Goodbye Apple for now....

[bodeh6]

Well it will be sad for me to leave but I have to do it due to engineering school. We have a new mandatory laptop program and unfortunately Win XP is required. A MacBook Pro is out of my need financially and I find the MacBook to be good but underfeatured for my needs So I am getting the following Laptop from NewEgg.com for $1079 Acer AS5672WlMi

-15.4" Crystal Bright 1280x800 WideScreen
-1.66 GHz Core Duo T2300
-1GB DDR2 533
-128MB ATI Radeon X1600
-Slot Loading DVD Super Multi
-120GB 5400 RPM HD
-5-1 Memory Card Reader
-Gigabit Ethernet
-Intel WiFi a/b/g + Bluetooth 2.0

I think it is a much better deal then the MacBook. Basically has all the power of a MacBook Pro for almost half the cost.

 

[Unorthodox]

Bye.
I'll leave a light on.

 

[kildraik]

I personally think that Acer is fugly. Thats sad you're leaving Apple.

You'll come back.

 

[apunkrockmonk]

Basically has all the power of a MacBook Pro for almost half the cost.

Nope.

 

[Makosuke]

Basically has all the power of a MacBook Pro for almost half the cost.

That's a bit of an exaggeration, but it's still a pretty good deal, particularly since you require the beefy graphics chip (and I suppose physically larger, albeit MacBook-res, screen) for engineering and can't afford the price jump to the Pro.

Not that I know you, but hope to see you back again some day.

 

[bodeh6]

Probably in 2 years when I am done with school, will come back.

 

[Unorthodox]

Probably in 2 years when I am done with school, will come back.

I need more light bulbs!
No Mac for 2 years!

Your going to miss Leopard!

 

[dukebound85]

Well it will be sad for me to leave but I have to do it due to engineering school. We have a new mandatory laptop program and unfortunately Win XP is required. A MacBook Pro is out of my need financially and I find the MacBook to be good but underfeatured for my needs So I am getting the following Laptop from NewEgg.com for $1079 Acer AS5672WlMi

-15.4" Crystal Bright 1280x800 WideScreen
-1.66 GHz Core Duo T2300
-1GB DDR2 533
-128MB ATI Radeon X1600
-Slot Loading DVD Super Multi
-120GB 5400 RPM HD
-5-1 Memory Card Reader
-Gigabit Ethernet
-Intel WiFi a/b/g + Bluetooth 2.0

I think it is a much better deal then the MacBook. Basically has all the power of a MacBook Pro for almost half the cost.

Hmm for 3 years of mechanical engineering, I used a 1ghz emac. I just upgraded to a macbook since I need portablility now for this upcoming year. So your claim I can't use apple since you are in engineering is utter bs in my opinion. Just so you know I used vpc on my emac to run ProEngineer and it "worked". If I needed anything faster, just went down to the labs.

I am expecting the macbook to be alot faster with solid modeling.

 

[generik]

I personally think that Acer is fugly. Thats sad you're leaving Apple.

You'll come back.

I think college loans and sleeping on the streets fugly too, especially when engineers are dime a dozen these days it makes good sense to be finanacially prudent.

@bodeh6, why an Acer though? Those things are hideous. I have a buddy with an Acer and that is *nothing* but problems, keyboard not working, wireless constantly dropping out, and good luck sending it back for repairs when your assignments are constantly due all the time. Right now he has a laptop with a normal USB keyboard straddled over the wrist rest and a third party wireless adapter hooked on via USB. Not funny, I rather buy a desktop for that cash.

 

[Moe]

Congratulations on your acceptance to engineering school. I don't mean this in a deragatory way, but I've been doing engineering computing support for probably longer than you've been living, and I've watched it migrate from mostly Unix-based to mostly Windows-based. You've made the right choice for today and have the right tool for the job. But never forget the joy you felt when using a Mac, and when you get that degree, let your employer buy you the PCs you need for work and spend some of the big bucks you'll make on a Mac for home.

 

[deebster]

If I had a penny for every time I've seen 'better... then' I'd have enough to buy you that MBP.

 

[DarkNetworks]

Go Acer!

 

[daneoni]

...or you could just look for a refurb 1.83/2.0 GHz MacBook Pro mor ebang for the buck plus the refurbs are 99% new in most cases. They're usually called refurbs only because of cancelled orders or 14-day returns. Plus they'll get re-checked before being offered for sale again and usually come with silent upgrades. No brainer to me.

