Problems? See this thread at archive.org.
I've previously had good experiences with HP until their past few models which have been a nightmare for a long, long list of reasons. But this post isn't about HP it's about Acer. This is my first Acer product and I've had a very positive response to the quality of their design but a very poor experience with the quality of manufacturing.
The unit I purchased is the Acer Aspire Timeline 4810T (1.4Ghz, 4gb, 14", 320GB WD) from Staples (US retailer) for the bargain price of 544.98 USD.
The most attractive aspects of the 4810T includes:
* The battery (wow!)
* The excellent, bright LED screen
* Fantastic keyboard (the fn key is to the right of ctrl, perfect!)
* Synaptics touchpad (the best)
* Super quiet fan even when playing games and doing heavy processing
* Decent speakers (dolby) with great sound through headphones
* USB ports on both sides
Some of the less attractive aspects include:
* Keyboard audio functions seem to rely upon software instead of hardware and can fail during heavy processing or if the OS hangs
* As a single piece of platic instead of separate buttons. The touchpad button only works on the edges with the center being "dead"
* No dock
* No expansion slot
* The speakers beep loudly when power is connected/disconnected if the speakers are on (annoying)
* The wireless light blinks during activity instead of just being on or off (annoying)
* The screen hugs the keyboard too closely creating key-shaped oil deposits on the screen (not uncommon but undesirable and a source for damage if something hard like a grain of sand is on the keyboard)
The negatives I mentioned are however tolerable, though I do wish the wireless light wouldn't blink so much. But this is representative of Acer's design not quality of manufacturing, which I will get to next.
Before reading on know that it takes me over two hours to drive to the nearest Staples and back who is the only supplier in my area of this notebook.
The first model I purchased had blown out colors (greens, blues and other bright colors produced a very poor range and often bled together). The plastic on the touchpad button and the palmrests exhibited a granular texture as if dust or sand had been on the plastic and was painted over. The plastic by the CD bay was warped leaving a large opening which debris could enter the computer.
All of the LCDs may have been like this but the ganular texture was annoying, especially right on the button, and the warped plastic was intolerable. So I exchanged it for another one and hoped for the best.
The second notebook I received did not have any of the previous problems and the LCD was perfect with no visible color bleeding or blown out colors. However I noticed immediately that there was a new problem. Every time I opened the screen the bottom of the LCD clipped (hit) the botton of the battery scraping along the surface and hitting the small piece of protuding plastic along the center edge.
I tried to live with this but the screen catching became very annoying very quickly. I also didn't know if the problem could worsen causing the screen to get "stuck" along the protruding plastic. I called Acer's support and spoke to a representative who assured me that this was by design and was not covered under manufacture warranty as a defect. Yea, right.
Another two hour drive to replace it (again). This one I checked in the store before taking it home. There were no problems with the plastic and no warping and the screen certainly did not clip the battery (by design, huh?). The LCD was also fine. The screen was actually tilted along the hinges slightly but was still far enough from the battery to not cause a problem.
After using this one for a couple of days I noticed that the hard drive would ocassionally emit a "ticK!" sound like the arm inside the drive hitting the side. The ticking appeared to become louder and could tick three or more times a minute (even on idle with no activity blinking). I wasn't sure if this was normal behavior or not so I called Western Digital to inquire. The representative was assertive that their drive should not exhibit any kind of ticking sound and it should be replaced.
A faulty hard drive is unacceptable. Another trip to Staples for another exchange. I didn't have a chance to back up my data yet so I brought this model home with the intent of returning the other notebook the next day. This is also the last one they had in stock and my fourth laptop.
When I examined this one the hinges were "perfect" (no tilting, plenty of clearance), the plastic was perfect, the hard drive did not tick, and the LCD was also perfect. After several hours of backing up, formatting, reinstalling various operating systems, and restoring all of my data and applications I sat down with my new notebook feeling victorious. Then I noticed a dark speck on the screen so I tried to wipe off. But it didn't come off. After rubbing it a couple of times with a lint free cloth I got up real close and realized that it was a dead pixel. Great. Everything else is perfect but now the screen is defective.
One dead pixel that is not in the primary viewing area, according to Acer's dead pixel policy, is not grounds for replacement.
This is terrible and I'm deeply upset. I love everything about this notebook and it's a fantastic upgrade from my old notebook. It has everything I need. But as a first time Acer customer I am very upset with the quality of their hardware. This absolutely ridiculous. I've needed components repaired in the past but I've never had problems of this frequency, especially with brand new notebooks.
In the end I ended up swapping the hard drive between the new notebook with the dead pixel and the previous one I had backed up.
Between all of the trips I had to make I probably spent about $40-50 on gas.
From my personal experience all notebooks have their ups and downs one way or another. I've owned NEC, HP, Gateway, and now Acer. I've also used notebooks from IBM/Lenovo and Apple. Will I buy another Acer in the future? I'm still pleased with this notebook and it improves on many of the caveats of other notebook manufacturers but this experience has left me bitter about Acer's manufacturing quality. I will probably purchase again in the future but only from a brick and mortar retailer where I can exchange it if necessary until I get one that works.
A happy ending? I'll let you decide.
New findings:
I've just noticed that the notebook will not function when set on top of another Acer Timeline. I don't know if it's somehow shorting out because of the aluminum surface or what. The bottom of the notebook is plastic with rubber feet so there should be no electrical conductivity.
I also noticed that while leaving it on top of this surface the notebook woke up from sleep by itself. Strange.
Both notebooks exhibit the same defect.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvlnrjwNpFY
First impressions of the Acer Timeline 4810T
Discussion in 'Acer' started by PixelAeo, Aug 9, 2009.
