Acer Aspire Timeline Owner's Lounge

[Scribe]

In the USA we dont have the ATI option available for whatever reason.

We also don't have the Travelmates available either to date so I can't compare options to options.

But assuming same specs on both, the travelmate will be slightly more expensive with fingerprint reader, matte screen and vista business which requires it to be a higher price.

In the USA the highest model right now available is the Timeline 3810T-6415 which has the dual core 9400, 4GB Memory, 500GB HD and integrated video for the 3810T range.

Europe appears to have different specifications available including the ATI option. So its unclear if the higher end timelines will appear here or if the new Travelmate's will appear in the USA.

I can't wait too much longer as I want to buy something soon. I doubt new models from Acer or someone else with same or better specs will come out in the coming weeks so its quite possible the Timeline 3810T-6415 could be the only option.

The highest spec in Europe is the 3810TG-944G50n. It is as listed above but with the ATI 4330HD graphics card included on top. There WILL be wwan/3g specifications of this laptop however they have not been released yet. The 3810TG was only released 1-2 weeks ago after all.

The laptop is sturdy, no the plastic does not creek when I pick it up (unless I'm holding one of the screwed on covers underneath of course). The screen for its thickness is impressively sturdy also, this is due to good mounting to the laptop and a metal backplate, it will wobble if you fiddle with the top corners but this is minor and it seems happily resilient to this kind of tampering.

Looking at pictures of the travelmate it is obvious that the case and screen plate used is the same one as on the timeline so I wouldn't consider build quality when choosing between the two. The only differences I see other than the screen finish are the fingerprint scanner and Vista Business.

There's little need for a fingerprint scanner and they don't work with 100% effectiveness so I'd say it all boils down to the price difference between the Timeline + a copy of Vista Business or a Travelmate with Vista Business already included.

[weinter]

I dont find it flimsy at all, plastics are pretty much high quality, no creaking or sponginess on mine. Screen is thin but I dont feel like I am going to break it when I am moving the screen to a more comfortable angle. To me build quality on this series is pretty good.

Depress the back of the lid then observe the LCD Colour changes Temporary.

[dymaxion]

Hi, installed Win 7 RC on my 3810TZ but can't get the touchpad gestures to work. The Acer support page has Vista 64 bit Alps and Synaptics touchpad drivers. What do I need to do to get the touchpad gestures working under Win 7. Thanks.

Choose the Synaptics drivers under Vista x64--worked for me.

[egan opperman]

I've downloaded from the Acer site the file "Touchpad-Synaptics_v12.2.8.0_Vista86x64_XPx32x64. I unzip it and attempted to run the Setup program in Vista compatibility mode and without compatibility mode. Each time I receive the error message: "Cannot find OS specific setup program." On the other hand, the file "TouchPad_ALPS_7.5.2021.101_Vista64Vistax86_A does install but the cursor stutter and the stutter stops once I remove the driver. Any suggestions. Thanks. Egan.

[egan opperman]

Okay, just want to device manager and under "Mice and other Pointing devices" was able to have Windows search and find Synaptics PS/2 Port Touchpad. Now I can scroll vertically in FireFox, and use other finger gestures in Internet Explorer. Egan

[bobcatmvp1]

I'm pretty sure the TravelMate doesn't come with a HDMI output either...

[embrion]

You're right

[Scribe]

Depress the back of the lid then observe the LCD Colour changes Temporary.

That's not really a quality issue.

[adamj023]

Travelmate has the dock available with DVI port which I think is a better solution. Who wants HDMI to a laptop which is video along with sound. Makes no sense.

I would never be using video from a laptop such as a 1.4GHZ ULV CPU directly. A laptop is made to place on existing network computers if you want to access files directly using the ethernet or wireless networking option. The whole point of the 1.4GHZ ULV is for usage on the go and places where monitors to use will not be found. Hence the weaker performance and stronger battery life.

If you use a seperate monitor on a notebook, then you should be getting something more powerful than a 1.4GHZ ULV Notebook since you obviously have access to seperate monitors and electricity and the ULV feature will be a waste and you should go for a higher performance notebook PC if you need the portability.

If anyone feels otherwise, then you can choose the Timeline 3810T with HDMI. To me it just seems like a waste and the Travelmate is the smarter solution.

I still haven't bought anything yet and doubtfully will right now. Still seeing if Travelmate makes its way here or if other models with 8+ Hour battery life come out from other vendors in the same weight range or less for a good price.

[adamj023]

According to sources the next crop of models and possibly better models from Acer as well will come out in August to September 2009.