There's an ad on television about Acer Laptops being sold for under $400.

Has anyone had any experience with this product?

Does anyone know if the price reflects few features, being made cheaply, bad software, or all of the above?

I'm not sure what Acer's general rep is now but 10 years ago when I worked in retail electronics, they sucked. I know that they have improved over the years however, keep in mind the adage: You get what you pay for. In this case, pun intended, low/restricted capabilities.

My experience is to not buy ACER , especially at that price point :eek:

ACER's, in my experience, use WAY too much plastic. Plastic goes brittle over time, things flex, and the insides break. Not good.

There's that thing when it comes to items being sold, where people sometimes go for the higher priced item just because they believe its higher quality. I'm one of them. The under-$400 price (and retailer, WalMart) makes me lean away from considering buying one.

Still, I was thinking someone may have used one and discovered, "Hey - this is a great thing."

I'm wondering: If someone knew the thing wouldn't last long (but may last for a while) and accepted that, whether there would still be too many limitations (when it comes to using it).

Thanks, Chuck and Firewire. I'm thinking you have a better idea about Acer than I do. (I'd never heard of them until this recent tv ad.)

One more thing that needs to be considered is if people do use it for school or work or storing picture...if it dies...all that stuff is STUCK on it. Laptops aren't as easily serviceable as desktops without a few special pieces of equipment. (drive adapters and what not)

If it's just a web surfing computer that stays at home and never gets moved, it might be A-OK. Food for thought.

For $400 bucks though, if all you do is surf and want it portable and light, the ASUS Eee PC just launched in North America...

http://www.futurelooks.com/impressions-of-the-asus-eee-pc-notebook-computer/

Acer is #1 in Europe. 10yrs ago, Acer was a large supplier of internal components in laptops and PC's. They made good products. I belive my Bro J2T's first PC was an Acer 233Mhz. I don't recall him having many issues.

I recommended an Acer machine to a friend of mine. It was a yr ago, and cost $900. He has had no issues with it. Although it is a little hot.

I know in the not so distant past, there where only 3 manufacturers of laptops. What people bought, where company specs. I haven't stayed up to date on all the manufacturing in the last 5 yrs, but I doubt that things have changed that much.

I think Geography has a lot to do with it. We get all the garbage ACERs here with very few of their "Good" ones sprinkled in. I've seen some really nice ACERs overseas though, that they don't sell here. ACER is definitely a commodity product in North America and the price points and related quality show.

I think it's a lot like cars. The really sweet cars are overseas, but what we get here is totally detuned and lame.

400$ for a laptop? Doesnt it seem a bit too cheap? But if all you do is surf & chat, I guess a cheap laptop would do as well as any other.

I'm a bit late to jump in here, but I got an Acer laptop for about $500. I have had it since August and have experienced no problems, but I only use it a couple times a week to save work on for school when I am traveling.

I think Geography has a lot to do with it. We get all the garbage ACERs here with very few of their "Good" ones sprinkled in. I've seen some really nice ACERs overseas though, that they don't sell here. ACER is definitely a commodity product in North America and the price points and related quality show.

I think it's a lot like cars. The really sweet cars are overseas, but what we get here is totally detuned and lame.
The USA gets shafted on a lot of products. I bet Acer will see more business here as the economy stops being fueled by heavy oil consumption, and start resembling Europe more!

It really seems cheap. I doubt about the product, find out directly before planning to go for it.