Please help me choose out of 2 mid-priced laptops

[Windidugo]

Can I get help from anybody knowledgeable here on buying one of these two mid-priced machines and help me compare? I liked the Dell, but now I'm leaning more toward the Acer model (HDMI port):

Acer E5-571-58CG 15.6 LED Notebook PC - Intel Core i5-5200U, 2.20GHz, 6GB DDR3L, 1TB HDD, 16:9 Aspect Ratio, HDMI, USB, Windows 8.1 64-bit at TigerDirect.com

Dell Inspiron 15 3543 Notebook PC - Intel Core i5 5200U 2.2GHz Dual-Core, 8GB DDR3L, 1TB HDD, 15.6 HD 1366 X 768 Display, Windows 8.1 64-bit - I3543-3750BLK at TigerDirect.com

 

[bigmck]

I looked at them and they look identical. Both have HDMI ports, check the tab with Specifications. The Acer is $120 cheaper. I couldn't find any difference except for the extra 2 Gig of Ram which the Dell has. To me $120 is too much to pass up. I would get the Acer unless there is a major difference that I don't see. Take that extra money and buy an SSD and watch it really be fast. I have an i5 laptop and the SSD made a big difference in speed. == I just noticed another difference. The Acer has a 6-Cell Battery and the Dell is a 4-Cell. I think we have a winner, The Acer.

 

[Windidugo]

I was leaning more for the Acer anyway.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Stay as far away from Acer as you can! Every Acer product I ever owned (two netbooks, one desktop, one keyboard and one mouse) ranged in quality from meh to pure garbage. The netbooks were the worst.

 

[Sky Ranch]

The Acer doesn't come with an optical drive however comes with the newer ac wifi protocol. The difference between a 4 and 6-cell could be a couple additional hours of use; of course that depends on use. Also, on the Dell there is only one RAM slot (8GB max) verses the Acer (16GB max) that has two slots for upgrade.

P.S. I noticed that Amazon is selling the Acer for $421.90 Amazon.com : Acer Aspire E5-571-58CG 15.6-Inch Laptop (Intel Core i5-5200U Dual-core 2.20 GHz Processior, 6 GB, DDR3L SD Ram, 1 TB HDD, Windows 8.1 OS) : Computers & Accessories

That said, there might be better deals out there unless you tired of bargain hunting.

 

[bigmck]

The Acer doesn't come with an optical drive however comes with the newer ac wifi protocol. The difference between a 4 and 6-cell could be a couple additional hours of use; of course that depends on use. Also, on the Dell there is only one RAM slot (8GB max) verses the Acer (16GB max) that has two slots for upgrade.

P.S. I noticed that Amazon is selling the Acer for $421.90 Amazon.com : Acer Aspire E5-571-58CG 15.6-Inch Laptop (Intel Core i5-5200U Dual-core 2.20 GHz Processior, 6 GB, DDR3L SD Ram, 1 TB HDD, Windows 8.1 OS) : Computers & Accessories

That said, there might be better deals out there unless you tired of bargain hunting.

Good catch on the Optical Drive. That is why it is cheaper than the Dell. No Optical Drive is a NO BUY for me. Keep looking for another computer.

 

[Laith]

@Lady Fitzgerald

I've been told that Acer was garbage alot of times, but i still bought a Acer 10" notebook with very slow specs and i was very happy with my purchase. I didn't need anything powerful at the time(it was used for watching YouTube videos and surfing the internet and a little games which didn't require much) because i wasn't the hardcore gamer i'm now and need more.
The only thing i can remember from the Acer's specs was a Intel Atom CPU.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

@Lady Fitzgerald

I've been told that Acer was garbage alot of times, but i still bought a Acer 10" notebook with very slow specs and i was very happy with my purchase. I didn't need anything powerful at the time(it was used for watching YouTube videos and surfing the internet and a little games which didn't require much) because i wasn't the hardcore gamer i'm now and need more.
The only thing i can remember from the Acer's specs was a Intel Atom CPU.

