Acer reliability (gaming/workstation)

[Epoyx]

Hey I am getting new laptop(workstation/gaming). I have been looking at asus g550jk, but it takes too long to deliver. Decent alternative is Acer Aspire V15 Nitro. Is such laptop reliable? I would like to use it at least 5 years

Edit: Well as I mentioned this laptop would also be my workstation. 30% work, 30%college, 40% home, entertainment. Since it's expesive piece I plan to use it for at least 5 years more or less every day for at least few hours.. Coming from my relatives, working in computer industry suggested me asus,ibm, lenovo and to avoid acer... Any idea whether durability and reliability improved?

 

[johnmcelroy]

No, no, no, no, no. I have never heard of an Acer made after about '06 lasting longer than three years, and that's if you're lucky. Those Taiwanese valueboxes are the lowest common denominator in reliability. You need to look into getting something like a Fujitsu, a Lenovo (depending on the model) or a Dell Enterprise (DEFINITELY depending on the model) if you want five years, and even then, you'll probably log a keyboard replacement or two. Asus is not a bad laptop brand, though. I've just heard bad things about their desktop motherboards.

 

[tiny voices]

I have actually had great luck with ACER. After all, ACER make the OEM motherboards for Gateway, HP, ACER, some DELL, and some ASUS computers.

Don't understand the hate for them from the guy above. He must have had a bad experience. I have an ACER laptop and my GF has a highly modified prebuilt with an ACER OEM motherboard and both work very well.

Also, just so you know, all the brands you listed use plants in China AND Taiwan for manufacturing. Don't know why you think ACER is worse when most are made in the same factory.

 

[johnmcelroy]

A correction: when I said "Taiwanese valueboxes," I meant the value oriented brands (Acer, EMachines, etc.) I have no prejeduce against the nationality of a manufacturer. I understand that Acer has some higher quality models, but after two instances of Acer laptop motherboards failing one month after warranty expiration, and having heard many other people tell the same story, I swore off that brand forever. Also, some HP computers have Foxconn motherboards, which are also junk.

 

[tiny voices]

Not all Foxconn boards are junk. You are just making random blanket statements.

 

[Epoyx]

Well as I mentioned this laptop would also be my workstation. 30% work, 30%college, 40% home, entertainment. Since it's expesive piece I plan to use it for at least 5 years more or less every day for at least few hours.. Coming from my relatives, working in computer industry suggested me asus,ibm, lenovo and to avoid acer...

 

[tiny voices]

I would avoid IBM and lenovo.

If, heaven forbid, I was forced to buy a laptop to be used as a workstation, I would be MSI 100%. Not even a chance of anything else.

 

[Epoyx]

MSI huh? Been looking at GE60, but damn thats expensive too and hard to get where I live.
Any suggesting on portable laptop under 2k€ with following demans.. Strong cpu(programming), 16gb+ram(virtualisation), ips, 15inch, ssd mandatory, graphics somewhat good . Durability and reliability are mandatory. I'd like to avoid all laptops that are overheating / throttling ... Any ideas what i should be looking at?

 

[tiny voices]

Any high end laptop will have heating issues after time. It is inevitable. To get 5 years you will have to open it up and re-paste at least 2 times.

Your specifications are VERY VERY vague. honestly just look for whatever meets your needs. I would look at MSI, Sager, ASUS. If you cannot find what you need in budget, you will probably have to lower the specs. Laptops are NOT cheap.

 

[Epoyx]

Tbh it's my first laptop. Had few pcs b4, but now i need portable one for college and work. So repasting cpu heatsink is mandatory? ?
I haven't changed paste on cpu on my pc since i built it in 2007, no overheating problems /
As for specifications:

 

[EucleX]

Acer is a very reliable laptop company.

 

[Bolin]

Acer is very reliable, mine is 6 years old and still going strong

 

[tiny voices]

Tbh it's my first laptop. Had few pcs b4, but now i need portable one for college and work. So repasting cpu heatsink is mandatory? ?
I haven't changed paste on cpu on my pc since i built it in 2007, no overheating problems /
As for specifications:

laptops typically run hotter than desktops and of course have much worse heatsink/dissipation. This causes the paste to dry MUCH faster. A buddy of mihne asked me to re-paste his Alienware that isn't even 2 years old and we got the CPU temps down by 10c.

 

[jaguarskx]

IBM no longer makes desktop and laptops. They sold those divisions to Lenovo back in 2006. Lenovo Thinkpads in general are good laptops they are pretty rugged and they can last a long time if not abused. While the more expense model series are built like tanks, I am not so sure about the less expensive Thinkpad E series since it does cost money to make a laptop rugged. The main gripe about Thinkpads are all the changes Lenovo had made to the laptop over the years. The change in keyboard style definitely got the most criticism from people who used Thinkpads for a long time. The new island style keyboard is "in", the older laptop style keyboard is "out" and that is what pissed off a lot of longtime Thinkpad user / owners. I definitely prefer the older style keyboard. I have a 12 year old ThinkPad T40 that still runs fine... too bad it is not powerful enough to surf the internet with anymore.

The Lenovo consumer level laptops generally like the Ideapads, Yogas, etc on average are pretty reliable. I researched that before I bought the 14" Lenovo Ideapad Y470. Unfortunately, about 6 months after the 1 year warranty ended the nvidia GT 550m failed.

My only other experience with laptops is with Dell. I purchased a refurbished 15.6" Dell Latitude 3540 earlier this year with a Core i5-4200u and Radeon HD 8850m (equal to the nvidia GT 845m) for under $500. It is a business laptop which means it also comes with a matte screen instead of those annoying glossy screens used in consumer laptops like my Y470. Dell's and Lenovo's business customer support are considered excellent.

I am looking at replacing the IdeaPad Y470 wth one that is not focused on games. Therefore, I am looking at a Lenovo ThinkPad or another Dell Latitude laptop. I was considering HP ZBooks, but they definitely cost a lot more than I am willing to spend.


As for Acer, the general consensus is to avoid the inexpensive models if you want something to last for a long time. There could be cases where inexpensive Acer models may last for 5 years, but most people generally seem to avoid Acer's less expensive laptop models if they can.