Acer Timeline 13.3" Owners?

T

thisperishedmin

Limp Gawd
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Nov 6, 2007
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http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834115585

for reference sake only... I think the best deal on it I found was Tiger Direct for 549.99 + 2.00 shipping - eventual 5% bing cashback.

Anyway...does anyone own one of these? what do you think?

I was considering the gateway lt3103u but I'm leaning towards this a bit more now though. It's definitely a better size...but i fear that for the price is crossing into "core2duo" laptop area a bit much to justify itself.

However, the weight and slimmer form is HUGE for me. I dont want to carry around a 5-6lb 15.6" laptop...its just too big and heavy. I got prompted to look into 13.3" and at the weight of this I think its alot more tolerable.

Its going to be used for general school (MS office, web, maybe an IDE or two, more MS Office, and more web) with the occasional starcraft for good measure. I'm inclined to believe the processor should be fine.

I have a desktop at home for serious work, and in class we have decent computers for heavier tasks / specialty software anyway.

Basically...in anyones opinion, is this thing worth the money or is it just kind of an awkward step between a "laptop" and a "netbook" not worth looking into?
 
Hey,

I have the Core 2 Duo 13.3 and let me tell you, it's light as a feather. I got it to replace a dying old 4 year compaq. Haven't fully switched over to it yet or had enough time to play with it. But I can def tell you you get all the perks of a laptop in a easy to manage, lightweight form.

I'm not sure Id want to do any kind of gaming on the solo versions. I would suggest checking out notebookreview for a full discussion.

PS: The gateway is a good buy too for like 350$
 
RobustDude said:
Hey,

I have the Core 2 Duo 13.3 and let me tell you, it's light as a feather. I got it to replace a dying old 4 year compaq. Haven't fully switched over to it yet or had enough time to play with it. But I can def tell you you get all the perks of a laptop in a easy to manage, lightweight form.

I'm not sure Id want to do any kind of gaming on the solo versions. I would suggest checking out notebookreview for a full discussion.

PS: The gateway is a good buy too for like 350$
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How is the gaming on the core 2 duo version? Can it play CS:Source or what?
 
Thanks for the thoughts! I'd love to snag the duo version but the price jump is way beyond what I will have to spend. I'm hesitant to go back to a single core anything but I think for what I need it should be pretty solid despite. starcraft is the only thing i plan to / expect to play on it...that ran great back in 2000 and later so I'm hoping I wont have any issues today =D...the average atom netbook handles it with ease anyway haha.

does light as a feather translate to "you probably wont even notice it in a backpack"? haha

I'll pop over to the site you mention as well. Thanks!
 
Krycek1 said:
How is the gaming on the core 2 duo version? Can it play CS:Source or what?
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CS Source is going to play on like anything...

. I haven't gamed on computers since High School so I wouldn't be able to tell you anything about the gaming capabilities. It has an intel integrated chip so that's all you need to know. Don't plan to game on it, use a desktop for that, or stick to consoles (which is what I do.)
 
I was just looking for something other than newegg reviews for this and couldn't find any.

Personally it looks sweet with the duel core, DDR3, and long battery life. Definitely seem worth the upgrade from a netbook.
 
agreed...the price is a bit ...but for whats in the package it seems solid. I cant help but think that 4gb of ddr3 is a joke with the ULV though...but perhaps it is super beneficial and helps make that single core ULV move along even better with stuff like photoshop or whatnot? who knows...
 
Wholly smokes. Newegg has is for 799$ with an 80GB SSD HDD. I think it might be an Intel or Kingston based drive. I might have to think about this. Much lighter then my current Dell 1330 and twice the battery life. ;)
 
Vengance_01 said:
Wholly smokes. Newegg has is for 799$ with an 80GB SSD HDD. I think it might be an Intel or Kingston based drive. I might have to think about this. Much lighter then my current Dell 1330 and twice the battery life. ;)
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It's an Intel X25 G1. They've had it for the last ~2-3 weeks at this price. It's a good buy all around.
 
I had a 13" SU2700 Timeline and..