Let's see. I had two Acer netbooks: one died after 13 months light usage and the other died after two months of usage. The one Acer desktop kept killing components (HDDs, RAM, modem) and came with a lackluster keyboard and a worse than useless mouse (both Acer). You have had good luck with one netbook (the "laptops" with 10" screens and Atom processors were netbooks). Think about it.

If I had to buy a machine (and I will only do that with notebooks), it would be a Lenovo.

 

[ThrashZone]

No need to rush 4th of July deals right around the corner,
I've got a acer desktop never any issues other than the crapware
What ever you get make sure you get a reinstall disk with the purchase hopefully without the crapware.

 

[Laith]

When buying Lenovo be wary because it has pre-installed adware. I didn't remember anything from the time so i forgot everything. The only things i remember is Acer Aspire and Intel Atom.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

When buying Lenovo be wary because it has pre-installed adware. I didn't remember anything from the time so i forgot everything. The only things i remember is Acer Aspire and Intel Atom.

You are referring to Superfish, which Lenovo installed on only a few models over a few months and quickly discontinued the practice after the uproar it created. Even if you got one of the few models that had it installed, it is easily removed.

 

[Laith]

Well, it is easliy removed yea. Lenovo is a great company and all but i prefer using HP if i'm forced to. I prefer custom-built computers tho.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

HP is another company whose products I will never buy again. The products themselves are good but their customer support is worthless and HP has a habit of abandoning product lines by not updating drivers for older products, discontinuing consumables, etc.

I had a HP monitor that was supposed to automatically switch the orientation of the image when rotating the monitor. The tech I spoke to blamed a missing file on my computer but could not tell me what that file was and kept insisting I had to find out from the computer's manufacturer. When I pointed out that I would have to pay for a high priced service call since the computer was out of warranty, he basically said tough luck.

The final straw was when Vista came out. HP never did write new drivers for my otherwise perfectly good laser printer. That was one of the reasons I delayed upgrading from XP until Win 7 SP1 had been out a while since the printer wasn't very old (my flat bed scanner was the other reason). Adding insult to injury, HP chips their toner carts and has an expiration date on them that disables the tool box, the place where one changes printer settings, after the expiration date, apparently a pathetic attempt to discourage refilling the carts, which was stupid because the built in transfer drum was always failing by the time the toner started to run out. HP quit making the carts about the time Vista came out. Even though there were plenty of toner carts on vendor shelves, they were all expired before very long after Vista came out. The printer was still running strong, albeit crippled by the lack of access to the settings, despite fairly heavy use while I had it (several hundred pages a month) when I finally replaced it.

Just before Win 8 was due to come out, HP arrogantly announced that they would not write Win 7 drivers for their machines that would have Win 8 preinstalled, not surprising since they won't write new drivers for older machines.

 

[Laith]

Well, the bad thing is that. Yesterday and today i tried finding an Ethernet controller for both of my laptops(Samsung and HP) and couldn't find any. HP hasen't released updates for my particular model for ages neither has Samsung. Really what i do care about is the products. Drivers are important and all but i mostly care about the product.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Well, the bad thing is that. Yesterday and today i tried finding an Ethernet controller for both of my laptops(Samsung and HP) and couldn't find any. HP hasen't released updates for my particular model for ages neither has Samsung. Really what i do care about is the products. Drivers are important and all but i mostly care about the product.

Any product is worthless if you can't find usable drivers for it.

 

[Laith]

Well, i use WiFi so it dosen't matter much to me. But it's sadding that there's lack of support for the products i have and like.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Well, i use WiFi so it dosen't matter much to me...

If a machine doesn't have the proper drivers, Wi-Fi isn't going to work.

 

[Laith]

I know that well.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

If you are trying to confuse me, you are doing an excellent job.

 

[Laith]

It's not that i want to confuse you, I have the proper drivers and everything so it isn't a bother sometimes. That's what i'm trying to say.