Acer Aspire Z3731-UR21P (Core 2 Duo E6700 2.66 GHz : LCD 21.5")

I've owned mine (ordered thru Amazon)for about 7 months now. When I got it, the 64bit MSIE was so buggy I had to install a 32 bit browser via CD (Firefox) before I could get it on-line. Within two days Microsoft Update added more than 35 updates and MSIE finally started functioning as a browser.

I'm a long-time Acer customer, currently having three different Acer units in service. I'm generally happy with them for the price. If there is one caveat it is the quality of their hard drives. The 1tb unit in my all-in-one sometimes 'hangs' windows on start-up and its only 7 months old. I replaced the original drive in one of my older Acer desktops with a 10,000 RPM WD drive when it started crapping out, and I was really pleased with the performance boost, but frankly drives shipped with a system, especially an all-in-one, should be better quality/more durable.

My other beef is with Acer Support. I notified them via email at least four times that drop-down lists on their web site for support, etc. did not contain the Z3731 model number. This makes it difficult to identify my unit to them. When "fixes" were put in, not all drop-downs were updated!

Recently, I went to upgrade my memory to 8GB per the spec, there were two slots open, so I ordered the correct simm modules and then could not figure out how to get at the memory slots in the case. I wrote support and they refused to help me citing policy. When I talked to folks on the phone they didn't help either. Frankly Acer needs to address its issues with documentation. A diagram of the case and how it opens for service would solve my problem. They don't want people touching the box during the warranty period and so won't help even though I tell them I'm Ok with invalidating my warranty.

When I got all the software I need loaded in addition to what came with the system, start-up performance deteriorated somewhat, as expected, but I'm still happy with most things.

The webcam and mic are great for Skype. I don't use the touch screen much, but I wanted the big screen for my cateracts and am willing to live with the glare you get from the touch screen coating. Other all-in-one units were generally smaller and not as fast as mine when I ordered it.

Updated on Oct 18, 2012

I still have not been able to find instructions for updating the RAM on this device. I'll probably produce a blog entry on the process, taking pictures as I go into and back out of the case.