Acer Aspire 1652 WLMi

After 2 years of use :- the CD rom got broken, to read (sometimes I have a Blue Screen of the Death on my XP just reading normal data - it is not MS Windows oriented since trying to install other OS always crashed, like OpenBSD, FreeBSD, Ubuntu, Debian), to write (when burning CDs 80% of them cannot be read), and working at a basical level (sometimes the CDrom ejects by itself - no it is not a backdoor this behaviour exists also with any Internet connection. Sometimes the read LED of the CD rom keeps flashing, even if there is no CD inside...)

- The battery got broken, it completely overloaded by Deferred Procedure Call process up to 80%, so any input on the keyboard or use of the touchpad just were not convenient at all. Before being broken, the battery life was only 3 hours, even slowing down the process 50% down using Notebook Hardware Control, I had only 2 hours of use on emacs / Notepad++.

- The blue key Function doesnt work to input numbers using the computer-like pattern (on the right side of computer keyboards)

- The scrollbar of the touchpad never worked

- USB plugs + heat (cf previous comment) on stupid locations

As most of the people know, ACER is cheaper but the HW quality is worst.

Spec includes: 100Gb hard drive; 1024Mb RAM; DVD +/- RW; Wireless built in; 15.4" widescreen. (Full spec is available on Acer's own website: Acer.co.uk)

I bought this Aspire 1652WLMi laptop as a replacement for my aging desktop PC which had given up the ghost. I decided on a laptop primarily to free up space in a bedroom and to give flexibility in use anywhere in the home (I also bought a wireless router, etc.)

The first thing that impressed me was the battery was fully charged out of the box. Giving me ample opportunity to 'play' straight away - a small thing but nonetheless useful. Battery life is about 3.5 hrs of near continual use - the inbuilt battery monitor is very accurate.

I was surprised at the lack of weight of the unit - when compared to the smaller Fujitsu Siemens Lifebook I use for work. The Aspire is larger but the weights are comparible.

I was very impressed by the screen clarity, and the speed that this unit performed everything (my old PC was a 1300 Mhz AMD Duron - this one has 1.7 Ghz Pentium M processor) - so Chalk & Cheese.

The whole start-up process was easy as was installing all the software to drive the modern 'typical' home, i.e., wireless router, digital camera, bluetooth dongle, printer, ISP software, MP3 player, etc. etc.

In the time I've had this machine there are only two (minor) things that have annoyed me:

1. The positions of the USB ports. There are 3: The two that are on the side are too close together making connection of two 'dongle' type devices awkward. The third USB port is on the front edge which always seems to be in the way! None at the back for some reason? (I know I can buy a USB hub to resolve some of this!)

2. The machine gives out a lot of heat - I appreciate that it is bad practice to actually use a laptop on your lap but most of the time convenience dictates that that is where it'll be - it does get quite warm (I suppose ideal for those winter nights of online Christmas shopping?).

So, in summary, I love this machine for its transportability, speed, battery life, etc. and the negatives I've stated can be resolved by me with better positioning I guess. This is why I've given this machine a rating of 9 out of 10 overall - I'll return to this review as my ownership lengthens and adjust as necessary.

Cost was £599 from Comet Online - a web offer at the time (reduced from £699).

I'd not heard of Acer before so by researching their products on this site (and Acer's own) made me more confident in my purchase, I hope my review can do the same for you!