Acer Aspire R7

[MAkhdar]

So I just got a Acer Aspire R7 from Best Buy after looking for a tablet/laptop for a while and so far it has been nearly perfect. I have a few issues and wanted to see if you guys had any advice. First thing is that the WiFi is very slow and it is a issue that Acer said they are working on and should be solved with an update soon. Second thing is that it has a 3rd Gen i5 processor instead of a Haswell processor like all the new laptop even though it hasn't been out for a month. Do you think I should keep it and wait for the update to fix the WiFi issue and live with the processor it has (It's not slow by any means but I'm unsure if it is worth having a brand new laptop with a old gen processor when the new laptops have the current gen), or should I get something else. I really like the design and everything about it, even the battery has been fine (~5 hours), it is really useful and innovative so I want to keep it but the WiFi issue is really annoying and I don't know how long I have to wait. for the update.


I'd appreciate any advice or help! :smile: Thanks!

 

[MAkhdar]

There is even a huge discussion on Acer's forums on their website regarding the WiFi issue so its widespread - Poor Wifi on new Aspire R7 - Page 2 - Acer Community

 

[Daniel Rubino]

Yeah, even I noticed the Wi-Fi issue...thought it was my network but it certainly does slow down considerably. Hopefully they'll fix it soon.

Regarding Haswell, while I'm sure it's better than G3 chips, most people are under the impression that the drivers for it aren't fully optimized and won't be for sometime. I have an i7 haswell in my Dell XPS 27" and it's pretty solid, no complaints.

I guess it depends on how you use the R7--if mobile and battery life is important, maybe return and wait for Haswell. If a mostly desktop machine (that can be portable) then not a big deal, imo.

 

[MAkhdar]

Thanks for your advice Daniel! I do plan on using it mobile but coming from a 17 inch laptop that couldn't last more than 10 minutes its current battery life is fine. It would be nice to have the Haswell, but my issue is that I can't wait until it is refreshed with Haswell because if the product was just released who knows when Acer decides to update it. Also the laptop this is supposed to replace died a few days ago so now that I think of it, waiting for Haswell isn't a very good idea anymore. I guess it's either keep it or get something else. This is so tough, the Ezel hinge is amazing!

 

[MAkhdar]

Hey Daniel do you know if you have a Qualcomm or a Broadcom adapter? I was wondering if it is just that specific adapter. I know I have a Broadcom one so it could be just the ones with it.

 

[burky39]

Have been experiencing terrible wifi since purchasing our Aspire R7 a half year ago. Finally fixed it as follows ...

Finally in frustration tonight, I plugged directly into my router via ethernet cable and discovered the computer was clearly capable of good performance, thus pretty much proving that the source of the issue was in the wifi adapter.

I fixed it with the following approach...

1. Navigate to your Device Manager
2. Click on "Network adapters"
3. Double-click on "Broadcom 802.11n Network Adapter"
- A new window should open.
4. In the new window click the "Advanced" tab
- Change two values
a) Navigate to "IBSS Mode" change value from 802.11a/b/g Auto to 802.11a/b/g Performance
b) Navigate down to the last property ("XPress (TM) Technology") change value from Disabled to Enabled.

Our performance improved over an order of magnitude!

Web browsing is now a pleasure again, and we don't have to wait for 5 minutes for emails to update every time we fire up Thunderbird (mails now appear in 3-5 seconds!).