I want to get this out there for everyone to see. This post is all based on my own personal experiences. It is my own opinion so take it for what it is worth.
A little background about myself: I work as a PC Technician fixing desktops and notebooks. I see almost every single brand in the shop and base my opinions off of this.
Acer:
Acer computers suck, no if ands or buts, they suck. Why do they suck? I’ve come across a few in the shop and each one had to have the operating system installed for one reason or another. In doing so, all but one Acer computer provided me with a recovery disk. This is pertinent due to the recovery disks providing the drivers and software that comes pre-installed on the computer – without it I was left with trying to find the right driver along with telling the client that the software is no longer available and unless they have the install CD for Office or whatever else, they’re SOL. Now this gets to the main point of why I hate Acer so much. Their website sucks. They have several different locations such as Americas, Europe, and what not that you can choose from but I’ve noticed that the site in general is slow, hard to navigate and sometimes just doesn’t load. How can a multi-billion dollar company like Acer provide such crappy support? Even when I can find the right page for the right model, more often than not the driver file is no longer there or it takes a seriously long time while downloading at roughly 5KBps on both a cable and DSL connection. Just a little secret, if you can, choose the Europe or other locations besides N. America, I’ve gotten better response time with downloads (not a whole lot) but it is better than nothing.
IBuyPower/Alienware
The reason I mention both companies above is that they seem to share the same exact components inside the laptops they sell. I have to say that when choosing a notebook you really want to consider if the company has readily available spare parts for sale. While working at the shop I’ve noticed that many notebooks’ keyboards tend to go bad for reasons beyond me. In the case you buy an IBuyPower or Alienware notebook, you’re going to be SHITOUTOFLUCK at finding a replacement. You may find one off eBay or some other unknown site that you have to put your trust into but chances are you won’t. On top of that, if you’re looking for a motherboard, or any other proprietary part, you’re definitely SOL. Last but not least, I came across an Alienware that had a RAID setup with two hard drives. The client wanted me to re-install Windows since he purchased this notebook used. I said sure okay, I can do that, not knowing it was a RAID setup. Soon after I realized this I contacted the client asking if he has the recovery disks since without the disks there is no way I can install the RAID controller driver, the client said no. I contacted Alienware myself via e-mail and the client also contacted Alienware via phone but both tries were unsuccessful. The e-mail I received back said that unless I am the original owner and can back that up by proof of purchase and all this other stuff I did not have nor did the client, I was SOL. The client basically reported back to me the same exact thing – thus we were unable to get the actual recovery disks to re-install Windows. So this guy ended up paying I don’t know how much for this notebook but was unable to get it to work properly since he couldn’t re-install Windows! That is bad if you ask me!
There’s a caveat, unless you are the actual owner and know how to fix the laptop, don’t go with either company.
Averatec
Main reason being they don’t have readily available parts to buy. I’ve seen keyboards and a few other major parts but nothing like a motherboard, track pad, recovery disk set, LCD, etc.
So it comes down to this. If you buy a notebook, invest in the extended warranty especially if it is one of the three mentioned notebooks up above. In closing, if you have any questions about purchasing a notebook, feel free to shoot them my way. I’ll try my best to answer them to the best of my ability. Thank you.
Hi:
Your blogs are interesting and informative. I just cam across this laptops to avoid. Like everybody else I’m looking for cheap and best configured laptop. I was thinking of either Micro-Star International or IBuyPower. You have ruled out IBuyPower, if you can throw some light on MSI, I would really appreciate your help.
Thanks,
Arun
I would have to say stay away from MSI if you can. There aren’t a lot of spare parts available for this particular brand. Go more towards the mainstream laptops like Compaq, HP, Dell, Sony, IBM, Toshiba. There are much more parts readily available for those than MSI and the ones I already mentioned. Hope this helps!
Thanks so much !!!!!
In March of 2006 I bought a new Acer Travelmate 8104WLMi that cost me $1,800 with all of its great features and power. In July 2007 (4 months out of warranty) the motherboard failed, ruining the graphics display. Acer’s reply: “Out of Warranty . . . sorry”. What an unreliable piece of crap my high-priced Acer turned out to be. I bought it to replace a desktop, rarely traveled with it, and it was babied like few laptops ever are.
Acer Sucks: NEVER AGAIN.
I also agree with the comment on Acer.
I bought a laptop with them about two years and a half ago… It was a month before the damned thing wouldn’t even switch on. I bought the laptop through a small company who, after I’d battled with the crappy Acer customer support phone lines, said they’d take care of sending it to the workshop to be fixed. Sent it away to be fixed about three times… Each time it came back it seemed that they hadn’t even lifted the cover off.
I was lucky that bought the laptop through a small independent company, so they were covering all the transporting costs to Acer, but in the end, I just asked for my money back, even though it was only a couple of months old, I doubt a larger company would’ve allowed me to do that. It was WAY too much hassle, and the damned thing never did work.
AVOID ACER.
I was reading this and fully agree with the postings on Alienware, as I have had a horrible experience with Alienware. I bought an Alienware Area 51 D9T off eBay (stupid me)… I loved the machine when I received it. That was short-lived as 30 – 45 days later, the machine crashed.
The AC adapter is receiving power and the green light lights up, but when inserted into the laptop it starts flashing. The machine will not boot or even get to the BIOS. None of the lights on the machine light up to show that it is receiving power. I’m guessing that it is either the internal power supply or a motherboard.
I called Alienware Technical Support and they asked me for an account number (which I had on a sticker on the back) and either the name it was registered under or the e-mail account used to register (which I did not have). Upon learning that I was the second owner, they turned outright rude and told me that the warranty is not transferable and they could not even speak with me. I told them that I was not looking for warranty work and fully willing to pay; which did not change their position at all. They told me the only thing they could do is refer me to the Sales department to buy another machine.
Not willing to give up, I called back to the Customer Support department, who gave me the same story; but were nice enough to give me 5 names, phone numbers, and web sites of aftermarket companies that work on Alienware.
It seems to me that all Alienware wants to do is sell you a new computer via their trade-in program with no value in buying a used one. I would have thought via the Dell acquisition, there would have been an improvement in service; but no such luck. Based on the posting that I have seen all over the Internet, nothing has ever changed. They are a boutique company that has a very arrogant attitude.
Luckily, I only paid $1,750 for the machine, but it looks like it has the potential to be a very expensive paperweight… I’m probably going to take a chance and send it to someone like WidowPC, who seems to get good reviews.
In retrospect, I should have bought a Sager or even built my own; but I know I will never buy an Alienware again.
Best of luck to all the other unfortunate Alienware owners…
Hello, I also think that ACER sucks. I bought one about 14 months ago (now out of warranty) and now it is broke. My touchpad does not work properly and I have tried adjusting the mouse settings and restoring the factory defaults. I do not have a disk to restore so I am stuck using the preinstalled version on the hard drive; I get stuck doing the restore because the touchpad does not work properly. NEVER AGAIN WILL I EVER BUY ANOTHER ACER COMPUTER. If they gave me one for free I would sell it ASAP and laugh at the sucker I sold it to.