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Geek Culture / [LOCKED] ACER = CRAP *reasons not to buy*

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Venge
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Posted: 10th Apr 2009 16:29
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This thread makes me want to buy an Acer laptop.

Dare to reach out your hand into the darkness, to pull another hand into the light.
-Norman B. Rice
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GamerDude
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Posted: 14th Apr 2009 16:21
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lol @ venge.

I got another problem now, games like NFS C play at 5 times normal speed, and at 30Fps (maximum, 1024res). It will run at a better fps IF I COULD SLOW IT DOWN XD! its way too fast to be playable. This also occurs in Multi Theft Auto SA. I dont know how or why. And I can play games like The Witcher maxed out with 4x Anti Aliasing. (this is after I put XP back on it). So, Acer + Vista = CRAP! It runs fine now, especially GTA SA, at 70fps. And ROFL i played Sega Daytona USA and it is still quite fun to play.

thanks

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General Reed
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Posted: 14th Apr 2009 16:36
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It took you 3 months to realise that xp is better than vista?

CPU: AMD X2 6000+ 3.0ghz GFX: NVIDIA BFG Geforce 8800GTS 640MB OC-550mhz core RAM: 2048mb

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GamerDude
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Posted: 14th Apr 2009 20:46
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no. i knew it was better. its just that acer gives no xp support.

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JLMoondog
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Posted: 14th Apr 2009 21:28
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I thought microsoft ended it's support for Xp? I may be wrong, but I think I remember reading that somewhere. Vista is their future ...we just have to live with it...you know, because DX10 will only work with vista

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David R
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Posted: 14th Apr 2009 21:32
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XP support ends in 2014. There was some other minor support stoppage for XP recently, but I can't remember what it is (feature bug fixes or something? Definitely not the stoppage of security updates)


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Statick
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Posted: 15th Apr 2009 04:43
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gamerdude have you checked the heatsink fins inside aren't clogged up with dust. this is the main cause of notebooks overheating, and can cause most of the symptoms you describe.

you'll need to open the machine up and remove the fan from the heatsink to do this.
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GamerDude
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Posted: 27th Apr 2009 15:08
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Ok, now it has started several new problems:

1: Programs crash very regually and games (such as STALKER SHOC) no longer work how they originally did, i COULD have played it on max, not it plays on low with LAG.

2: Overheating all the time.

3: Blacking out

4: Sound card just dissappearing completely while running.

I will now try to get the DFT involved. I have taken >9 weeks now, and it still runs like crap.

thanks

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Roxas
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Posted: 27th Apr 2009 16:08 Edited at: 27th Apr 2009 16:09
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Quote: "I thought microsoft ended it's support for Xp? I may be wrong, but I think I remember reading that somewhere. Vista is their future ...we just have to live with it...you know, because DX10 will only work with vista"


You know whats pretty interesting and same time ironic.
The Wine* 1.20 got its first DirectX 10 code.
It's still far from ready, but Wine has grown so much in its life time that many games works in it, so it maybe that sometime Wine has better compatibly for Windows applications than Windows itself.
Eg. Vista does not run some old applications, and XP does not run Directx 10 applications.
While Wine is certainly getting better and better. It's just matter of time until first DX10 game plays in Wine

*(Windows Layer for Linux kernel, what in my knowledge translates windows api commands to linux api commands to run application as native)

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NeX the Fairly Fast Ferret
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Posted: 27th Apr 2009 21:09
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I tried the Wine for Mac OS X, supposedly a pretty much straight port and nothing beyond Paint and Notepad worked in it despite providing it with a copy of my Windows directory. Am I missing something, Roxas?

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David R
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Posted: 27th Apr 2009 21:57 Edited at: 27th Apr 2009 22:00
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Quote: "I tried the Wine for Mac OS X, supposedly a pretty much straight port and nothing beyond Paint and Notepad worked in it despite providing it with a copy of my Windows directory. Am I missing something, Roxas?"


The OS X port isn't mature, simple as that. GL works differently under OS X, the Quartz driver is nearly non-existent (so GDI apps will be crippled), and the kernel is a completely different story in terms of memory allocation / privileges (Wine does some weird things to reserve certain segments of memory)

Test Wine on its native platform (Linux) to get any feel for how it has progressed.


