Travelmate 3204XMi

Hello everyone, I need your advice for buying a laptop for college, I'm looking for a notebook around 5 lbs. that is powerful enough for casual gaming. Right now I'm trying out the Toshiba S100-1132 (the specs are here) but I'm also considering the Travelmate 3200, so I have a few questions about Acer and it.

First off: the only real problems with the Toshiba is that it runs fairly hot (even after undervolting the CPU) and that the fan can get quite loud. Is fan noise or heat a problem in the 3200? After extended use or gaming sessions? If so, is it so hot it becomes uncomfortable?

Second: the S100 uses a new chipset which features DDR2, SATA, and a 533mhz FSB. Will downgrading to the older chipset in the 3200 (DDR, ATA, and 400 mhz FSB) affect performance? Will the faster processor (1.7 vs. 1.8) make up for it?

Last: how reliable are Acer laptops? Is the 3200 well built? i.e. sturdy? Is the keyboard "mushy" at all? Does Acer have good support/warrenties?

So is the Acer (at $100 less) a better deal than the Toshiba?

Thank you in advance for your responses.

P.S. How's the battery life on the 3204?

 

I have a 3201xci, so I don't how much of it applies here.

The battery life is 3 hours max. Kinda short for such a small laptop.

Acer's support is horrible. The only good part about it is the worldwide warrenty.

Build quality is very good. The only trouble I have with it are the rubber feet come off easily.

Downgrading will affect performance, and the 1.7-1.8 jump will not make any noticable difference.

The fan and heat get annoying when your gaming, but that can be expected of any laptop.

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