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    Keep or return $500 Acer Aspire 3690-2900?

    Discussion in 'Acer' started by i3lueHorneT, Feb 10, 2007.

  1. i3lueHorneT

    i3lueHorneT Notebook Enthusiast

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    Not sure if I should keep an Acer Aspire 3690-2900 I managed to pick up for $500, have a couple more days to demo while the return is still good, thought I would ask around if it's a worthwhile laptop at its price.

    Looking for basic office software type tasks, Internet, watch video, play music, language learning software, small, light, inexpensive ($500-700) -main reason I bothered to pick this up was the pricetag, would rather not mess about with Vista/happy with XP.

    I know I'm being pretty vague, make what you can of it and I'd appreciate the advice.

    SPECS (copied from an ebay listing):

    Processor
    Processor brand
    Intel®
    Processor type Celeron M
    Processor speed 1.6GHz
    Bus Speed 533MHz
    Level 2 cache 1MB

    Memory
    RAM 512MB
    Memory Type (RAM) 533MHz DDR2 SDRAM (PC2-4200)
    RAM expandable to: 2GB

    Storage/Drives

    Hard drive size 60GB
    DVD/CD-RW Combo

    Graphics and sound
    Screen size 15.4"
    Maximum screen resolution 1280 x 800
    Video memory 224MB
    Video Memory Type Shared
    'Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950'

    Ports
    USB 2.0 4
    FireWire 0
    Infrared port No
    PC card Yes
    Express Card No
    S-video Out Yes
    Media card slot Yes
    VGA Yes
    TV tuner No

    Internet/networking
    Dial-up Modem Included
    Ethernet Yes
    Wireless 802.11b/g
    Bluetooth CAPABLE
    Built-in Webcam No
    /Thanks.


    peace,
     
  2. miner

    miner Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    It is a fine laptop for your uses. The Celeron M should be more than enough fr those purposes. The only drawback is that it lacks Speedstep power saving technology which does not allow the processor to step down the clock speed when idle. So, the battery life depending on the size of the battery wont be very good. Upgrading the RAM to 1GB might be a good option, considering that programs these days are more RAM hungry. But other than that for $500 it is not too bad of a deal.
     
  3. i3lueHorneT

    i3lueHorneT Notebook Enthusiast

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    Thanks for the reply, yeah I keep going back and forth on it, basically I bought it figuring I'd most likely be returning it and the two weeks would be an oppurtunity to demo what I'd like/need in a laptop, something to help with researching a purchase.

    Don't like the idea of spending $500 on something I didn't look into before hand and I haven't really spent much time with it since I've had it.

    Still open to advice.
    /Thanks.


    peace,
     
  4. berl1957

    berl1957 Newbie

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    I too just purchased an Aspire 3690 but it is running slow with the Vista program - how do I know what type of RAM to install to get it running faster?
     
  5. berl1957

    berl1957 Newbie

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    I also ran a sheet from the acer site to correct some of the slowness problems and it said to eliminate a few of the E-Programs, but not to remove the Framework and E-Recovery management - those aren't even listed - how do I know what I can and can not remove
     
  6. PRH

    PRH Notebook Consultant

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    Microcenter is selling the 3690 for $299.
     
  7. cord

    cord Newbie

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    The $299 price was a one day special (President's Day Feb 19) and it was limited to 10 units per Micro Center Store as a door buster.