The Acer Guy Forum » Problem corner

Can anyone decipher an Acer model number suffix?

(9 posts)
  • Started 2 years ago by QuietCanuck
  • Latest reply from Peter

  1. Posted by: QuietCanuck
    Member

    I bought two Acer 7735Z laptops from 2 different stores last week. They both are advertised as model 7735Z, and both claim the same specs, but their actual models numbers are slightly different. The one from Wal-Mart is Acer model 7735Z-4000, and the one from Staples is Acer model 7735Z-4613. E-mailing Acer did not help, as they just said the specs are the same for both, but would not say what the differences were.

    Does anyone know how to decipher the suffix on the Acer model number, or if indeed there is a difference between them?

    Thanks in advance.

    Posted 2 years ago #

  2. Posted by: Mr_M
    Member

    You should look at the serial number. The first 10 characters of the whole number. Then look at ik like, xx.xxxxx.xxx, usually the last 3 numbers are different and state the spec.'s within that model range.

    Posted 2 years ago #

  3. Posted by: Peter
    Moderator

    After looking at the units on the different websites the only thing I could come up with is that Staples offers the 64-bit version of Windows Vista. Walmart doesn't say what version their laptop is. There could be a difference in the resolution of the webcam too. Whatever the difference is they are nearly identical. Another possible idea is that they may both support wireless N but have wireless cards from different vendors. Same price either way.

    Posted 2 years ago #

  4. Posted by: QuietCanuck
    Member

    Thanks Mr_M for the heads up on the serial number. Sure enough, those 3 digits in the serial number are indeed different, so maybe there is an actual hardware difference (prefixes LXPC60X066 vs LXPC60X065).

    Peter, I also noticed that omission from the Wal-Mart spec, but I E-mailed Acer and they said the Vista is 64 bit on that PC as well, so it appeared as though that it was not the difference.

    My current plan is to run "Lavalys Everest" on both computers in the next day or so and see if it sees a difference.

    Any other suggestions will still be greatly appreciated.

    Posted 2 years ago #

  5. Posted by: Peter
    Moderator

    You got a response from Acer so quickly you can try emailing them to 2 serial #'s and asking what's the difference. I'm very curious as to what the difference is myself.

    Posted 2 years ago #

  6. Posted by: QuietCanuck
    Member

    E-mailing Acer both serial numbers was how I started this quest actually, but unfortunately Acer's response was "we have no detailed information on the configuration of models". They said the published specs are the same, therefore that is all the information they have.
    Of course this is not true otherwise they could not build the darned things, but that was their answer none the less.
    I will let you know the results of the Everest test in the next few days.

    Posted 2 years ago #

  7. Posted by: QuietCanuck
    Member

    Well, here's the update:
    It appears as though both model numbers are identical in hardware as far as "Everest" can tell. The only differences between the Everest reports on the hardware (besides H/W serial or ID #s) were that it found a driver called "Wdf01000" on the 7735-4613 laptop that was not on the other, but this appears to be benign as far as I can tell from searching the web.
    Some of the lines in the "DEBUG" section of Everest were different between the two laptops, but unless someone tells me different, I am assuming these differences are unimportant (unintelligible hex to me anyways).

    So unless Acer made a subtle difference such as change the webcam (Everest just identified it as a "USB video device"), my guess is that the two model numbers have identical hardware and the only reason for the different model numbers is so you can not get one store to price match another (an anti-competition thing).
    So, unless someone knows of a better program than Everest, or has further info based on this post, they appear to be identical.

    Posted 2 years ago #

  8. Posted by: sahlan
    Member

    On October 2nd, I bought AS7735Z-4613 from Staples for CAD 599+tax. Walmart sells it for CAD 698. I highly think, that both models are totally identical. This is only because they do not want you to be able to match their prices, like QuietCanuck mentioned above. I think that all the stores made a kind of agreement which is good for all of them but not for the customers. This is because of their low price guarantee. It happened to me one time. I had bought a Tomtom GPS device from Staples and found an identical with different model number. I was sure, that they were identical, but in order to be able to make it official, I wrote an email to Acer. And they approved it. As I went to Staples, the store manager told me that both devices are totally different, because they have different model numbers.

    Some institution or someone with time and money should deal with these kind of unfairnesses, so that some stores would not announce low price guarantees(%10 less if you find out same), even it's not possible because of different model numbers.

    Posted 2 years ago #

  9. Posted by: Peter
    Moderator

    If you're going to be doing price matching the part #'s have to be the same. That's standard for the industry.

    Posted 2 years ago #

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