Okay, this has nothing to do with moving to or living in Canada, but I can't find this information anywhere else online, so thought I would ask the trusted opinions here. I want to buy an Acer Emachine (E442 to be exact) and can't try one out before I buy (no local shops so I am buying online), so I am interested to know the following:

My main aim to is get fast startup--my last Toshiba laptop was so slow I almost threw it out the window every time I fired it up--finally it was killed by a virus and I didn't bother to fix it.

My second aim is a DVD drive that can play all regions--so I can play my legally imported DVDs. Again, my Toshiba failed me--Toshiba has a DVD drive that can not be overridden by a download to make it multiregional! Maddening!! This is also important because we are going to live in France for a while and my son will want to watch local DVDs there, so I am hoping my Acer Emachine can do this.

So, I ask you, does the Acer emachine do these things? Anyone out there with this machine? Or can you recommend another if you have a (admittedly low priced) laptop that you find wonderful? Thanks!!

You're right, it doesn't, so I shall move it to The Maple Leaf which is for off-topic threads.

I wasn't sure whether to move it there or The Lab (the technical sub-forum), so it might be worth duplicating the thread in that part of the forum too.

Try Red Flag Deals website.
They were very helpful there - I bought a RFD recommended ACER as a deal.

If you can wait until they release them (and you can find an alternative solution for the DVD issue), you're not going to find anything faster at booting and waking-up than one of these things.

There's always a software solution to get around the region lock on dvd drives...


http://www.dvdidle.com/dvd-region-free.htm free and works a treat.

And if you want a fast boot up time, use a flavour of linux, Ubuntu boots up fast...or just don't shut it down, keep it in standby/hibernate....or get a mac, they do wake up very quickly.

Be careful with Accer laptops in general. I've had to clean major dust clogs from the fan in-take of 5 that belong to friends because they seem to clog up easily and then over heat. Not come across this so much with other brands but Accer.

I had that problem with mine after a couple of years: it would just lock up and I'd have to reboot due to overheating.

Then shortly afterwards the keys started falling off the keyboard so I replaced it with a Toshiba.

That happens a lot on HP laptops too, especially the cheaper pavillion models with the smaller form factors.

Thanks for your replies! Seems the Acer might be okay for what I want but will have bugs, like the over heating. Hmmmm. But this might be a case of you get what you paid for. I mean, it is only 300 bucks or so.

you can buy a flat fan for it to sit on, plugs into a usb port.

I used to drag around 3 tons of Compaq Armada (E500)....a robust 2002 machine which still gets used occasionally to play Brit DVDs. The beast still runs as good today as it always has.

We then bought a Dell XPS 1530....no issues in 3 years or so, including a year abusing it overseas...OH loves it.

My main machine these days is an Acer Aspire Timeline 1810T (11.6inch)....it is not much bigger than a netbook...but so much better.

Both my kids, have HPs...and both suffer from MASSIVE HEAT issues (common with many HPs) even when sitting on their cooling pads. My daughters first HP (an expensive tablet) failed just out of warranty (a pretty common problem with the graphics chips failing due to the heat)....she replaced it with another HP....which is now on its third AC adapter in two years....but seems OK.

Suffice is to say..I liked Compaq...when they were Compaq....

I would buy another Dell XPS although their Vostro line ticks all the boxes.

As for the little Acer.....would buy another in a heart beat.

Two good places to pick up laptops etc or use to comparison shop:

http://www.aceroutlet.ca/

www.dfsdirect.ca

The Accer should be fine. Just keep it off carpet, beds and anything fabric. Also maake sure the air-intake is clear of all blockages. Finally.. cleaning them out is not so hard. A screw driver and a hoover is all you really need. It'll keep your fan manifold clean and free to cool. All the best!

I've had an acer for over two years. The only problem I've had has been having to replace the power adapter last month. Otherwise it's still as quick as when I got it.

If your laptop is slow to boot try Soluto.
www.soluto.com

The main reason PCs start to get slower is the excess of software people install through time. Remove some of these using soluto and you'll notice things get quicker.