Acer Extensa Laptop for college ?

hoopman

Registered User
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Hi Was looking to buy a laptop for our eldest about to start teaching college. Budget of around €500.

We were thinking of the Acer Extensa 5220 adertised in tesco's for €379 and then buy the microsoft office software also for the laptop.

[broken link removed]

Anyone got any advice on if this would be suitable or not.
 
Don't bother with MS Office - download OpenOffice instead. The price is far better, i.e. free.

Looking at the specs of the computer you are talking about Id say no. The processor is slow, there is not enough ram, for the size of the screen, the resolution is very low, and it weighs about 6lbs.

I bought an Advent 4211 in PC World recently for portability which only cost €379. It's a Sub-Notebook and weighs less than 3lbs with a 10"screen and Windows XP. It will be slower than a full scale laptop or desktop computer, but it is the biz for computing on the move and is well specced for connectivity (Bluetooth, Wireless internet etc). Get him to try one out and see if it's what he wants. If it's not for him, put the €500 into getting the best computer you can. Don't spend a lot of money on software or anti-virus etc - there are free versions that are just as good, if not better than some of the commercial ones.

(Warning: The 4211 doesn't have a disk drive, so only consider it if you have a home computer for stuff that requires disks, although that's getting rarer nowadays)
 
Don't bother with MS Office - download OpenOffice instead. The price is far better, i.e. free.

Looking at the specs of the computer you are talking about Id say no. The processor is slow, there is not enough ram, for the size of the screen, the resolution is very low, and it weighs about 6lbs.

I bought an Advent 4211 in PC World recently for portability which only cost €379. It's a Sub-Notebook and weighs less than 3lbs with a 10"screen and Windows XP. It will be slower than a full scale laptop or desktop computer, but it is the biz for computing on the move and is well specced for connectivity (Bluetooth, Wireless internet etc). Get him to try one out and see if it's what he wants. If it's not for him, put the €500 into getting the best computer you can. Don't spend a lot of money on software or anti-virus etc - there are free versions that are just as good, if not better than some of the commercial ones.

(Warning: The 4211 doesn't have a disk drive, so only consider it if you have a home computer for stuff that requires disks, although that's getting rarer nowadays)

Thanks for the advice j26. I was in PC world earlier to day and there were a few laptops around the €450 price with 2GB ram and 160GB hard disk but also had vista and XP. Could I ask your opinion on that option please.
She presently has a very old PC which will be past on to her 7 yr old sister, so what ever we buy her will be her PC as well if you know What I mean.
 
hoopman, you should get a good laptop for that money. steer clear of laptops with celeron or atom processors, they are very slow and your daughter will pull her hair out over it. if you go with vista you should get at least 2gb of ram, if you go xp 1 gb will suffice. Vista is improving all the time, there were initial problems. However if you have old printers etc that you want to use with a vista laptop, they more than likely won't work as they wont be compatible with vista.
i was in DID today and i saw microsoft office for €50. the open office is ok for a free product. you can also get avast anti-virus free for home computers, good product. good luck with the purchase.
 
Thanks for the advice folks, I've pasted off a copy of what the specs the college recomends for students to ensure that their laptops are suitable for use on the college network.
If she did get one with vista, does that mean she could not use it on the college network?

Operating SystemWindows XP (Home Edition)
orApple OS X ConnectorsRJ45 Ethernet port RJ11 phone port USB portMultimedia support Built in Speakers. Fast Graphics adaptor. DVD playback. CD r/wSoftwareWord (version 2000 or later)Excel (or suitable compatible)Power Point Anti virus
 
acer's powerpoints are inclined to snap, I know, I had one.
XP is much better than vista but some shops will tell you xp is not available anymore. Try the smaller shops if this happens. I got a laptop from ITdirect on Parliament st, Dublin 2.
 
acer's powerpoints are inclined to snap, I know, I had one.
XP is much better than vista but some shops will tell you xp is not available anymore. Try the smaller shops if this happens. I got a laptop from ITdirect on Parliament st, Dublin 2.

I rang up Dell to day and they gave me aprice of €799 for a Inspiron 1525 that would have Xp and office and norton anti virus.
I told him that I have seen laptops with 2gb ram and 160GB memory in shops for around €450. (although these came with vista and not XP) and that I could buy the office for €50
He then said without the office and the antivirus it would cost €550.
So needless to say there was no deal done. When I then checked the web site for the computor he was trying to sell me. I seen it is €499.
This one here:
http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/p...nspnnb_1525?c=ie&cs=iedhs1&l=en&ref=bnr&s=dhs

Would anyone one if it would cost much if I bought a lap top with Vista and went to get it changed to run on XP.
 
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