Updated: 10 February 2006

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Buying Guides

These are various things I've looked into before buying. It may help you, or it may not :)

Notebooks Computers

Specification things to look for

Battery Life (over 3 hours)
Screen size and resolution (at least 15in, 1400x1050)
Amount of RAM (at least 512MB)
Size of Hard Disk (at least 40GB)
Processor
Number of USB ports
Optical drive type (ie CD-RW or DVD-RW)
Wireless standard (ie 802.11b or g)
Operating System
Warranty

Guides

PCW Best Prices Guide www.pcw.co.uk/bestprices
Leading to this Laptop page: http://vnu-pcw.pricerunner.com/computing/computers/laptops/
This has some specification info, but no battery life.

Information

Acer UK
http://www.acer.co.uk
The main page has a 'Price Lists' section, which links to a page with various category price lists.
The notebook page: http://www.acer.co.uk/acereuro/wr-resource/3795895912/upload/E0Entity0/3/Notebooks_UK%20ed.pdf

Acer Notebooks
http://global.acer.com/products/notebook/index.htm
Travellers Warranty
http://global.acer.com/support/itw.htm
ITW New Zealand service centre:
Auckland - New Zealand, Acer Computer New Zealand Ltd., 407 Great South Road, Greenlane, Auckland, Tel: 64-9-526-5001

Places to Buy

Possible Computers

Dec 2005 laptops found

Models with 15.4" screens:
TravelMate:
4062WLMi, 4064WLMi £609 to £649
4601WLMi, 4604WLMi (3x types: LX.T9906.100/038/101) £799 to £899
8101WLMi, 8102WLMi, 8103WLMi, 8104WLMi, 8104WLMi_AL, 8106WLMi, 8101WLMi_AL £899 to £1399
Aspire:
1642WLMi £629
1652WLMi (2x), 1654WLMi £649 to £749
1962WLMi, 1992WLMi, 1994WLMi (3x) £799 to £949
3003WLMi (2x), 3023WLMi £449/£499 to £599
3613WLMi (3x), 3614WLMi £449 to £529
5002WLMi £529
5024WLMi (2x), 5022WLMi £699 to £799
5512WLMi (2x), 5514WLMi (2x) £879 to £999
9104WLMi (2x) £979/£1049

Models with 17" screens:
Aspire:
9502WSMi (4x), 9504WSMi (2x) £879/999 to £1139

Lowest priced 15.4" models:
TravelMate 4062WLMi, 4064WLMi £609 to £649
Aspire 1642WLMi £629
Aspire 1652WLMi (2x) £649
Aspire 3003WLMi (2x), 3023WLMi £449/£499 to £599
Aspire 3613WLMi (3x), 3614WLMi £449 to £529
Aspire 5002WLMi £529

Model	Price	Disk	RAM	Floppy	Display	Graphics	Extras	Battery Life	Conclusion
TravelMate 4062WLMi	£640	60GB	512MB	No	1280x800	<128MB shared		2 hours	No good - battery life
Aspire 1642WLMi	£665	80GB	512MB	No				2 hours	No good - battery life
Aspire 1652WLMi	£685	60GB	512MB	No	1280x800	X300		3.5 hours	??
Aspire 3003WLMi								1.5 hours	No good - battery life
Aspire 3023WLMi	£635	80GB	512MB	No	1280x800	X600	4x USB Firewire 6in1 Card reader Microphone	3.5 hours	I GOT THIS ONE :)
Aspire 3613WLMi	£500	40GB						2.1 hours	No good - battery life
Aspire 3614WLMi	£580	60GB	1GB					2.1 hours	No good - battery life
Aspire 5002WLMi	£563	60GB	512MB	No	1280x800	64MB shared		3 hours	??

Aspire 3023WLMi Sources/Prices

ShopAcer Part Code: LX.A4805.024 £699 inc VAT

AcerNotebooks LX.A4805.024 £635 inc VAT (extra RAM to make it 1GB £129 !!!!) Postage £14.95 next day + 0.9% credit card charge = £658.38 in total <<<<<<

Crucial RAM (2x 512MB) here for £80

eBuyer £632
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=91195

Laptops Direct LX.A4805.024 £635 (is this really AcerNotebooks ? Yes they are - same address !)

