Best Buy lists well-equipped Acer laptop for $299

Best Buy has listed a 15-inch Acer laptop with relatively robust specifications for $299. But try getting your hands on one.

Though listed among the "new arrivals" on Best Buy's Web site, it is currently not available at stores or online. But there is anecdotal evidence of its existence. Very-recent user comments indicate that people have purchased the laptop and other stores, such as Wal-Mart Stores and Amazon (which shows it in stock), list it at a higher price.

Acer laptop comes with most of the fixins' for $299

(Credit: Best Buy)

And the specifications? An AMD Athlon 64 processor, 15.6-inch WXGA display, 2GB DDR2 memory, DVD-RW drive, 160GB hard disk drive, ATI Radeon Xpress 1200 graphics, 802.11b/g wireless, 10/100 Ethernet LAN, and Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic Edition. Pretty close to mainstream-laptop hardware with the exception of the low-end AMD-ATI silicon and the older "g" wireless.

When contacted by phone, a Best Buy sales representative said the reseller has fielded a number of calls already about the laptop and confirmed that it was currently unavailable.

By comparison, what do you get for $299 when buying a diminutive Netbook? An Asus Eee PC at this price comes with an Atom N270 processor, 1GB memory, 10.1-inch screen, 160GB hard disk drive, Intel 950 graphics, a Webcam, no optical drive, and Windows XP.

And there are good deals on other, more-mainstream laptops at Best Buy. A Toshiba Satellite is listed at $349 with an Intel Celeron processor, 15.4-inch display, 2GB DDR2 memory, DVD-RW drive, 160GB hard disk drive, Intel 4500MHD graphics, 802.11b/g wireless, 10/100 Ethernet LAN, and Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic Edition.

[jessiethe3rd]

That's a smoking deal for a netbook...

[Sausagebiscuit]

Too bad this isn't a netbook.

[jessiethe3rd]

forgot I left out "even" :)

[ballmerisanape]

It's a POS.. even for a "Netbook".. which it's not. How much does this thing weigh?

[baggyguy1218]

You guys are snobs. Who gives a crap of its a Athlon 64 or a TL or what ever. There a millions of people out there that can now afford a full laptop, albeit a real POS, but a full on laptop. And how did the netbook stuff get in here. Its not a gamer but it works. I would never buy it but someone will, Acer is horrible.

[solitare_pax]

Acer is terrible - the batch the local school got for its teachers had one critical failing - the hinge broke. Same way, every one. A laptop is not much use if it keeps on flopping down.<br /><br />Unfortunately, its aimed at people who are not aware online review sites such as cnet exist.

[terminalblue]

lol @ "older g wireless" "low end processor"<br /><br />since when is the universal standard for wireless and a 64bit worth criticizing? 95% of people that buy these computers will never even take advantage of of the power of 32 bit processors.

[Sausagebiscuit]

agreed with above. Wireless 'G' is fast enough for internet access from the couch. The CPU is fast enough for 720p video and I would be this thing could do 1080p video on it's 15" screen. There is a reason this thing will sell well. The price, and the fact that it isn't a netbook. <br /> <br />P.S. I have nothing against netbooks, but they aren't for everyone. Only you can decide. =)

[Sausagebiscuit]

REPLY TO: Myself (see above) <br /> <br />Sigh, typo. "and I would BET this thing"... <br /> <br />Also I know the 15" screen resolution won't display full HD 1920x1080, it will probably be 1440x900. Didn't look at the specs other than what the author included in the article.

[sandor_f]

How fast is the processor?<br />Is it single core or dual?<br /><br />I'd rather have the price $8 higher and have wireless N and gigabit enet....

[make_or_break]

If it's REALLY an Athlon 64 then it's old-school single core, roughly 5-6 years old. Not very power efficient, either...at least for a mobile computer dependent upon battery juice. Should be adequate to run Vista, but it's not going to be a barn burner. Not sure I'd pay $299 for a laptop with a CPU that's 3-4 generations old, but that's me.

[BigGuns149]

Heck, I think that I would pay $15 for Gig ethernet and wireless N. 802.11N routers are pretty cheap these days and even ignoring the better speed of N I think most people would appreciate having better range and less dead spots. I agree that this is a pretty decent laptop for $299, but you do have to add the caveat that it is well equipped for $299. If you have the money to spare there are some laptops with much better specs(wireless N, GigE, faster/more efficient processors, bigger HDD, etc.) in the $400-600 range. It is still a good price for what it is.

