Review: Acer 3002 Laptop

Acer Aspire 3002NLC Review

So here is the review of the Acer Laptop which has been mine for nearly 2 days now. The laptop comes preloaded with Linpus Linux and boasts the following specs:




Processor: Mobile AMD Sempronâ„¢ processor 2800+(1.6 GHz)
Chipset : SiSM760GX
Main Memory: 256 Mb DDR-RAM @333Mhz(Max 2GB)
Display: 15 XGA TFT LCD(1024x768 pixels 16.7 million colors @ 120 Hz)
Video Graphics & Memory:
- Integrated 3D AGP graphics with up to 128 MB of shared memory (512 MB or above of system memory)
- Integrated 3D AGP graphics with up to 64 MB of shared memory (256 MB of system memory)
-Dual independent display support
-External resolution/refresh rate:

* 2048 x 1536: 60/75 Hz
* 1600 x 1200: 60/75/85/100/120 Hz
* 1400 x 1050: 60 Hz
* 1280 x 1024: 60/75/85/100/120/160 Hz
* 1024 x 768: 60/75/85/100/120/160/200 Hz
* 800 x 600: 60/75/85/100/120/160/200 Hz

Audio:
Audio system with two built-in stereo speakers
Built-in microphone
MS-Sound compatible

Hard Drive
40GB HDD ATA-100

Optical Drive: DVD/CD-RW Combo drive
o Read: 24X CD-ROM, 24X CD-R, 24X CD-RW, 8X DVD-ROM, 8X DVD-R, 4X DVD-RW, 8X DVD+R, 4X DVD+RW,
o Write: 24X CD-R, 24X CD-RW

Other details:
56K Fax/Modem,
10/100Mbps LAN
Battery Life: 1.5-hour battery life, 2.5-hour quick-charge, 3.5-hour charge-in-use
Dimensions: 364 (W) x 279 (D) x 33.9/38.9 (H) mm
Weight: 2.8kg.
OS: Linpus Linux BE
Warranty & e-support: 1 year warranty (International) I/O ports
I/O Ports:
Three USB 2.0 ports
External display (VGA) port
Type II PC Card slot
Ethernet (RJ-45) port
Modem (RJ-11) port
External display (VGA) port
Microphone/line-in jack
Headphones/speaker/line-out port
Type II PC Card slot
DC-in jack for AC adaptor

The laptop comes with a Silver –Black layout and with its sleek design, it does appeal to most. From the specs, it is clear that the laptop comes with a descent config and can handle Regular browsing, office works, viewing movies on DVD and some occasional gaming. The 15.0" XGA color TFT LCD, 1024 x 768 pixel resolution takes a maximum refresh rate of 120 Hz and is quite a treat to watch and have no dead pixels as supposed to be rumors with the Acer Entry level laptops. I was infact surprised to see that even with the onboard meagre Sis760Gx Video Adapted having 64 Mb of shared memory from the system memory, Games like NFS Underground 2, Fifa2005 played almost fine even at a resolution of 1024x768 with low settings. When tried to work on these games with high settings on the same resolution, the game ran fine but there were some unusual jerks. So 800x600 resolution with high settings seems to be correct choice for playing these games.

Even after more than two and a half hours of continuous gaming, the heat generated by the laptops were within acceptable limits. On the downside the battery life of the laptop is a low 1 hr 30 minutes On DVD viewing. The speakers are placed at the front panel, and are give acceptable sound quality and is surprisingly better than in most other laptops.
Hard disk space mite be an issue since the laptop comes with only a 40 Gb Hdd. That wont be an issue for me because I plan to go in for a external hdd some time down the lane. The Touchpad with 4-way integrated scroll button is a nice addition. Unfortunately the USB based optical mouse I brought from the Dealer wasn’t working so had do work with the touchpad for the whole Saturday nite and the Sunday. Would be getting it replaced soon. Four easy-launch buttons along with the Power button are placed above the keyboard layout on the right hand side and can be configured by the user to launch different Programs.

The Drivers bundled with the CD are fully working and have no issues with Windows XP Pro SP2 . I have already prepared a slip streamed version of Win XP pro with Sp2 and all the drivers included in it with the most basic apps, for smooth installation in the future.