Price Runner Compare Prices AcerNotebooks gets the best reviews/price (568 in stock)

Found a while ago

Acer Aspire 3022WLMi < Got Editor's Choice with 5 stars in PCW Oct 2005

£589
3.5 hours (90W), 15.4" (1280x800), 512MB, 60GB, Sempron 2800+, 4x USB, DVD-RW+, 802.11b/g, Windows XP Home, C&R + 1 year travellers warranty
http://www.acernotebooks.co.uk/asp/product.asp?product=246&V=7079&ph=search&keywords=3022&recor=1&SearchFor=any&PT_ID=all

Acer Aspire 1363WLMi

£599
3 hours (90W), 15.4" (1280x800), 512MB, 60GB, Sempron 3000+, 4x USB, DVD-RW+-, 802.11b/g, Windows XP Home, C&R + 1 year travellers warranty
No floppy

Acer TravelMate 4502WLMi

£814
5 hours (65W), 15.4 (1280x800), 512MB, 60GB, Intel Pentium M Centrino, 3x USB, DVD-RW+-, 802.11g, Windows XP Professional, C&R + 1 year travellers warranty
No floppy

Acer TravelMate 4601WLMi << My second option

£849
4 hours (65W), 15" (1400x1050), 512MB, 60GB, Intel Pentium M Centrino, 3x USB, DVD-RW+-, 802.11g, Windows XP Professional, C&R + 1 year travellers warranty
PCMCIA slot Type II

Acer TravelMate 8005LMi

£1184
5 hours (65W), 15.1" (1400x1050), 512MB, 80GB, Intel Pentium M Centrino, 4x USB, DVD-RW+- & RAM, 802.11g, Windows XP Professional, C&R + 1 year travellers warranty
DVI out, PCMCIA slot Type II, Microphone

Acer TravelMate 8101WLMi << My preferred

£1079
4.5 hours (65W), 15.4" (1680x1050), 512MB, 60GB, Intel Pentium M Centrino, 4x USB, DVD-RW+- & RAM & Dual Layer, 802.11a/b/g, Windows XP Professional, C&R + 1 year travellers warranty
DVI out, PCMCIA slot Type II, Microphone
Spec: http://www.acer.co.uk/acereuro/page9.do?dau34.oid=7984&UserCtxParam=0&GroupCtxParam=0&dctx1=17&ctx1=UK&crc=3667129377

Acer Aspire 5514WLMi

Cheryl bought this. 1GB, 100GB, 15.4 WXGA, 3.5 hours £1089
http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Acer_Aspire_5514WLMi_LX.A770J.007/version-3.asp

Reviews

CNet
Acer Review Page

Notebookforums - This is superb
http://notebookforums.com/forumdisplay.php?f=137

Digit Life - TravelMate 8100 review
http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/acer-tm-8100/

Software

Or Battery Monitor.NET that you can get from here (free):
http://www.neowin.net/forum/index.p...#entry584484786

Battery Eater Pro is also a nice tool you can use to benchmark the battery life as you condition your new battery, download it from here:
http://www.benchmarkhq.ru/english.html?/bepro_e.html

Useful Info

Search

"ACER 4601wlmi review"

Accessories

eBay (search for "laptop adaptor")

Belkin AC Anywhere Power Inverter 140W

£31.99
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/?rb=393658733&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=33525

Floppy (USB external)
Manufacturers code = 91.45S05.001

Cases

The Aspire 3023WLMi is 363mm wide x 278mm deep x 33mm high

eBay (search for "laptop case")
Catch22 - A good range of cases at good prices, some with Buy It Now (click on Laptop Cases on the side). More like £15 + £5 postage for a 17".
http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Catch-22
17" case no bids here (£11.99 + £6.99 = £18.98)
Buy-it up to 17" case here (£14.98 + £6.99 = £21.98)
Next case bid: here
Buy-it backpack here
Tuff-Computers
http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Tuff-Computers-Ltd/

Must Have Computers
17" Laptop case £10.00 here

AcerNotebooks Targus Carry Cases
http://www.acernotebooks.co.uk/_Targus_Carry_Case/prod.asp

