright screen out of them, please post here, as I'd just like to know its possible...

 

darrvid: i spoke with a manager after dealing with a rep for amost an hour giving me the run around. The manager said he will take the product back in full refund. He said that they do not have any 3003wlci with crystal bright. We argued for a good 15 minutes. I called acer to confirm, the rep said that 3003wlci should come with crystal bright, however, there are some that are not.

I dont want to return the laptop, i'm just concerned about about the UPC being ripped at this point. By any chance is you UPC code intact? How is your rebate submission? Are they giving you a hard time?

 

I haven't actually dealt with the rebates yet. I'm quite concerned though, seeing as how I'm having these exchanges and will not be able to send in the info from the computer that was bought during the proper dates. I'm making copies of the upc from the box though, so at least I'll have that. I'm also going to try calling higher up in the company, a number I found in a reseller.com rating reply. Hopefully bypassing the regular customer service with someone that at least attempted to sound like they have the power to get things done will work. Thats b.s. if they say thay don't have any with crystalbright. That better mean they're just out of stock, because when its specifically printed then they better be stocking it. Regardless of what happens, I am going to keep the laptop, because I'm not totally dissatisfied with the matte lcd, but I bought a crystalbright .

The customer service guy gave me absolutly no problems at all. I stated I was sent the wrong item, and what was wrong about it. I got them to pay for return shipping, and for shipping the new laptop (although I have yet to get my UPS mailing slip, so consider me skeptical on anything they've 'said' will happen).

I'll be dealing with the guy from tigerdirect tomarrow, so I'll let you all know how it goes, and dish out his number to anyone who asks.

Oh, and all of the UPC's are intact.

edit: Looks like their website took of the crystalbright spec on the nonbundled 3003, but this other one they now have listed thats bundeled with software is still listed as having crystalbright. I'm really starting to think if they cant fix this up, I might just return both and find a laptop somewhere else. That way I don't have to continue worrying and possibly sinking more time into the rebate process. A company like this doesnt really deserve my money anyway. Guess I'll see if I can find a good price out there before making a decision.

 

That is 599?

(My $499 notebook was just delivered from Tiger Direct. On their site they list my machine as having a 15.4 WXGA with Crystal Bright )

I got the BF450 3613 from Staples WO the brightscreen and 15 in. 499 would be a steal.

 

luee, it was 499 if purchased between 11/26-11/28 or so. There was an extra $100 rebate.

I think I may just get ahold of tigerdirect and return both laptops, as newegg has a pretty decent deal on a crystalbright one, and frankly I'd rather have newegg taking my money

 

I just got off the phone with tigerdirect. I'm had as hell! Basically, what it comes down to, they're calling me a liar. I told them it was advertised with the Crystal Bright screen, they tell me that it was not or there was a misprint on the website. Now how can all of us be wrong? I think I will be doing the same thing and sending the computer back. Also going to call me CC company and tell them to withhold payment for the time being. I'll NEVER deal with this company again!

 

Squidhound: I feel your pain, they did the same thing to me. Luckily I saved the website ad that mentions crystal brite. Even then they still would not budge. Tiger Direct is in the wrong and is not doing something about it. I would love to do a class action if enough people complain. I'm sure there has to have a lawyer in this board somewhere.

Darrvid: Check newegg again, their S/N is the same as mine which is LXA5505-591. If I were you I would call acer and make sure that the serial number does in fact come in two flavors; crystal brite or not. I called them up a couple of days ago and the only answer I got was that there was a few units that went out of factory without crystal brite. I guess Tiger Direct got the bulk of them so they ripped the UPC showing the specs. If the UPC/Specs were intact, I would have not bothered to open the box. By the way does your UPC/Specs state crystal brite or not? Just curious.

I know they changed their website but I do have the original web ad that they had before they changed it. Basically a false advertisement.

