Acer Aspire 1410 and 1810 Timeline 11.6" Thread

I'm working on that...but how's this for unrealistic expectations?
I turned my laptop on yesterday at 6:15PM. I ran HD Tune, Crystal Disk Mark, and a few other things on battery, but otherwise closed the lid and let it do a slow battery drain. It's sitting on the kitchen table now, 14 hours later, and still has 10% battery life. **Update: died at the 15 hour mark, on the dot.** With the lid up, screen on low, wireless on, it was showing 11 hours for BatteryBar, 13 for Windows' estimate.

After I give it a full charge, I'll check again with just regular browsing.

Also, