Need Help Deciding on a new laptop

[hawaiian style]

Im going to Japan next year to study for the 09-10 school year. I was thinking about getting a new laptop. I was looking at tigerdirect.com and I found 2 laptops that seem good for my budget and purpose. (School work/ internet use/ some gaming (mostly mmo rpgs))

BUT... the problem is that I do not know which one to get. The Acer model or the Lenovo. I have never heard of Lenovo, but that may be due to the location of where I live (Hawaii...) So yea. I need some personal experience/opinions about which on to buy.

My budget IS about 500$ (Roughly the price for these 2)

The urls are:

Lenovo
Lenovo 3000 G530 4446-24U Laptop Computer - Intel Pentium Dual Core T3400, 3GB DDR2, 250GB HDD, DVDRW, 15.4" WXGA, Vista Home Premium 444624U at TigerDirect.com

Acer
Acer Extensa EX5630-4250 Refurbished Notebook PC - Intel Pentium Dual-Core T3200 2.0GHz, 802.11bgn WLAN, 3GB DDR2, 250GB HDD, DL DVDRW, 15.4" WXGA, Webcam, Microsoft® Windows® Vista Home Premium RB-LX.EBW0X.008 at TigerDirect.com

Ill be waiting for your opinions (I will probably go with the first persuasive post I see because I am eager to get it now )

 

[Harper]

I have never heard of Lenovo, but that may be due to the location of where I live (Hawaii...) So yea. I need some personal experience/opinions about which on to buy.

Lenovo is or was IBM. IBM was outsorcing Lenovo to build IBM Notebooks for years. Then one day, IBM desided that they would rather focus there attension on bigger projects. So Lenovo purchased the rights to distribute and what was IBM notebooks.
Lenovo (or IBM) has got a good reputation for building solid laptops Acer on the other hand is just junk.

Between the 2, I would purchase the Lenovo. Acers might not be the worst laptop on my opinion, but they are not far from it. Just see the following thread some time
http://www.techist.com/forums/f84/laptop-brands-do-they-matter-206820/

If you are going to Japan, you might want to consider Toshiba or NEC.

 

[Alvin.C]

Hello,

I agree with Keyboard Cowboy. Go with the Lenovo.

You can checkout a video review of the Lenovo 3000 G530 laptop (with identical specifications) here: YouTube - Lenovo 3000 G530 4446-23U Laptop .

 

[Harper]

You can checkout a video review of the Lenovo 3000 G530 laptop (with identical specifications) here: YouTube - Lenovo 3000 G530 4446-23U Laptop .

We just started getting the G530 down here is australia. Good value for money those laptops.

 

[Jorsoft]

I would go with the Lenovo as well between the two. The Acer is a refurbished unit to boot so it's extra iffy; I'd definitely stay away from that one.

 

[FrozenSilent]

I'd go for the acer comp. Just cause IBM's look pretty *** but anyways it's your choice. Acer seems to have better stuff.

 

[carnageX]

Acer makes good displays (have an Acer monitor right now and love it), but Lenovo makes excellent and sturdy notebooks. I agree on the Lenovo.

 

[snowsurfer]

Lenovo all the way. Acer compared to Lenovo (as a brand) is like Yugo compared to a Benz.