 

My UPC Specs only state the wxga screen. No mention of crystalbright. Do you mean the newegg one might also be wrong, and not crystalbright? I guess if I'm able to give them a call to make sure (as I feel I can trust newegg more than tigerdirect). As far as returns, is anyone having trouble on that? Are they paying for all shipping? If the newegg computer is crystalbright, I'll be getting that and wanting a full return on everything from tigerdirect. The fact that they've already begun the exchange process for me makes me feel as though I have *some* leverage as far as demanding a full return, seeing as how they've already admitted some wrong by beginning this process with me. I saved the website as well, because I saw their change coming.

BTW: my local Circuit City has this computer (crystalbright, I know because *gasp* you can go in and look at it) with a rebate. I forgot the price, but I'll be going out later today to check it out. I'll post my findings for those interested.

 

darrvid: You are right about the crystal bright, it makes such a big difference in clarity. I went to compusa and saw their 5002 model. The screen is beautiful!

I also think I am going to order from newegg. I feel they are trustworthy. I would like to make sure though that they do in fact have the crystal brite. I am a little skeptical but I can only hope. Considering the price. 574.99 after rebate with a 4.99 shipping is ok with me. I will let everyone know. If they do have the crystal brite, I am going to return my laptop to tiger direct and order from newegg. Let me know how much they have it at CC. I like buying online because of no tax. It's a bit cheaper for me since I am on a tight budget.


UPDATE 1: I read the most recent review at newegg.com regarding the 3003wlci, and the screen is not crystal brite.

 

Just be aware that if you order from Newegg, the return policy is non-existant. If you buy with it you are stuck with it.

 

Thanks for the info Chaz, I did find a nice laptop deal at my local circuit city. Won't have to deal with any mailing, and I can see what I'll get.


ruk, make sure you know the $50 rebate is only if you buy a qualifing printer, the cheapest of which costs about $50 with shipping. Don't know if your CC has the same deal as mine, but I'm jumping on it tomarrow. Same exact laptop as the one you have, except its crystalbright, has a 60gb hard drive, and 512mb of ram. $600+tax out the door, not rebates. I just hope its a single stick of 512, but no big deal if its not. If you want to bother with rebates you'll be able to get a wireless router and all in one printer for free. I'd say its a hell of a deal, certainly the best one advertised this week. I'm quite a fan of the semperon, and its a bit harder to find those over the celeron m's.

Has anyone actually returned their laptop to tigerdirect yet? How did it go? I'm going to have to return two now, after I get my credit card company to hold the charges.

 

darvvid: Thanks for the heads up about the CC deal. I am still deciding on returning my laptop. Another $100 for crystal brite, extra 256, and an additional 20 gigs sounds like a good deal to me. I am also thinking about this deal. Do you know when the sale is over? I just dont want to miss out on this deal if I decide to return my laptop. Let me know how it goes with the return. I'll do the same when I return mine.

 

ruk, I'm pretty sure the deal will go through the week since its in the regular ad. One of the stores near me is already out of them though; I have two others in the area, and picked one up yesterday (its what I'm using right now). If my opinion means much, I would say just wash your hands of tigerdirect. I had to go under the assumption that I wasn't going to get the rebates from them, at least not without a fight. If you do return the laptop, make sure you get them to pay return shipping, and let me know what they tell you. The first return I had, they said a UPS label would come in the mail or something. The second time, they told me to use the label on the invoice, call UPS, and use an account # they gave me to get shipping covered. I still need to get that set up, so I'm not sure how it works. I'll edit this post after I've set that up.

I made my decision because like you say, its crystalbright, more ram, bigger hard drive, and by using more reputable rebates a free all in one printer, and wireless router. All for about $100 more. I was worried the reflection on the new screen would drive me nuts after seeing it in the store, but its just the overhead lighting they use. Now that its home, there's little to no glare, and WOW is it better. There's basically no pixilation on DVD's, and just seems cleaner on the desktop.

