Acer Aspire TimelineX 1830T Thread

[killabee44]

I just played that on the 1810TZ in 1080 and it was absolutely smooth.Strange,the i3-330um shouldn't have a problem.

Guys,

Can someone that has the 1830-3927 (the 1830 that has the i3 chip) please try to play that video and post results? I would like to know what is the deal with the i3 and 1080p video. I mean there is a us$200 difference in price between the machine with the i3 and i5 chip.

Thanks.

[mr.foo]

Guys,

Can someone that has the 1830-3927 (the 1830 that has the i3 chip) please try to play that video and post results? I would like to know what is the deal with the i3 and 1080p video. I mean there is a us$200 difference in price between the machine with the i3 and i5 chip.

Thanks.

I have the i3 (1830-3927) and I was able to playback the muppets bohemian rhapsody in 1080p just fine on the local display. It was pretty funny. My first time seeing it. I also simultaneously played back the video on youtube from my quad core desktop on my 46" HDTV for comparison. To my subjective eye I didn't notice anything significantly different.

Now I did have some trouble getting my laptop to display properly on the external HDTV screen via an HDMI cable. Perhaps a bug with the drivers? It displayed a 1920x1080 resolution but it was "bigger" than the TV screen. No controls (that I could find) were available to correct this with the acer video drivers provided.

Also, I've noted before that I was able to playback a looped chapter from a blu-ray title just fine on the laptop (it played from the harddrive). I'll have to try to play a full movie and see if it plays w/o stuttering.

cheers,
foo

PS There is only a $100 difference between the i3 and i5 variants in the US stores (e.g. newegg, amazon, etc.).

[frny]

I have the i3 (1830-3927) and I was able to playback the muppets bohemian rhapsody in 1080p just fine on the local display. It was pretty funny. My first time seeing it. I also simultaneously played back the video on youtube from my quad core desktop on my 46" HDTV for comparison. To my subjective eye I didn't notice anything significantly different.

Now I did have some trouble getting my laptop to display properly on the external HDTV screen via an HDMI cable. Perhaps a bug with the drivers? It displayed a 1920x1080 resolution but it was "bigger" than the TV screen. No controls (that I could find) were available to correct this with the acer video drivers provided.

Also, I've noted before that I was able to playback a looped chapter from a blu-ray title just fine on the laptop (it played from the harddrive). I'll have to try to play a full movie and see if it plays w/o stuttering.

cheers,
foo

PS There is only a $100 difference between the i3 and i5 variants in the US stores (e.g. newegg, amazon, etc.).

The TV might be responsible for the picture being "bigger". Check your overscan setting (might be called something else depending on your TV brand). It could also be the software you use for playback (MPC-HC for instance can have this effect depending on the settings).

Can you please do the same test with the laptop running on batteries (if it was not the case). And also I would love to know how much 1080p playback time you get on battery (on the laptop screen only - no TV). I know that the screen is not 1080 but my movies are 1080p.

BTW where can you buy the i3 or i5 in the US?

[Jayayess1190]

BTW where can you buy the i3 or i5 in the US?

Amazon.com
TigerDirect
CircuitCity
Provantage
Compusa
B&H
eCost

To name a few...

EDIT: Also, man will it be hard to live with this Alps touchpad till 2013. Sometimes when I try to do the circle scroll (aka Chiralmotion on a Synaptics), it starts to go backwards! So instead of clockwise to scroll down a page, it will scroll up!

Man I might have to get an 1840 next year with Sandy Bridge and a Synaptics touchpad...

In other news I still love this thing. An Avast virus scan completed in only 4min 24sec! i5+ssd is an amazing combo. Here is how Avast does its scan:

Can reduce the number of required file scans by up to 80% through a white list of proven safe applications. Files identified as safe are not rescanned unless they change.

avast! runs faster on new multi-core CPUs. A new avast! feature allows the splitting of large individual files between cores, accelerating the scanning process.

[MacDSmith2]

The Acer 1830T-3721 looks very impressive. Having a i5 with 1.7 Ghz turbo speed and only 18 Watts in a package this small and this light is amazing. I hate track pads, so I don't mind the track pad problems; I always use a mouse. I like the fact that this unit has both a Gigabit net interface AND bluetooth! This makes it clearly a better unit than the 1830T-3927 which lacks bluetooth and turbo boast. As far as the screen size, plug the HDMI into your big video screen TV when you get tired of the small text size. I am definitely seriously thinking of buying this, since FRY's has them in stock down the street!

[naturalbornkoller]

I hate track pads, so I don't mind the track pad problems

Me too. No matter how good the track pad might be. Just buy a small wireless (laser) mouse you can use on every surface. It's simply much more comfortable.

[elo]

Can this play games like the 3820tg? Or there is no such thing as the 1820tg?

[Gaylord Fister]

Ok, according to this review:

Acer Aspire TimelineX 1830T Review - Battery, Wi-Fi, Green Tests, Configs, Software & Verdict

the 1830 has 3 hours LESS runtime (5:53 vs 8:47 or about 2/3rds) than the 1810 when surfing over WLAN. What a joke ...

BTW, can the "HURR i5 DERP" guys in here come up with actual uses for the increased CPU power?

[mr.foo]

The TV might be responsible for the picture being "bigger". Check your overscan setting (might be called something else depending on your TV brand). It could also be the software you use for playback (MPC-HC for instance can have this effect depending on the settings).

Yes, I tried the TV settings too but with no luck. With an HDMI connection my TV has limited options for manipulating the input signal. I've been able to display my wife's XPS m1330 w/o problems in a 1080 mode, not sure why the 1830t is having problems. Any one else having this problem?

Can you please do the same test with the laptop running on batteries (if it was not the case).

I should have clarified, this was on batteries and the "Intel Graphics Settings" (under advanced power settings) was set to Balanced (vice Maximum Performance or Maximum Battery).

And also I would love to know how much 1080p playback time you get on battery (on the laptop screen only - no TV). I know that the screen is not 1080 but my movies are 1080p.

In an earlier post, I played a continuous loop of a chapter from a blu-ray title (Natures most amazing events). The laptop got about 3 hours 10 minutes which was a little disappointing to me. I was hoping to watch back-to-back movies on a coast-to-coast plane ride. I may try to tweak it some more to see if I can eek out more movie watching. Or perhaps DVD playback (vice bluray) will last longer.

[thundernet]

Here is how Avast does its scan:

That's exactly how AVG does it's scans too.It scans when you install it and in the following scans it skips the safe files.

ps:I am a trackpad hater too.Strictly mouse for me too.