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Celeron M 420, 512GB, 60GB | 
 enlarge | Brand: Acer Computer
Category: Personal Computer
This item is no longer available
Rating:  1 reviews
Sales Rank: 2927
Media: Electronics
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition
CPU Manufacturer: Intel
CPU Speed: 1.6
System Bus Speed: 533
Floppy Disk Drive: None
Modem: Fax / modem
Display Size: 15.4
Shipping Weight (lbs): 9.6
Dimensions (in): 17.1 x 14 x 6.6
Warranty: 1 year warranty
MPN: LX.AFL0J.042
Model: LX.AFL0J.042
UPC: 099802830472
EAN: 0099802830472
ASIN: B000KBG544
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| Features:
| • | Acer America Corp. | | • | "Celeron M 420, 512GB, 60GB" |
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Product Description
The Acer Aspire 3690 sets a new standard for affordable mobile multimedia. Slim and elegant, this compact wide-screen notebook comes with Acer's innovative Empowering Technology and complete wired and wireless connectivity.
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| Customer Reviews:
Unimpressive, keep looking November 29, 2007
Mark McGinty (San Diego, CA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
From a hardware perspective this notebook is unremarkable, its performance is likely adequate for average needs, though I'd bet it's a smile-killer if you wanted it to run AutoCad or SQL Server. (And I'm sure it would be more impressive if running XP instead of Vista.)
The unit I worked on showed signs of chaffing in the middle of the display, apparently the space bar touches the screed when it's closed -- which will likely cut its useful life a little short (depending on how picky its owner is.)
The reason I gave it such a low rating is the abysmal condition of its set of hardware drivers on the Acer web site. Apparently there are sub-models under 3690 that have different hardware options, so what the install tech is left with is something of a train wreck -- a huge list of driver packages, less than 1/4 of which actually apply to any given sub-model + O/S combination.
It took a couple of hours to weed through it all, and when it came down to the little camera attachment as the last device in need of drivers, and I saw there were four (count em 4) discrete hardware possibilities, I just said to hell with it, and made a note for my client to contact me if he intended to use the device.
To add insult to injury, there were four helper utilities (.EXEs) that got added to the PC's startup by the drivers, that were not digitally signed. Since they came out of .ZIP archives downloaded from a web site, lack of authenticode signing made them untrusted, causing them to prompt every time they're executed.
This prompt behavior is certainly not new, it came about as an advent of XP SP2. What *is* new is that the option to "unblock" the file (in it's properties) doesn't stick, you can click the button 10,000 times, it goes away in the property sheet when you click apply -- but only until you close/reopen it property sheet again -- it doesn't actually change anything! Seriously annoying!
One fix for this is to change anything in the file's DACL (add/remove any user or group permission, in the security tab of its property sheet.) The other is to sign the files yourself (the latter requiring more tools, time and expertise.)
But the thing is, I shouldn't have needed to do either of those things, for their respective developers to publish them unsigned is tantamount to negligence, and I hold Acer ultimately responsible. I'm sure there are countless users out there that endure a series of meaningless 'security' prompts every time they login. Spurious warnings detract significantly from important ones, so this condition is a tragedy not only for the annoyance factor, but in that it serves to undermine the importance of IT security, in the eyes of end users.
In conclusion, if you're in the market for a notebook, look elsewhere. Consider that if you ever need to pay someone like me to reinstall the O/S, the time that Acer's careless approach to providing drivers consumes will add $100 to your TCO, compared with a comparable Thinkpad or Dell system.
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