I was torn between buying a laptop in Dubai Duty-free or in Philippines thinking about the cost implication.
The laptop will be for the family so the specs need not be “high” as i do not want my kids ending up using it for games.
A friend told me laptops in Dubai Duty-Free are really expensive. As expensive as in Philippines.
So i decided to buy the laptop in Lagos.
The Acer Aspire 7530G seems like a bargain at Park n Shop.
It has 4GB RAM, NVidia videocard at 512 MB, and 17″ TFT screen. That is my basic specs. I don’t that it’s an AMD and not an Intel processor. At least it’s still Core Duo. The bonus specs as shown in the list was that it ”has” bluetooth, and, built-in TV Tuner.
So i didn’t hesitate to buy it immediately. A day before my flight.
When we checked it in the house, i was horrified to find that the power plug is the for airconditioning in Nigeria (BS 546 (United Kingdom, 15 A/250 V grounded).
So i called our IT guy and asked him to buy another power cable that has a common plug that can be use in the Philippines. Luckily, he was able to buy one and replace it with the Type G plug.
And so, i was able to continue the setup.
To my amusement, the box came with a TV remote control. We tried it but it required a TV Tuner hardware. That means Acer gave me a remote to “encourage” me to buy a separate TV Tuner. And yet, in its laptop label (right-side), it mentioned TV Tuner among other feature of the model. Sucks.
OK, so i can do without the TV Tuner. This is for the kids anyways.
When i arrived in “my village” in the Philippines, my daughter asked if she can transfer music from the laptop to her cellphone using bluetooth. Since there is a bluetooth button on the left-side of the laptop, i said go ahead. To her disappointment, the bluetooth button does not function. I went to check Control Panel and Device Manager — bluetooth does not function really. I rush to Mr. Google, only to confirm my annoyance that the friggin’ Acer laptop is only Bluetooth-ready but it has no bluetooth radio. Again, i need to buy a separate bluetooth USB device. What the ***k.
The only saving grace for this laptop is the 4GB RAM and separate video memory.
I really felt i’ve been had by this Acer laptop.
I mean, it should have been indicated in the product description that it requires purchase of separate bluetooth and TV Tuner.
Ha, i can surely say Acer is engaging in misleading product description. The way it was marketed, it seems like these two features are built-in.
If at all, i can say to all of you, NEVER buy an Acer laptop unless the features it claims to have is reallyin the unit.
One more reason i will stick to HP.

Since last year, i was wondering about the email i received from my boss. It contains the ubiquitous line “Sent from my Blackberry..”
I am not sure if the POEA is baiting the Nigeria- and Lebanon-based OFWs and would be OFWs with all these misleading press releases.
But the important part of the June 15 press release is not about Nigeria. It was about Lebanon, and how Malacanang and VP de Castro has given their endorsement for the lifting of the ban. Hooray to Lebanon-bound OFWs.
