Hot Deal on Acer Aspire AS6930-6455 16″ Notebook PC

How good of a deal is the Acer Aspire AS6930-6455 16″ Notebook PC available for $599 until 10/4 at OfficeMax?

Description

• Intel Core 2 Duo T5800 Processor
• 16.0″ WXGA Crystal-Bright Display
• Windows Vista Home Premium OS 64-bit
• 250GB 5400rpm SATA Hard Drive
• 4096MB Memory
• Integrated webcam & microphone
• 8x SuperMulti DVD Burner
• Intel WiFi Link 5100 (802.11a/b/g/n WLAN)
• Intel graphics media accelerator 4500MHD
• Dolby 8-Optimized Surround Sound with 2 built-in stereo speakers and subwoofer
• 1-Year Limited warranty

I’ve been keeping an eye out on laptops and trying to figure out what to do with my desktop; either upgrade it and keep using it or turn it into a media center/server and buy a laptop.  My preference is on the last one, but that option is also the most costly.

The big thing with this laptop is it has the new Intel T5800 processor in it that runs at 2.0GHz/800MHz front side bus.  The previous generation processors were the T5750 at 2.0GHz/667MHz and the T5850 at 2.16GHz/667MHz.  So I started my comparison shopping by searching for the processor and finding other models that will be using it.

• BestBuy: HP – Pavilion Laptop – $799.99
  • very similar specs, no wireless N, smaller form factor with 14.1″ display

• Walmart: Dell 17″ Studio 17 –  $898.00
  • larger (320GB) hard drive, no wireless N, larger form factor with 17″ display

• BestBuy: Dell Inspiron – $749.00
  • less (3GB) RAM, no Wireless-N, smaller form factor with 15.4″ display

So far nothing even in the range of $599.99.  The one last thing I decided to do was see if I could build my own Dell and see if the Dell Member Purchase Program would offer a better deal.  Problem, the T5800 processor is not yet available for customizing in a laptop so my builds below are approximate.  One thing that is mandatory for me is wireless N as I just purchased the Dlink Gigabyte Wireless N Router. The images go to the complete PDF summary of each build.

Dell Inspiron 1525 – $884 – Intel T5850, 4GB RAM, 250GB Hard Drive, Wireless N, 15.4″ display

Dell Studio 15 – $924 – Intel T5850, 4GB RAM, 250GB Hard Drive, Wireless N, 15.4″ display

So the final verdict seems to be that the OfficeMax price on the Acer Aspire is the best deal for a laptop in its class right now.  My only major complaint might be that the 16″ display, while still at 1280 x 800 pixels makes the laptop a little larger than a 15.4″ without really giving more screen realestate.  It also comes in at a pretty hefty 7.49lbs which is about 1lb heavier than most in its size.  I’m going to have to give this one some thought.