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Can someone explain the graphics/benchmark numbers and what they mean?
How does the acer do games compared to the zd700 or the 8790, better or worse, and why?

I never found a really good fix for the pausing, I'm just waiting for the bios fix, but I just leave winamp running all the time and it doesn't pause nearly as often as it did. It seems to need pretty heavy activity to not pause.

Has anyone had any luck with preventing the pausing?

http://reviews.zdnet.co.uk/hardware/...05136%2c00.htm

Pros

Large 17in. screen
full-size keyboard with number pad
fast desktop-class processor
fast, high-capacity hard disk
copious ports and connectors.

Cons

Very bulky and very heavy
poor 3D acceleration *** This concerns me.
short battery life.

** Nevermind, This review was using a SiS M650 controller not the NVidia.

The Video card on the 1712 is excellent... Overall I am very happy with it except for the pausing.. If I want to play a game I go to a Taiwan web site that has large data files and low bandwidth for download and start a download then play a game. I can get several hours of pauseless pleasure in this way. If you are downloading at a fast site your game may suffer some performance issues with Hard Drive Access.

Well thats a good thing. It must be the bios issue then. Hopefully they'll fix it soon.

Who did you guys order your aspire 1700's from?
The ones Acers list say no returns.

I got mine from PCTorque. My 2nd Acer is on the way as we speak (first one had a dead pixel). Customer service has been everything it was billed as so far. And the no dead pixel policy is superb.

And what about the new 1714? Do you know if it have the same HDD slowdown issues?

Anyone have some benchs about it?

I´m really thinking about get one of those here in Portugal.

Thanks.

I have the 1710 model SMI. I've had a few reliability problems and I'm going to be upgraded (for free) to the 171x model when they have some in stock. They're virtually the same machine except a different graphics card so I thought I'd write my impressions after having it for 2 months.

It's a fast laptop 3.06GHz/1GB RAM, 128MB GeForce 5600 (it's the older model).

The first thing that hits you is the size of the screen. It's large, clear, has strong colours, very very bright, and I've not detected any ghosting when playing games. One of the big selling points for me was the 100% pixel guarantee.

As previously mentioned, the fan does blow out the right hand side at the rear end of the laptop - straight onto the mouse. It can get hot but you adapt and use the mouse at the front end of the laptop.

One of the downsides is that it's not a laptop but a desktop replacement. The air intake is conveniently located on the bottom of the laptop and your right leg stops the flow of air into the system. When this happens, the laptop (and your leg) can get really hot. It's ok doing word processing etc but you can't play games on your lap.

The 120GB HDD is fast but it is fairly noisy when it's going. The cooling fan's are noisy but not as noisy as my desktop.

The touchpad is easy to use and the 4 way button used for scrolling is pretty handy to. It doesn't take long to get used to the small right shift key but you need to use the 'Fn' button if you want to use 'Home' and 'End' buttons which is pretty annoying if you want to do document processing.

The speakers are good for playing dvds and games but sound tinny when you play music. The sound is plays beautifully out of my Altec Lansing speakers but there's no rear speaker jack on the laptop. You could always get a USB external soundcard if you want to do that.

There are laptop bags which can fit the Acer in - it's huge - but it does require some strategic packing to get all the bits (Laptop, power adapter, CD's etc) in. It's easy to pack up and cart around but if you plan on walking long distances, be prepared to have a sore shoulder - it does weigh a tonne.

I've had a few problems (remember it is the older model with the 128MB GeForce Go FX5600) with the EA games - C&C Generals, Battlefield 1942 and Battlefield Vietnam. The video on C&C Generals is a bit jerky and both Battlefield games are unplayable. Apparently EA games don't test on the Go graphics cards. Hopefully the 5700 model will fix these problems - can anyone confirm this? Need for Speed Underground (also EA) runs like a dream. Every other game I have runs beautifully.

I do recommend this laptop to anyone who's interested in a high powered laptop for games, development etc.

Can someone show a picture of the Acer on top of (or below) a 17" widescreen.

I want to see the width difference.

Tell me what the benefits of having this heavy but desktop parts are.

From Adams review, next to the 8790.

Thanks for the link, but I can't really see the width difference, thats why I wanted a above/below pic of the two.

A pic of it next to a standard 15" 15.4" 16" would be cool two, not just for screen comparisson but entire notebook size.

Hi,

I have the 1711 here and the 1712. With the 1711 the fan does not run when surfing, typing etc. - but with the 1712 you can hear the fan all the time. Not as loud as with the 1711 when running a benchmark, but the fan is running. With the 1711 I could hear the hard disc spinning up and down - so quiet was the system.

Is this the graphic card or the faster CPU?

I was really impressed with the 1711, because it runs without any noise during normal operation. I wanted to exchange with the 1712, because of the better graphic power of the 1712 - but the fan is not so nice. So I have to decide to go with the 1711 and no noise or with the 1712 and noise.

What is your experience with the 1712 - can you hear the fan during normal operation (=idle in Windows)? Maybe mine has a problem?

Marcus

The fan runs on the 1712 constantly...


BTW... as far as the new bios goes I got the same talk from Acer


Dear Mr Amendolaro,

Thank you for contacting Acer America. Our engineers have been notified of the hard drive issue and it has been forwarded to Taiwan. If a fix will be implemented it would most likely be in the form of a BIOS update and would be posted on our support site at www.acersupport.com. Currently we have no ETA nor do we have a list where we contact user's to download if/when a BIOS is released. I apologize for any inconvenience this may bring.

Regards,
Mary Boggs
Acer America Online Technical Support



Question :Are you telling me that a Fix will be done in the future or a fix is not Guarenteed ?


Answer:
A resolution is not guaranteed.




I give um another two weeks... or I am out...

I am in the way to buy the 1714 to replace my 7 years old home pc.

What do you suggest to me ??

Or better, can you tell me 5 (or more) reasons to buy this Acer, and 5 (or more) reasons to not buy it ??

I think the heat problem is a Prescott inside cpu for the most.

I like the fact to replace the hd with a 250gb or 400gb to store the most of my dvd, programs, vhs to dvd, games, all in it (and eventually an external drive to backup...).
This is not possible in the other and the others price is so higher ....

Please help me in the decision. Thanks.

I dreamed a zd7000 1680x1050 go5700 but here in Italy is not existent. And the price is like a 8790 +/- (here 3600 euros).