Acer computers = bad?

ixfd64 · 2011-09-07, 17:19

I've personally experienced a bunch of problems with Acer machines:

1. My mother's Acer laptop appears to have a defective battery that lasts a couple of minutes on a full charge. The laptop itself seems to crashes a lot.

2. One of my co-workers had two Acer Veriton X desktops that died on him. The second one worked after he did a factory restore, but it now has a hard drive problem. CrystalDiskInfo shows three reallocated sectors and rates the drive as "bad."

3. Another Acer Veriton X (which I used for GIMPS) kept returning bad LL tests. Strangely enough, IntelBurnTest and Prime95's own torture test showed no errors.

4. Two other colleagues were having problems with yet another Acer Veriton X desktop, which would only show a blank green screen and refuse to boot.

Do Acer computers really suck that bad? Has anyone else ever had issues with them?

BigBrother · 2011-09-07, 17:46

I've been (ab)using an Acer Aspire 6930 laptop for more than two and a half years now. It's running Prime95 24/7, and mfaktc when I'm not actively using it. I've dragged the poor thing everywhere, on my bike and in planes, trains and automobiles. Never had any problem with it. Still love the keyboard and the sound it can produce.

xilman · 2011-09-07, 17:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by ixfd64

Do Acer computers really suck that bad? Has anyone else ever had issues with them?

My Aspire 5739G has never given me any trouble.

Paul

mdettweiler · 2011-09-07, 21:35

I have an Acer quad-core laptop (Phenom II X4 based) that I purchased this May; so far I've been mostly happy with it. It is very fast for a laptop (as one would expect from a quad), but its Achilles heel is cooling. With all four cores running floating-point-intensive prime tasks (LL, LLR, etc.), it rather quickly heats up to the TJunction Max temperature, which is not a very good thing. I have a big fancy cooling pad under it which seems to work well, except that the laptop's rubber feet are not big enough to make it sit high enough on the pad to get decent airflow from it.

I still need to play around with that some more to figure out an optimal way to perch the system so it can get decent airflow.

In the meantime, I have been running just three cores, and have Core Temp's overheat protection set up to put the system to sleep if it reaches 96 C (the TJ. Max being at 97 C) and I don't hit OK to a dialog box within 30 seconds. Quite annoyingly, even with only three cores running, I'm lucky if I can get the computer to stay running for four hours straight.

To some degree, this is just the general dilemma of a quad-core laptop: the CPU produces a lot of heat inside a small case that can only be ventilated so well. There's a reason most laptops these days are still dual-cores even with desktops having long since transitioned to 4+ cores. That said, you'd think Acer would have put a little more engineering into the cooling of such a hot computer (which, being primarily marketed to gamers and the like, really should be expected to perform at 100% CPU for extended periods)--maybe put some bigger rubber feet on it, or even just made more of those little air-vent holes on the bottom of the computer (of which there are pathetically few).

So in that regard I would say that Acer probably didn't do as nice a job on this computer as they could have. And speaking of which, the built-in speakers are really quite tinny and low-powered...sure, it does fine with headphones or external speakers, but it again doesn't exactly help with the primary target demographic of mobile gamers.

All that said, I do have to give some props to Acer for even trying to build a quad-core laptop in the first place; as of when I bought it, it was the only quad laptop with a processor >=2.0 GHz on Newegg. Even today, the only laptops available there fitting those specifications are Acer models mostly similar to mine. You'd think with the Intel Sandy Bridge line being greatly improved in power and heat efficiency, somebody else would be trying a quad-core laptop now...

fivemack · 2011-09-08, 10:07

Macbook Pro has quad-core Sandy Bridge models.

Dell Alienware M14X can be had with a quad-core Sandy Bridge.

Dell XPS 15 has a variety of quad-core Sandy Bridges available.

They tend not to be the models advertised absolutely on the front page, but they're there. It still takes a bit of engineering to get a quad-core in a laptop, so the no-name companies don't seem to be doing it.

[the first machine I see on the newegg laptops page is an Asus G74 with a 2630QM ... remember that '2.0GHz' is a guaranteed-no-slower-than speed for Sandy Bridge, and they clock up to as fast as their thermal solution can handle]

retina · 2011-09-08, 10:34

A dual core (Core 1, the original) Acer laptop I got in 2007 failed two years later. The battery gives about 4 seconds of power before dying and the fan completely seized leaving the CPU with no forced cooling.

I can and do still use it, but only as a desktop and only for non-CPU-intensive tasks. Anything else and it turns off due to either lack of power or the CPU over heating.

