Read this before you invest!!! (Acer Aspire 6930G)

Member Name: minkypolly

Product:	Acer Aspire 6930G
Date:	22/10/09 (198 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Nice-looking, lots of extras

Disadvantages: over-complicated, highly temperamental

My boyfriend got one of these in June, after he broke his Vaio - it was recommended by his brother, who manages a Comet, so we had high expectations. Since we use the laptop just to surf or perhaps watch the odd video, we thought the spec would be more than enough for our needs.

Within a couple of weeks, it started to heat up whenever it was fully charged and plugged in. This got worse until it started to crash anytime you played music, or watched video. Even really basic games like Zoo Tycoon would freeze it for hours on end, or just crash. We were advised by the Acer customer services helpline to "make sure the laptop was not put on top of any solid surface which might impede air circulation to its base" - what, like a table? Or.....a lap???

Now we face a two-three week wait while the problem is investigated, and I have taken my old Dell Inspiron 2200 out of retirement. Considering its not been booted up for 18 months (!) and was entry-level five years ago, it still works better than the new one!

Other issues with the Acer include a stupid array of buttons and functions which you can activate without knowing, such as the wireless enabler, which you only need to accidentallly touch to disconnect yourself.

Unless you're the kind of person who likes to spend a year reading an instruction manual before you get started, be prepared for a few highly annoying mishaps as you get to know the controls. To be fair, the Acer is probably far too well-equipped for my needs, but I don't think that should mean my basic activities should be impeded by so-called extra capabilities.

The build quality is also poor - the power socket on mine broke after a week or so, although you can poke it back in and use it - its awfully flimsy.

I can see from other posts here that some users have not had a bad experience with this, and I will endeavour to update my review once the laptop comes back from the menders. Until then though, my advice would be NOT to buy.

Summary: If extra features get in the way of performance, why pay extra for them?

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