 

[SheriffParker]

Well it will be sad for me to leave but I have to do it due to engineering school. We have a new mandatory laptop program and unfortunately Win XP is required. A MacBook Pro is out of my need financially and I find the MacBook to be good but underfeatured for my needs So I am getting the following Laptop from NewEgg.com for $1079 Acer AS5672WlMi

-15.4" Crystal Bright 1280x800 WideScreen
-1.66 GHz Core Duo T2300
-1GB DDR2 533
-128MB ATI Radeon X1600
-Slot Loading DVD Super Multi
-120GB 5400 RPM HD
-5-1 Memory Card Reader
-Gigabit Ethernet
-Intel WiFi a/b/g + Bluetooth 2.0

I think it is a much better deal then the MacBook. Basically has all the power of a MacBook Pro for almost half the cost.

It looks like a decent computer. I hope it works out for you. You'll be missing osx I'm sure, but enjoy the benefits of a windows machine while you have one. Best of luck to you in school and make sure you buy a mac as your next computer after this one!

 

[RichP]

Eh, its understandable. I am in Industrial Design, and XP is the OS of choice for most programs out there. I use my MBP with Bootcamp, and couldnt be happier, but if you are fiscally limited, the ACER may work out better for you. Beside, with so much saved, you could even get yourself another LCD from Dell to make up for the low res acer screen if need be.

Not sure if you can test it though, but make sure that graphics chip in the acer/MBP would really help over macbook, simply because some of these programs will need approved graphics chips to utilize them, and the x1600 is most likely not one of them.

 

[plarusa]

Well it will be sad for me to leave but I have to do it due to engineering school. We have a new mandatory laptop program and unfortunately Win XP is required. A MacBook Pro is out of my need financially and I find the MacBook to be good but underfeatured for my needs So I am getting the following Laptop from NewEgg.com for $1079 Acer AS5672WlMi

-15.4" Crystal Bright 1280x800 WideScreen
-1.66 GHz Core Duo T2300
-1GB DDR2 533
-128MB ATI Radeon X1600
-Slot Loading DVD Super Multi
-120GB 5400 RPM HD
-5-1 Memory Card Reader
-Gigabit Ethernet
-Intel WiFi a/b/g + Bluetooth 2.0

I think it is a much better deal then the MacBook. Basically has all the power of a MacBook Pro for almost half the cost.

I purchased a similar Acer 6 months ago (The Travelmate 4200 with Intel Duo procs). It's a nice machine, but I did not have to use it very long to remember why I switched to the MAC a year ago. That Acer notebook has now been demoted to the role of file server, and I have returned to my PB and MBP.

 

[phoenix9744]

Well it will be sad for me to leave but I have to do it due to engineering school. We have a new mandatory laptop program and unfortunately Win XP is required. A MacBook Pro is out of my need financially and I find the MacBook to be good but underfeatured for my needs So I am getting the following Laptop from NewEgg.com for $1079 Acer AS5672WlMi

-15.4" Crystal Bright 1280x800 WideScreen
-1.66 GHz Core Duo T2300
-1GB DDR2 533
-128MB ATI Radeon X1600
-Slot Loading DVD Super Multi
-120GB 5400 RPM HD
-5-1 Memory Card Reader
-Gigabit Ethernet
-Intel WiFi a/b/g + Bluetooth 2.0

I think it is a much better deal then the MacBook. Basically has all the power of a MacBook Pro for almost half the cost.

well that will actually be much slower than a mbp considering its a much lower clock, and slower ram and has the res of the macbook.

But It's always sad to lose one of the good guys. Good luck in School!

 

[macdaddy121]

Well it will be sad for me to leave but I have to do it due to engineering school. We have a new mandatory laptop program and unfortunately Win XP is required.

Change Majors.......

 

[bousozoku]

It looks like a good deal but it's got a weaker processor and better graphics hardware. If you're doing a lot of 3D work, it'll be about equal to a MacBook overall. If not, I think you're losing something, but you'd still have to buy WinXP for the MacBook and that's not cheap.

Good luck with it.

 

[Dracula]

I would have purchased a ThinkPad as a Windows machine.

You can get an excellent price on a T60 thanks to the back to school sale they're having.