Acer Aspire 1410 and 1810 Timeline 11.6" Thread

Can someone here who had Acer laptops for at least 6 months - 1 year comment on the build quality and ruggedness? Sorry if this has been asked or answered before, but trying to get a quick answer here. I tend to use my laptops with reasonable care (and have been very happy with Thinkpads and Macbook Pro) but a Toshiba Satellite I had (circa 2001) was an absolute piece of crap in terms of build/component quality, just trying to be careful

 

I bought a pre-owned Travelmate 4230 on eBay just three months ago (after my Toshiba A-205 croaked from a corrupt BIOS update), and aside from the worn silver coating around the trackpad area, it is still in good working condition (I use it for surfing and testing my home network). It is definitely a workhorse. I believe this model came out in 2007. I like the keyboard.

I'm definitely in the market for the 1810tz (1410 if 1810 ends up being too expensive). It will be the media server for our living room.

 

Thanks, but I'm looking for feedback on Acer's build quality

 

Not sure I understand you, he was talking about the Acer Travelmate 4230, I guess that was your point?
Might just be a misunderstanding

 

Yup. This Acer's pretty rugged.

I think Acer's on a roll- I just bought their WHS NAS solution (H340).

This is my testament to Acer's build quality (a happy buyer is a repeat costumer).

 

Ooops, sorry, my bad (somehow that Travelmate name threw me, given that I've never bought Acer before).

So thanks all for the feedback

 

Keep in mind that the Travelmates are business class machines & Timelines are consumers. The business class machines are always built more rugged than the consumer class.

 

You never owned a Dell C-series Latitude! lol

Great machines, but the plastic chassis and track pads were problem areas on almost everyone I owned. (At one time I had 6 of them.)

 

No, but I'm on a E6400 Latitude right now from work and this thing is built like a tank. All of our sales people are on the e6400 and they're very hard on them.

 

These kinds of discussions appear often in computer forums.
But most computers, including ~Dell ~HP ~Toshiba & ~Macintosh are manufactured by one of four Taiwan-based companies: Quanta Computer, Wistron, Compal Electronics and Inventec.

So trying to determine a notebook's quality by brand names may be fruitless. Because components are made by various companies all over the world. And assembly is sub-contracted all over the world.

Most of you folks have seen hard drives from Mexico, keyboards from Poland, simms from Ireland, power supplies from South America, put into notebooks designed in India, assembled in Malaysia, and shipped from China to your USA distributer. Maybe Taiwan companies provide the financing. I don't know.

I do believe there are some "lemon" models, BTW.
And the 1810 isn't one of them.

 

Well, the 1810 is back on the main menu at Acer US. Thankfully, there are no spec. changes that I can see.

Weirdness.

 

it was officially announced in the us today

 

Looks like $599 for the SU7300 and $549 for the SU4100.

 

http://www.liliputing.com/2009/10/1...s1810tz-packs-a-dual-core-culv-processor.html

 

I held off ordering the older 3810T for this. I'll be in the US on the 23rd. I hope Best Buy/CompUSA/Stables/OfficeMax/Depot someone carry the new models when I arrive

 

So the 1810T is the SU7300 w/ 4GB of RAM for $599... Presumably the 1810TZ is the SU4100 with 2GB of RAM for $549 (not sure about the RAM though)

 

Is it worth the extra $50 for the SU7300?

 

LaptopMag 1810T Review

 

I think that depends what else you get for the $50. It looks like you might get 4GB (2 x 2GB) of RAM instead of 2GB (1 x 2GB) in which case it might be worth it.

 

It looks real good in that review for what I want to use it for.

 

I meant if it's worth it to go from su4100 to su7300 for $50. I don't care about RAM because it's so cheap right now. A 2 gig stick is about $20.

 

Yeah, but if you get a 2GB stick and the SU7300 for $50 then you're only paying $30 for the SU7300.

 

Ah...good point...

 

Any idea if the AS1810T-8679 will have an open (internal) WWAN card port?

 

how come the material is different from the 1410?
1410 is like plastic with blue/ black/ red?
and this is ...like the cover of 3810t

 

Look just like my 1410. What are you talking about? The palm rest? It is plastic made to look like brushed aluminium (and is doesn't look bad at all IMO).

 

......i compared it to the 11.6" netbook..
i thought the 1410 is the same as the 11.6" netbook...
except for the cpu...haha
my bad

 

Yeah, the 751h looks a little different. The 1410/1810 is a little bit nicer and the battery doesn't stick out the back. (I wouldn't mind if it did if it were a 9 Cell. )

 

but how come it is blue??it is 1810t
http://www.laptopmag.com/review/newgallery.aspx?id=37258&img=4

 

It's still has the brushed aluminium, err plastic look, it's just blue. The black has a silver pad and the red and blue pads are red and blue respectively. The tell tail sign is the two buttons on the 1410/1810 track pad. The 751h has one long button.

 

Will BestBuy sell these? I want to take a look at them in person.

