Acer Aspire 2003WLMi Review
Acer Aspire 2003WLMi
Acer Aspire 2003WLMi Notebook
The Acer Aspire 2003WLMi has a great-quality, widescreen display and loads of power - but it's too expensive to appeal to anyone but hardened DVD fanatics.
There's also plenty of storage space on the Acer Aspire 2003WLMi's 60GB hard disk - great for storing things like MP3s and video files. If you want to make backup copies of your data, there's also a DVD-RAM DVD writer. Further storage options are offered by a four-in-one card reader located at the front of the notebook, which works with Secure Digital, Smart Media, MMC and Memory Stick cards. There's also a single Type II PC Card slot.
The Acer Aspire 2003WLMi is a cracking notebook. It offers plenty of power, its screen looks great, it's perfect for DVDs, and there's plenty of storage space for music and video files. What stops the Aspire getting an award is its average battery life and its whopping great price tag. At nearly fifteen hundred quid, you'd have to be really mad about watching movies on the move.
Your Comments/Opinions
PC world have the Acer Aspire 2003WLMi on sale now. I bought the last one from our local branch today and I'm pretty impressed. Ricki Baynes
THE HARD DISK OF MY 2003 WLMi HAD TO BE REPLACED BECAUSE OF SOME BAD SECTORS. IT'S OK NOW. NELSON HERCULANO
Here is my Acer story,
and sadly enough there are many other people who have experienced this scenario with their Acer computer too.
I got my Aspire 2003WLMi, which cost me for about €1600, about a year ago. It all started with a blue dead pixel in my screen, which I found extremely annoying because it was right in the middle. Because is was a DOA (dead on arrival), I could let it repair free of charges, within ten days. I was happy, but I had to send it, which I already found it was unprofessional. Anyways, after about a week, I got it back. I opened up the laptop, turned it on and I was pleased to see a dead-pixel free screen. BUT, they did charge me a loose touch pad (you could press it deep down in the laptop) for it, and the right latch which wasn’t holding the screen anymore. Called Acer again, said it wasn’t properly repaired, and I had to send it back. When I finally got it back, the latch and touch pad was repaired. I was pleased, but it seemed that they had to change the whole lcd-screen in order to repair the latch... Guess what, I had a dead pixel again. This time red. Not as annoying as it was with the blue one, but I was at the same point of the very beginning again with the blue pixel, where al these problems have started. And I had no point to complain because of the pixel-policy. But anyway, I accepted it, realising their support sucks. After about a month, my slot loader started refusing to spit out my cd’s. So this time I had no choice, I had to send it again. I let it repair along with the touch pad, which came loose again and also a headphone jack which fell apart. When it came back, it was all repaired. But I noticed red light coming out of the slot loader now. I looked at it to see what was going on, and I saw that Acer had cut out the felt, which was covering the internal mechanics from dust, in order to repair, and they didn’t care about laser radiation. Anyway, now dust is blowing in and out my cd-player, which under guarantee (read: guaranteed state of purchase), thanks to their great support. Also, they didn’t want to repair the messed up headphone jack; “broken headphone jack: it’s ok” there was in the report they included. Notice that this laptop still has to survive another 4 years or so. I send them a complaint mail then, but they still haven’t react. Not even ‘sorry that you have had to experience these problems’ or something like that. I totally gave up, just trying to use the thing and considering to sell it on Ebay or something. I spent the last months without any further problems. Until, two weeks before my guarantee expired, again the latch on my screen was about to fall apart. I waited a couple of days and then tried to call the head of Acer Support. I got him and explained all this, and he asked me to send it again. He managed to repair the headphone-jack and the latch, properly. When I got it back I was satisfied. Apart from the slot loader, which I didn’t mentioned this time, (and the dead pixel but that’s no point because of the pixel-policy), it seemed it could last a couple of years now. That’s about a month ago. Two weeks later, (so two weeks ago this time), the damn thing started crashing each time I tried to make connection to my wireless router. Every time I tried, I got a blue screen, and it rebooted. Over and over again. Again called Acer, stated that I had only a couple of days guarantee left. He said, “no sir, here says you have another three months left”. I asked why they did that, now he couldn’t refuse me to answer, and it seemed that they gave me this because they knew there was something going on inside, and they wanted to set me save for another three months. If I didn’t experience any problems within that period, it would be all right. You see, the computer crashes, I said. While