Laptop Recommendation

[Smylers]

Dirk Koopman writes:

> I have found that Acer laptops work reasonably well under Ubuntu

Thanks.

> They seem to have decentish Synaptics touchpads etc and more or less
> as advertised battery life

Unfortunately Acer also seem to be part of the conspiracy of laptop
manufacturers not revealing their product specs to customers, and they
don't seem willing to admit to whether they sell a lightweight laptop.

Like some others, the path to detailed specs involves first making me
decide whether I'm a 'consumer' or a 'business', and then pick from a
list of opaque product series names.

I tried 'business' and then 'TravelMate' (as distinct from 'TravelMate
TimelineX'!), and a further click on models gives this summary of the
specs: http://www.acer.co.uk/ac/en/GB/content/business-models/travelmate

But that's not the end. The summary doesn't include the weight, and,
incredibly, in some cases not even the screen size. So discovering which
of their laptops might be light enough includes clicking on each one in
turn. Hmmm, it doesn't look like any of their business laptops are light
enough for me. Despite them all having "travel" in their name.

Let's try being a consumer. The 'Aspire S Series' is described as being
"Acer's most mobile". Again, no weights on the summary page but at least
13" screens sounds plausible. Let's look at one in detail:
http://www.acer.co.uk/ac/en/GB/content/model/LX.RSE02.072

Erm, it appears that Acer haven't even bothered to disclose the laptop's
weight on the full details page! On a product specifically described as
mobile. Am I just supposed to take their word for it?

How on earth do they expect people to choose one of their products when
it's so hard, and in some cases impossible, to find out about them?

I'm looking to part with over £1000, one of the most expensive things
I've ever bought (topped only by a home and a wedding). Surely when a
company's wishing to take that sum of money from a customer it's worth
them putting a little effort into it? Right now shopping on laptop
websites can't possibly be more painful than going into PC World and
trying to engage their staff in meaningful technical conversation.

At least in PC World I could physically pick up a laptop and get a feel
for how much it weighs. I could even take the kitchen scales with me ...

(While finding the Acer UK website though, going via the Acer Group site
I did learn that Gateway (moo!) and Packard Bell (shudder) still exist.)

Bah.

Smylers
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