Acer Aspire 5601AWLMi Info?

Hey everyone,

I recently purchased the Acer Aspire 5601AWLMi from CompUSA.
Quick Stats:
* PROC: T2050 (1.66 Ghz, 2MB Cache, 533Mhz), Intel 945GM Express Chipset
* O/S : WinXP Media Center Edition 2005
* SCREEN : 15.4" WXGA Acer CrystalBrite
* VIDEO : Intel 950 integrated graphics, 244MB max shared @ 1280x800
* MEMORY : 512MB DDR2
* HDD : 100GB (5400 rpm)
* OPT. DRIVE : DVD-RW
* WEIGHT : 3KG (6.6 lbs)
* BATTERY LIFE : 8-Cell, 4.5-hrs
http://www.compusa.com/products/pro...duct_code=340191&Pn=Aspire_5601AWLMi_Notebook
It was $599 US after instant and mail-in rebates. I thought it was a great deal and will probably write up a review after I use it for a while.

Anyway, I can't seem to find any sort of "official" product info or support pages for this particular model. Can someone point me in the right direction? Thanks!

 

I'm thinking of taking advantage of the same deal that ends this Sunday. The only thing I can figure is that this model was meant for the Canadian market as Acer Canada is the only place I could find some info:

http://www.acer.ca/acereuro/page4.d...aram=CA&LanguageISOCtxParam=en&crc=3780744668

I've been driving myself crazy trying to find the best core duo value right now and even though this unit doesn't have everything I would like, with the rebate, I don't think there's a better deal.

 

Yeah, that Canadian page was the only official page I found too.

Did you end up getting the 5601 AWLMi? I've had it for a few weeks now and I love it. The only minor gripes I had were the lack of firewire (but an inexpensive PC card took care of that), and the integrated graphics are a bit weak - However I don't play games, so that hasn't really been an issue.

 

Yes, I did buy it about a week ago and got the same deal for $599. I did the rebate online and now I guess they are just waiting to make sure I don't return it. I won't get a chance to work much with it until I come back from a trip in early Sept. Did you do a clean re-install? How do you like Media Center - I've never used it. How is the sound?

Way I look at it, it didn't have everything I wanted and I was considering Dell and Asus strongly, but where else do you get a dual core laptop for $599?!
BTW, I picked it up in a Comp USA store in NYC with the worst and most disorganized service staff I've ever seen.

Interesting that when you search for drivers it comes up with the Travelmate 4220. I guess the Aspire 5600 must be a home oriented version of the 4220.

 

I didn't do a clean re-install. I think I might have to though. It's been working good enough out of the box, but sometimes it will "stall out" during shutdown (some apps don't close properly). I haven't used any of the Media Center stuff yet. The speakers are not very good. I highly recommend external speakers/headphones.

Yeah, I didn't know what to make of the Aspire 5600/Travelmate 4220 on the website. So far I'm not exactly thrilled with Acer's web support for this laptop.

 

Hey. I want to buy this notebook. Can you gve a review? Thanks.

 

This isn't going to make you feel any better. I sent this inquiry in on the Acer support site on 08-25, before I left for a west coast trip. I just received their response today and although they do apologize, it wasn't much of a response. I haven't had a chance to use the laptop yet so I really can't give a review:

 

Beware of the rebate!! They denied my wifes. She then called and they explained of maybe a glitch in the system after giving them some numbers. They changed and put thru the rebate without any hastle.

They must be trying to get away with something here

 

Hey, now this laptop is $549 US after rebates!

http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?pfp=cat3&product_code=340191&Pn=Aspire_5601AWLMi_Notebook

I bought it when it was $599 US after rebates, and I thought it was a great deal. I've been using it for a few weeks now. I've been a bit too busy to write up a review, but I think it's a nice laptop.

Quick Pros and Cons:
+ the 1.66 GHz (533 Mhz fsb) Core Duo proc is pretty quick
+ 15.4" CrystalBrite screen looks great
+ Battery Life - I get about 4.5 hours (web browsing, watching AVIs, listening to MP3s)
+ Big HD (100 GB, 5400 rpm) and DVDR drive

- Integrated graphics are a bit weak
- speakers are very weak (but what laptop speakers aren't? I use my headphones anyway...)
- Acer web support is lacking
- No original install discs, only image disc restore

It also doesn't have firewire, but a cheap pc card (under 10 bux at newegg!) took care of that. I wasn't having any issues with 512 MB of RAM, but I picked up a 1 GB stick of RAM just because.

