Does anyone know anything about this? I need to buy a computer, and have no idea where to start. Yahoo has the only findable search program, where you put in your necessary specs, and it spits out a bunch of choices. Acer seems to be the cheapest. Is this a lemon brand, or a real steal?
HELP!
Most brands are the same. Just ask whether their components are proprietary!
I’m sure its been covered before, and its gettin’ close to quittin’ time, and I want to throw this out before I leave so I can’t research it right now.
What the best way to decide and find the computer of my needs? Best Buy? Online? Gateway? Rub a couple sticks together and pray for the best?
Acer is a real brand and they have been around for quite a while. They went through a name change in the early 90’s from Acros to Acer. Their parent company at the time was a large mainframe manufacturer that has been around since the 60’s, IIRC. Like many of the name-brand computer manufacturers today, their internals often are proprietary to some extent, but in general, like the others, they do sell a decent product.
Of all the comparisons of computers I have seen, Acer ranks last in reliability and customer service (maybe 2nd to last in C.S. next to Packard Bell).
Have sold and set up 4 or 5 Acer systems over last few years. Highly integrated machines with OK to good performance and feature set and typically good value for the price. Nothing to shout about but have been trouble free for me to date.
Re customer service can’t comment on this as I don’t typically call customer service unless PC is having a hardware heart attack and all they can really do is give me an RMA.
Hey, come on, Connor, if you’re gonna drop $1500 on a computer, you need to do a little more research than “hey, guys, whaddaya think?”
PC magazine has had several good rundowns comparing computers, and IIRC Acer was usually in the middle of the pack.
I’ll give you the same piece of advice your grandmother would: look at what you want to do with a computer, look at what kind of software you want to run, and THEN pick out the computer that will run the software.
Duh, Connor.
Oh, and PS? The “best way” to buy a computer is NOT to go down to Wal-Mart or Sam’s Club or Best Buy and with a trusting, innocent smile place yourself entirely in the salesperson’s hands. Geez. The mind boggles.
For the love of God, DDG, please don’t compare buying a computer from Best Buy with buying a computer from Wal-frickin-Mart or Sam’s Club!!! Any questions you ask ME don’t get met with a blank look and a “uhhh…what?”
Really, if you’re lazy or something and don’t want to waste time, go into Best Buy, ask the first salesman you see who’s been in the department the longest. If they’re not there that day, ask when they are.
Find them on a Monday or a Tuesday, sometime after 1 and before 6, that way, they’re almost guaranteed to NOT be busy.
Make it painfully obvious to the salesman that you are NOT going to buy today, and act interested in the service plan even if you’re not, it’s his job to pitch it, he’ll be fired if he doesn’t, so just play along.
Get some photocopies of prices and specs, talk to some friends, and stick with an HP or a Micron.
If you want to Email me directly, we can have a dialogue, I’ve been selling computers for Best Buy for about a year now, I know my shit, I’d be more than happy to help you find one. Hell, I can even get you price quotes and stuff. I’ll be your own personal shopper, m’kay?
My email is homer@micoks.net, feel free to email me if you want help buying a computer. This goes for any of you rat bastards. 
Oh, and Pat? It’s a good machine with a good pricepoint. 
–Tim
Oh, I forgot to add… I think Acer was disbarred from the Computer market for selling refurbished machines as new…
And if you want the best bang for your buck, go with a custom built computer. It usually takes us about a week and a half after ordering for it to show up at your house, but you get a larger case, more expansion bays, an AGP slot, etc. etc. and you can pick your own components.
–Tim
DDG, if you have nothing constructive to say, go to hell. At no point did I name a price, or did I ask anybody to tell me what to buy. What I asked for was suggestions on how to shop, and where to look. Seems a bit more intelligent than what you mentioned. I don’t think my grandmother knows what “software” means, and what seems to be common sense to you is I pain in the ass to me.
Homer, thank you so much for the offer of service. I won’t be needing this computer until Spring semester, so I don’t want to string you along for 4 months.
