qbie Posted February 9, 2006 Share Posted February 9, 2006 (edited) Acer Aspire 3023WLMi Laptop Review I don't write many reviews, so comments please! As advertised on Acer's website, the 3023WLMi has the following features. AMD Sempron 3000+ (25W), Microsoft? Windows? XP Home Edition, 15.4" WXGA Acer CrystalBrite, 128 ATI X600, 512MB (2*256), 80GB, DVD-Dual double layer, wired & 802.11g, LiIon, S-video, IEEE, FIR, 6 in 1 card reader, Acer GridVista, Acer Arcade, MS-Works The main reason for purchasing this laptop was so that I could have a second computer to play WoW on. Having got my dad addicted to the game I wanted something that I could use in my bedroom. With an X600 mobile graphics card in, and at a reasonable price (Approx ?640 from eBuyer), this laptop seemed to me the ideal choice. I could pay more for a Pentium-M laptop, these usually only have integrated graphics. I placed my order with eBuyer on Saturday 4th Feb, stating I would like it delivered on Wednesday 8th. Imagine my surprise when on Monday an email appears in my inbox stating my laptop has been shipped! Sure enough, at 10am on Tuesday, a Citylink courier knocks on my front door with my laptop! I immediately opened the packaging and spent a moment admiring my new laptop. Asthetically it looks very nice, with a silver finish to the lid, a nice black keyboard which is pretty responsive, much nicer than other laptop keyboards I have used in the past. Upon turning the unit on, I was immediately impressed with the quality of the screen. It is much brighter and vivid than my old Fujitsu Amilo laptop, which I take to be Acers "CrystalBrite" technology, similar to what many other laptop manufacturers use these days. While the laptop was booting up for the first time, I noticed something odd on the small sticker stuck to the uniATI Mobility Radeon X700/b>. Wow, is this a free upgrade on the Graphics Card? When the machine got into Windows, I checked device manager, and sure enough the Graphics is a 128MB Mobility X700. Bonus! While rooting around the laptop a little more, I noticed some more upgrades which I wasn't expecting. The eBuyer specification page stated a 4200RPM hard drive, but in actual fact it is a Samsung 5400RPM drive. Also, the CPU is actually a Sempron 3100+, which has 256k of cache opposed to 128k on the 3000+. The first program I installed on it was, naturally, WoW. Running it with 512MB seemed a little sluggish, but I do have a 512mb PC2700 Sodimm stick spare, so I replaced one of the 256MB it comes with to give 768MB altogether. The difference was astounding, WoW loaded much quicker, and didn't struggle when walking around Stormwind and Ironforge. Running it in Widescreen in a window runs very well, and I've been able to play a little with no issues at all. Battery life is also good. I've not tested the battery playing games, but using the laptop to surf the net over my WLAN and sorting out files on my main PC over the network, the battery lasts for approx 3 hours, which is virtually double my old laptop. The screen does dim when running off the battery, but it is still bright and very readable. The laptop doesn't seem to get very hot, although I haven't measured the temperatures as of yet, and the fans are quiet, only really getting noticable as the laptop warms up. The inbuilt WiFi works fine, connected to my Netgear DG834G ADSL Modem/Router. The included software bundle is typical for Acer laptops. The Acer Arcade is a media-center-ish program, allowing you access to your Movies, Music etc.. from a pretty user-friendly interface. It's not something I'd use myself but if you need it, it looks quite nice. Overall, I'm enjoying this laptop very much, and am extremely impressed with it. The main decision to buy it was due to the Graphics Card, and seeing as how I got one better than I was expected, I'm extremely chuffed to bits with it! Pros - X700 Graphics Card - Good Battery Life - Free Upgrades to Graphics, CPU, Hard Drive than what is advertised! - Responsive Keyboard - Bright and Vivid Screen - Integrated Card Reader - Good WiFi Reception Cons - 512MB Limiting for todays games, upgrade as soon as you can! - Both RAM slots taken up, so to upgrade you need to remove 256MBMy verdict 5/5! Well done Acer./b> Edited February 9, 2006 by qbie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
instant.human Posted February 9, 2006 Share Posted February 9, 2006 nice review. some more photos wouldve been nice. keep on writing. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thermal+paste Posted February 9, 2006 Share Posted February 9, 2006 good review! run a screen saver if you want to protect the screen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S.MULLA Posted February 9, 2006 Share Posted February 9, 2006 install mactell on there.. :p nice review- hope u enjoy it... what screen size and resolution is it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PapaLazarous Posted February 9, 2006 Share Posted February 9, 2006 nice review qubz0r, the person who replied b4 me = 1337 n00bz0r. McKenzie = oWnaGe! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S.MULLA Posted February 9, 2006 Share Posted February 9, 2006 ^lol u g4y f4g.... :p i'll get you back @ work.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martyn Posted February 14, 2006 Share Posted February 14, 2006 ^lol u g4y f4g.... :p i'll get you back @ work.. Send him a Valentines card :p Nice review of the laptop by the way, seems to fulfill all of your needs. I am surprised that the laptop you bought was upgraded that considerably though, you lucky thing! I myself have a Toshiba Satellite Pro (P20 17 inch and sexy red) laptop which I use mainly for watching telly on and other various things, I did originally plan on using the laptop to do work on but that hasnt materialised, to be honest I wish I hadnt bought it. But nice laptop, and nice review! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
majortom1981 Posted February 14, 2006 Share Posted February 14, 2006 I have the equivalent acer laptop in a pentium m I have the 1691 wmli from acre has the same things except a pentium m 1.6 and no ati card but exactly the same everywhere else. Does yours allow ddr2 memory? My acer laptop does. Anyway acer laptops are some of the best laptops wich is surprising. I would recomend them to anybody :) I dont know about yours but mine is light. Also that acer arcade is useful for watching dvds. It does a better job at stretching the movies and the widescreen dvds that arent formatted right. try it you will be surprised :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LosingHold Posted February 14, 2006 Share Posted February 14, 2006 This review was perfect because it reference WoW the whole time. If only every review was in relation to WoW. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-AZ Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 Nice review Qubz0r, Mo Mulla suckz0rz, btw i think acer laptops own! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.Ali Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 Impressive enjoy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ciZiss Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 Weird, mine 3023 has a 3000 sempron and za 4200rpm HD. :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TECHNO MESSA Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 Hi Qbie And All, I Got Virtually the same laptop just wondering what signal up is :blink: considering i dont actually have wireless built in but there is a button, once cliked it says no device any ideas? thanks messa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qbie Posted February 19, 2006 Author Share Posted February 19, 2006 Allo mate, Signal up is to do with where the wireless antenna is located, I think it's along the side of the screen to provide a better signal. Not sure why they've advertised it on yours if you don't have a built in wifi card, I suppose the antenna is still there in case you wanna add it later. To answer someone elses question, it takes DDR 2700, not DDR2.. being as it's a sempron I wouldn't expect DDR2 to be honest. It's fast enough for me though! qbie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TECHNO MESSA Posted February 22, 2006 Share Posted February 22, 2006 THANKS QBIE :):) :cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharonJones Posted March 1, 2006 Share Posted March 1, 2006 I was thinking about getting an Acer, except with the Turion 64 processor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AbandonedTrolley Posted March 4, 2006 Share Posted March 4, 2006 I have the 1692 WLMi and it's certainly a good laptop. Again i think mine has been upgraded in the graphics card department since I bought it in November. But never let me down in the months i've had it so far :) Acer's certainly seem a good choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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