Pros:
Long battery life
Thin
Light
"OK" build

Cons:
4500MHD can't play shit- WC3/Dota being my criteria, it failed
Glossy keyboard
Glossy screen
Can't play 1080p (some have managed to using the 4500MHD's acceleration, I couldn't be bothered to)
Not as portable as a netbook
SHIT mouse buttons

For me it felt like a slightly better NETbook with a larger screen, which wasn't what I was looking for. It doesn't have the mobility of a 10" netbook (throw it in a backpack, messenger, whatever and go. No need to worry about putting it in a bag just the right way) and doesn't have the performance of a notebook. But if you want a netbook with a much bigger and comfortable screen, the Timelines will do it. I highly doubt it will play SC2 and D3 if you're wanting to.

I'd suggest a 11" netbook with a higher res (1366 *768?), like the ASUS 1101HA if mobility is a major criteria.
 
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lowteckh said:
I had a 13" SU2700 Timeline and..

Pros:
Long battery life
Thin
Light
"OK" build

Cons:
4500MHD can't play shit- WC3/Dota being my criteria, it failed
Glossy keyboard
Glossy screen
Can't play 1080p (some have managed to using the 4500MHD's acceleration, I couldn't be bothered to)
Not as portable as a netbook
SHIT mouse buttons

For me it felt like a slightly better NETbook with a larger screen, which wasn't what I was looking for. It doesn't have the mobility of a 10" netbook (throw it in a backpack, messenger, whatever and go. No need to worry about putting it in a bag just the right way) and doesn't have the performance of a notebook. But if you want a netbook with a much bigger and comfortable screen, the Timelines will do it. I highly doubt it will play SC2 and D3 if you're wanting to.

I'd suggest a 11" netbook with a higher res (1366 *768?), like the ASUS 1101HA if mobility is a major criteria.
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what? i played warcraft 3 just fine way back on an intel 845 "extreme graphics 2" pos video.
4500mhd should EXCEL at it.
 
reviews seem to indicate that the 4500 should run most older games fine...anyone else able to confirm or refute this? Not a big deal to me...but now I'm curious

newegg dropped it back to 549.99 + free shipping + 6% bing cashback = 520ish... more tempting by the day...
 
omega-x said:
what? i played warcraft 3 just fine way back on an intel 845 "extreme graphics 2" pos video.
4500mhd should EXCEL at it.
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And it doesn't. Unless you crank the resolution down or settings down a bit. With native res and all high settings (come on, it's WC3, I shouldn't need to compromise on quality settings and as such I didn't bother) it gets ~25fps on dota and dips down below that when there's a big gank. Definitely wasn't the experience I was going for. IF it had ran dota just perfect, I would've kept it which was not the case.

Now why Acer won't bring the 13" Timeline with an ATI 4330 is beyond me. BUT if they did bring it, it would definitely be at the $1000 mark (the 4330 comes with the SU9400). And why the SU9400 costs a good ~$300-$400 over a SU27/35 with everything identical (but has BT, whoopdee) is definitely beyond me.
 
lowteckh said:
And it doesn't. Unless you crank the resolution down or settings down a bit. With native res and all high settings (come on, it's WC3, I shouldn't need to compromise on quality settings and as such I didn't bother) it gets ~25fps on dota and dips down below that when there's a big gank. Definitely wasn't the experience I was going for. IF it had ran dota just perfect, I would've kept it which was not the case.

Now why Acer won't bring the 13" Timeline with an ATI 4330 is beyond me. BUT if they did bring it, it would definitely be at the $1000 mark (the 4330 comes with the SU9400). And why the SU9400 costs a good ~$300-$400 over a SU27/35 with everything identical (but has BT, whoopdee) is definitely beyond me.
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Update your drivers maybe?
the 4500mhd in my X200 runs half life 2 and portal pretty well, i dont see how in the world it can possibly choke on a game published in 2002.
 
I have the one you linked to from newegg. I like it a lot. It's obviously not really fast...hence the battery life and weight/size. I still have my desktop so I don't care about games or anything processor/graphics intensive. The glossy screen can be hard to see in the sunlight but that's true for all of them and you can get a screen filter to take that away. Glossy keyboard really isn't that bad at all and the mouse buttons aren't bad enough for me to hate them. If I use the mouse I often use two hands (thumbs from each hand) since I have big hands.

