Used Aspire 722-BZ454 worth $200?

[gggirlgeek]

Hi,

I'm looking for a cheap used laptop/netbook for cafe surfing. I normally have A LOT of tabs open in Firefox (50 tabs) and I also like to clean up large database collections of ebooks and mp3 files (20,000+ files in Mediamonkey or Calibre.) Other than this I would generally use it for basic computing and troubleshooting my other PC's. (OK without DVD drive.) No gaming or movies.

Found the Acer Aspire 722-BZ454 online for $200 cash, used 3 months.

http/www.acer.it/ac/en/US/content/model/LU.SFT02.002

2Gb DDR3-1066 (up to 4Gb)
250gb 5400 HDD
AMD C-50 1Ghz Dual core, 1M L2
Radeon HD 6250 (256mb I think??)
3 USB ports
HDMI & VGA out
6 hours+ battery life
3lbs -- 11.6" (light weight!)

_________________________________

There is also a Dell Latitude D820 for $100 with bad battery. Probably never cleaned (I'll disassemble.) Probably well-used but in good shape. (I'll end up spending $200 on it.)

Core 2 Duo T7200 2.0Ghz, 4M L2 (unless he's mistaken the 1.8ghz, 2M L2)
2Gb DDR2-533 (Dual Channel!)
80Gb 5400 HDD (+ $75 for new one.)
512Mb Nvidia Turb cache graphics
802.11g
2-3 hour- battery life - needs new battery ($25).
Cd Rom drive
6lbs

http/www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=3348&review=Dell+Latitude+Core+2+Duo

 

[scottiemedic]

I'd go with the Acer, I had a D820 and it was a snail, especially for what you want it for. The Acer also has DDR3 over DDR2 and is newer technology all the way around.

 

[inanition02]

I've owned both of those - and still own the Acer. Go with the Acer for the same price - but buy a 4gb stick of RAM if you want to open a bunch of tabs.

 

[gggirlgeek]

Thanks so much for the replies.

Is $200 too much to pay?

Originally, she told me she was selling an Aspire AO722-0828, which has a 500gb HDD, 4Gb ram, and a C-60 processor. She asked $225. I jumped! Now I want to offer a lower price, maybe even $180, but I'm not excited anymore and don't want to waste my money.

 

[inanition02]

Amazon has them used for $222 shipped. I'd go with a slightly lower offer...

Between $180 and $220 on ebay.

Note, my A0722-BZ454 has the C-60 proc even though it was advertised as the C-50. Not a huge difference and not saying yours will..but it might.

 

[gggirlgeek]

Thank you.

That would be nice if it had the c-60! I have heard that the hard drive can be under reported as well sometimes, ie. 320Gb HDD. Here's hoping!

I made a counter offer for $190. We'll see if she bights.

 

[gggirlgeek]

Question: I want to repartition and fresh-install my own copy of Windows 7. I am hearing that the Radeon graphics driver is proprietary and hard to find, or doesn't work well.

Do you know how to extract the driver from the hidden partition or recovery image once I've made one? (I will wipe the hidden partition out when I repartition so I want to save them.)

 

[inanition02]

I don't actually - I just went with the included copy of Win7 Home Premium

 

[inanition02]

That said, Acer's site does have a driver listed for VGA for it.

http/www.acer.it/ac/en/US/content/drivers

 

[gggirlgeek]

I saw that people on Newegg and other places are saying they had a lot of trouble with the VGA driver, or finding another from ATI. Supposedly there is a way to extract the original drivers from the recovery partition and/or the DVD's.

I will post this question in a new thread for Asus. It turns out I need to reformat my friends older Aspire D260 as well so the answer is needed more urgently.

 

[inanition02]

There's another post on Tom's that states that driver works

 

[gggirlgeek]

The seller of the Acer 722 countered my offer and we settled on $200 just as I expected. It will be slow but it sounds like it will be reliable. I can tweak/upgrade it as needed.

Thanks again.

 

[inanition02]

Hope you enjoy it!