Goodbye to the trusty 5102, Say Hello to my little friend!!

Is the Open Box Section "as is"?

I know it's "as is" in Comp-Usa. They had some great deals too, but I don't trust "as is".

 

well....I never really bought one... I was just about to buy one from Tiger Direct for $689.

I have checked the HPs out... but they just end up being more expensive... :/

 

I have bought open box before and I haven't had a bad one yet from Circuit City. You will want to do as much of a software cleansing of the unit before you start using it - you know, someone's porn might still be on there like the one time I bought a lappy.
CC has a 14 day no question asked coverage but you can apply any of their warranties in that time frame if you find a keeper and you are covered for a while that way.

I found 2 ACER 5102s for $669 at CC straight up price with no rebates last week

I personally do not have a problem with open box if the price is ridiculously low.
Most of them are simply displays that have been out for a few months.

 

I dont remember seeing good deals at Tiger Direct when I looked for laptops. I have bought several other things from them including a Epson 785EPX Photo printer 4 yrs ago for $49 including a preview monitor and it still works like a champ.

What kind of model/specs were you getting for $689?

 

512MB RAM, 100GB HD, 1.6Ghz X2, webcam, mic.......

I just configured up an HP dv2000 the way I'd like it...

Operating System FREE Upgrade to Genuine Windows XP Media Center!!
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Processor AMD Turion(TM) 64 X2 Dual-Core TL-50(1.6GHz/256KB)
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Display FREE Upgrade to 14.1" WXGA BrightView Widescreen!!
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Graphics Card NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) Go 6150
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Personalization HP IMPRINT Finish + Microphone + Webcam
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Memory 1.0GB DDR2 SDRAM (2x512MB)
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Hard Drive FREE Upgrade from 60 GB 5400 RPM to 80 GB 5400 RPM
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Primary CD/DVD Drive FREE Upgrade: 8X DVD+/-R/RW w/Double Layer Support
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Networking 802.11b/g WLAN
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TV & Entertainment Experience No TV Tuner w/remote control
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Primary Battery 12 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
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Productivity Software Microsoft(R) Works/Money

costs $827...... AFTER rebates

$1017 before

 

If that is the price for the specs you mentioned in the first line, that is NOT a bad deal at ALL! Especially with the 12 cell battery you will not need An AC adapter for a long time.

I tried out the DV2000 for a few days, pretty small form factor, the camera is ok except being only front facing. The laptop is pretty fingerprint friendly on a whole if you know what I mean. If you an an OCD type person you will be wiping the laptop every 5 mins with a piece of cloth.

 

wait... that was $867..
but on a second thought... I'd have to pay over $60 of NJ sales tax if I buy from staples or Compusa........

And... it has a Nvidia card... I run linux...so yeah...

hard decisions...

 

hmm... just checked... Compusa just sold out on the 5050 for delivery.....

 

I just got a 5050 from the local compusa.... I'm going to load Linux on it so I'll post how that goes...overall, I think its a pretty nice computer

 

Yay Linux! Ekim, I tried running an Ubuntu live cd in the 5050 and it wouldn't work. what distro are you going to be using? I'd be very interested to know if you get everything up and running correctly.

 

I had the same problem with the display(I assume that was the problem, right?)
you have to change the /etc/xorg.conf to use the vesa driver instead.

worked fine... including the Atheros Wifi....

 

Im glad you got linux working. I have never used linux but am into programming and want to use this laptop to get to know it. Any info about where I should start with linux would be appreciated.

Well I am officially very happy with this laptop. Its doing everything I wanted and it was $700.

This is my first laptop. Anybody know of a good program to monitor temps and what are acceptable temperatures for this cpu and HD? Thanks

 

I really don't know too much about Linux. I've been dual booting Windows and Suse on my desktop for a couple months, and I have most of a MythTV box sitting in my living room(which was set up by a friend of mine). When I booted from the cd it started loading everything and then I got an error about X server I believe. It flashed by really quick and I can't remember the exact phrase. After that, it just kind of froze and I had to reboot. Know of any good how to's that could help me get everything running?

 

here's what you do....
as soon as it flashes that screen ... hit enter(although it shouldn't freeze)
press ctr-L to reset the screen..(you may have to keep doing this)
do "cd /etc/X11"
do "sudo nano xorg.conf"
find the section outlining the grafics card
change the "ati" driver to "vesa"
press ctrl-X and then enter
do "startx"

it should work..not exactly sure why... :/

Yeah....I've been using Linux as my primary OS for the past 2 years.... never use Windows..
XP media center edition seems so backwards...lol

The best way to learn is to use it.. Ubuntu is probably the eastiest distrobution to learn on, and seems to work well with this laptop.

EDIT: Just tried with the newest Ubundu "edgy eft x86_64" live Cd and the graphics work perfectly without tweaking...might want to try that...

 

I'll post my experiences with Linux here
The Acer 5050 linux blog[nosredna.net]

 

I tried the live cd of Edgy Eft and you were right, no errors whatsoever. The problem I am having is with the wireless. I don't have the Atheros, mine is a Broadcom. According to the ubuntu wiki and some forums, Broadcom cards can be a real pain to set up in Linux. Lovely.

