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I8600 or Acer 2025?

post #1 of 11
6/23/04 at 12:01am
Thread Starter 
Ive been incredibly anal about buying a new notebook before I leave for college this fall. I just cant seem to make up my mind though. One one hand I have the dell 8600:
2.0ghz centrino
15.4 wsxga
512 ddr
128mb radeon 9600proturbo
60gb 7200rpm hdd
intel wireless b/g
2200ish

Then there is the acer 2025:
1.8ghz centrino
15.4 wsxga
512 ddr
128mb radeon 9700
80gb 4200rpm hdd
intel wireless b/g
2200ish (again)

Im having a hard time chosing. From forums and reviews I have heard the negatives of both systems.....The 8600 sometimes has an awful screen and some shoddy build quality, while the 2025 has an aluminum casing. The 2025 has some keyboard issue though, and the speed is a bit slower besides the videocard....and I know nothing about the overall quality of their products either.

But anyway, if someone could give me some info and suggestions so I can make some sort of decision within the next few weeks it would be great. Thanks.
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post #2 of 11
6/23/04 at 1:05am
Briefly, go for the I8600: faster CPU, WSXGA+ screen no longer a problem, get 256MB RAM and upgrade from other vendors more cheaply, 9600PT clocked higher, Hitachi's 7200rpm much faster. Last but not least, look for promotions and coupons in the sticky thread here to lower the price.
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post #3 of 11
6/23/04 at 1:10am
Thread Starter 
So that hitachi screen problem is a thing of the past now? And that 20% off coupon did take of 500 bucks....

What would the battery life be on this baby? I have been hearing around 3 hours. I would like to be able to watch movies on the ride out to college....it would rule if the battery would last for that whole 3 hour trip. And what about this horizontal line thing with the 9600? Im kind of worried about image quality

Maybe a few more suggestions for the 8600 would sway me back to dell.....sorry to be so anal about the problems, but I cant see spending 2 grand on something that Im going to end up hating.
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post #4 of 11
6/23/04 at 1:25am
The Acer is going to look much better, and probably have a bit better overall "feel" to it. The dell has a better screen and will probably outperform the Acer, even with its higher end gpu.
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post #5 of 11
6/23/04 at 1:52am
Yeah, the MR9600PT in the i8600 is agressively clocked and will outperform some of the less agressively clocked MR9700's out there, and come very close to the others.
In performance the i8600 is the best bet and it is a great machine overall, the only drawback is the chassis, apart from that it is top notch.
But both laptops are a fine choice.
stu
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post #6 of 11
6/23/04 at 2:45am
should be able to watch a dvd easily on battery power. On maximum battery mod i get around 4.15 HOURS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! of juice, with a bunch of stuff running and full screen brightness around 3 hours


added: heh awesome battery life, nearly 5mins - changed the mins to hours.
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post #7 of 11
6/23/04 at 2:48am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rosky
should be able to watch a dvd easily on battery power. On maximum battery mod i get around 4.15mins of juice, with a bunch of stuff running and full screen brightness around 3 hours
Whoa, a whole 4 minutes!! I'd run out of things to do with so much time. *grin*

Might want to change that to hours...
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post #8 of 11
6/23/04 at 3:07am
I'm not sure if I could watch all of "The Longest Day" before the battery died.
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post #9 of 11
6/23/04 at 10:27am
Thread Starter 
Thanks alot guys/girls
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post #10 of 11
6/23/04 at 11:19am
How about the Mitac 8050 compared to the other two? It has the same specs as the Acer for about $400 less.
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post #11 of 11
6/24/04 at 9:29pm
Anyone? Anyone?
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