Is this a good PC for the money?

Question

I've been looking at the Acer L100, just wondered if anyone has one or knows if they're any good? need it for internet, itunes, photoshop, music software

http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.202-1419.aspx

Answer 1

triy HP it's very good and chep

Answer 2

Maybe not. An HP would be a good value with known quality and such and I still remember all the troubles I've ever had with the old US IBM Aptivas (some version of Aspire in the 90s). They were somewhat durable but a PAIN to upgrade sometimes and there were whole FORUMS devoted to the things. Acer doesn't provide informatiom about model it builds for other companies and neither did IBM or Lenovo later on. Certain Phoenix BIOS setups were not easy to upgrade as they were modified on them (V58XA for an example was a board that many wanted to make capable of HDDs over 8GB but it was very hard to find and I never did).

I enjoy building my own from redundancies and it's sometimes a challenge but I feel everyone needs to gain some servicing experience as it makes for a smarter buyer too.

I prefer ASUS motherboards for DIY but I usually find a board and work with it from a bunch of parts. Since they cost me little or nothing it's certainly a cheap proposition.

If you do go for the DIY approach, I really like ASUS boards, AMD processors (quads are getting cheaper I heard but a dual core is still an excellent choice) and ATI video. You can build a nice system and use somewhere around a 2.5-3 GHz processor. Get a friend who's a real maven to help you leartn and build.

I don't like the gist of this model. I still have the jitters from cheap loaded computers of the last ten years that promised upgradability but by the time you bought it were not really so and you were stuck....eMachines, Compaq Presarios (often I find PC66 models and I find EDO machines a lot from various others) from around '98 to '02. Then they give you a setup CD that goes WHOOOSH and loads your computer when you replace or repair the hard drive...you are stuck with the same stuff, like it or not and have to tweak it back.

We had loaded computers from mail order/internet/TV offers with everything but the kitchen modem and man they sounded scammish for the unbelievable price.

Yes, Vista Home Premium needs stuff like Barbie doll need a dream house and a Corvette. That won't do and nobody has said how many memory slots the Acer actually has--2, 3, 4 maybe (maybe not). A lot of folks choose up to 4GB. Maybe I missed it. That wasn't hard when all I could really see was geek to me. The cache is 512MB and that's about standard (ought to be a lot more, I think) I've never seen PCI Express and cannot say anything about it. I still use ISA occasionally.

Answer 3

considering what you are doing on laptop, it doesnt matter.Browsing net and music can be done on any laptop. Using Photoshop means get a pc with big ram, or get a ram upgrade. You do need some processing power for photoshop, but most can handle it, unless you design billboards with 600dpi for a living.

Its when you want to play games and use the laptop for 50 things at the same time, thats when you need to spend a little more money.

I have a really old IBM laptop, worth about £50 right now. But I can surf the net, listen to music.

Answer 4

It sounds ok, but you can have a pentium IV 3.0 Ghz processor and a 775 pinset for about the same money.
A much better quality machine!
Contact me or go to my site and contact me from there if you want a reasonably priced, new, custom built computer designed especially for your personal use.
Why buy cookie cutter models that you end up having to put more money in to make it right for you?

Answer 5

It is a pretty decent business machine that is adequate for the needs you stated. RAM looks inadequate for Vista. You need 2Gb. Further upgrades may not be possible because of the slim case. Take note that it is easier to prolong the life of a PC through step by step upgrades of the different components.

Answer 6

That computer should be capable for anything you've listed there. The only possible issue I see is that a Windows Vista is a RAM hog. 1 GB should be enough, but it if seems too sluggish to you it's very easy (and cheap) to add another 1 GB later.

Answer 7

If you need it mainly for photos and money i would advise a Macintosh. They are quite pricey but i have one and it is definitely worth it.
Macs are the best computers for itunes,music and photos.
Also now that they are Intel based you can play the best games on them.
Also they now come with a great software that you can run windows and mac on the same computer!

Answer 8

Yes it looks fine and will easily cope with the tasks you are going to be performing.

Besides Acer are reliable and Tesco also have a pretty good sales policy.

Answer 9

It's ok but those models don't have as many upgrade options because of the compact design

Answer 10

Basically it is all ok for a good computer now but i have some opinion about the processer...

Answer 11

I got a packard bell from pcworld it has a core 2 duo 250gb hd nvidia and a 19" wide screen it was £489 i think there crafty fuckers and sell you things u dnt need tho