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NeX the Fairly Fast Ferret
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Posted: 27th Apr 2009 21:59
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That's a bit of a shame... it's at least capable of older versions of Paint Shop Pro so it's a lifesaver.

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Roxas
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Posted: 28th Apr 2009 01:24 Edited at: 28th Apr 2009 01:40
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http://wiki.winehq.org/MacOSX
Yeah, it's a bit shame. But because Mac isn't a open-source so..
I'm playing CSS, Garry's mod, Hl2 ep2, TF2 and Oblivion just fine trough Wine I also have Fallout 3, but it currently has some issues with Wine. Hopefully when they get fixed Oblivion framerate will go up as they use same engine. Oblivion gets pretty poor FPS in Wine, but is playable.

I have also played many little games you get off net, some old games and FFXI, Last Remnant Demo, PCSX2 Emulator (Just testing does it work better than native one with windows plugins ) and some other random apps and games.
Usually most of windows app i throw at Wine works fine. Latest games usually has issues, but its only a good thing because it helps make wine better.

Also Wine does not support games that use rootkit protection, because rootkit needs the kernel to be there, so you wont be playing any Gameguard or Xtrap protected games, which is kinda sad because those protection systems are just crap and are why they wont work under Wine
I would like to play Gunz in official servers. (It has reported to work in private servers that does not use the gameguard)

//Edit
In example running DBPro app "Shape 2 Demo" in latest Wine 1.2
I made it run on Virtual desktop so you see i'm running it on linux as this application seems to start up fullscreen otherwise

http://flare.xenmedia.org/uploads/Shape2.png

Theres only some DBPro apps that haven't worked for me and those usually used some extrenal DLL's also older version of Wine had resolution problems with DBPro apps.

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David R
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Posted: 28th Apr 2009 18:20
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Quote: "eah, it's a bit shame. But because Mac isn't a open-source so.."


Actually, most of the kernel and its tools is either FOSS or derived from FOSS. It's just the departure from certain technology that screws wine over a bit (Quartz + launchd, different ways of storing data etc.)


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Roxas
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Posted: 28th Apr 2009 20:03
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Quote: "Actually, most of the kernel and its tools is either FOSS or derived from FOSS. It's just the departure from certain technology that screws wine over a bit (Quartz + launchd, different ways of storing data etc.)"

Thats what i meant

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7031
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Posted: 29th Apr 2009 01:22
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Yeah I've had a lot of problems with Acer laptops too. Generally it's just been a matter of them not living too long, and then being a pita to get open without breaking something. Strangely, I found it much easier to open up my Macbook Pro than my Acer travelmate 8101 (before I replaced it), and generally the macbook has been performing better. Not really because of the specs I suppose (though it does help), but it generally does seem to be a better laptop.

Sorry if I'm starting sound like an Apple fanboy, because I'm not trying to. But seriously, Dell are pretty damn nice compared to Acer, who I've had nothing but trouble with basically.

Joel the adequate superhero.
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7031
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Posted: 29th Apr 2009 01:24
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Forgot to add this in my last post (can't edit or whatever, since I'm a new member), but basically I think your best bet if it's being so slow would be to reformat, using your own Windows CDs (to ensure that none of the bundled junk is the problem), and just see how it goes then.

Joel the adequate superhero.
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GamerDude
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Posted: 1st May 2009 11:50
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hmm, there are more problems! now Fallout 3 gets 10fps on medium with 10% on all view-dist/LOD settings, at 1024-768 res. Even when I use low-poly models in sketchup, it has a weird cursor de-coloration. and there are weird flashes going across the screen.

thanks

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Seppuku Arts
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Posted: 1st May 2009 16:09
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What model is your Acer?

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GamerDude
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Posted: 1st May 2009 16:10
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My laptop is an Acer Aspire 5520G (the model with the 8600 512mb graphics card).

thanks

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MSon
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Posted: 1st May 2009 16:16 Edited at: 1st May 2009 16:17
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Quote: "ACER = CRAP *reasons not to buy*"

I knew someone who brought an acer laptop just when Vista came out, They never asked me for advice, so they ended up getting a system which had the bare minimum for Vista to run, (Not including anythink else you wanted to run on your laptop), so it was kind of slow, and they where overcharged aswell, so i complained for about 3 weeks to the company until they agreed to have to item returned, (They had anouth of me badmouthing them infromnt of potential customers), and i got them a laptop which was twice as fast for the same price, so i dont think that highley of Acer Laptops, although it may have just been the company they brought it via.

