***Acer Aspire 1960***

I went to The Source by circuit city today and have decided on a laptop...well, pretty much. It's the Acer Aspire 1690. For those who have this one, what are the pros/cons?

Also, is this a good deal?:

Pentium M 1.7
100 gb hard drive
1 GB ram
ATI Mobility Radeon X700
DVD rw, dual layer

I got it for $1499 cdn plus tax...It was the display model that had been out 5 days (Locked in a cabinet though). Also, when the guy at the store was shutting the cabinet door, he scratched the front of the laptop (not too big of a scratch) so he put it down to $1450. (I plan to touch this up)

Anyway, with a 3 year extended warranty from The Source it will cost $2000 flat (I talked him down from $2095 to $2000).

(Btw, I haven't bought it yet, it's on hold for a few days)
Thanks!

 

Tech_Girl,

A 1960, are you sure? I don't see that model in the Acer Canada website, but there is an Aspire 1690 series.

If it is the 1690, you may want to check the specs again (unless they changed it without updating their site) because their site only lists the 1690WLMi with an ATI X600 graphics processor, not an X700. Also, the DVDRW drive isn't Dual Layer, it's Dual Format meaning it burns both + & - media. See if you can get the exact model# (either a 1690WLMi style or LX.xxxxx.xxx style) to verify it's info.

To quickky check the graphics card, you can goto device manager to see what the display adapter is. To findout exactly how much memory is on the video card, you can goto Start -> Run -> DXDIAG. If it prompts you about WHQL, just say yes or no, either is fine. On the 1st screen (System Tab), look under memory, if it doesn't say 1024MB (or very close), then you have shared video memory & that means you don't even have an ATI x600 or x700 (must be dedicated memory). Goto the Display Tab and that'll tell you what card and how much video memory it has.

Also under Device Manager, you can get the exact model of the DVD Burner under DVD/CD-Rom Drives. You can verify the specs online with that model# (Google it).

Also, extended warranties offered by retail stores are usually only covered in those stores. You can't send the unit back to Acer for repair after the 1st year unless you buy an original Acer warranty. It's usually recommended not to get the stores extended warranties.

Otherwise, the price seems decent for the specs. See if they can throw in an extra battery or AC adapter as these may come in handy when you're on the road.

-Vb-

 

Take the warranty back and get one direct from acer, for that price you'll get acers 3 YEARS TOTAL NOTEBOOK PROTECTION BUNDLE, includes spilling coffee on your laptop and everything else under the sun. You can call acers tech support and get more information on this.

Later,
Dan.

 

Warranty from manufacturer is usually better than from retailer.

 

Ok, thanks for the info...the only thing about getting a warranty from Acer is if something happened, I'd have to pay for shipping, right? How much do you think it would cost?

Also, just to note: haven't bought the laptop or warranty yet.

Finally, the exact model is: 1692 WLMI-64 Sorry, I was a little too general when I said "1960"

 

Where in Canada do you live? 1692 Should have 80gigs not 100gigs. Yours sound like a hybrid of the 1962 and 1694 with the 1.7cpu and 100gigs/dedicated (x700?) video card. Really wierd. Maybe new models came out and the site has not been updated? Soulds like a 4402 but with intel.

 

Yeah, the exact model is here:

http://www.thesourcecc.com/estore/P...&category=Notebooks+Notebooks&product=2515682

It says it has X600 graphics, but on the sticker it said X700...don't know why though....?

 

Btw I live in Nova Scotia.

 

Here in the Vancouver area you can pickup the 1694WLMi-XPH for CA $1630.00.

Although the shipping carton was labelled differently, mine (and others) were actually equipped with the P-M 760 2GHz / X700.

 

That's cool, so we do have refresh for the 1690 series. Where did you get this btw?

 

http://www.atic.ca/index.php?page=LongDesc&sku=15811

I didn't actually buy it from there, but rather asked my favourite store (ncix.com) to price match it.

 

Tech_Girl,

I just looked at the specs for CC's site and it doesn't indicate that it comes with an ATI x600 for sure, it lists that it has either an Intel GMA 900 or an ATI x600.

I looked on Acer Canada's website and the 1692WLMi only has an Intel GMA 900 graphics card. This is pretty misleading on how they advertise. I don't know if Acer made changes to their specs and didn't indicate this on their site (as other users said they got x700 rather than the spec'd x600 for some units). I would really recommend checking out the unit before you pay for it.

As I indicated above, you can goto Device Manager or run DXDIAG to find out the info. I don't want someone to take advantage of you and try to sell you something that's not there.