 

My personal feeling would be that BB will not carry them, at least initially, but it's hard to tell at this point. I think the retailers have traditionally held off on the handful of CULV-based machines until Windows 7 arrives. BB could also do like they've done with a ton of Asus machines in the past and have a slightly neutered custom SKU just for themselves. They like to do things to the EEE line like use an N270 instead of N280, omit Bluetooth or N wireless, and reduce the battery capacity to bring it in for less than "standard" models.

I was *THIS* close to buying the "old" 1410 last week and the week before online or B&M. I checked a couple of local stores (BB, BK's warehouse, Costco, Office Depot) and the only one that actually carried the 1410 w/ Vista was BJ's Warehouse Club and they have it in a display case and you cannot use it.

FWIW, the Atom-based AO751H 11.6" slowpoke IS on closeout at Costco for $279, which is a nice price for that machine if you can live with its lockups and horrible performance.

Now I need to decide if I'm better off buying a 1410 for <$400 now (and adding another 2GB of RAM and possibly Bluetooth at some point in the future) or just waiting until the new dual-core versions appear with 7 & BT pre-installed and paying $150ish price premium to have a machine that's "perfect" out of the box.

 

Wait. I love my 1410 but I really want either a 1810T/TZ or a 1820P. I have upgraded to 4 GB of 800 Mhz RAM, a bluetooth dongle, a 320 GB 7200 rpm drive (whcih I will transfer to the new one anyway) and a 5600 mAh battery so I am happy with the machine now but DANGIT I want that built-in bluetooth and I think the extra battery is definitely worth it (oh yeah and dual-core - ha). The extra RAM is good too plus you should be able to easily mod it to 800 Mhz (which I didn't know until after I bought the RAM). Win7 is also very slick on the 1410 and runs perfectly for me.

 

w00t!

My Intel X25-M G2 80GB SSD is patiently waiting for a 1810T/TZ. It's going to replace both my Dell Latitude D630 & ASUS N10J-A1 that I carry around for work!

Cheers,
Kermee

 

then i would go for the black one

 

Just out of curiosity, why is Blue Tooth such a concern? What exactly are you people using it for that makes all the difference? Personally I don't see the big deal, which is why I'm asking. =)

 

I just want to have it built in for some reason. I don't even use it that much but it is just one of those "features" that I want to have built in. I occasionally use it with headsets and might use it in the future with a mouse.

 

Well, I have two phones (smartphone from work, dumbphone personal phone) that both have BT that I can use for BT DUN tethering or for photo transfer to my netbook (errr, or my new CULV ultraportable). I also have a couple of nice BT mice (Logitech & MS) and I always carry one in my travel bag so I don't have to worry about losing a dongle or occupying a USB port. Finally, I have a nice pair of Motorola BT stereo headphones that are nice for using to relax with some tunes via A2DP.

So I would just hate to take a step backwards since both of my previous EEE PCs have had standard BT. Losing BT wouldn't be a deal-breaker but I'm quite used to having it available for phone tethering and mouse connectivity.

 

How is the sound quality on the motorola headphones? I've been thinking about getting a pair.

 

Just read it.
Available in black, blue and brushed aluminum ??
Is that right ? Brushed aluminum ?
If thats true, I'm getting one even though I have a 1410 myself.
Its worth the upgrade with the dual core, better battery life, bluetooth and brushed aluminum.

 

The brushed aluminum doesn't appear on Acer's own website. I think I'll have to go with the black, though I'm somewhat wishing the red was still an option.

 

The Acer USA site has a list of 30 Authorized retail stores. Scroll down.
Its not a list, actually. But linked icons.
Might be helpful in your search.

 

Because it won't be available in brushed aluminum, that is only on the 13.3" models and up.

 

if 1810tz comes with bluetooth, which bluetooth mouse would you guys buy?
Logitech vs MS??

 

Here in Germany the 1810TZ comes in several configurations and four colours (red, blue, black and white).

I ordered an Acer 1810TZ-413G32N in "Seemuschelweiß" (seashellwhite). It is the same as the Acer 1810TZ-412G25N base model but has an internal 3G module (7,2 mbps down, 5,7 up), Bluetooth 2.1, 3 GB RAM and a 320 HD. It will arrive next week!

 

The 1810TZ-412G25N doesn't have BT. I wouldn't use a BT mouse. Battery life is much shorter and they lag. The new tiny receivers don't nag at all.

 

@yourbiggestfan

Where did you order the 1810TZ-413G32N? I can´t find your described configuration but it´s exactly the one i want

 

Battery life isn't shorter. A wired mouse sucks much more power.

 

I never use a mouse. That's why they put a track pad on these things.

 

@ wulfjan
Here: http://www.notebook.de/acer-1810tz-413g32n-mit-intel-core-2-solo-su4100-13-ghz-weiss-win-7-p-24416

@ der_mali
I meant the life of the batteries within the mouse compared to other RF mice.