Acer build quality/ reliability?

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Rocco1

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Hi Guys, looking at getting an Acer laptop - v 571/ 575G i5 aspire laptop, or Gigabyte laptop Q1542N

What is your opinion on the reliability/ build quality of Acer laptops verus Gigabyte

any experience you have had with them is welcome.

Thanks
 
Last edited:
Hey

I can't comment on the build quality, but I can say that their after-sales backup is good. I bought a Packard Bell laptop for my daughter (an Acer subbrand), which developed an issue, and they collected the laptop within a day, and we got it back within 5 days (CPT-JHB-CPT). They have an online tracking site where you can get status and tracking no's etc.

Definitely gives peace of mind...
Ian
 
Build quality is pretty good, very high on my list.

My list:
1. Lenovo
2. Acer
3. Asus
4. Gigabyte
5. Samsung
6. HP
7. Mecer
8. Proline

I work on laptops pretty much everyday fixing them up so I come in contact with various models of varying ages.
 
I don't know about the Acer Aspire, but my Acer TimelineX is a fantastic laptop, nicer than my Lenovo or Asus
 
Acer build quality is generally good. Just don't expect any software or driver updates more than a year from now.
 
Pienats said:
Just don't expect any software or driver updates more than a year from now.
Click to expand...

Most manufacturers don't care about driver updates after time. Thing is you can always go and get the drivers from the chipset manufacturers sites, they are usually always newer than what's available on the manufacturers site. Most people seem to ignore this or don't know about it.
 
My wife had an Aspire one which is still going with my mother-in-law now, I had a travelmate from 2006 that is still kind of going with my brother-in-law, the screen packed in, their build quality isn't that bad.
 
ponder said:
Most manufacturers don't care about driver updates after time. Thing is you can always go and get the drivers from the chipset manufacturers sites, they are usually always newer than what's available on the manufacturers site. Most people seem to ignore this or don't know about it.
Click to expand...

You try getting a recent driver for a laptop graphics card. Can't get it from the chipset site, as the standard driver doesn't install on laptops. You're specifically instructed to get it from the laptop manufacturer. And Acer's response is "the (very much outdated) driver on the site works, we're not going to provide an update". I had to get 'n third party driver for my (at the time) still midrange ATI x1600 display card. That of course voided any warranty. But with the driver on Acer's site, games didn't want to start up, as the driver was too old; the generic ATI drivers insisted that Acer should provide the updated driver. With the 3rd party drivers (omega if I remember correctly), the games worked flawlessly. That's just bad support in my opinion.

Also, I bought an Acer Iconia A501 tablet last year April. When I inquired in June if/when an ICS update would be made available, the response was that it won't, but the A510 will be released with it. That would be the last Acer device I buy. The Asus tablets with similar specs are currently running JB builds from Asus, so it's definitely not that the HW can't handle it.

So I stand by my statement, the hardware is pretty good, but don't expect software/driver support for any device after about a year after the release date.
 
That laptop does not come with a dedicated GPU as far as I'm aware, it's Intel.
 
ponder said:
That laptop does not come with a dedicated GPU as far as I'm aware, it's Intel.
Click to expand...

I was merely referring to my past experiences with Acer. I don't know about the laptop in question as I will not again consider Acer.
 
Well was actually debating the -i5 3210/i7 3610 (2.5/2.3, dual/quad,35TPW/45TPW)
and the GT 640m vs GT630m

Acer v3-571G versus gigabyte Q1542N

Acer Aspire v3-571G
Intel i5-3210M 6GB DDR3-1333 Graphics Intel HD 4000/NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M 2GB DDR3 (Optimus)
15.6" WLED Glossy 500GB 5400RPM 8MB Cache

Gigabyte Q-Series Q1542N 15.6"

• Intel Core i5 3210M 2.5GHz 3MB Cache • 4GB DDR3 Memory • 750GB Hard Drive • 1.3MP Webcam • Gigabit LAN, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n • Windows 7 Professional GT 640M 2GB DDR3

They both come in variants with i5/i7 and acer come with GT630/GT640 (GT640, only comes with i7 and is more expensive). The Gigabyte is cheaper, and only comes with GT640.

Thanks Guys.
 
Pienats said:
I had to get 'n third party driver for my (at the time) still midrange ATI x1600 display card. That of course voided any warranty. But with the driver on Acer's site, games didn't want to start up, as the driver was too old; the generic ATI drivers insisted that Acer should provide the updated driver.
Click to expand...

I just remembered something, with a lot of those older ATI mobile cards ATI said you must go to the laptop manufacturers site for drivers and they usually stopped supporting the GPU after a certain time. I had the exact same problem with a HP laptop and also had to find a newer ATI driver somewhere else which fortunately worked. In linux it's even worse I they drop driver support way earlier. I honestly think you will have better results with nvidia in this regard.

So this is not something unique to Acer.
 
I've had a couple of Acer netbooks and have been particularly impressed by build quality, second only in my opinion to Lenovo. My only complaint is that the unit came with an integrated power-supply plug which only fits South African wall-sockets -- and that they were unable to sell me a power brick which would work internationally, which is half the point of owning a netbook!
 
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