AS1692WLMi
Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition; Intel® Pentium® M Processor 740 (2MB L2 cache, 1.73GHz, 533MHz FSB); 512MB (256/256) DDR2 533 SDRAM; 80GB hard drive; integrated DVD-Dual drive (DVD+/-RW); 15.4" WXGA (1280 x 800) TFT display, Acer® CrystalBrite Technology ; Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 900; 802.11b/g WLAN, 10/100 LAN, V.92 modem LX.A7205.015

http://www.acer.ca/acerpanam/page4....Param=CA&LanguageISOCtxParam=en&crc=331513632

Also, regarding the extended warranty. Some credit card companies offer an automatic upto 1 year extension on the manufacturers warranty. If you want to save a bit of money, you can go this route. So 2 years overall coverage for your notebook for free, that's not too bad. If you did decide to go for an original Acer extended warranty, I believe you have upto 11 months or possibly before your 1 yr warranty expires to buy an extended warranty from Acer, but I'd recommend you to check before you wait that long.

Good luck and I hope you get exactly what they told you was in the unit. That would make for a pretty sweet unit.

-Vb-

 

BTW -- being pleasantly confused about the discrepancy in specs, I stumbled across the Acer Pan-America site

Evidently this more accurately represents what's shipping now -- although it still doesn't officially list the X700.

 

WOW for 1600 canadian thats a very good deal. Sorta like the 4402 but with brightview and faster chip..but no 64 bit. Seems like its the same one they are geting in AUS.

 

Thanks for the info. Was that price including tax? It looks like the only thing different between that model and the one I"m looking at is mine has a 1.7 ghz processor and yours has a 1.8. Do you think I'm getting a good deal on mine? Just average? Not good at all?

Also, I thought the 1690 series was 6.5 lbs, but the model you mentioned has a weight on 6.6 lbs.

 

Oh, didn't see those 3 other posts...

Thanks for the advice...I'll check in the device manager and make sure I'm getting what I'm supposed to. The sticker on the computer is what I looked at for the specs..not really what the computer guy told me. So if the sticker's right, then it's all good.

Getting back to my very first question...am I getting a good deal?? Even though it was on display and has a scratch? Could I get it cheaper anywhere else in Canada?

Also about the warranty: I'll check out the credit card thing...would it apply to Visa credit cards?

 

Nope. Add $228.20 for the privilege of being local -- though I believe my supplier doesn't operate in other provinces, so add shipping and subtract pst.

For me, I took a risk -- the boxes are still in fact labeled incorrectly (old spec), and nobody other than end-users was prepared to guarantee the rumoured specs. I wasn't even in the market for a new notebook until I heard the talk on the street, so getting less that an M-760 / X700 would have been a deal-breaker for me.

I had enough left over in my budget to acquire a pair of Sennheiser PX-100 headphones to go along with it.

And yes, I think you're getting a good deal on yours. Personally I measure the value of any tool by its ability to help you accomplish a task.

 

Do you know if only NCIX has the mislabelled parts? Do you know your HD speed?

 

I don't know -- mine was on backorder for a few days and came in as fresh stock from wherever they get them.

ST9100822A (100GB, 5400 RPM, Ultra-ATA/100)

 

Ok thanks for the info.

And oops...the title I wrote says "1960"...the model is 1690! Hehee I think I'm dyslexic...

 

Hey twisted,
whats the specs on the ati x700? 64megs or 128?
i'm planning to do the same thing w/ the atic price matching , did they hassle you much about it?
also how long of a battery life are you getting from it ?
i'm comparing this notebook w/ ncix's z71v , its abit cheaper , but fore sure has 128 meg dedicated , but its a 6600 , w/ weaker cpu , mem , and hd specs

 

X700 (64MB)

Nope. It was accepted almost immediately -- no mess, no fuss -- though I do tend to spend a lot of money there.

So far a little under 4 hours on the "Word Processor" settings when I'm away from my desk (wireless on only)

 

by away from desktop does that mean under use? cause if u don't use it then it doesn't use as much power right?

have you tweaked any of the settings to give u max battery life out of it?
i have 3 hr classes next semester and i'm really worried that i won't be able to go through the entire class w/ my notebook.

 

I'd say you'll get through the 3 hour class for sure. I haven't played around with it on battery a whole lot, but I'm almost completely certain that you'd get 3 hours...probably 3 1/2. (Unless you're doing something CPU intensive)

 

how much of a drain is having wireless on?
i don't plan on having wireless on in class, just cause its class , don't wanna be hearing no "uh-ohs"

 

how good is the x700 64mb over other laptop gx cards?
is it something that will play all the current generation of games?
how does the aspire 1964 compare to say an asus z70 ?