Acer really that bad?

the_new_mr

Okay, so I've done a bit of research and I've discovered that this Acer Asire 5542G will do what I need it to do.

Only thing is that someone here said to stay away from Acer due to bad build quality.

Is that the general opinion here? Are they really that bad?

The alternative within my budget (and containing an AMD processor since I boycott Intel) is this MSI CR610 but its graphics card is lower grade (and uses shared memory) and it's also more expensive.

Thanks in advance for your feedback.

Barlett

I've had my Acer since last May and it's yet to give me any problems, I'm delighted with it. The keyboard ain't the best compared to other laptops but it's not something I'd lose sleep over.

Take it this way, Acer can give you a great laptop for around 300 euro less than most other makers because they don't use well known brands when building their laptops but they have become very successful from doing this and if their laptops were constantly failing they wouldn't last very long as a company.

Most of the time if a laptop fails its the luck of the draw so if I were you I would definitely buy the Acer. Go and read reviews of the model you're looking at if you're still unsure!

therecklessone

I don't think they are that bad, I've an Aspire 5920 plus a netbook.

Where they will let you down is in customer care...incompetence is the only word I'd use to describe their performance in that regard.

docmol

I've got quiet a few acer reconditioned laptops for friends and family over the last few years and only had one problem (which was user inflicted) I've never used their support so I can't comment on that. What I will say is they pack there machines to the gills with crapware so the first thing I'd do, after unpacking and checking it, is format and install a nice fresh copy of windows. The machine will speed up no end and it will save you time and hassle. The acer epower stuff is particularly annoying. PS just make sure you use the drivers from the acer site and not generic ones!

Voodu Child

the_new_mr wrote: »

Only thing is that someone here said to stay away from Acer due to bad build quality.

Is that the general opinion here? Are they really that bad?

If you read this forum enough (or any forum for that matter) you will find people saying that about every brand under the sun :pac:

Acer have so many models, made by different ODMs, that the best way to get an idea of build quality is to actually have a look at the model you're thinking of, or look for some in-depth reviews.

consultech

I'm in the market for a new laptop and netbook, and all signs suggest I should get an Acer (again). I however will never buy an Acer anything again, based on stuff like myself and others' experiences, as documented in this thread. That's just my 2 pennies though, and as has been said; They wouldn't be so big if they were that awful accross the board.

It is my firm belief however that you are well and truly f***ed if anything goes wrong, which isn't a nice spot to be in. Their support is the worst I've ever experienced, by a country mile, ever; The famed support teams of NTL/Eircom/BT etc. included. The catalogue of the ineptitude I experienced is almost too much for me to go into. Basically to the point of Acer apparently even having a blanket policy of lying about when your machine got to the repair centre in Banbridge, so as not to have to give you a new machine if it's there >30 days (policy). This happened to me 3 times; I had to prove via DPD when it was signed for with a tracking number each time. I never so much as got an apology each time it happened.

I know 4 people with an Acer lappy; 3 of which are having awful trouble. My top of the range Gemstone blue 6935g was faulty from the start. 'Looked great, but completely unusable in the long term, and ruined the experience for me for the best part of a year.


This is only my experience however, and as above, there are more success stories than failure. The risk for me is too high to take again though.

the_new_mr

Thanks all for the feedback.

Barlett wrote:

Most of the time if a laptop fails its the luck of the draw so if I were you I would definitely buy the Acer. Go and read reviews of the model you're looking at if you're still unsure!

Yeah, I checked out some reviews but the thing about reviews is that they are always of the product when they first got it and doesn't give you any info of whether or not the thing starts falling apart after a few months use.

I was all set to buy the Acer after reading the first four replies but after reading consultech's post and then the thread he linked to, I'm not so sure. I've already had some major headaches dealing with Eircom and 3's customer service over the last year and I don't fancy having to deal with more incompetence again.

Right now, I'm not sure what to do. Think I'll shop around a bit more to see if I can find an alternative to the Aspire for a few days. If not, then it'll be decision time again between the MSI and the Acer.

consultech

the_new_mr wrote: »

I was all set to buy the Acer after reading the first four replies but after reading consultech's post and then the thread he linked to, I'm not so sure. I've already had some major headaches dealing with Eircom and 3's customer service over the last year and I don't fancy having to deal with more incompetence again.

I don't know if my one (although it's not just my one) experience should put you off an entire brand. Myself and other posters on this forum's experience were awful, yes, but can you really vouch for any other electronics manufacturer's support service? Dell may be an exception (Never dealt with them, only presuming they're good).

From what I can ascertain, it seems that Acer laptops fall into the bracket of "good at entry level". i.e. The fancier and more complicated the features, the more fail-proned the unit will be. This is just my observation though. If you are getting a basic spec that you want to perform fairly pedestrian tasks, then have at it. I wouldn't buy an Acer for graphics/gaming etc though.