Budget Acer in UK

Hi there

I'd be interested in your opinions. I'm looking to buy a laptop and love the acer's screens and features. The laptop will be used for wireless surfing, the odd word document and excel sheet, and quite a bit of photoshopping and web editing.

I'm currently looking at two models, both available from Comet.co.uk and they are the cheapest I've found them for:

ACER ASPIRE 3003WLMI : £469.99 + Free delivery
Processor speed: 1.8 GHz
Processor: AMD Sempron
Screen size: 15.4 brightwidescreen
Storage: 60 GB
RAM: 512 Mb
Records DVDs: 8x

OR

ACER ASPIRE 1691WLMI : £539.99 + free delivery
Processor speed: 1.60 GHz
Processor: Intel Pentium M
Screen size: 15.4" brightwidescreen
Storage: 60 GB
RAM: 512 Mb
Records DVDs: 8x


Now I've read the very long thread on the Acer 3003 and at the moment I feel inclined to go for this one, especially as the 1691 on sale here is the older one with the 725 Pentium processor and 400mhz FSB

Comments or perhaps alternative suggestions ( but please keep in mind I do LOVE the Acer crystal bright widescreen thingy )

Thanks !

 

I'd say go for the 1691 becuase that has a more efficient cpu. And don't worry about the FSB, the memory probably isnt more that 400mhz so it won't matter

The pentium M has better battery life and produces less heat than the turion

 

Is battery life important to you? If yes then the AS1691 would be a better choice. The 3003 has a 4 cell battery which leads to terrible battery life. if that is not a concern both are in the same performance range with the Pentium M having a slight advantage over the mobile Sempron.

Thats just a myth. I have seen both the Pentium M and the Turion run around the same temperatures. How cooler a cpu runs depends a lot on the design of the cooling systems.

 

Thanks for the replies

Battery life will be important to some extent, and I am aware of the 3003 not being great on battery life with the default battery, but will the 1691 offer me much more ?

Put it this way, I would most likely buy the 3003, then buy an acer 8cell battery ( about £50 ), this would still only work out to be around £520, but is it worth saving the £20 or should I opt for the 1691, and is the processor much better on the 1691, what about the video cards on these two, are there any significant differences ?

 

The 1691 should offer ~1.5 - 2hrs of battery life with the standard battery(6 cell). But if you get the 8 cell for the AS3003 it should even out the battery life times. The 1691 is more attractive because of the Pentium M, if it had a Celeron M I would have suggested the Sempron. I dont think the Pentium M is worth the £20 over the Sempron but you will be getting a mainstream Intel albeit a little older compared to a budget AMD.

The video card is low end on both of these systems. The SiS is a bit newer and updated than IE2 but performance wise it is not any better.