Also, it's extremely easy to take apart. I'm going to be adding bluetooth since the model linked doesn't come with it. It has the space for it though, so I recently ordered the module/cable from ebay for $20 shipped and should get it fairly soon.
 
How do the Intel Core 2 Solo SU3500 1.4G and other variants fair against the atom? I currently have Asus 1000ha and it's painful to use at times.
 
omega-x said:
Update your drivers maybe?
the 4500mhd in my X200 runs half life 2 and portal pretty well, i dont see how in the world it can possibly choke on a game published in 2002.
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Clean Win7 install and drivers from the Win7 Update thing. Intel doesn't update their drivers every few weeks like ATI and NVidia anyways. Doesn't matter, returned it a while ago. If you want to debunk me stop throwing out other titles and go run it yourself.

tacosareveryyummy said:
How do the Intel Core 2 Solo SU3500 1.4G and other variants fair against the atom? I currently have Asus 1000ha and it's painful to use at times.
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Wouldn't call it miles above, but it's better. For one example at least, I can play 720p on a N270 but ONLY with CoreCodec. The SU27 handled it without. 1080p is unplayable with a N270, but with a SU27 is doable [depending on encoding]. This is just CPU w/ no GPU acceleration. Encoding and CPU heavy stuff is still going to be incredibly slow though.
 
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Well I'd like an ultraportable that I can run Mathematica and other CAS on. The atom just can't handle anything other than every day tasks.
 
tacosareveryyummy said:
Well I'd like an ultraportable that I can run Mathematica and other CAS on. The atom just can't handle anything other than every day tasks.
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Heh, I've been running numerical simulations (Matlab + C) all summer on my EEE 1000HE. Sure, it's a bit sluggish, and of course you can't multitask, but it gets the job done. Going back home to my e8400 @ 4.1ghz is gonna feel really good though :D
 
I took the plunge... hopefully its in tomorrow.

I'm excited, until remembering I'm going to be on ramen soup rations after this + a tuition bill. life. haha
 
haha, thanks. Dont get me wrong...i love ramen...but for a solid week it gets old. its like a food of punishment for my occasional spending habits :p
 
I don't think it's that much of an awkward step in between netbooks and more powerful laptops... 'Specially if you can really get it for $550, and if the battery life claims on these are even remotely accurate. Most 12" netbooks will probably run you $400 ('cept maybe the Acer at $380) for the 6-cell models w/semi-comparable battery life, and there's a few things this laptop can do that those netbooks can't (such as playing online HD content, etc.).

Most other real laptops in that price range tend to be bulkier affairs even if they have a more powerful C2D, doesn't really sound like you need the extra processing power... And something as equally portable but more powerful is easily gonna start costing you twice as much. So yeah, I think the pricing is just right for the whole package, it's got it's own niche for the time being.

If you're willing to live with a few small compromises you might be just as happy with a netbook for $150-$170 less though. Besides some HD content and a few games that straddle the line between old and somewhat recent, the performance gap isn't gonna be that large I guess (technically speaking it should be larger but they're both saddled w/poor GPUs). Up to you...
 
It looks like this line is getting expanded with dual core and various other enhancements. Other than the chicklet keyboard, I think this laptop is a great light option. It's a good compromise over netbook (with usable screen size).
 
I recieved it yesterday and I am absolutely in love with this laptop. I got it for the 550+ free shipping and around 50$ of bing cashback sooner or later.

I was on the fence between a 14" for the dvd drive - and the 13.3 without it. I think at this point I'm already happier with the lighter 13.3. On lower power browsing the web and such its reporting about 10 hours of battery and It seems possible. Regular usage on power save puts it at about 6-8 hours. I havent really abused it too bad. EIther way, its plenty of time to get me through a day at school without even needing the charger out. I just cant comprehend how light it is either.