[terminalblue]

@ make_or_break<br /><br />wow...a 64bit processor from 6 years ago? what planet are you on. if you read thee source material, then you might have seen that it is most likely an Orleans or Lima processor from 2007. its not the mos power efficient but at 65mm it is still the standard. <br /><br />And for everyone else, it is single core, which is still good enough...especially when compared to the garage you would get in the $300 netbook category. i think this would make a fine computer for anyone that needs a second laptop.

[make_or_break]

Well, I WAS visiting Planet Core 2 Duo in '07...that probably explains it. As much as I enjoyed my Sledgehammer-based gamer box, AMD was well off my sensor screens by then.<br /><br />The A64 was a great design in its day but it's still outdated TODAY, even by AMD's own standards and product lineup. Whether it's the latest version or not (still two years old by your own posting), the processor still has its roots and fundamental pricipals in Clawhammer, and that's a name that has its prime ages ago, at least in computer tech. 65nm fabrication notwithstanding (besides, I thought 45nm was the minimum "standard" these days) and scrape away revisions in socket connectivity and memory management for DDR2, the Athlon 64 is still an old design by any measure of PC technology.

[terminalblue]

@make_or_break<br /><br />45mm JUST came into vogue.<br /><br />Its pretty clear that you dont prefer AMD's tech, but there 64bit offerings are lightyears ahead of anything by intel. AMD IS the 64 bit standard.<br /><br />so what if the design is two years old. The celeron tech has been around for seven years and people still buy it just because it sound familar, even though it run like garbage (like most of intels low end offerings)<br /><br />and hell, if you want to go back to clawhammer and legacy tech, then almost every 32 bit processor out there is weighed by its inferior x86 code.<br /><br />the TF-20 processor in this computer is PERFECT for people that want a good work horse of a laptop. honestly, your pro-intel rhetoric makes you sound like you would buy an Atom based netbook just because it doesnt use AMD's "inferior" tech over this well equipped laptop well rounded laptop.

[yoyojam55]

45 nm is new? Intel is going to release 32 nm CPUs by the end of the year. 65nm is old tech. <br /><br />This is barely better than a netbook, and knowing Acer will probably fail before most $299 netbooks will.

[ti99_forever]

Wouldn't touch an Acer. Such poor quality. My wife bought one almost two years ago ($800). Can't blame an OS for the touchpad trying to fall into the laptop. Or the keys falling off, one she has never used - "pause/break".<br />Poor power connection as well - started shorting out...<br /><br />Never again!

[terminalblue]

i do think this is a great compromise of price and feature. but i wouldnt buy this comouter either, simply because of acer's non-existent support and generally low end build quality.<br /><br />i would recommend it to the less demanding though, or connect it to a TV and use it that way...but i wouldnt use it as my main machine.

[sreed1927]

Can't speak to Acer's laptops but their Netbooks have been dead on solid. The case and materials are 2-3 times better than HP and Dell's in this category. Even Toshiba puts cheap plastic on their netbooks.

[CarlosMalo]

I have an Acer Aspire One netbook w/ 11" screen and it is very well built. My wife and two teenage daughters love it as well. It's a great machine for the price. I can see why Acer is selling a ton of them.

[ppgreat]

Your definition of 'robust' is a little over the top.

[Argyll]

Sounds like a Bait and Switch scam to me!

[gibbc]

so i read this and this is a good laptop but what no one has seid is that if thay are offering rain checks

[tech_crazy]

This isn't a deal at all. Staples last week had a deal for an HP CQ60-420 with 2.0 GHz dual core, 15.6" widescreen, 3GB RAM, 250GB HDD etc. for 320 after rebates. The Best Buy was mediocre at best.

[monkeyfun14]

After rebates<br /><br />If its not instant... Then its not a deal at all mail in rebates rarely come back.

[MagiMamoru]

Yawn, I wonder what $298 laptop WalMart will offer later on.

[terminalblue]

lol...good luck with your walmart laptop

[windooor7]

If this is true , it will be the hottest selling item for along time. microsoft need to do is to quickly make that phone call to acers before googles get there, and slam this pc with window 7. Like right now before that clome stuff . <br />There is nothing wrong with this pc.

[mikestatic1]

If $299 makes a laptop good to you, maybe you should aim a bit higher.