Targus Sport Notebook Backpac £24.05 (only just wide enough ?)
http://www.acernotebooks.co.uk/Targus_Sport_Notebook_Backpac_TSB023EU/version.asp

Targus XL Carry Case and Wireless Mouse Bundle £35 up to 17" laptop
http://www.acernotebooks.co.uk/Targus_XL_Carry_Case_and_Wireless_Mouse_Bundle_BEU0278/version-1.asp

Targus Metro Backpack Case £40
http://www.acernotebooks.co.uk/Targus_Metro_Backpack_Case_TCG650/version.asp

Modem/Routers

Netgear DG834 - ADSL Modem, Router with 4-port 10/100 Mbps switch
Highly liked.

Amazon £53.70

Linksys WAG54G
Editor's choice in PCW Aug 2005, under the title "Soho Connections" by Eduardo Sanchez Rojo www.pcw.co.uk
RRP £76
www.linksys.com

A few things I need

I need:

Ethernet Cable

For connecting laptop to desktop (cross-over cable) RJ-45 male to RJ-45 male (UTP) Cat 5e
PCNextDay: here for 5m £4.10 (on order)
CCL £5.88 3m here
EBuyer:
Belkin £3.46 10m here , £1.99 3m here
EBuyer Extra Value £0.85 5m here <<< Ordered this one

DVD Disks

Some DVD-R and DVD RW disks (of some sort)
PCNextDay here £3.72 for 5x 2.4x DVD+RW

CCL:
Ricoh DVD+R/W 4x £3.17 for 5 here
Ricoh DVD+R/W 4x £4.38 for 10 here
Ricoh DVD+R/W 8x £9.11 for 10 here

EBuyer:
TDK DVD+R/W 2.4x £0.74 each here
Imation DVD+R/W 4x £4.69 for 10 here <<< Ordered this one

Infinit 16x DVD-R Azure blue 25x £7.04 here review here
Verbatim 16x DVD-R 25x £7.02 here review here <<< Ordered this one as the review seems slightly better

Keyboard

A keyboard for the laptop (USB type)
EBuyer:
£6.06 Labtech/Logitech usb/ps2 UntraFlat 108 keys here
Saitek £4.43 here
Kensington £6.70 usb/ps2 good reviews here http://www.x3n.me.uk/Kensington.jpg <<< Ordered this one

Mouse

A mouse for the laptop (USB type) - Since this will only be used on a desk where there is power, I don't have to think about power consumption.
PCNextDay here £7.85 Microsoft optical usb/ps2 scroll wheel
EBuyer:
? £5.87 optical, scroll wheel retractable usb here
Logitech £7.11 with extension cable here
Logitech retractable £7.01 here
EBuyer Labtech/Logitech £5.27 usb/ps2 here
Labtec/Logitech £6.66 2-way scrolling button here
BenQ £6.93 usb/ps2 here <<< Ordered this one

External hard disk enclosure

Check compatibility with drive eg ata100/133

CCL here £20.99 3.5" Akasa USB/IDE enclosure << Ordered this one
See http://www.ciao.co.uk/Akasa_Integral_AK_EN_02SL__6116627 for a review and info
and: http://www.tekheads.co.uk/s/department?department=38 £25
EBuyer:
Belkin £49.53 here

Dabs:
al 3.5" Al £15.78 here

Ebay
List here

Hard Drives

EBuyer:
Excelstor 80GB 7200rpm 3 year warranty £38.58 here
Maxtor 80GB 7200rpm 8MB ATA133 £37.53 here
Western Digital 80GB 7200rpm 8MB 3 year warranty £39.83 here

Maxtor 6L250R0 Diamondmax 10 250GB 7200rpm ATA/133 16MB Cache £61.73 here <<< This looks amazing !
Seagate Barracuda ST3160023A Plus 160GB 7200prm ATA/100 8MB £56.16 here <<< This has very good reviews << Ordered this one

Information on my laptop Aspire 3023WLMi

It has a Lite-on SOSW-833S DVD+/- RW
See this thread for problems other people have had with this drive: http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/280367