 

Just FYI..working great now…BUT… issue to watch for

I had a lot of problems at first with my 5050 being butt, slow locking, up and crashing... but after redoing the os many timed from the restore partition found the following

That it did not like my PC Cillien 2007 anti virus…(keeping the default Norton for now… the Acer 5050 seems to like it)

That it did not like any changed in the set up routing… ..just let it do it thing

And after your done getting ever thing in (updates app, ect.) do a defrag (I do this any way after any new setup) …and it will take forever

So in your first setup (or after a restore of os) just be sure to be hooked to the internet and answer the defaults… including have xp auto update on (I normally leave this off during first os startup till I get the system up and stable.. then manually do the updates… not here)

So just let the machine do it's thing…and that means letting it start mutable task and downloads at the same time during its first setup …. Counter intuitive in some ways for a long time tech like me


But now....this box rocks !

 

I won't use windows so that won't be a problem...

@Jmuffin
do you have a 5050?
mine has an atheros.... thats very interesting...
all the latops I've every used linux on were Atheros so I wouldn't know about broadcom

 

Ekim, I have the 5050 from Staples. You said you got the one from Compusa? Looks like maybe different versions use slightly different components.

Anybody else have the 5050 from Staples? What brand is your wireless?

 

unfotunately, that sems to be the case....
however.. with this huge HD( and two partitions)... It wouldn't be too much of a pain to install Ubuntu and try and see if the broadcom is easy to set up.

 

As of today, one of the local Staples here in the city STILL has about 2 units of the camera enabled 5050 left in stock.
If anyone is having a hard time finding one, I can probably get one for them for say $800 bucks delivered. That should cover all taxes, shipping and Paypal fees (I am a longtime registered user of Ebay/Paypal).

If anyone is interested PM me ASAP and we will work out the details. I would hate to see anyone miss out on this sweet little machine.

 

By the way for those that have the Staples version of the laptop, does your Wireless indicator light (the orange one) flicker based on the traffic or is it a solid orange.
I noticed that the first one I had was solid orange but the one I have now flickers with the traffic flow just like the orange light next to a LAN cable port. I personally prefer the flicker since it provides little better info about connectivity. It also does not light up at all without a connection.

 

Mine flickers and I have a broadcom.. bought at staples with the cam

 

mine does not flicker and I have an atheros... could there be a connection? :/

Trominator.... why couldnt you offer that earlier??????

ahhhh..... same price as mine though.. and I'd rather have an atheros wifi than a webcam that isn't suported in Linux....

EDIT: Yes there are two version of this comp with different wifi chips (look up on the acer drivers website)

 

Mine flickers, and as I've said before, Broadcom. If I get home early enough tonight, I'm gonna try to get Ubuntu installed and running.

 

you might want to get a new network manager.... 'cause I can't get Gnome network manager to work... and our router isn't even WPA

 

Well. the last day of the sale and if finally found one in hazelton, pa. They have 2 left in the store. With discount for printer and tax it was 664.80 delivered ups by tuesday. I also think that this is the most bang for the buck. Will let yas know what I think when I have a chance to put it thru it;s paces. Thanks for the input on finding such a great value. John

 

Guys, I see that you've bought a great mashine. UNfortunately they don't ship to europe, so I have to accept the 5051AWXMi. Can some one of you tell something about it?

I googled the internet but with no luck. Do you know where I can find more information about it? I mean a really detailed info 'cause I want to sell my 2-years-old hp pavilion zv5324 for this one. Any advices are welcomed.


Cheers, jason

 

Does Anyone know the RPM in acer 5050 ?? 5400 or 4200

 

its a 5400

 

I just got one of these with the webcam and am thrilled with it. What a great price. Specs can't be beat plus it came with a free upgrade to Vista... but not sure I'll even upgrade.

A couple issues though. Right after installing eTrust Pest Patol, I scanned the HD and it found three things "SpyKeylogger", "Unknown Dialer", and "Grinder". This freaked me out. The computer was never connected to the Internet so this was clearly already on the computer. Acer problem or XP???

So I then connected to Internet to install Windows UPdates and after all the updates, I ran Pest Patrol again. This time it only found one thing... "Difisim". Again, WTF?

A couple other thigs... I'm having a problem with the computer automatially going into Standby and Hibernation. I can manually put it into either state, but it will not go automatically. I've changed settings in power management to no avail.

Also, the fan seems to cycle on and off a LOT. Is this normal?

And I also notice that the LAN light flickers a lot even when I'm not doing anything on the Internet... not even running a browser. What's causing this? I'm just freaking because Pest Patrol found this stuff and so I'm wondering if I'm infected with something.

All in all, an excellent computer at a very good price. Thanks Staples.

 

1. All new laptop fans cycle on & off
2. Lan light will always flickers since it's wireless
3. Despite it clearly saids TL-50, my 5410 from FS comes with TL-52 as shown by CPUz. I wonder if others have notice this as well?

Great laptop imo. for 699. I might upgrade the ram.. once the 1yr warranty is over. =)