[gerrrg]

I saw that the other day and took time figuring out which processor it was, and it turns out it was a single-core neo, 1.6 Ghz. Having the ATI X1200 graphics is only marginally better than Intel's X3100, and still a ways below Intel's 4500MHD/4500M/4700MHD.<br /><br />In terms of cost, it's still a great bargain for a 15" screen anything...but therein lies the problem: For a 15" screen, it's a severely underpowered laptop. If you didn't know ahead of time that the laptop had a single-core 1.6 Ghz CPU, you might mistakenly buy what looked like a regular laptop, only to find out that it performs like a netbook.

[jbcahill]

What a piece of crap.

[mikestatic1]

Quite a bit of excitement for a low grade crapper, don't you think?

[thrushjaz]

I just bought this same exact laptop at micro center for $299. Yes they tried to get me to buy a more expensive one but I just stuck to my guns and bought it. I added a gig of ram for $11.00. nice machine for the price works great.

[filby]

Good for you to stick to your guns. In some stores, customer service is really an excuse for high-pressure, twist-your-arm sales tactics. My advice -- try Fry's (if you're lucky enough to have one near you). They may not have great customer service, but then the sales people seldom try to sell you up to something more expensive. You can get a cheap laptop there any day of the week. And if you live in Silicon Valley and have questions at Fry's, just, ask the customer standing next to you. He or she is probably the one who designed the darn thing in the first place.

[mikestatic1]

Wow, a low-grade laptop for a cheap price. And this excites people??

[AppleSuxLeo]

For the same price I could get the box the Macbook came in ?

[rhyno1]

Yes, you could, and the box would even last longer.

[gbreed07]

Just what the world needs another cheap PC that will cost more to repair than to replace. Another PC that will end up in a land fill within a year. Yea lets promote this junk and sell a million.

[dennisl59]

This is exactly the same as Car Dealers offering a "special", get you in the showroom and upsell you. <br />There's a Sucker Born Every Minute.

[Hey_Radar]

I think at this point, they could drop modems from laptops, in exchange for 11n wireless.

[terminalblue]

where was the last hotel you went to that had wireless N?<br /><br />when was the last time you went to a hotel that had a phone jack?<br /><br />thats why N is a silly standard at this point. and in this price range of computer, the buyer is more likely to have dial up then a Wireless N router.

[jbscpa]

I own this Acer Aspire 5516-5474. I am typing on it right now. <br /> <br />I bought it a week ago at Staples for $299 (with tax $324). <br /> <br />I immediatly threw out the 2 gb of ram and replaced it with 4 gb (2X2gb) of pc6400 ram.. I paid $54 for the RAM at Crucial.dom. Basically, I bought the ram that they recomnded. <br /> <br />The ATI video runs at 1366 X 768. It will play at a DVD in full-screen. But there is a little jerkiness. It will stream a movie off of Hulu, but still a little jerkiness ( I have a blazing fast internet connection.) So, the computer is NOT the greatest for video type multi-media playback. <br /> <br />Mostly, I use it to surf the internet. I use it to store my music files and to sync my iPhone to iTunes. It works great. <br /> <br />The screen is acceptably bright. It has a very narrow viewing area. The movies looked fine. <br /> <br />Battery life is poor, even brand new. At full power on the screen and surfingt the internet while playing music, the battery is dead in just a couple hours. <br /> <br />I think I got what I paid for. <br /> <br />When you discuss paying "just a little more to get X or Y or Z" remember that it does what I want not perfectly but good enough. <br /> <br />John

[TxTom21]

...and this user's comment is EXACTLY what I would expect from a LOW END machine. 'Good enough' and 'acceptable.' <br /><br />If you plan on gaming, keep on moving...right over to the more expensive machines.

[eonicman]

If this is similar to what one of my clients purchased for his Godson, then it may be good enough for a non-technical person. Sure it has a decent processor and a good amount of memory but connectivity is still an issue. If USB and only USB is fine for expansion purposes, then it is a good deal. However, for me, a computer consultant, there should be at least bluetooth and one high speed connectivity interface such as eSATA, firewire or express card. Apple also dropped most port options on the MacBook Air (which still has bluetooth and 802.11n wifi) for those that don't need the extra connectivity, which is why I have a MacBook Pro. Perhaps this is a reasonable means for further reducing the digital divide. This is an amazing time for students. It seems that the one laptop per child and per student has become a reality.

[eonicman]

PS: My client's godson is 16 yrs old. I would have preferred him to have a MacBook, being that he would get a free iPod touch, $100 off a new printer and a computer with all the ports he could possibly ask for along with the possibility of running MacOS along with Windows optimally. Now my client wants me to attempt to make his Acer into a Hacintosh. That will definitely add to the final cost.