 

darrvid: I was thinking the same thing about tigerdirect. Ever since the false advert incident, I always felt ripped off by them so this morning I decided to call and return the laptop. I got them to pay for return shipping. They said that UPS will email me a return label within 2-3 biz days. I dont know how true this is but I guess if it does not come in my inbox by friday, I'm calling again.

Anyhow, I went to my local CC and saw the 3009wlci which is really a 3003 model. I checked out the display everything was perfect, the crystal bright makes a big difference when playing videos, especially dvd's. I purchased one after making sure that it comes with crystal bright. Now that I got what I really wanted and not from tigerdirect, I feel much better. Even though this deal is $100 more than my budget, it is all worth it!

 

is tigerdirect that bad? i know that the customer support is poor because I asked them whether the items that i buy from their canadian website would have custome charges/duties when shipped and they told me that i will be charged according to which warehouse its being shipped from.

Fine, and so i asked them how would i know the item that i'm buying will be shipped from which warehouse and they did not reply me for almost a month now.

i'm just wondering now whether the customer feedback on their website is all false or not.

 

anyone buy from NewEgg. that is where i was going to order mine from. How are they shipping the display? I woudlnt know crystal bright from normal or matte anyway.

just looked at CC, did a search for 3009wlci and it does NOT say crystal bright, just wxga tft

 

Yes Snookay, I ordered mine last weekend from newegg when their product description still said crystalbright on it. Then on Monday it no longer stated crystalbright on the specs, so I called them right when they opened and they told me the serial number of the unit that was enroute to me. I called Acer and they looked up the number and said that it does not have crystalbright. I called newegg and explained about it listing that it had crystalbright, (I saved the web page also) and they told me to refuse delivery and I'll be credited fully when it gets back. As long as I dont open it, no problem returning it. I had the same problem with walmart 2 weeks ago is why I saved the newegg webpage.
The walmart Aspire 3003 didn't even fit the receipt description at all. Receipt said 15.4 crystalbright, and pc was 15" noncrystal.
There is no mistake about having crystalbright, if youve seen it on Acer machines.
I purchased a Aspire 5002 AMD Turion crystalbright, 100GB
512, dvd dual layer at Staples for $799. Battery time is about 3 hours.
It seems like the specs have changed a lot on the aspire since 8/05 if you read the reviews. It had a 80 GB and 512 mem with crystalbright back then.

BTW
The guy at Acer told me that I could find crystalbright on the travelmate 4000 and the Aspire 5000 series.

 

snookay: i can confirm that the 3009wlci at circuit city is crystal bright. I had to make sure by calling acer and confirming by S/N. Crystal Bright is a big difference from matte. I had to return an item to tiger direct for not having this feature.

just make sure the Part number is lxa5505.593, this has the crystal bright. double check with acer before opening the box to really make sure if you are paranoid.

 

i'm beginning to worry that my 3003wlci is not crystal bright... how so i check the part number?

 

ok cool. i was just headed towards CC anyways to just look at screens and see if they still have that $600 deal on them. someone stated it was 600 with no rebate, but their website says you need a rebate. Im hoping in the store its no rebate.

 

alpha-q : Call Acer and give them the serial number for your laptop and they will tell you weather it was built with CrystalBright or not.
My pc's sticker below the keyboard says "crystalbright" on it, and the UPC sticker on the cardboard box also listed crystalbright.

 

I can confirm with redgreen on what the box says regarding crystal bright. for extra measure call acer and confirm.


Snookay: I got mine in CC, it is 599.99 and no rebates. Better hurry, the sale is over on the 10th.

 

Just figured I'd throw out an update on my return process. I got shipping labels sent finally to my email, and sent both laptops back. They arrived yesterday, so I should be seeing full refunds on both rather shortly.

As mentioned I did get the laptop at CC, and couldn't be much happier with it. I also got the printer/router for free (after rebates), and really like the printer.

I guess I'll just drop by once the refund actually goes through. Everyone else who was returning doing all right?