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GamerDude
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Posted: 2nd May 2009 08:50
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At the moment, I am so close to taking this piece of crap and smashing it into smitherines. I get this error like 10 times EVERY day, and I need to restart my computer. I am being told it is a memory issue.
Error code: 0xc0000017

Here is what happens when this error occurs:
1: no programs will run
2: sound card just disappears
3: all running programs stop responding
4: IP address corrupts itself so no internet or MSN

this error is really pissing me off, and its a 2 week old install of Windows XP. There are no viruses on it, because I have scanned at least 5 times in the past couple of days and found nothing.

pic:

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NeX the Fairly Fast Ferret
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Posted: 2nd May 2009 12:47
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What skinning software are you using? The older versions of Windowblinds carry an infamy for causing total system failures.

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Seppuku Arts
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Posted: 2nd May 2009 13:08 Edited at: 2nd May 2009 13:11
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Skinning = not good idea. I used to find them to be major resource hogs and well, they play with your registry in order to get those effects, so it's perhaps not an entirely stable way of making your desktop look pretty. It could well be just that.

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GamerDude
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Posted: 2nd May 2009 13:10
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ok, I have removed my skin and set it to windows classic
lets try, eh'?

thanks

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NeX the Fairly Fast Ferret
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Posted: 2nd May 2009 13:13
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I have found Windowblinds to be rock steady stable on my SP1 systems but not on SP2 or SP3 systems; problems range from flickering borders to disappearing borders to wrong parts of the screen having effects on them.

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Seppuku Arts
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Posted: 2nd May 2009 13:15 Edited at: 2nd May 2009 13:17
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If it has already played with your registry, it probably wouldn't matter whether or not it's windows classic.

My advice would be to uninstall your skinning software (I'm sure you can get it back if the skinning software doesn't prove to be the issue) and then do a registry clean. NOW, there are a lot of registry cleaners out there, I would seek somebody's recommendation on these (and a real person who knows what they're talking about, not a random unknown website that gives tools 5 star ratings), simply because PC clean-up tools tend to be junkware and would no doubt make things worse. But there are some decent registry cleaners out there.

Unfortunately, I can't remember the one I used on XP, perhaps somebody else has a recommendation?

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NeX the Fairly Fast Ferret
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Posted: 2nd May 2009 13:16
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Windowblinds doesn't play with the registry, it inserts hooks into uxtheme.dll to intercept Windows' drawing calls.

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Seppuku Arts
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Posted: 2nd May 2009 13:20
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I see, when I used to skin, I found that if I had any problems a quick clean of the registry cleaned things up. Maybe at the time the problems sourced from elsewhere?

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NeX the Fairly Fast Ferret
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Posted: 2nd May 2009 13:23
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http://www.stardock.com/products/windowblinds/wb3/wb3_guide_final.htm

I see no mention of the registry being altered and TeaTimer picked nothing up.

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GamerDude
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Posted: 2nd May 2009 13:39
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no luck, it happens every 30mins now


acer will fix it, and fast! because DFT time now. it wasnt my theme, all my processes are basic requirements. its my RAM overheating...

pic:

you see? its acer's fault for making crappy laptops.

HEHEHE all on fire LOL.. acer is crap (pic is after 15min off to coldown)

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GamerDude
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Posted: 2nd May 2009 13:44
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pic2: my processes

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Seppuku Arts
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Posted: 2nd May 2009 13:45
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Try to see if Acer will just replace it this time, it is fairly obvious that you have a faulty model, especially as you're having to return it again.

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GamerDude
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Posted: 2nd May 2009 13:47
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yes, i will do that. they should have replaced it ages ago, especially 8 weeks to replace a couple of parts in it. man!

thanks

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David R
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Posted: 2nd May 2009 14:31
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I'm fairly certain you don't have a faulty model - judging by your processes, you've just installed loads of crap on your machine. This is nothing to do with Acer at all.


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NeX the Fairly Fast Ferret
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Posted: 2nd May 2009 14:35
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Your temps are at least lower than my father's dv6000 were before it failed. Think on order of 85C idle.

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GamerDude
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Posted: 2nd May 2009 14:37
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david r, those are the default processes when the 'show all processes from all users' box is ticked. I have installed few programs since i got my laptop back, and believe me, when i first had it I had 1000 times what ive got on here now.