You mention Hewlett-Packard and Micron. I’ll check out their sites. I have some specs in mind, but have no idea as to what the standards are, and what top-of-the-line components are. I don’t want TOTL - too spendy. Will PC magazine be a good place to figure this out, or will it just be a bunch of ads pointing me to TOTL?
Thanks for all the info, folks.
And if you have nothing but insults to offer, get out of GQ and take it to the Pit.
I had to wait for my convulsions to stop before answering. In my experience, Acer computers make fantastic boat anchors. And that’s about it.
I had problems with mine–and that’s not such big strike against them, since a LOT of new computers ship with glitches. What was the problem was their customer service. It was impossible to get through–IMPOSSIBLE! I would set my alarm for 3 am just to try to dial again. I still had a 40-minute hold time. I finally, in sheer desperation, called their fee line, which charged a rate per hour and I was still jerked around. Basically, the modem was fried, defective, never worked (and Acer eventually sent someone to my house to install a new one). But before the tech suport guy was even willing to start doing any testing, he was utterly condescending to me. He suggested that perhaps I had my dial-in number wrong, or my phone line was bad. I patiently explained that the number and phone line had been working perfectly for three years prior to the purchase of this Acer computer, and I was able to dial in 30 minutes before I switched the old one for the new one. He then said maybe my phone company was “old fashioned” and couldn’t handle calls. What? I told him we had Ameritech. He said “I’ve never heard of it, so I’ll bet that’s your problem.” Ameritech? The baby bell that serves Chicago and Detroit? Hello? One of the largest phone companies in the country?
When I complained later about the impossibility of getting help, and the amount of time it took for me to get SERIOUS assistance instead of WAGs, the customer service manager berated me, saying in a voice seething with hostility “Do you know how much we pay in phone bills each month?” Um, no I don’t idiot, but I did assume you built cost of overhead into the price I paid… This is just ONE story I could tell you.
Here’s another, good for its laugh value. I was switching a modem and the diagram looked backwards to me, so I called the tech support line. The guy was very little help… and then, 30 seconds after I hung up, the EXACT SAME GUY called me to do a “customer survey on the support I was just given.” I am all for evalution, I even applaud it, but to be called back before I could even try out what help was offered, and by the same person – he has little motivation to record my answers honestly, and it’s intimidating to be honest to the same person you are evaluating, if it’s negative, and not anonymous… That’s very poor practice.
Anyway, I later was notified of a class-action lawsuit in which Acer was accused to selling second-hand parts as new. I just hooted and hollered.
Acer got pretty crappy reviews at epinions, too. So it’s not just me. I have since ceased using it, so perhaps things have gotten better. But I’d look elsewhere first.
I’m with DUCK DUCK. Go to PCWorld.com. They break down PCs into price categories and review the best one for you.
I found her comment very constructive. Are you sure you read the same one that I did?
No, I didn’t find it constructive. Ok, it had some advice, and the advice part was decent, but the rest of it was a little offensive, as it was obvious that DDG hadn’t read a line of my posts. Not wanting to dwell on this, or to take it much too serious, let me point out some things:
“Hey, come on, Connor, if you’re gonna drop $1500 on a computer, you need to do a little more research than “hey, guys, whaddaya think?””
Again, I didn’t name a price. Stated the fact that I know nothing about computers. But, there is some decent advice to not just rely on online people for a big decision. Advice taken.
“PC magazine has had several good rundowns comparing computers, and IIRC Acer was usually in the middle of the pack.”
Solid advice. Will be going to the newsstand.
“I’ll give you the same piece of advice your grandmother would: look at what you want to do with a computer, look at what kind of software you want to run, and THEN pick out the computer that will run the software.”
This is what I said I did in the OP.
“Duh, Connor.”
Pure insult, admits not reading my OP.
“Oh, and PS?”
Patronizing.
“The “best way” to buy a computer is NOT to go down to Wal-Mart or Sam’s Club or Best Buy and with a trusting, innocent smile place yourself entirely in the salesperson’s hands. Geez. The mind boggles.”
Insulting and ignorant. Morsels of advice tainted by pandering.