I also note that the Acer WiFi aerial is very poor. Where other Dell laptops can pick up and connect to a weak and distant radio signal the Acer never even hears it unless I am within 5-10 metres.

mdettweiler · 2011-09-08, 14:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by fivemack

[the first machine I see on the newegg laptops page is an Asus G74 with a 2630QM ... remember that '2.0GHz' is a guaranteed-no-slower-than speed for Sandy Bridge, and they clock up to as fast as their thermal solution can handle]

Just to clarify: are you referring to Turbo Mode (which, as I understand it, only helps when you are using less than all four cores), or is there another effect in play with the Sandy Bridge models?

imwithid · 2011-09-08, 15:11

When referring to "Acer" laptops and experiencing hard drive problems, one generally cannot blame Acer but rather the manufacturer specific to the hard drive. CPU/fan issues may be a manufacturer issue but usually the result of dust and hair.

I cannot say anything about Acer laptops as I've never owned one yet. I've owned about 7 laptops (2 Eurocom, 1 PoS VPR Matrix designed by Porche - real crap, 3 Gateway and now an HP) in the last 13 years. On every single one, the battery eventually died (including the HP a couple months past the warranty), usually within the first three years, however, the Gateway batteries were the most durable (despite a supposed recall that I had not taken advantage of).

My expectations of laptops goes up with every laptop as I've seen improvements every time in almost every way, with HP being the exception. I've always disliked HP/Compaq for reasons that I won't fully go into. This HP that I have now requires a cooling pad or else it gets extremely hot. Often this is a problem resulting from dust and hair build up, however, I clean it out regularly (it's a TDP / cooling issue, I suspect). Downgrading was a real pain but necessary (again, heat issue) and if running any version of Windows and prime95, the laptop will randomly reboot (insufficient power supply).

I'd rather take my chances next time with an Acer over HP but I'll probably go back to Gateway or try my luck with Dell (which from the feedback I get, is a solid laptop manufacturer).

retina · 2011-09-08, 22:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by imwithid

CPU/fan issues may be a manufacturer issue but usually the result of dust and hair.

You are probably correct about the reason but that still doesn't explain why the Acer seizes up when other laptop fans just keep running.

Christenson · 2011-09-09, 02:38

In general, in a laptop, there's always too much stuff crammed in too little space, with the result that laptops generally have something (beyond the battery) not work after three years or so of ordinary office use....though I am now late for a hand-me-down laptop at work on that theory.

These have been Dell's....the only laptop I am really impressed with is the Panasonic Toughbook. It's guaranteed to keep working on those 100 degree days when you are doing something outside. Unfortunately, the copy I have got killed by windows cruft, and is no longer usable -- it's a project to get it running again under ubuntu.

2011-09-07, 17:19	#1
ixfd64 Bemusing Prompter "Danny" Dec 2002 California 100101011011₂ Posts	Acer computers = bad? I've personally experienced a bunch of problems with Acer machines: 1. My mother's Acer laptop appears to have a defective battery that lasts a couple of minutes on a full charge. The laptop itself seems to crashes a lot. 2. One of my co-workers had two Acer Veriton X desktops that died on him. The second one worked after he did a factory restore, but it now has a hard drive problem. CrystalDiskInfo shows three reallocated sectors and rates the drive as "bad." 3. Another Acer Veriton X (which I used for GIMPS) kept returning bad LL tests. Strangely enough, IntelBurnTest and Prime95's own torture test showed no errors. 4. Two other colleagues were having problems with yet another Acer Veriton X desktop, which would only show a blank green screen and refuse to boot. Do Acer computers really suck that bad? Has anyone else ever had issues with them?

2011-09-08, 10:07	#5
fivemack (loop (#_fork)) Feb 2006 Cambridge, England 3·2,141 Posts	Macbook Pro has quad-core Sandy Bridge models. Dell Alienware M14X can be had with a quad-core Sandy Bridge. Dell XPS 15 has a variety of quad-core Sandy Bridges available. They tend not to be the models advertised absolutely on the front page, but they're there. It still takes a bit of engineering to get a quad-core in a laptop, so the no-name companies don't seem to be doing it. [the first machine I see on the newegg laptops page is an Asus G74 with a 2630QM ... remember that '2.0GHz' is a guaranteed-no-slower-than speed for Sandy Bridge, and they clock up to as fast as their thermal solution can handle] Last fiddled with by fivemack on 2011-09-08 at 10:08

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2011-09-07, 17:46	#2
BigBrother Feb 2005 The Netherlands 2×109 Posts	I've been (ab)using an Acer Aspire 6930 laptop for more than two and a half years now. It's running Prime95 24/7, and mfaktc when I'm not actively using it. I've dragged the poor thing everywhere, on my bike and in planes, trains and automobiles. Never had any problem with it. Still love the keyboard and the sound it can produce.

