NotebookForums.com › Forums › Notebook Manufacturers › Acer Forums › Acer Notebooks › Wants vs. Needs -- Acer, Compal, Sony, other(?) for grad school; best bang for buck?
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Wants vs. Needs -- Acer, Compal, Sony, other(?) for grad school; best bang for buck? - Page 2

Poll Results: Which is best for a business grad school student/reservist plus DVD view, no gaming?

 
  • 8% (3)
    Acer TravelMate 8006LMi
  • 17% (6)
    Acer Ferrari 3200
  • 11% (4)
    Sony Vaio A-series custom 15"
  • 38% (13)
    Compal CL56
  • 23% (8)
    other
34 Total Votes  
post #21 of 32
6/24/04 at 2:23am
well i think i got mine before the merge im not sure but mine is 2.6ghz 30gb hd 256ram(upgrading soon) 17" i like it hp ze5607wm if your interested
Reply
Reply
post #22 of 32
6/24/04 at 2:42am
Wow no gaming? If that's the case every one of those laptops are overkill.
Reply
Reply
post #23 of 32
6/24/04 at 10:12am
You should definetly go with a compal or you could get a thin and light notebook, which may have the specs your looking for. I think asus makes some laptops you may want to check out. By the way Quagmire rules, where did you find the avatar?
Reply
Reply
post #24 of 32
6/24/04 at 12:25pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by mayaman2
You should definetly go with a compal or you could get a thin and light notebook, which may have the specs your looking for. I think asus makes some laptops you may want to check out. By the way Quagmire rules, where did you find the avatar?
Thanks for the advice. The only problems I've found with the "thin and light" notebooks are that they seem to be less sturdy and usually have small monitors. Please correct me if I'm wrong, and point me in the right direction for some good ones.

As for Quag, got him at the Family Guy Multimedia Archive (http://fgmma.com/). Lots of good stuff there. Giggida.

Later,
Sey
Reply
Reply
post #25 of 32
6/24/04 at 12:28pm
All Right.

you're not going to be able to bang around a thin-and-light as much as you would a heavier system, i guess. the compal looks like a pretty sturdy build construction though. another really sturdy one i've seen is the asus m6n, but it has a slower video card.
Reply
Reply
post #26 of 32
6/24/04 at 5:03pm
Well our word can only go so far... as ur definnition of 'sturdy' might be different from what I consider it to be.

Best bet is to buy one to try one (get it from a place that has 30 day moneyback guarantee and see if its sturdy enough for you) if its not, pack it back and return it for a full refund

I can tell you as a compal cl56 owner that if I press down with my finger on my laptop, it does not flex or bend.
Reply
Reply
post #27 of 32
6/24/04 at 8:12pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by rincewind
Well our word can only go so far... as ur definnition of 'sturdy' might be different from what I consider it to be.

Best bet is to buy one to try one (get it from a place that has 30 day moneyback guarantee and see if its sturdy enough for you) if its not, pack it back and return it for a full refund
LOL. I'm thinking about buying about 3 machines, then returning the two I like the least. Gotta find good places to buy from then, though (good return policies).

Quote:
Originally Posted by rincewind
I can tell you as a compal cl56 owner that if I press down with my finger on my laptop, it does not flex or bend.
I've really been checking this one out. The only thing I'm concerned about with the keyboard is if wrists get sore after a while of typing. The last notebook I used did that too me and I use a split ergo keyboard on my desktop. I think that's why I'm partial to the Acer keyboard, though I've never had my hands on it. How is the cl56 after long periods of typing?

Every time I think I'm convinced on one machine, I see a post about something bad on it or a similar model. (For example the Acer 8000 series -- some good and bad news out there.) I think you're right though-I'll eventually have to go with what I have the best feeling on and see if I like it. If not, try option B. I just wish I could actually see these machines in person before buying them. I don't suppose anyone on here lives near central Illinois? LOL

Thanks again,

Sey
Reply
Reply
post #28 of 32
6/24/04 at 8:17pm
I would go with the Asus M6N before the CL56. The M6N is a pound lighter it has 8 hours of battery life with the secondary battery and has a much better reputation then compal. Been using asus motherboards for the last 4 years no problems ever with there products even used there video cards. From what you described, portable with a good battery life is more important then gaming the M6N fits your describtion better then the cl56, its about the same price of the cl56 if not cheaper. It however only has 9600 with 64megs of ram but that shouldnt be a draw back for your needs.
Reply
Reply
post #29 of 32
6/24/04 at 8:20pm
Well I recently got myself a PowerPro M 5:6 which is actually a compal CL56 and I love the laptop. It's at a reasonable price, very godo perfromance and heck, great at gaming too (am playing painkiller on it right now)

I'm going to be posting a detailed review/images on it pretty soon good luck with the laptop hunting, I know how it feels!
-n
Reply
Reply
post #30 of 32
6/25/04 at 12:24am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by nullzero
I would go with the Asus M6N before the CL56. The M6N is a pound lighter it has 8 hours of battery life with the secondary battery and has a much better reputation then compal. Been using asus motherboards for the last 4 years no problems ever with there products even used there video cards. From what you described, portable with a good battery life is more important then gaming the M6N fits your describtion better then the cl56, its about the same price of the cl56 if not cheaper. It however only has 9600 with 64megs of ram but that shouldnt be a draw back for your needs.
Funny you mention that, nullzero. It has been two years since I put together my desktop system at home and I couldn't remember what I had, so I just checked. (I also wanted to see how that compares to what I'm looking at in notebooks.) I put this thing together myself, so it's not a name brand machine, but...

A7V8X motherboard
ASUS A7V8X bios (revision 1013 on, but I'm updating it as I type now)
AMD Athlon XP 2000+ processor (1.67 GHz)
640 MB PC2700 RAM
(and I've even got an ASUS CD drive)

I've been very happy with this machine -- even two years after updating it, so I'm betting I'd be happy with the ASUS M6N or the CL56 as far as performance goes. I think my biggest concern now will be keyboard comfort, which I'll probably just have to do like rincewind suggested and bye one and try it.

Thanks again to everyone for all the ideas and advice. Keep it coming!

One thing -- I've noticed when some people recommend a machine, I'll do a Metacrawler or Google search for it and come up somewhat empty on it. CNet, ZDnet, PriceGrabber, etc., are almost helpless on some of these machines. Could you also point me to places I might find these machines. For example, the CL56 doesn't show up under that in a search all the time and seems to be under many aliases, too, etc. Is the M6N the same way?

I've browsed around a bunch here when I've had the chance, but haven't found anything like a key yet that lists all the machines that are the same base. Can anyone point me to something like that, too, to make my search and comparison easier?
THX,
Sey
Reply
Reply
post #31 of 32
6/25/04 at 12:38am
these are non mainstream notebooks
Reply
Reply
post #32 of 32
6/25/04 at 1:27am
yea. ricewind is right. dont count on much research. read these boards and also check out notebookreview.com i am doing research on more main-stream books (originaly i wanted an averatec, now i am doing the compaq r3000z) and hardly get 2 pages worth on google
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Acer Notebooks
NotebookForums.com › Forums › Notebook Manufacturers › Acer Forums › Acer Notebooks › Wants vs. Needs -- Acer, Compal, Sony, other(?) for grad school; best bang for buck?