Thinking about getting an Acer laptop...

[Regolith]

I think I'm finally going to have to break down and get one.  I was thinking about getting a netbook, but I don't think they will have enough power for what I need.

I'm thinking about getting a Acer Aspire. It's not the fastest thing on the block, but it has more processing power and RAM than my desktop (my desktop is running 2GB of DDR400 RAM and an Athlon 64 3800+), and my desktop still has more than enough power for my needs.  The only thing that isn't as good as my desktop is the video card, which is a 9100M versus my nVidia 9600GT.

It will mostly be used for taking notes in class (though I don't have much of that left), website design, (very) light graphics design and the occasional video game (world of warcraft and some older RTS games most likely).

Biggest bonus is the price.  At $500, its not much more than a decent netbook.

Anyone know a good reason why I shouldn't get this particular model? 

Only bad thing is I'll have to put off getting sights for my 10/22 for another month or so, until my next paycheck comes in.

[Devonai]

My Aspire has been chugging along just fine for six years, although by now it is only good for word processing and surfing the 'net.

[bedlamite]

I had an Acer Aspire 5100. It came with a 6 month warranty. The dvd drive puked after 7 months, the touch pad buttons failed right after I replaced the drive, and the MB lasted less than a year. I still have a 10 year old Dell that took a lot more abuse and kept right on going. Get something else.

[zahc]

Back in the day, I spent $2400 on a real nice Acer laptop. It was junk. It eventually got stolen, but the screen was going pink and staticy randomly by then anyway.

I actually have an Aspire One netbook and it doesn't seem too bad. I would stay away from 'normal' Acer laptops, if it was me.

[Regolith]

I had an Acer Aspire 5100. It came with a 6 month warranty. The dvd drive puked after 7 months, the touch pad buttons failed right after I replaced the drive, and the MB lasted less than a year. I still have a 10 year old Dell that took a lot more abuse and kept right on going. Get something else.

Well, I already bought it.  :|

Should get here by Monday.  

I read all 54 reviews for this model on New-Egg's site and none of them reported similar experiences as you, so I'm not too worried.  Usually that sort of thing shows up in the review section if there are a significant amount of reviews.

Unfortunately with electronics, no manufacturer is lemon-free.  I've had brand new video cards show up DOA or with artifacts, even from manufacturers with good reputations and whom I've never had trouble with before;  it's just a risk you take.  

As long as it lasts a year or so, I'll have gotten all that I need out of it.  I'm planning on buying a much better laptop - probably a Mac - if I can manage to land myself a decent paying job in my field (multimedia development) after I graduate after fall term, so this is a stop-gap until then.   It also won't be my primary PC.

Hopefully it will last as long as Devonai's.