acer 8103 v. t43

[Bandit33]

I'm almost ready to pull the trigger on a decked out IBM T43 (with a healthy student discount), and the Acer 8103 (review) is the only laptop that's made me think twice.

I'm headed to law school, and I'll be carrying the laptop to classes and the library a good deal. I know the Acer has an inch or two and a pound or two on the T43, but it still seems portable enough.

I'm also a casual gamer, and the Acer's x700 blows away the FireGL v3200 in the T43. This would probably be the best selling point for the switch.

So, anyone here have any experience with the 8100 series and can give me some feedback? I love the T43 but I want to be able to play games decently a year from now.

Thanks.

 

[NeBaWONG]

I've heard bad things about Acer... especially the troublemaker series... i mean travelmate.

 

[mitchafi]

Originally posted by: NeBaWONG
I've heard bad things about Acer... especially the troublemaker series... i mean travelmate.

As have I. I have never heard anything bad about Thinkpads.

 

[fbrdphreak]

I've not heard specifically bad things about Acer, but the 8103 series rocks. DVI-out, solid build quality, X700 graphics (or was it X600?); its expensive, but feature loaded.
Thinkpad will be better quality, but don't offer 1/3 of the multimedia & gaming features the 8103 does. However Thinkpad will be much more portable. Weigh whether you want a rugged reliable machine that will do everything but game & offer unique multimedia features or a larger machine that is still good quality w/lots of multimedia/gaming.