Help me choose - Asus M6BN vs Acer 2012WLmi

Hi guys,
I have narrowed down my choices to ChemBook's Asus M6BN and Acer's 2012WLmi but cannot choose caiuse I like both of them A LOT.

The ChemBook's Asus has the following specs:
15.4 inch screen
1.7 Dothan
512MB RAM (1 stick)
64MB ATI 9600 Pro
HD 80GB 5400rpm (or I can choose 60GB 7200rpm for same price)
DVD/CD-WR combo
2 year warrenty
Free Delux case
Price for this one is ~$1850(with shipping)
(discountlaptops.com allow 15 days for returns with 100% refund - no restocking fees so if any dead pixels I will be covered)

The Acer 2012WLmi has:
15.4 screen
1.5 Dothan (earlier models came with the Banias but it is Dothan)
512MB RAM (2x256MB sticks)
64MB AT 9700
HD 60GB 4200rpm
DVD +/-WR/CD-WR (4X for both DVD-R and DVD+R)
1 year Acer manufacturer warrenty
No carry case included
Price is $1400 (newegg.com just reduced it from 1500)
(newegg.com has 15% restocking fees in case I get dead pixels and want to return it)

As I said, both computers are just great lookers and have some of the best screens in the idustry (behind the xBrite off course). I am not a gamer (no games at all) so ATI 9600 Pro vs. ATI 9700 is the same to me. I will need good graphics, however, for Mathematica,MATLAB,ORCAD 3D Graphics.
I intend to keep up with this laptop for around 3 years so a fast CPU would come in handy (not that I wouldn't upgrade but...). I am not sure however if the 1.7 Dothan would be worth the price difference over the 1.5 Dothan. Do you think I will get significant improvement in performance with 1.7 over 1.5 Dothan when running Mathematica,MATLAB,ORCAD etc?
The Asus comes with better warrenty (and I can add ESP later on too), also has a FREE case (which will save me another 50-60 bucks) but comes with a DVD-ROM/CD-WR combo vs the DVD/CD Burner in the Acer. I am not so sure however that I will be burning any DVDs plus I can always get one of those external slim Burners with 8X speeds for around $150 later on.
Given the above specs and my attempt to describe what I will be using the laptop for, which one would you recommend me, guys. i have never had any previous experiences with neither Asus nor Acer laptops for this would be my first notebook EVER.
Do you think the 1.7 Dothan, bigger and/or faster HD, and may be better overall quality of the Asus but no DVD Burner justify the difference of ~$400 in price between the two.
Any suggestions and comments would be highly appreciated.
Thanks a lot.

e-Machines laptops rock

 

Its a tough choice, one that I also had to make myself, but I think the ASUS is the better of the two. The faster cpu and HDD, will give better performace than the acer, plus the bonus of 1 stick of RAM, which makes upgrading a bit easier I believe are good reasons to spend the little extra. The M6 is also a bit lighter and the bag is quite nice, thus this is another $50 you don't have to spend, and I like the extra year of service you get. Its a shame there is no DVD burner, I would suggest looking around to see if you can get a better price as well, and or config the system for your needs, this may help bring the price back to that of the acer.
But in the end both will be a good choice for your needs.
a

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by Underpantman

 

Well, from the specs you listed, I'd go with the Acer, it's $450 cheaper than the Asus, plus spec wise, they're pretty much the same. The CPU is an issue though. Are you sure it's a 1.5Ghz Dothan? The specs on their site lists it as a 1.5Ghz Banias (1MB L2 Cache). Just make sure of this before buying. The new modeling scheme is to add 7xx to the end of the model#. The 1.5Ghz Dothan is a 715 (2MB) & the 1.5Ghz Banias (1MB) is the 705. Make sure that's in writing before you buy.
Regarding performance difference, well, you may not notice a huge difference between the two (if both Dothan). There's probably a 10% performance difference between the 2 systems.
You may not need the DVDRW capabilities now, but they will definitely come in handy to backup large amounts of data on a single disc. A DVDR will hold approx 7 700MB CDR's.

-Vb-

 

i was in the same dilemna as u narrowing down my choices to asus
and acer... but from a lot of retailers that i talked to they
told me to go with asus... as it is a better machine... its a much
more solid hardware based as asus is known for top end quality for
motherboard and daughter cards, and acer has failed me a few times...
another thing to think about is asus is basically a SONY OEM! since
all sony laptops are made by asus... its basically a sony machine
minus the sony design and brand... if u ask me i'd get a cheaper
config for the asus and add extra to go with the 9700 module... and
blow the rest of the money on a faster hard drive and forget about
the dvd-rw its not worth the money... invest in an external its way
cheaper and faster... as well get 2 sticks of 512mb memory to give u
that 1gig push so u won't upgrade... and invest on a secondary cell
so that way your bound to have enuff juice pumping through this beast

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by diabolical7