Super hot Toshiba Satellite T135-S1305WH

That's not a bad price at all.

cheers ...

I suppose its a pretty good price for a Toshiba, but last Boxing Day here in Canada (Dec 26) I picked up an Acer Aspire 5517 AMD processor 1.6Ghz, 320GB HD, 2GB memory, Wireless, 15.6", 5in1 card reader, webcam,Win7 Premium (no Bluetooth, dont use it anyhow) all for
$299.00 at Futureshop (like BestBuy in States)

Just MY personal experience, but I've found the low-end Toshibas to be better built than the low-end Acers, IMO. Toshiba also supposedly has a much better track record regarding reliability, from what I've read. No idea if this true or not.

Is your Acer 5517 a dual-core or single core model?

Just a single core. Cant say the reliability thing is true. I have Toshiba laptops and I currently have two Acers and really havent had any problems with any of them.
As for build quality, I would have to say they are both about the same

The Toshiba the OP was talking about was a dual-core, so not really fair to compare price between the 2. But still a good deal on the Acer. Heck, I paid $299US for my Asus EeePC 900HA, and you got double the RAM, double the HDD space, an optical drive, Windows 7, and a much larger screen for the same money (although the smallness of the EeePC was my main reason for the purchase). I'd say you did really well!!

I wasn't referring to reliabilty based on a single person's experiences with a couple Toshibas and a couple Acers. Hardly a representative sample large enough to base any conclusions on. I've seen 2 or 3 studies in the last couple of years stating that for relatively inexpensive laptops, Toshiba is near the high end of the reliability scale, while Acer is pretty much at or near the bottom (along with HP).

My experiences with Acer build quality (not reliability) are really only my opinion based on my son's acer 5520 (I think), and my Toshiba L355. They both have identical specs (odd coincidence), down to the processor brand and speed, except my L355 has a 17" screen and his Acer has a 15.6" screen. The price would have been within $50 of each other if I had bought the L305 (15.6" version of the L355). Both lower end dual-core laptops from a couple years ago. I found the construction of the Acer to be no where near as sturdy as my Toshiba. Even the cable on the AC adaptor of the Acer was only about 2/3 the diameter of the toshiba cable, and failed within a couple months.

True, but when you multiply this by many users than it would make a good reference

Well things and "studies" do change now that HP and Acer are #1 and #2 accordingly I like all brands/models when they have some good series

cheers ...

My only complaint with the Acer brand is the issue of warranty repair if required. With Toshiba, they have authorized Toshiba repair facilities in most decent sized cities here in Canada (200,000 or so). Halifax actually has 3 or 4 (300,000ish) where you can just drop off your laptop.
With Acer, you have to ship it to a centrally located repair facility (Toronto in my case up here). You pay the shipping unless, its the second time for the exact same fault, then Acer will pick up the tab

Just because HP and Acer sell the most laptops, doesn't mean they are the most reliable, or most solidly built, lol.

Here is one example. Pay particular attention to the Acer, HP, and Toshiba entries.

http://smidgenpc.com/2010/04/23/the-...ensive-review/

Here is another:

http://www.laptopmag.com/mobile-life...st-brands.aspx

Very true regarding "sales do not always translate to quality" statement, but improvement in system and pricing are responsible for it (sales). If consumers feel good enough about the system improvement (quality and performance), they will be willing to go for the brand.

We own many HP in the family and myself a few Acer - sure that they don't look attractive sometimes, but they are still running strong. We just give them to the next kin and cycle them around until they save up for a new comp

cheers ...

Well, obviously quality or "system improvement" doesn't drive sales, as HP sits near the bottom of many categories involving those things. Hell, McDonalds sells the most burgers, lol.

Many folks buying their first or second laptop are more about the "looks" and cheapest price for similarly spec'ed laptops.

I'm not saying there is anything wrong with buying HP or any other brand, but quality seldom seems to be an important criteria to most folks. If they are happy with that, fine by me.

I personally just TRY to make more educated decisions when I purchase relatively large ticket items, because I can't afford to replace stuff when it craps out as easily as many other folks. Doesn't mean other folks should think the way I do.

^^ and that is perfectly fine. One's good (or bad) experiences is strictly personal. Input can only do so much as far as influencing a buy.

cheers ...