Quote:
Originally Posted by Yasa
From my experience, Apple make great laptops and other products. The problem lies in their mark-up, and inability to modify, which is beyond ridiculous. With that in mind, I refuse to buy an Apple computer.
I've had an Acer Aspire 5740 for just over a year and it's been awesome so far. My complaint would reside in the battery life, but it hasn't been much of an issue because I hardly take it anywhere, unless I'm doing some major travelling. Hack&Lube pretty much has the best advice; research.
www.cnet.com will get you some pretty competent reviews.
Edit: Yes, my Acer has extra characters (not a curved keyboard, though), but I don't see why it's a problem. You're not forced to use them. They're definitely not on every key and unless you're staring at your keyboard, it's not an issue. As for the number pad; I use it regularly, so I find it effective. The trackpad is fine for me, I wouldn't be using it for graphic design, but it gets the job done. |
I've got a 4740 of the same vintage that I picked up in Singapore, and it's got a normal keyboard. No issues with my computer so far. But it isn't a bargain-bin machine either, and Acer does make those and I'd be leery of buying one.
My work laptop is a Dell Precision M2300 that's three years old, going strong. I've found Dell's workstation-level equipment to be very good for performance and reliability over the years.
Edit: I misunderstood the extra characters thing. Mine has a normal keyboard layout, but has the function-key / numberpad thing, which I use all the time, as well as additional functions on the F2-F12 keys. It's a nice feature. With the exception of the numberpad, the normal alphanumeric keys don't have any additional characters.