Acer laptop $299.98 no rebate

[allisolm]

Front page (for me) of Staples Jul 5 ad.

Acer AS5516-5474 notebook SKU 805292

AMD Athlon 64 TF-20 processor 1.6GHz
2GB RAM
160GB SATA drive
15.6" HD Widescreen WXGA High-Brightness Display
8X DVD-Super Multi Double-Layer Drive
Multi-in-1 Digital Media Card Reader
6-Cell Lithium-Ion Battery
Win Vista basic

 

[vj8usa]

Just a heads up, that's a single core CPU (and a slow one at that).

 

[Heller]

I need a to find a cheap laptop for a relative going to college in the fall, somthing under $500 and gotta be dual core, i can always pop more ram in it, hdd not to worried about since she has maybe 10gb of data.

any ideas?

 

[Nitemare]

Originally posted by: Heller
I need a to find a cheap laptop for a relative going to college in the fall, somthing under $500 and gotta be dual core, i can always pop more ram in it, hdd not to worried about since she has maybe 10gb of data.

any ideas?

http://www.newegg.com/product/...x?Item=N82E16834101181

Tempting on this original deal, but I think I will wait til Black Friday.

 

[allisolm]

Originally posted by: Heller
I need a to find a cheap laptop for a relative going to college in the fall, somthing under $500 and gotta be dual core, i can always pop more ram in it, hdd not to worried about since she has maybe 10gb of data.

any ideas?

YGPM

 

[jrichrds]

Originally posted by: vj8usa
Just a heads up, that's a single core CPU (and a slow one at that).

Looked into the CPU and came to the same conclusion. Power efficient, but slow.

 

[TurtleCrusher]

If i only could buy one computer and had the choice between a netbook and this, and assuming i didn't have a primary computer, I would choose this. It has a faster processor then the Atom. It has a (relatively) nice 160gb HDD. It contains an optical drive. It has Vista (a good thing with 2gb of ram). It has the multi card reader built in and it has a decent screen.

I love my Eee 900. But if i had to make the choice in the situation most people are in, this gets the nod.

 

[jjmIII]

This is a "Shellshocker" today too...

No tax and you can skip the run to Staples.
Slow cpu, but fine for someone who just needs a cheap pc.

 

[CrackRabbit]

Just as a note, the CPU in this lappy should be upgradable with a 45w desktop AM2 Athlon 64.

 

[Ksyder]

Originally posted by: CrackRabbit
Just as a note, the CPU in this lappy should be upgradable with a 45w desktop AM2 Athlon 64.

hmm. just ordered one of these laptops. What is the power usage of the chip that it comes with ?

Would this work?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819103298

 

[jjmIII]

Micro Center has it too..

 

[Golgatha]

I'd actually consider this laptop except that it doesn't have Gigabit Ethernet. Seriously, why do they even make non-GbE chips anymore? There can't be much of a price difference (if any).

 

[CrackRabbit]

Originally posted by: Ksyder

Originally posted by: CrackRabbit
Just as a note, the CPU in this lappy should be upgradable with a 45w desktop AM2 Athlon 64.

hmm. just ordered one of these laptops. What is the power usage of the chip that it comes with ?

Would this work?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819103298

Yes, it should.
Beware that upgrading your processor voids your warranty, and doing so is done at your own risk.

 

[narzy]

anyone have experience with the quality on these things?

 

[j0j081]

Originally posted by: narzy
anyone have experience with the quality on these things?

Who knows about the longevity of them but the build quality seemed pretty decent when I looked at one in Staples.

 

[InfoTiger]

It's slow when I tried it.

 

[eyeballs2]

I have a similar model with a Duel core. The build quality is exceptional. No flex in the keyboard and the side number pad is a nice bonus.

 

[sgrinavi]

Originally posted by: vj8usa
Just a heads up, that's a single core CPU (and a slow one at that).

Ya, but for the price of netbook you get a full blown lappy with plenty of bells and whistles, AND you are probably eligible for the Win 7 upgrade to boot!

 

[j0j081]

Originally posted by: sgrinavi

Originally posted by: vj8usa
Just a heads up, that's a single core CPU (and a slow one at that).

Ya, but for the price of netbook you get a full blown lappy with plenty of bells and whistles, AND you are probably eligible for the Win 7 upgrade to boot!

actually you aren't because it has Vista basic.

 

[Ksyder]

Someone on Newegg reviews is saying this has a socket S1 cpu. Another person says he already upgraded to a 5050e (AM2) Anyone know how this is possible?

edit, got this machine today and cpu-z also shows this as socket s1. I don't know much about this socket but would like to swap out the cpu if possible.

 

[CasTroLTraN]

Originally posted by: Ksyder
Someone on Newegg reviews is saying this has a socket S1 cpu. Another person says he already upgraded to a 5050e (AM2) Anyone know how this is possible?

edit, got this machine today and cpu-z also shows this as socket s1. I don't know much about this socket but would like to swap out the cpu if possible.

if you ever upgrade the cpu or know if you can, please give an update because I just bought the same notebook.

 

[Ksyder]

will do. I'm pretty sure that http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R4...cat=See-All-Categories will work. When I get one if it works I'll post here. Unfortunately my hardware budget is blown for the time being. If someone else wants to try it any of those turion x2 tl-XX series might work.

I'm thinking there is a glut of those cpu's on ebay thanks to nvidia and their dying laptops.

 

[13Gigatons]

Going from 1.6 single core to 2.6 dual core would be a great boost.

 

[WaitingForNehalem]

Wouldn't it be cheaper to just buy a better laptop than upgrading the cpu? Plus, the laptop may not be able to handle the extra heat.

 

[Ksyder]

Originally posted by: WaitingForNehalem
Wouldn't it be cheaper to just buy a better laptop than upgrading the cpu? Plus, the laptop may not be able to handle the extra heat.

Well, it depends. I haven't been able to find any specs on the cpu to know what the TDP of the chip is. I'm guessing its a dual core with a bad core so I think it would be half the wattage of the equivalent dual core.

At any rate, for someone who just needs a cheap laptop and doesn't need the fastest performance out of the box it makes sense to buy this $300 laptop. I have a desktop that I mainly use and just needed a cheap laptop for when I'm on the road.

I agree that the laptop may not work out with an upgraded cpu. But thats the point of this conversation to see if its possible and if it might make sense. I don't know what effect it would have on battery life or heat right now because I don't know enough about this chipset or cpu. It certainly would be nice to buy a cheap dual core off ebay and install it.