ok, i re-installed the os on the acer and its fine. i am cycling the battery now, and wanted to post some better first impressions since i got that glitch fixed.
ACER 1712
3.0 P4N
2g ram
17" sxga
120 gig 7200
simpletek 120 external
happauge tv/fm tuner
port replicator
car jack
creative notebook cam
targus delux bag
3 year ext war/2nd busday
OVERALL:
packing: ahh, ok. cdw cheap ass boxes. external drive was scratched. acer box was good.
size: that was shocking. huge. this thing is huge. i measured it out first, but when you see it first hand...
screen: i got a perfect screen, no dead pixels. screen is very, very clear and well lit all over...no gray or dark areas. no banding as far as i can see. it really impressed me, i was not expecting it to be so clear or bright. it does go dim when on battery however, only slightly. i think that has something to do with the battery setting on the go5700 card.
buttons: they are strange. the right shift key is shrunk to nothing. a very, very slight amount of keyboard flex. it is nice having the full keyboard however. board itself seems placed a little too forward considering the size. upon opening the laptop, i saw why immediately...
internals: all desktop stuff, its great! well laid out on the inside. wiring is neat, and overall a very clean layout and none of the scratches i have seen before in other laptops components, everything gleams. bs ram, needs to upgraded.
fans and heat: not loud at all except in turbo mode, which sounds a little like a mini jet engine. does not cycle into that mode unless running a burn in, so i assume it would only come on during hardcore gaming, but even then, its not very loud and it does sound cool. machine does not get very hot. even during burn in, i only noticed a small amount of heat under right wristpad, but it also has a 120gig 7200 rpm under there. during burn in, a little warm air from the side vents, not horrible at all. note: after having it run at speed for a while, it does get a little warm, not uncomfortable though.
sound: quality: excellent loudness: acceptable, volume could go up another notch. i have it playing in the other room though and can hear it pretty good, so i have really no complaints. great eq. great 3d sound effect.
battery: with the exception of the shrunken keys above, this is my one big gripe. you have to take off the whole bottom plate and unscrew the battery to get it out. total of 14 screws. they also give you fake battery compartment so you can take the battery out and still maintain case intergrity, as in total desktop mode. kind of stupid all around in my op.
overall layout: i like the legs...the back sits up off the desk over 1/2". good instructions, you can upgrade everything easily, including the processor. this is a true "desknote"!!! powerful and somewhat portable, in that order. i wounld not have bought this if i travelled everyday.
wi-fi: worked on start up.
btw, cdw sucks!!! first to note, my external has scratches on it from very poor packaging. it looks like it was used and i might return it after i check to see if it didnt belong to a bank...j/k. as for the sale, first they charged my card before i finished ordering (had to call back) and it made my card get declined, wtf??? Spent 2 hours with the bank on that one. then, when i thought i had to rma because of bsod, they hung up on me 3 times before i threatend to cancel my charge and they agreed to return it, my "sales rep" who instantly provided his supervisor 5 days ago when the previous girl ran my card without authorization, (he wanted the sale) today would not put his supervisor on. i kept him on the line and secrectly called back cdw, pushed 0, finally got a suprvisor, and conferenced the call back in, dude was in shock and got all pissy about the return, finally sounding like he wanted to cry. he actually said, "if thats what you want to do, then do it" and hung up, wtf??? ohh boy, but since the fresh install, it has been fine. i think the problem was my fault for runnning a burn in and cycle the battery down fast to 0% the computer is great, cdw, thumbs DOWN! i would not recommend this company for a purchase. (they were the only ones that had stock). however, i did get a sweet deal on everything because of their screwups. everything was 2500.00. that is the only reason i kept it, plus the flawless screen. all in all, it is 8.5 out of 10 so far. the shift button was a blunder. cdw...bah! just another one of those f'in companies to avoid, i have the sager coming though...all around, this was an ok deal with headaches, i just hope without believing it is the last of them. i have to say, pctorque/sager support is hands down the best available. i would have bought this form them had i known they were an acer reseller beforehand, without a second thought.
i will run some benchmarks next. did i tel you this thing was big? i can see the screen clearly across the room. it could easily double for a small tv in a decent size room. and did i say it was perfect?
so far...
next up...8790.