I was speaking, the computer started beeping loud, and I couldn’t turn it off without pulling the battery. He said this clearly was a hardware failure. I know computers too, I know this was the hardware for sure. He said the computer would be exchanged with a new one, probably knowing what was really going on with it. He asked me to send it as quick as possible to see what was going on. Last week I got it back. I have read the letter included. “No trouble found, no hardware issues found”. They just sent it back to me without doing anything to it. I opened the laptop, and amazingly my internet worked for 5 minutes, again, but then the crashing begun again. I think they just tested it for less then 5 minutes and saw it was working alright and returned it. I called Acer again. They said they have tested it with their hdd’s and it worked. I remember I shouted, that a blue screen is most likely a hardware issue, not matter what hdd you slam into it, once you got it, you have a problem for sure, and you will get it again. Then he started to admit and he said I was actually right, but he asked me to format my hard drive this time, before I send it. I said no problem. I formatted, updated windows and the wireless lan driver, but as I expected, I still got the crashes. Called Acer to say it didn’t help and again I don’t believe their test-hdd story. This time I had another guy on the phone and he also stated this sounded as a hardware related issue and didn’t understand how this return could have happened. He asked me to resend it, and said he felt sorry and would be worried to if he got such crashes. I said, ‘Can you guarantee me there is going to actually going happen something this time? Else it’s again wasted time…’. He guaranteed me that. Then I took some photo’s of the crash in steps, and included it. Wrote an extended fault description, and made a movie with my desktop’s webcam and uploaded it trough the laptop trough cable-lan. And again I sent again. Now see how it will come back…
I hope it will now be repaired properly and this will be the end of all this.
Their support sucks, their computers suck and specialty the build quality sucks, you really have to be careful with it. And notice I only took it with me on the road twice! After a year of use, the laptop blinks where your palm rests. And the buttons you press a lots of times like the space button, they also start blinking and fading. I saw this before, but not so bad, it actually became ugly. I have this Targa desktop computer for over 3 years, I have had a problem once: a crashed hard disk, the day after a technique person ringed at my front door carrying a new hard drive.
That is service! And it’s a budget brand. That’s why I bought an Acer actually, because I thought it would make difference and I would never have any problems with that famous brand… seems I was wrong. God I wished I stayed with Targa.
P.S. Sorry for my language mistakes, dutch, y’know.
brecht_de_koker
Our Acer Aspire 1600 has been returned 6 times. I simply switches off when it feels like it. I have to agree, I really hate Acer right now.
Louis Dunlevy
Acer are a nighmare, I purchased a mid range Acer Aspire 1690 from Comet in Feb 2006 and so far it has been returned with screen problems twice. Comet say they dont deal with any returns for Acer products which I think is strange and Acer when you do get in touch with them act like your asking them for the earth. I am hoping that I dont have my screen problems again as I am a mobile book keeper and need a reliable work horse. In hindsight I should have bought a more reliable lap top and investigated a bit more on these sort of problems. I have now taken out an extended 4 year warranty at £ 20.98 per month due to its unreliability as I know its not going to make 2 Years. How can manufacturers and Suppliers get away with providing sub-standrd products and poor after care? Keep your box if your buying one of these as your forever packing it up and returning it.
Not a Happy Bunny! Rachel Membury
can't get a driver for my acer aspire 2003wlmi,plzzz help ,contact at 14294389"sun.ac.za Douw
Got an Acer ASpire 2003 WLMi for Xmas, several years ago now. It's been great, for the most part. Slot loader is still fine in mine, and I can't honestly say anything went wrong within the first 3 years.
After that I dropped something heavy on the screen which now has a rip in it, but still works perfectly all over the rest of it. Then I dragged it onto a hard floor by tripping over a cable, and it still works. Did the same again months later, and now it's started being odd. Windows won't load, but Linux will. Even a reformat and restore won't change it. Presume hard drive is slightly screwed now.
Final problem, when tripping over the cable, which belonged to my headphones I nearly ripped the headphone socket out (all laptop makes - build them more sturdily - or more easily replaceable) so now when you plug headphones in, some sound still comes through the speakers.
So 3 faults in 3 years. All directly related to me being inadvertently evil to it.
Not bad, all things considered. Phil, UK