Acer 1681WLmi vs Acer 1690WLmi

Hi. I am a Canadian student going to university the coming September. I am kind of torn between these two labtops, because their specs look so similar and they pretty much cost the same amount ($1288.88 Canadian for the 1681, and $1349 for the 1690) but the 1681 will cost me another $200 if I get the 8 cell battery. Can someone tell me the difference between the two? and the pros and cons/differences between the two?

here are the specs

1681
http://www.notebookoutlet.ca/details.php?id=15&type=notebook#1

1690
http://www.notebookdepot.com/product.asp?productid=453054532&categoryid=1

 

Just going by the specs, I would get the 1690 since it only cost a little bit more and like you said it comes with the 8 cell battery already so you don't have to spend extra to get it if you did get the 1681.

They are basically the same LT, the 1690 is just a newer model over the 1681. One thing baffles me though, the 1681 will be a Dothan based processor and the link for the 1691 shows the 915 express chipset with the X600 Radeon graphics card, but why do they say it runs on a 400Mhz bus just like the Dothan? With those components the 1691 should be based on the new Sonoma chipset and should have a bus speed of 533Mhz and using DDR2 ram instead of DDR ram on the 1681.

I would look into the 1690 at that store and confirm that it is based on the newer Sonoma chipset. BTW, notebookdepot is the store that I got the 8 cell battery from last year, good place to buy with friendly and knowledgeable staff, recommended.

Tony

 

Both come with an 8cell battery.

Intel Pentium M cpus with 5 at the end of the model number indicate Dothan processors. If it has 0, like 760 it's a sonoma, hence the 400mhz fsb.

According to acer.ca the 1681 has upto 5 hours battery life, 1690 has ~4.5.

I would personally go with the 1690, it supports sonoma chips, ddr2 memory and has the i915 chip set with better video.

None of these have the x600 card like the European their counterparts.

Make sure you get the 1690WLMI not the 1690lci. A friend just made this mistake when ordering his sisters laptop. Good thing shes does not know the difference. Extended warranty on Acers is the best thing you can do, you maybe paying $3-400 less then other brands but you still get what you pay for. I love my 1694WLMi and impress with everything, but some of it is a little flimsy.

 

thx for the response =D