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How Does Ferrari Measure Up?

Started by Rubicone, April 12, 2005, 18:04 hrs

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Rubicone

Acer's Ferrari 3400LMi Notebook is the laptop and wondering how this compares to others in its class. Are there any others one should look at before taking the plunge?  Right now from what I have seen it seems to offer the biggest bang for one's money. If I am wrong then let me know indicating where a better or comparable laptop can be found. Below is a link to the price and specs on this.

PC Mall

fixed link, pat

query

Acer's major ODM is Wistron, which makes some of the better notebooks (incluing many IBM ThinkPads).  They should be pretty good.

Whatever notebook you buy, get a 3-year minimum warranty - repairs are expensive and parts hard to come by outside of the manufacturer.

Buy a 1-year warranty at your own risk - in 13 months, you could be faced with a $700 mainboard or $500 screen replacement if something goes wrong.

Rubicone

My one concern with this laptop is the battery in that a charge only lasts up to 2.5 hours and have been told by some it can be as little as 1 hour. How critical is this and if I were to go with Intel's Centrino is there a comparable laptop to this one out there?

query

Centrino is not a processor - it's a combination of a Pentium-M CPU and an Intel wireless networking adapter.

The Pentium-M will improve battery life, reduce heat production and extend the life of the system - Intel has phased out the P4 in mobile applications - a lot of notebooks that have used it suffer from overheating -- or at a minimum, high system temperatures that shorten the life of memory modules, mainboards, and hard drives.


Rubicone

I was talking to an Acer Tech and he informed me that they offer 2 different warranty extensions. The time is the same on both (2 years on top of the existing one). The first appears to compare with what others may be offering and the other seems to be a richer service in that they will pick up the laptop and replace major components altogether and resend it to you. Along with this richer service is of course the added cost. Are these types of rich extended service plans worth the money?

scuzzy

Whether it's worth it is a personal decision. It's a matter of convenience, as well as turn-around time for getting repairs done. Only you can judge if the extra cost is worth it for you. How much will you depend on your laptop, and what kind of service are you willing to pay for to get it fixed asap, with as little inconvenience as possible?
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query

It's amazing how many people opt for return-for-repair service when they claim they can't be without the system - if you can't be without the system for a few days, opt for onsite service.

Notebook computers are among the least reliable products sold - something like 30% of them - no matter the brand - will need a major repair within 3 years.  Considering the cost of some of the parts, and the single-source availability, you want it under warranty for as long as you'll use it - or you could face a major repair of upwards of $1000 on a notebook that's still serviceable.

Rubicone

The cost for the basic is $124.00 and general info about it is as follows:

" EXTEND NOTEBOOK WARRANTY ANOTHER 2 YEARS

ADDS 2 YEARS TO STANDARD MANUFACTURER WARRANTY
COMPUTER MUST BE MAILED IN OR CARRIED IN TO A ACER OR ACER AUTHORIZED REPAIR CENTER
CUSTOMER MUST CALL ACER FOR DIAGNOSTICS PRIOR TO REPAIR
FREE SHIPPING BACK TO CUSTOMER
MUST REGISTER SERVICE CONTRACT WITH AN ACER COMPUTER WITHIN 15 DAYS OF PURCHASE OF THE ACER COMPUTER
SEE WWW.ACERPANAM.COM FOR MORE DETAILS
TOLL-FREE TECHNICAL SUPPORT DURING EXTENDED WARRANTY PERIOD"

Source: https://secure.tx.acer.com/FindSystem/ExtWarrDetail.aspx?prod_id=1-1EKW98

The second is for the price of $280.00 and comes with the following:

" 3 YEARS TOTAL NOTEBOOK PROTECTION BUNDLE

3 YRS TOTAL PROTECTION FEATURES
ADDS 2 YEARS TO STANDARD MANUFACTURER WARRANTY
COMPUTER MUST BE CARRIED IN OR MAILED IN TO AN ACER OR ACER AUTHORIZED REPAIR CENTER
DAMAGES AS A RESULT OF MISUSE OR ABUSE ARE EXCLUDED
SHIPPING PAID BOTH WAYS DURING EXTENDED WARRANTY PERIOD
THIS SERVICE CONTRACT MUST BE REGISTERED WITHIN 15 DAYS OF PURCHASE TO BE VALID
TOLL-FREE TECHNICAL SUPPORT DURING EXTENDED WARRANTY PERIOD"

Source:
https://secure.tx.acer.com/FindSystem/ExtWarrDetail.aspx?prod_id=1-1EKWCM

I wonder why they give only 15 days from the date of purchase.

query

That locks out the people who buy systems in bulk, redeem the rebates, and then sell them for profit on EBay, etc.