Brand Reputations: Acer and KDS

[Snowdog]

I finally got around to setting up another home PC after my old HP Pavilion died.   Its demise involved a great deal of frustration, 12 pellets of S&B 00B from a Mossberg 500, and bit of aluminum powder/potassium permanganate for good measure.  I'm hoping its violent end will deter my other electronic devices from mutiny.
With a little over $600, I picked up a 22" KDS LCD monitor (1680x1050 native resolution) and an Acer Aspire T180 with an AMD Athlon 64 3500+ processor, 516 DDR2 SDRAM, 16x DVD+/- RW and 160GB RAM on Ebay. 

Before buying, I scoured the net and found little information on either.  The little I found was essentially positive so I made the purchase. I’m relieved to find they’re both functioning wonderfully so far, but I’m somewhat surprised that some of my buddies who feel they’re in-the-know never heard of KDS and very little of Acer.  Is there a reason why these aren’t more prevalent?

Does anyone here have any experience with either?  Both appear to be quality products.

Thanks in advance.

[erik the bold]

KDS and Acer both have been around a loooooong time in the computing world.  My first real windoz machine was an Acer DX-2, 50 megahertz machine with 4-gig HD in 1992.  I gave it to my SIL in 1997, and at last report, it still works. (never had a part replaced)  Acer typically markets to small and medium sized businesses.  I've used KDS for AutoCAD stations at a few places over the years and only had one go bad. After 2 years and 11 months.  They honored their three year warranty, even so far as to send a replacement monitor before I sent the other one back.

I've had good luck with both brands in the past, and my next laptop will probably be an Acer.

A word to the wise.... Stay away from HP/Compaq (or buy it at Costco, where you can take it back in 90 days when it falls apart)

[K Frame]

Mom has a KDS flat panel 19" on her desk at home. It's a nice monitor.

I have a 22" Acer widescreen on my desk at work. It's a nice monitor.

No problems with either one so far.

[Vodka7]

KDS has a good reputation for bang-for-the-buck monitors, and Acer has a great rep for cheap laptops.  I don't think I know anyone with an Acer desktop, but I'd still feel more confident in an Acer than an HP or Compaq or whatnot.

[Bogie]

I prefer "generic" clones for mission-critical PCs... I _hate_ fancy add-in stuff that basically will only cause incompatibility problems down the road. And Acer works for me.
 

[Felonious Monk/Fignozzle]

KDS, Acer both = value priced lines.  Usually very utilitarian, which I'm defining as shuts up and does its job without anything particularly wonderful OR terrible.

If I catch a sale on something with that nameplate on it, I'm not at all put off by them.

[armchair warrior]

I have a acer laptop.Bought used 9 yrs ago (wow!I'm getting old!)
It was about 2 years old when I bought it.Still chugging along!
Also bought a Acer 17" CRT monitor than ran forever.Still have that as a
backup for the LCD.

Doug

[Snowdog]

I'm glad to hear both aren't generally known to be akin to garbage.
I'm also glad I didn't opt for a refurbished HP with a slower processor and less storage for the same price that I paid for my new-in-box Acer. 

Thanks for the information!

[Thor]

The first laptop I ever repaired was an Acer. It had a slide out keyboard with a ribbon cable that went bad. Repairing the cable was not easy. It took some special equipment that I just didn't have access to. I managed to find someone that had the equipment I needed and got it done. The laptop itself wasn't bad, just a bad design for the keyboard. I think this was late 93/94.

I have a KDS monitor, actually two of them. Both have been reliable for several years.

[Devonai]

I have an Acer 3000 laptop.  I have no complaints about the machine other than the standard battery, which only lasts for about 25 minutes fully charged.  Reviews on Circuit City's website indicated as much, so I can't say I didn't enter into the purchase aware of the shortcoming.  For $600 it was a great deal, as long as I'm always near AC power.