Best Acer – Aspire AS4339-2618 Laptop / Intel Celeron P4600 Processor / 14″ Display / 2GB DDR3 Memory / 250GB Hard Drive / Multiformat DVD±RW/CD-RW drive with double-layer support / Built-in webcam with microphone / Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 64-bit – Review
- Intel Celeron processor P4600 – Features a 2MB L3 cache and 2.0GHz processor speed.
- 2GB DDR3 memory / 250GB Serial ATA hard drive (5400 rpm) / Multiformat DVD±RW/CD-RW drive with double-layer support
- 14″ LED-backlit LCD HD widescreen display / Intel® HD graphics / Built-in 0.3MP webcam with microphone / Media function keys
- 2-in-1 media reader / 3 high-speed USB 2.0 ports / Built-in wireless LAN (802.11b/g/n) /Built-in 10/100 Fast Ethernet LAN
- Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 64-bit / Weighs 4.9 lbs & measures just 1.3″ thin / 6-cell lithium-ion battery – up to 3 hours and 30 minutes
This laptop features built-in wireless networking for connection to the Internet without wires and an Intel Celeron processor that delivers reliability for everyday mobile computing.
List Price: $ 334.99
#1 by J. Thomas on September 15, 2011 - 4:03 am
Good, Solid budget Laptop,
My main computer is a quad core 3.6ghz, 4gb, 2tb model…. I bought this because I wanted a laptop and didn’t want to spend a whole bunch of cash.
This is a budget computer for sure. The “cons” first…
1. The track pad needs adjustment. The good news is you can fiddle with it till it gets better, but… It’s just not really a great pad, even after the best adjustments it still gives a less than great response. However, I’ve had the computer for a week and have gotten used to the pad. You just have to live with it for a while.
2. The screen isn’t the best quality. Not horrible, but not great. Good enough for casual movie watching, the web, etc., but not for illustration work, graphics work, etc.
3. Build quality is a little cheap. It’s put together well, but the plastic isn’t the textured style so popular now. It’s simple mold injected panels, no frills. It feels solid enough, though. It’s not going to fall apart on anybody. The worst hardware, apart from the track pad, is the speakers. The speakers are comically insufficient. No trouble for me because I always use a good pair of ear buds anyway. One good point is the key board. It has island style keys, which I find very attractive and easy to use. Also, it’s easier to clean with an air can.
This is definitely a budget computer regarding the build and hardware. However, it is solid and the cons aren’t that big of a deal for the price. (I paid $280 for mine) The tech specs aren’t bad either. The intel chip is a dual core 2ghz model that operates pretty well. The web is quick and it can run multiple apps at the same time without getting real hot. Actually, the laptop keeps pretty cool, even after hours of video playback, etc.
I wouldn’t pay over $300 for this model, but I am glad I bought mine for the price I paid. Ultimately, you get what you pay for with this model Acer: a well operating budget computer that handles all daily and normal activities with ease. Recommended Acer for money-tight people like myself. This Acer could even act as the main computer for a student who isn’t required to run hardcore graphics programs. It should be fine for a high school student, a liberal arts college student, or an adult who basically just wants to create word docs, use the web, and watch movies.
****** A couple days ago I put Ubuntu 11.04, Natty, on this laptop. It runs way better without MS Windows 7 on it. Way better! Faster boot, more fluid operation, everything. However, the reason I am writing this is to tell potential Ubuntu people that the wifi card had some problems. Ubuntu recognized it but the signal would drop off every 5 minutes and then reconnect. The solution isn’t so difficult. Just download a windows wrapper for the driver. Problem solved.
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|#2 by bob on September 15, 2011 - 4:45 am
Great Budget Notebook,
CPU: The Celeron P4600 is a dual-core processor that is based on the new i3 architecture. Intel disables the Hyper-Threading feature and sells it as a budget Celeron cpu. Because it is based on the newest architecture from Intel, the cpu is very snappy. This Celeron blows away Celeron cpu’s of the past.
Memory/RAM: The notebook uses the faster DDR3 ram. There are 2 sockets and can be upgraded to 8gb. The upside is the ram is very fast. The downside is that there is only 2gb of it. Windows 7 takes up just about half of it, leaving 1gb for your other applications. You can get by with only 2gb. But, with the cheap cost of ram, you could upgrade to a full 8gb for under $60 if you ever needed to down the road. But, 2gb should be fine for basic use.
Hard Drive: 250gb 5400rpm drive. What else is there to say, standard.
Notebook Impressions: I really enjoy the 14 inch screen. Much more portable than my 15.6 inch notebook. I am really impressed with it’s speed and how very cool it stays. Acer rates the batter for 3 1/2 hours. But, if you turn down the screen brightness and just browse the net, you can easily get more time than that. I have used it for over 4 hours on a single charge just by lowering the screen brightness when on battery.
This is a great notebook.
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|#3 by Tech Savvy on September 15, 2011 - 5:36 am
Flexible Budget Notebook,
I bought this laptop for $280 from a big box electronic store. I have found this Acer notebook to be a fantastic budget machine that is worth much more than the small price tag. Just a warning up front: since this is a budget laptop, some of the components are different than advertised. The factory runs out of a component, so they put in what they have in stock. The upside is, the alternate components are always better than what is advertised.
The processor is an Intel Celeron P4600. It is a dual core processor based on the newest Intel i3 architecture. Essentially, you get an i3 cpu without all the bells and whistles and for a fraction of the price. I have found this cpu to be very quick and seems much more capable than my wife’s AMD dual core Dell. I should note that her Dell is less than a year old and cost twice as much. When I bought this Acer notebook, the store clerk said, “it’s only a Celeron cpu,” and tried to sell me on a $500 AMD based notebook that he claimed was faster. Long story short, the Celeron is rated higher than the AMD in the other notebook and the store employee was a little shocked when I told him so. He had no clue what he was talking about and assumed the Celeron was slower because it’s Intel’s budget line. Bottom line is the cpu is very capable and watch out for AMD’s new low-voltage cpu’s, they’re more expensive and very slow.
The hard drive is supposed to be a 250 gig, 5400 rpm drive. My notebook actually came with a 300 gig drive. Other reviewers have said the same thing. You won’t be able to tell if you got the bigger drive until you open the box and start it up. A nice bonus if you’re lucky enough to get the extra space.
The notebook is also supposed to come with 2gb of DDR3 1066mhz ram. Upon removing the bottom of the notebook, I found a 2gb DDR3 1333mhz chip. Slightly faster. I guess just another bonus. I ended up upgrading the ram to 4gb for $25. Still the best budget notebook out there.
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