2011-09-07, 21:35	#4
mdettweiler A Sunny Moo Aug 2007 USA (GMT-5) 14151₈ Posts	I have an Acer quad-core laptop (Phenom II X4 based) that I purchased this May; so far I've been mostly happy with it. It is very fast for a laptop (as one would expect from a quad), but its Achilles heel is cooling. With all four cores running floating-point-intensive prime tasks (LL, LLR, etc.), it rather quickly heats up to the TJunction Max temperature, which is not a very good thing. I have a big fancy cooling pad under it which seems to work well, except that the laptop's rubber feet are not big enough to make it sit high enough on the pad to get decent airflow from it. I still need to play around with that some more to figure out an optimal way to perch the system so it can get decent airflow. In the meantime, I have been running just three cores, and have Core Temp's overheat protection set up to put the system to sleep if it reaches 96 C (the TJ. Max being at 97 C) and I don't hit OK to a dialog box within 30 seconds. Quite annoyingly, even with only three cores running, I'm lucky if I can get the computer to stay running for four hours straight. To some degree, this is just the general dilemma of a quad-core laptop: the CPU produces a lot of heat inside a small case that can only be ventilated so well. There's a reason most laptops these days are still dual-cores even with desktops having long since transitioned to 4+ cores. That said, you'd think Acer would have put a little more engineering into the cooling of such a hot computer (which, being primarily marketed to gamers and the like, really should be expected to perform at 100% CPU for extended periods)--maybe put some bigger rubber feet on it, or even just made more of those little air-vent holes on the bottom of the computer (of which there are pathetically few). So in that regard I would say that Acer probably didn't do as nice a job on this computer as they could have. And speaking of which, the built-in speakers are really quite tinny and low-powered...sure, it does fine with headphones or external speakers, but it again doesn't exactly help with the primary target demographic of mobile gamers. All that said, I do have to give some props to Acer for even trying to build a quad-core laptop in the first place; as of when I bought it, it was the only quad laptop with a processor >=2.0 GHz on Newegg. Even today, the only laptops available there fitting those specifications are Acer models mostly similar to mine. You'd think with the Intel Sandy Bridge line being greatly improved in power and heat efficiency, somebody else would be trying a quad-core laptop now...

2011-09-08, 10:34	#6
retina Undefined "The unspeakable one" Jun 2006 My evil lair 2⁴·389 Posts	A dual core (Core 1, the original) Acer laptop I got in 2007 failed two years later. The battery gives about 4 seconds of power before dying and the fan completely seized leaving the CPU with no forced cooling. I can and do still use it, but only as a desktop and only for non-CPU-intensive tasks. Anything else and it turns off due to either lack of power or the CPU over heating. I also note that the Acer WiFi aerial is very poor. Where other Dell laptops can pick up and connect to a weak and distant radio signal the Acer never even hears it unless I am within 5-10 metres.

2011-09-08, 15:11	#8
imwithid Apr 2009 Venice, Chased by Jaws 57₁₆ Posts	When referring to "Acer" laptops and experiencing hard drive problems, one generally cannot blame Acer but rather the manufacturer specific to the hard drive. CPU/fan issues may be a manufacturer issue but usually the result of dust and hair. I cannot say anything about Acer laptops as I've never owned one yet. I've owned about 7 laptops (2 Eurocom, 1 PoS VPR Matrix designed by Porche - real crap, 3 Gateway and now an HP) in the last 13 years. On every single one, the battery eventually died (including the HP a couple months past the warranty), usually within the first three years, however, the Gateway batteries were the most durable (despite a supposed recall that I had not taken advantage of). My expectations of laptops goes up with every laptop as I've seen improvements every time in almost every way, with HP being the exception. I've always disliked HP/Compaq for reasons that I won't fully go into. This HP that I have now requires a cooling pad or else it gets extremely hot. Often this is a problem resulting from dust and hair build up, however, I clean it out regularly (it's a TDP / cooling issue, I suspect). Downgrading was a real pain but necessary (again, heat issue) and if running any version of Windows and prime95, the laptop will randomly reboot (insufficient power supply). I'd rather take my chances next time with an Acer over HP but I'll probably go back to Gateway or try my luck with Dell (which from the feedback I get, is a solid laptop manufacturer).

2011-09-09, 02:38	#10
Christenson Dec 2010 Monticello 3403₈ Posts	In general, in a laptop, there's always too much stuff crammed in too little space, with the result that laptops generally have something (beyond the battery) not work after three years or so of ordinary office use....though I am now late for a hand-me-down laptop at work on that theory. These have been Dell's....the only laptop I am really impressed with is the Panasonic Toughbook. It's guaranteed to keep working on those 100 degree days when you are doing something outside. Unfortunately, the copy I have got killed by windows cruft, and is no longer usable -- it's a project to get it running again under ubuntu.