Too bad, first experience using Acer notebook left a lasting impression

My first experience buying Acer Travel Mate 6292 notebook at IT Fair gave a bad impression. The notebook was loud, with the CPU fan churning too much distraction. The keyboard felt hot to touch especially around the CPU area suggesting that it was over-heating. The usage of external cooler to dissipate heat was useless. After a while, I couldn't start the machine. The power button was useless and had to bring it to the Service Center. Got it fixed.

Then, after several month, the notebook wasn't powering up again. Luckily it was still under warranty (thanks to the extended warranty I paid during the IT Fair). The Service Center said the motherboard got burnt. They suggested that they could offer a buy back and upgrade option, e.g. I just have to pay extra money to get a brand new and better model notebook. I felt it was unneccesary wastage of money and decided to go through the revamp. A new motherboard was fixed to the machine.

The same loud fan and hot keyboard was still a nuisance. Anyway, got to use the machine for several months before the screen went black. It seemed that the backlight (inverter problem) or LED screen could be causing this problem, because as I plug my LCD monitor via VGA cable, I could use my notebook. Right now, the only way I can use my notebook is to take it as a desktop plugged to an LCD monitor. What a bummer. I could invest in an inverter or LED screen but have no idea how to test which is not working. The inverter costs sgd 19.00, while the LED screen sgd170.

I have Samsung machine which I have used for > 7 years. An NEC notebook which I have used for >5 years. Another Samsung notebook which I have used >4 years and another Samsung netbook >3 years. Having an Acer that broke down around 1 year sort of shunned me from ever trying Acer notebook again. I would try desktop, or home theater PC (HTPC) from Acer, but with caution. That is an unfortunate long lasting impression from first experience.