The location of the Headphones/speaker/line-out port are inconveniently place in the front portion of the laptop, I would have loved if they had been placed on one of the side panels of the laptop. The Power adapter is a 65 W AC adaptor and comes in a sporty black colour and matches perfectly with the Laptops colour layout.
Pros:
(+) Kick Ass Config to suffice most users
(+) Combo Drive in a Entry Level Notebook
(+)Killer Price Tag makes it a more viable option

Cons:
(-)Low battery Life
(-)So-so graphics adapter with shared system memory.
(-)Inconveniently placed Sound ports at the front panel
All in all, this is a no-non sense laptop at a price tag of 33770/- Rs. An extra 256 Mb RAM Module would be an icing on the cake. The price tag is inclusive of a Acer Laptop Carry Case. If you ever dreamt of a laptop and planned to do all the things you did with your desktop PC at an affordable price, then the Acer Aspire 3002 is for you. Book one till the stocks last and yeah lastly this laptop took me almost 15 phone calls to different dealers of Acer Laptops in Mumbai to get my hands on one. A Sempron M 2800+ processor which does a 1.6 Ghz, 15†XGA TFT screen, 256 Mb DDR RAM, a COMBO drive, 3 USB ports & PCMCIA slot for upgradeability , An Acer Leather Carry Case and a whole 1 yr of International warranty on the laptop. What else can you ask for within a sub 34k budget for normal buyers and a 32k for students after the 2k rebate later.?

Pics By Me
Sisoft System Summary-Full
HQ pics from Overclockzone.com Links find it here

http://www.overclockzone.com/spin9/review/notebook/acer/Aspire_3002NWLCi/IMG_5730.JPG
http://www.overclockzone.com/spin9/review/notebook/acer/Aspire_3002NWLCi/IMG_5742.JPG
http://www.overclockzone.com/spin9/review/notebook/acer/Aspire_3002NWLCi/IMG_5735.JPG
http://www.overclockzone.com/spin9/review/notebook/acer/Aspire_3002NWLCi/IMG_5740.JPG
http://www.overclockzone.com/spin9/review/notebook/acer/Aspire_3002NWLCi/IMG_5741.JPG
http://www.overclockzone.com/spin9/review/notebook/acer/Aspire_3002NWLCi/IMG_5734.JPG
http://www.overclockzone.com/spin9/review/notebook/acer/Aspire_3002NWLCi/IMG_5750.JPG
http://www.overclockzone.com/spin9/review/notebook/acer/Aspire_3002NWLCi/IMG_5743.JPG
http://www.overclockzone.com/spin9/review/notebook/acer/Aspire_3002NWLCi/IMG_5745.JPG
http://www.overclockzone.com/spin9/review/notebook/acer/Aspire_3002NWLCi/IMG_5746.JPG
http://www.overclockzone.com/spin9/review/notebook/acer/Aspire_3002NWLCi/IMG_5747.JPG
http://www.overclockzone.com/spin9/review/notebook/acer/Aspire_3002NWLCi/IMG_5751.JPG
http://www.overclockzone.com/spin9/review/notebook/acer/Aspire_3002NWLCi/IMG_5754.JPG
http://www.overclockzone.com/spin9/review/notebook/acer/Aspire_3002NWLCi/IMG_5761.JPG
http://www.overclockzone.com/spin9/review/notebook/acer/Aspire_3002NWLCi/IMG_5770.JPG

CPUZ

http://www.overclockzone.com/spin9/review/notebook/acer/Aspire_3002NWLCi/results/cpuz1.gif
http://www.overclockzone.com/spin9/review/notebook/acer/Aspire_3002NWLCi/results/cpuz2.gif
http://www.overclockzone.com/spin9/review/notebook/acer/Aspire_3002NWLCi/results/cpuz3.gif
http://www.overclockzone.com/spin9/review/notebook/acer/Aspire_3002NWLCi/results/cpuz4.gif
http://www.overclockzone.com/spin9/review/notebook/acer/Aspire_3002NWLCi/results/system_sum.gif

Would update the other pics + benchmarks pics from the laptop later.
If you have any more questions/queries abt the laptop , i would be very happy to answer them.

 

[dragonfly]

ok thanks a lot i think i will go for it

 

[Sourabh]

u wont regret ur choice thts all i can say

VFM is the best thing

even if u buy a 40k laptop , u have have some bitter feelings the end of the day, but at 33k u cant ask more can u?

 

[dragonfly]

so what operating system do u use with ur aspire.....
if u use windows xp does it autodetect all the hardware

 

[Sourabh]

i use windows xp pro sp2

well all the drivers bundled inthe cd works flawlessly no issues with them

already prepared a slip streamed sp2 cd with all the drivers and stuff with nlite

so no probs in future too

 

[Renegade]

any idea on how well can it handle photoshop CS2 with 1GB RAM.

Whats would be the extra price if i decide to upgrade the HDD as a replacement at the time of purchase.

 

[Sourabh]

better thing wod be to go for acer aspire 5002

check the specs, a newer version is released here

dunno much abt CS2, but since tht laptop is amd 64 mobile, it wod very well handle it

the rates for higher hdd wod be wht they are in market, u can contact them directly

btw accn to techtree article that laptop wod be near abt 50k

so that makes it a worthy buy

 

[rahulraj2006]

hello frndz,

i'm having this laptop, i need the audio driver for this laptop ,where can i found ..............
plz mail me..... my id is pearlzone_123456@yahoo.co.in