The keyboard is fine for me, I can type just as well as I can on my desktop keyboard...but I'm a touch typist and never had an issue bouncing keyboards. I do prefer it to the 11.6" netbook and smaller keyboards though. It feels more natural than the lt3103u keyboard did...then again its hard to judge as that was chained to the counters at BB to be fair lol.

The screen is very glossy as stated elsewhere...it hasnt been a problem for me near windows and such - but I havent used it outdoors either. In general I dont even notice it during use. The overall build quality seems pretty solid...minimal monitor flex, solid hinge, etc. It looks very classy (in my opinion) was all the stupid stickers are ripped off. bit of goo-gone and she pops now. Looks like a passable home/school/work laptop - take your pick!

The laptop comes with a lot of bloatware...but most of it was quick to uninstall stupid little games. Boot time and everything is pretty much spot on average from what I can tell. the little 1.4ghz seems to have no real problems dealing with vista. I havent really stressed it too hard, but it hasn't slowed up significantly (at all?) on me yet.

I'm happy I didnt go with a "netbook" - and this is definitely better (for weight and battery) than ebaying an older more "typical" laptop would have been. so happy with my decision so far!

All in all, I'm extremely happy with the purchase...I think the whole series should be pretty similiar. My buddy just ordered a 14" for when he leaves for school...I'll update the thread if I can get hands on with it.

Any other questions, fire away! I'd be happy to answer.
 
This Timeline series seems to be just right for me, but was wondering how it handled Youtube HD or Hulu 480 or 360 fullscreen? I'll probably be looking at the 12" model as I want it to be as portable as possible, but still give me decent resolution and full keyboard. Hows battery life?
 
anthrex said:
This Timeline series seems to be just right for me, but was wondering how it handled Youtube HD or Hulu 480 or 360 fullscreen? I'll probably be looking at the 12" model as I want it to be as portable as possible, but still give me decent resolution and full keyboard. Hows battery life?
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imo, get the 12" model if you don't need the dvd drive, and the 14" model if you do. they all have the same resolution, so i would get the smallest screen size with the highest resolution, and that would be the 12" screen like you said. extremely portable and light.
 
Raudulfr said:
Hum... there is no 12" model. Only 13.3", 14" and 15.6"
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it will be coming out soon, i read the news and saw pics of it already. because of the screen size, some people just considered as a powerful netbook, but it also uses the ULV processor and has same resolution as the 13.3, 14, and 15" screens.
 
FYI

Acer Timeline 1810t

Hopefully it'll be at Fry's or bestbuy for me to get a quick feel for it, but just curious about real day to day use.

@ Raudulfr the 1810 has a fan so I'm assuming the other ones do, but I'm also curious as to how loud it is as the review from above said it was quiet.
 
With such a low power/voltage CPU I can't imagine why would they need one, but stupid decisions are aplenty :confused:
 
I was just going to mention the 11.6" 1410/1810. Just learned about it in the other thread, glad I did before I pulled the trigger on a 1000he or 1005ha ;)

Seems like the single core versions don't do Youtube HD or other high end flash. Can't think of any time I need these though. Most intensive thing I have is h.264 dvd rips and if it does 720p h.264 it should do those.
If anyone ever wakes up and brings out some hardware acceleration support this thing should be real sweet.

BTW, why would it matter if you have to lower the settings a little for WC3? Are you honestly going to tell the difference? :rolleyes:
I don't get why people are so set on running everything on high, especially in something like a fps. Who has time to see what it looks like. The original Call of Duty is still the best and I haven't found anything that tops Diablo 2 or AoE2. Bring on the pixels :p
 
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Raudulfr said:
With such a low power/voltage CPU I can't imagine why would they need one, but stupid decisions are aplenty :confused:
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You go run a netbook without a fan and report back how much insurance $ you were able to claim with your burnt down house :)

PointandClick said:
BTW, why would it matter if you have to lower the settings a little for WC3? Are you honestly going to tell the difference? :rolleyes:
I don't get why people are so set on running everything on high, especially in something like a fps. Who has time to see what it looks like.
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#1. WC3 isn't a fps.
#2. You have no idea what a complete POS WC3 looks like with settings turned down do you...?
 
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