Nervous about buying Aspire S7?

cory975
cory975 Member Posts: 3 New User

I bought the Acer Aspire S7 392-9890 on Amazon yesterday. Alot of reviewers on Amazon keep saying there Ultrabooks stop working, have faulty keys, ect and had to send theirs back 2-3 times before getting a perfect one. Does anyone know the probability of me getting a defective one? Should I have ordered off the Acer site instead? Also how good is Acer Customer Care on handling these situations?

Answers

  • dz20
    dz20 Member Posts: 35

    Tinkerer

    You should be fine. Just remember that most of the time the only people who post reviews are the ones that are unhappy. Enjoy your new S7-392. I am jealous. I have the old one. I will probaby buy one soon enough and give the old one to my wife.

  • In addition, I have found Amazon to be nothing short of excellent when I've had cause to send an item back within the first 30 days. You don't have to pay return postage and they will arrange pick up from your home too. Give it a good test when you get it and satisfy yourself that everything is as it should be. Any doubts - return it.

     

    Edit:

    I've just bought an Acer S series monitor from Amazon. It went missing (probably sitting under a Christmas tree somewhere as I type)!!! I didn't have to worry - Amazon shipped me a replacement FOC by 1st class courier. You can't moan about their customer service.

     

  • elkstreet
    elkstreet Member Posts: 8 New User

    I've had two different S7-392s. One from Microsoft which died after one week. One from Amazon which lasted 6 weeks and then died. Sent it back to Acer repair. After getting it back, it lasted for two weeks and is dead again. Going back to repair again. You make the call...

     

  • ScottyC
    ScottyC Member Posts: 433 Practitioner WiFi Icon

    Hit and miss, but I'm holding an S7 right now and I love the thing. It's thin and sleek and has the feel of an Apple product. It's also very powerful and if you treat it right it will do the same to you. Had it for quite a while and never had an issue with it. Most of the issues you'll read about stem from Windows 8 so I would advise you do all of your updates right away. You can also disable fast-boot in the bios and you'll never see those black screen issues.

     

    And it's true, Amazon has amazing service so if you were to have an issue you could easily have it replaced. Short of that, Acer will take care of you should you run into any issues. Most of the unit's that are being sent in are for black screen errors. It's been determined that Microsoft has launced updates that interfere with both the fastboot feature (which they demanded) and the sleep function. This means that the unit is perpetually in sleep mode. So as Windows 8 becomes more stable the return rate of these machines is going way down.

     

    If you're really unsure just make sure you create a recovery usb. That way if anything happens to go wrong you can easily fix it yourself.

     

    Enjoy your new laptop!

    ScottyC

  • Techno-Man
    Techno-Man Member Posts: 3 New User

    I have had my S7-391 (i7 version) for about 6 months now.  While I have had Bluetooth connectivity issues, I really love this laptop.  It is light, fast and the battery life is pretty good.  I wish Acer would have used a more standard plug - I recently took this on a trip to Mexico, and realized just before I left the country (but after I left home) that I left my power cord at home.  I tried to find a universal adapter at Best Buy but could not find one with a small enough plug.  When I returned, I ordered a second adapter to stick in my backpack so this would never happen again.

     

    Those issues aside, this has been one of the best laptops I have ever owned.  I am about to buy the S7-392 and pass this one on to my wife.  Your mileage may vary, but as it has been pointed out earlier, generally only the dissatisfied customers post.  When it works well, most people just don't think speaking up is a necessity...

     

  • cory975
    cory975 Member Posts: 3 New User

    Thanks for all the responses! My 392 is going to be delivered sometime today!

  • woodenmask
    woodenmask Member Posts: 8 New User

    I'm not sure that I would reccomend. I bought my s7-392 from amazon when it first came out. There have been little issues that have plagued this machine, and the support thatI have received from acer is horrible. I have posted on this site to try to get some help as well as called and did the chat support. Aside from the bugs that are numerously reported, I have had issues with my battery meter reading incorrectly, and three times I have had the Blue Screen of Death, In addition, since updating to 8.1 I have had issues with the sleep responsiveness. It no longer immediatley wakes from sleep, it takes about the same time as if it were hibernation mode. 

     

    There only fix for me to reset the whole computer and then send it back in. I am in the middle of school, so that is not possible at the moment.

     

    I do really enjoy the machine, but the premium price tag should come with better service and support. I would hold off for an asus if I were you.

  • ScottyC
    ScottyC Member Posts: 433 Practitioner WiFi Icon

    It's already paid for, and most of the issues with this unit are related to Windows and not the machine itself. It's impossible for Acer to patch Microsoft proprietary software without their permission and they're not quick to give it. Windows 8.1 is installed as a new operating system and not as an update so any original configurations will be lost, and drivers are generally not installed automatically. This falls under the "thank you Microsoft" category and not really the "Acer's fault" category. On top of that, Asus is having similar issues with their Windows 8 units. It's really not limited to just one brand. Battery not charging can be fixed by reinstalling Microsoft AHCI compliant charging device from within the device manager under batteries. BSOD is almost always a software issue so you just have to wait for a patch (like the days of Vista) and the sleep responsiveness is a known issue for Windows 8.1 with MANY different models and brands.

     

    I would suggest backing up your important files and doing a reset, which will bring you to Windows 8.0 where you can do all the updates and either wait for 8.1 to become more stable or you can update and install 8.1 compatible drivers. I prefer Windows 8.0 with the Start Menu plugin installed for the time being. Acer really wouldn't want you to do a reset and then send it in, it's likely more a matter of do the reset and if the problem you're having persists they'll send it in. Fact of the matter is that once you return to Win 8.0 you should be just fine until Microsoft can get their #%@ together and push a proper update.

  • woodenmask
    woodenmask Member Posts: 8 New User

    That is simply not true, Scotty. It is not windows fault that my spacebar does not regiester many times,  for example. That is  a hardware issue. Now the other issues is service. Everytime I try to reach out to a support technican, I get the same response, revert back to 8.0 and then update to 8.1. I have done that, including manually reinstalling drivers. 

     

    Your response does not address the multiple "Blue screen of  death"  issues nor the inaccurate battery indicator. I have wiped my system and reinstalled the OS. same issue. 

     

    I do not have the luxury of sending in my machine, I am in the middle of the semester and need my computer.

     

    I took a leap of faith in purchasing the highest end ultrabook that acer offered, in the past I have gone with Asus as a trusted brand. I could not recommend buying a high end acer at this point.

     

    Don't get me wrong, there are things that I really lkeaboutthis machine, but the service and little bugs are unacceptable when paying $1,500 for a machine.

  • woodenmask
    woodenmask Member Posts: 8 New User

    Scotty,

     

    I posted a question on the discussion here and did not receive a response. Since you seem to be knowledgeable about the machine, would you be willing to look at the post and possible provide some insight? Thanks

     

    http://community.acer.com/t5/Ultra-Thin/Battery-Problems-s7-392/m-p/148945

     

    by the way. I did restore back to 8.0 and then re upgraded to 8.1 in addition to updating certain drivers that gave me issues.

     

    Also, the "kernal_issues" BSOD is not a software issue

  • ScottyC
    ScottyC Member Posts: 433 Practitioner WiFi Icon

    Insight provided, see your thread for respose.

     

    For the record, the kernel is software that essentially translates application instructions to computer useable assembly language. So yes, kernal_issues BSODs are almost always software related, be it corrupt or missing files, bad configuration or faulty mapping tables, etc...

     

     

This discussion has been closed.