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Seppuku Arts
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Posted: 2nd May 2009 14:38 Edited at: 2nd May 2009 14:39
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To be honest, Acer computers have a lot of crap installed by default, perhaps uninstall some of them.

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David R
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Posted: 2nd May 2009 14:39 Edited at: 2nd May 2009 14:40
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Also, with the temperature pic, I'd like to point out that

* GPU diodes typically run very hot. If you're using 3D apps etc. it is expected it will reach 58-60C.

* Hard disk at 50C is nothing critical. It should run a lot cooler if it has been idle (~30C) but if it has been grinding etc. (paging to HD when low on RAM is a good example) it will heat up easily. 50C is not a 'death temperature' for a HD that's spinning a couple of thousand times a minute

* Both the cores are hot, but they're still not critical. 60C for processors is tolerable (although it should be cooler normally unless under heavy load)

* The fact that your ambient heat sensor is returning 0 indicates that SpeedFan is probably incorrect (it normally just doesn't show undetected sensor types)


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GamerDude
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Posted: 2nd May 2009 14:40
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ok, as I said, it was off for 15 min before I did the check.

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Roxas
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Posted: 2nd May 2009 14:45
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If you ever buy package computer, i suggest buying from Compaq, its my best exprience ever and usually you can choose if you buy with OS or not, and you get great choice of hardware. And all Compaq computers i've had worked with Linux out of box =)

The only downside is Bios locking for overclocking. I just replaced my motherboard to get around this issue. But its understandable, i guess compaq does not want anyone to fiddle with those settings and then whine about broking their computer

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Peter H
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Posted: 2nd May 2009 17:03
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i have an acer 22" monitor that's been working nicely for a long time...

i know someone who has an acer tablet that's been working fine for at least 3 years...

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NeX the Fairly Fast Ferret
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Posted: 2nd May 2009 18:25
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It's just their laptops that suck. Don't know what it is, they don't seem to make them reliable. Their tablets, monitors, accessories and netbooks are all fine if a little on the flimsy feeling side.

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tatts
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Posted: 3rd May 2009 05:16
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I have an HP that I'm using right now, it does'nt seem to be to bad other than the fact that I don't like Vista, but that's another issue.
I would'nt touch neither Dell or Acer with stick, I know to many people who have had problems with both of them. In fact I was'nt actually even keen about buying this HP at first either.

The best computers that I have ever had I think would have to be the 2 IBM's that I have bought awhile back. Both are pentium 3's, both I bought used, yet both are the longest lasting that I've ever had. One eventually died not long ago, the other is still being used by my kids. I bought a pent 4 as well and had this one built. Turned out to be the biggest lemon yet. I've already had to replace the power supply, dvd rom, video card (two days after) and the fan on my cpu runs like it is in hyper speed. I can here that thing from a couple rooms over.

In all, my Ibm's were the best so far.
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GamerDude
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Posted: 3rd May 2009 12:52
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FFS, now its reaching >70 Celcius! This is on idle too (no 3d apps running!)

thanks

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General Reed
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Posted: 3rd May 2009 15:23
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FFS Get it replaced already! Its been like 3 months and all you've been doing is complaining, Phone acer and request a replacement.

CPU: AMD X2 6000+ 3.0ghz GFX: NVIDIA BFG Geforce 8800GTS 640MB OC-550mhz core RAM: 2048mb

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GamerDude
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Posted: 4th May 2009 09:54
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Ok. Now when I play the original Ghost Recon 1, i get like 5fps on minimum. And thats DX8!

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Veron
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Posted: 4th May 2009 11:44
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Quote: "FFS Get it replaced already! Its been like 3 months and all you've been doing is complaining, Phone acer and request a replacement."


That quote sums up my thoughts.

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Toasty Fresh
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Posted: 4th May 2009 12:22
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Ditto. You'd think you'd take the hint by now.

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GamerDude
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Posted: 6th May 2009 09:48
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please remember that this thread is to warn people looking into buying a laptop. Please stop posting about me 'whining' because really, im just warning possible buyers. I am calling the place where I bought it and im requesting a replacement today. Ill tell you what they say when i get a response.

New Problem:
In google sketchup, I modelled a small cube that was 12 triangles, my mouse froze, then 30 secconds later the whole computer froze, the mouse would move but there was no cpu useage. This problem occurs lots.

thanks

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