Overall:57 out of 100 points
In early fall 2009 at Acer’s global press conference, the company’s head honchos stated their goal of overtaking Dell as the number 2 global PC vendor within the next few months. It was a pretty high bar, especially since the Acer brand wasn’t very well known in the U.S. before the Aspire One netbook brought the vendor to prominence. Yet when the 3rd quarter results came in, Acer squeezed by Dell, shipping 10.7 million units. This meteoric rise is due to the release of solid mainstream and ultraportable notebooks, as well as the company consistently offering great value in most categories. However, there is still room for improvement, particularly when it comes to design, software, and technical support.
Performance & Reviews: 10 out of 20 points
Tied for the middle ground with Samsung, such systems as those in the Timeline series offer above-average battery life, but the graphics performance among most Acer notebooks hasn’t been very impressive.
Design: 7 out of 15 points
With the exception of the Gemstone line and Ferrari One, most of Acer’s netbooks and notebooks look rather plain. The company instead put much of its energy into making its notebooks affordable, but we’d like to see some pizazz as well.
Keyboard & Touchpad: 10 out of 15 points
This brand’s FineTip keyboard is a bit of an acquired taste, but the typing experience is generally good. This helped the brand to an above-average showing in this category. However, the company’s touchpads could be larger and the buttons less stiff, particularly on netbooks.
Tech Support: 6 out of 15 points
E-mail exchanges for technical support should not take 24 hours to solve basic questions. The two-minute voicemail pitch for extended warranties was definitely a turnoff. And we’re not fans of the company’s limited support hours for some (but not all) systems.
Value & Selection: 12 out of 15 points
Though not strictly a budget brand, Acer’s mainstream notebook prices fall between $400 and $900. This helps the company make up for its lack of customization options. With very low prices and plenty of models available through both retail stores and online vendors, Acer earned a respectable third place in this category.
Software: 5 out of 10 points
The companies that score highest in this category have given a good amount of thought and energy into simplifying and improving the user experience. While Acer doesn’t ignore software—it includes a handful of convenient tools with its laptops, such as eRecover and Launch Manager—there is a lot of room to grow here.
Customer Satisfaction: 3 out of 5 points
Its 23.3 percent failure rate on the third-party SquareTrade study is fairly disappointing. And the comments we received have been mixed, with one reader exclaiming, “All the Acer products I have bought were built poorly.” But another said, “I like the focus on price, battery life, and great designs.” With 60 percent of our readers ranking the brand as above average, giving it a B or higher, the good and the bad seem to have cancelled each other out.
Innovation: 4 out of 5 points
Acer was among the first to offer touch (on the Aspire 5738PG) and 3D (Aspire 5738DG) at affordable prices, which puts this company at a close second to ASUS for its forward thinking.
In early fall 2009 at Acer’s global press conference, the company’s head honchos stated their goal of overtaking Dell as the number 2 global PC vendor within the next few months. It was a pretty high bar, especially since the Acer brand wasn’t very well known in the U.S. before the Aspire One netbook brought the vendor to prominence. Yet when the 3rd quarter results came in, Acer squeezed by Dell, shipping 10.7 million units. This meteoric rise is due to the release of solid mainstream and ultraportable notebooks, as well as the company consistently offering great value in most categories. However, there is still room for improvement, particularly when it comes to design, software, and technical support.
Performance & Reviews: 10 out of 20 points
Tied for the middle ground with Samsung, such systems as those in the Timeline series offer above-average battery life, but the graphics performance among most Acer notebooks hasn’t been very impressive.
Design: 7 out of 15 points
With the exception of the Gemstone line and Ferrari One, most of Acer’s netbooks and notebooks look rather plain. The company instead put much of its energy into making its notebooks affordable, but we’d like to see some pizazz as well.
Keyboard & Touchpad: 10 out of 15 points
This brand’s FineTip keyboard is a bit of an acquired taste, but the typing experience is generally good. This helped the brand to an above-average showing in this category. However, the company’s touchpads could be larger and the buttons less stiff, particularly on netbooks.
Tech Support: 6 out of 15 points
E-mail exchanges for technical support should not take 24 hours to solve basic questions. The two-minute voicemail pitch for extended warranties was definitely a turnoff. And we’re not fans of the company’s limited support hours for some (but not all) systems.
Value & Selection: 12 out of 15 points
Though not strictly a budget brand, Acer’s mainstream notebook prices fall between $400 and $900. This helps the company make up for its lack of customization options. With very low prices and plenty of models available through both retail stores and online vendors, Acer earned a respectable third place in this category.
Software: 5 out of 10 points
The companies that score highest in this category have given a good amount of thought and energy into simplifying and improving the user experience. While Acer doesn’t ignore software—it includes a handful of convenient tools with its laptops, such as eRecover and Launch Manager—there is a lot of room to grow here.
Customer Satisfaction: 3 out of 5 points
Its 23.3 percent failure rate on the third-party SquareTrade study is fairly disappointing. And the comments we received have been mixed, with one reader exclaiming, “All the Acer products I have bought were built poorly.” But another said, “I like the focus on price, battery life, and great designs.” With 60 percent of our readers ranking the brand as above average, giving it a B or higher, the good and the bad seem to have cancelled each other out.
Innovation: 4 out of 5 points
Acer was among the first to offer touch (on the Aspire 5738PG) and 3D (Aspire 5738DG) at affordable prices, which puts this company at a close second to ASUS for its forward thinking.
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