What’s the warranty?
Will SquareTrade cover this refurb?
Yeah, I don’t get the hate for Windows 8 either. I’ve used it extensively (without touchscreen) and haven’t missed the precious “start” button. In fact, anyone who is using “start” a lot probably isn’t using Windows too effectively. The new interface basically made your screen one giant quick launch bar with more functionality. Though there is some clunkiness to the execution (Why do you need to show the desktop before opening a “desktop application”?) and I wish I could customize the UI more, I don’t really have any complaints with Windows 8 itself. (The app store however is horrible.)
+1 Much rather use Vista than Windows 8 - handsdown
I have an older Acer (2009) that has gone from Vista, 7 to 8. 8 is somewhat awkward, but handleable. I would stay with 7, but 8 has better performance. In a couple months Microsoft will come out with an update that will fix the UI awkwardness (maybe).
I quite like that small Acer. It is very easy to take with you. The processor is more than capable of handling email, word processing and importing photos. This model looks very nice and at 1/4 the price of a Macbook Air very appealing
I don’t really understand this mentality some people have. Vista had terrible device driver and performance issues that would make you punch your computer. W8’s task manager and stability are far superior. Just install a 3rd party start menu and you’ll never see the metro screen.
Never had the problem with Vista, it only got better over time but was never a problem to start, then i upgraded to 7. Then my new laptop after that started with 7. But 8 Ugh…I’d rather have XP and all it’s crashy goodness
Windows 8 is fine once you spend 15 minutes figuring it out. It doesn’t need a touch screen. It’s still better as a regular PC OS than a tablet OS. It’s actually better than Windows 7, which was previously the best PC (incl. Mac) OS.
Seriously, you’ll spend 99% of your time in normal desktop mode and when you do need to use the new start menu, just press start and start typing what you want.
Better in Win 8:
- fast boot
- better task manager
- better restore options
- small tweaks (network metering, power management, etc.).
I did not see it in the specifications but which model has the black keys and which one has the grey keys?
Vista was terrible in the beginning but was greatly improved by the time SP2 came out. The driver issues are a thing of the past. Windows 7 is only a small incremental step past Vista- many people don’t realize this. This is why most Vista drivers work in windows 7. Windows 8 is still built off the same underlying architecture that Vista and Windows 7 is on, they just added the overlay and moved some junk around. Windows 8 is not a bad OS, it just doesn’t make sense to use it if your device does not support a touch interface- because most people without a touch interface will spend 99% of their time on the desktop. If you are going to be on the desktop most of the time, why not just stick with windows 7?- this way you still have mediacenter and your not wasting resources on items you don’t use.
If I were to get either of these, certainly the $20 extra bucks for the bigger hard drive would be money well spent.
I’ve never heard anyone complain about their hard drive being “too big” but most people eventually complain that they’re running out of room sooner or later. Spend the $20 now and you’ll put off needing a bigger hard drive for quite a bit longer.
edit Wouldn’t you know it, looks like the 500GB model sold out while I was posting this.
I have a 13.3" Acer ultrabook and a 14" Acer laptop both about 1 year old.
The ultrabook is awesome because of how light it is… maybe 1 or 2 lb. I use it to run testing software at work and it gets moved around alot from one test site to the next. I miss the CD drive and network port at times but there are ways around both of those issues. The ultrabook has an i7 and cost over $1k but I think the pros/cons still hold true for the model offered here.
The 14" laptop is my personal laptop and while it is fairly light, it is more than double the weight of the ultrabook. It also has an SSD and it also has a huge battery and a dual core i5 so the battery lasts 8-9 hours. It cost about $600 but came with an nvdidia graphics card also. My laptop has a vga and hdmi out that I’ve used on occasion and the ultrabook just has an hdmi out. So the laptop is much more versatile than the ultrabook but feels much, much bulkier in comparison to the 1 or 2 lb ultrabook.
Just some food for thought from my experiences.
Cheers
How would this be with ubuntu linux?
At first i was concerned about peoples brain functuality while reading that people would prefer vista to win8.
But I think i figured it out.
Win8 is the new justin bieber. Its been added to the ‘its cool to hate this’ category.
People like you must have great brain functuality (sic). I’m glad you figured it all out- I was starting to worry.
Neither of you make your points in a civil way, but @jamesclaflin is correct, dumping on Win8 has become the “cool” thing to do, regardless of whether a person has really given it a chance or added a simple, free Start menu app.
If you bothered reading any of the other comments you would see that I did give it a chance, and in fact loaded it on a tablet device with great success. I think I have enough experience with operating systems of all sorts to understand whether I don’t like it for justifiable reasons, or if I’m just trying to “be cool”. So basically your assessment is incorrect.
Anyone get theirs yet?
Mine is “awaiting shipping” still.
You aren’t alone. Mine is still awaiting shipping as well. They say 3-5 business days to ship, but they are usually faster than that. I’m chalking it up to the holiday weekend. Hopefully it will get shipped before the week ends.
Yep - still says waiting to ship for me too.
I would bet that I have received more woot purchases before tracking info was available than after woot posted the info. Typically happens when the items ship from a woot vendor vs. shipping from woot directly.