 

Did the extra RAM make an immediate difference? I was thinking of doing the same. I guess we could have waited a bit for another $50 off but who knew.

 

Well actually, just for kicks I checked around for the 5601, but it's pretty much completely sold out by now. I still say $600 for a core duo is an outstanding value.

As far as the RAM goes, I noticed a quicker boot time (esp. the Norton Antivirus part), Photoshop had less lag when using filters on large files (JPG from a 10 megapixel camera, for example). Office 2k3 was pretty much the same, but I don't have any Office files larger than 500k. Watching videos (avi/mpg) and DVDs was rock solid with both 512 MB and 1.5 GB.

OH yeah, and this link (from the sticky thread) has a folder for the Acer Aspire 3680/ 5600. Not a whole lot there, but it's something....

 

i bought this laptop from compusa as well. so far so good.

but whats up with the 2 HDD partitions? its like split in half and the D drive is empty.

and what kind of ram did you guys add? i dont know all the numbers/types of ram associated with upgrading. like pc 4200 blah blah blah.

 

The D drive has a few hidden things, but nothing noteworthy (at least that I could tell). As it is a different partition, it's a good place to store data in case you need to restore your C drive.

This is the type of RAM that I got: 200-Pin DDR2 SO-DIMM DDR2 533 (PC2 4200)

 

thanks for the info. ill upgrade my ram in the future. 512mb is getting the job done for now.

as for the partitions. anyway i can make the D drive smaller and C drive bigger? Most of my data will be installed onto C. plus my music , photos and all that fancy junk gets recorded onto the C drive as well.

 

I got my 5601 from CompUSA yesterday for $590 after rebate ($200 rebate). I was happy to see that the CPU is better than specified on the web site (T2250 instead of T2050) and the 512MB RAM is only in one slot so it will be easier to upgrade the memory. I am thinking about to take the one currently onsale in Circuitcity (Kingston 512 MB PC2-4200 for $35 after rebate). Any suggestions?
This is my second Acer notebook and the build quility sounds much better than AS 5004.
I also checked the 2M Pi and got 1m30S

 

Good job on picking up the 5601! People I know back in the USA (I live in Japan, and picked up my laptop on vacation last month) can't seem to find this model anymore.

As far as the RAM goes, $35 AR for 512 MB is a pretty good deal, and 1 GB total is a good amount to have.

 

I added a 1GB stick today - definitely sensed a difference in boot time. What is the empty slot to the top and to the right of the memory slots if you've got the laptop with the back open and the memory card slots closest to you?

 

I thought I read somewhere that it was a graphics card slot. However, I'm not sure if it can be enabled due to the integrated graphics....

 

Thanks for the info - with integrated graphics, it can't be enabled so it will just have to look good empty!

I think you mentioned you tried a PCI Firewire card. Have you tried any others? I guess we can use as many as we want interchangeably?

 

I haven't tried any others. Including the PCMCIA firewire card, my only other device I have is a USB optical wireless mouse (Kensington Mini 72214, great mouse btw).

 

I got the Aspire 5601 from CompUSA because it was such a good deal. But out of the box, I got intermittant blue screen of death on start-up, then multiple reboots until Windows finally came up. I downloaded some drivers from the Acer site and up-dated Windows. Eventually did the recovery from the ghost image on the hard drive partition, back to factory default status. Still get blue screen of death from time to time. Sent an e-mail to Acer.

Does anyone know of anyone who's had this problem and solved it? I hate to return the computer, and maybe it's too late for me to do that...

Thanks.

(I did upgrade memory with the $35 512MB from Circuit City and it does help--when I don't get the blue screen of death.)

I see there is a download on the Acer site for a Bluetooth driver. Does this mean we can get Bluetooth from the Aspire 5601?

 

wow, this is the first I've ever heard of anyone getting the BSOD with the 5601 out of the box.

About the RAM, I read your other post, and it sounds like the RAM module wasn't seated properly. I take it that it's ok now?

About bluetooth. When I hit the switch, the OSD says there are no devices. Which makes sense because I don't have any bluetooth devices. But it makes me wonder what would happen if I actually had a bluetooth device, hmmm.....

 

As I recall, I don't think the 5601 has Bluetooth, although it may have the Acer Bluetooth button (don't have the laptop in front of me). I think you'd probably need a Bluetooth usb adapter which I don't think are too expensive.

I've never had the BSOD or had any problems booting the laptop up at any time, even after adding the 1GB memory stick.

 

Each time I put a cdr in the dvd drive and then close it so I can install a program, read some data, etc., the dvd rom drive will pop open by itself just after I close it. Sometimes it will do it multiple times or until I open up my computer and select it and double click to accesss it. Has anyone experienced this? It works but this symptom is becoming a bit annoying. Can anyone think of any possible causes?

 

(copied and pasted from the "Unlocking the Acer Aspre's 5672Wlmi's hidden secrets" thread)

With so many BSODs, it sounds like you may have a hardware problem. Have you contacted Acer tech support? Maybe take it to the shop and have them take a look at it.

As for your other questions, I don't use the Acer utilities. I was considering doing a clean install of WinXP pro, but it's working just fine with the default Acer stuff.

 

I purchased the same Acer Aspire 5601 from CompUSA.

I, too, found it hard to locate a spare battery and ac adapter online; but then I simply went to the Acer web site listed on the back page of the manual, gobal.acre.com, and called tech support/service at the number listed: 800-816-2237. I ordered a spare ac adapter w/ power cord and a spare 6-cell LIon battery for a total of $98.91. I don't know about you, but I think that's a real bargain. No auto adapter available though, so I will have to go online and find somthing with the same power output, 19V 14.74A 50-60W (or 90W), and Connecter size: Int. Diameter: 2.5mm, Ext. Diamemter: 5.5mm.

Good hunting!

 

gwieland - "I did upgrade memory with the $35 512MB from Circuit City"

Exactly what make/model/type of memory did you get for $35?

-Jay

 

The memory is Kingston 4200.

As for the BSOD, I still got it another time, after maybe a dozen boots that were okay. So I called support back and they said send it in. Should be done in 7 to 10 business days, they said.

 

I bought it from newegg, just received it.

It will play audio CD but DVD has no sound... ?DVD firmware? can't locate it.

gychang

 

Well, I finally got the blue screen of death problem resolved. I sent the Acer Aspire into Acer **three** different times to do it. The first time, Acer tech replaced the memory. When I took it out of the box, same blue screen of death on boot-up. The second time, Acer tech replaced the harddrive. Same blue sreen of death when I took it out of the Fed Ex box from Acer. The third time I sent it to Acer, Acer replaced the motherboard. So I take it out of the box and six of the keys on the keyboard don't work! So it's going back in to Acer tech support.

I asked the tech support guy if I could talk to a supervisor, since this was the fourth time I was sending it in for repairs. It's been in the repair shop longer than I've been able to use it. He finally got back to me and said he'd talked to a supervisor. No, they can't promise me a new machine, but they will "evaluate" it. So I will see.

Lesson: Don't go for new technology or good price, look and see what the repair record is when you go to buy a machine. My experience with Acer has not been good. The laptop has been in the repair shop four times now! Two of the three times I found the blue screen of death problem unresolved. Now the third time in, there are new problems. I would have thought Acer tech people check their work. Three times now, I've found problems right out of the box from Fed Ex.

I guess my real mistake was when I brought the Acer home from CompUSA and found the blue screen of death right out of the box. I assumed that Acer would fix it promptly, but the tech people didn't thoroughly check their repair work, leading to repeated shipments to Texas, repairs and then more poblems. Maybe my mistake was not to get a service contract from CompUSA. If I ever buy another Acer, I will do that! Well, I am hoping that this fourth repair job will finally result in a thorough "evaluation" and a machine that I finally can use.

 

HI,
I purchased this laptop in Canada from London Drugs in 2006 August. I used to own a Toshibha Sattelite, only 1 GHz and 500 mgs memory. It was twice as fast as this slug of an Acer. I have 2 gigs of ram now and it still is the slowest machine I have every used. I wish I had never left Toshibha. They are good machines compared to this one.

 

if your trying to switch on your bluetooth with the plastic switch....and you get a message saying no bluetooth devices...then you don't have the hardware installed interally to pair bluetooth devices externally. the internal bluetooth adapter you need is probably on ebay and does require internal installation. internal installation is best for resale value. but external will work with bluetooth as well.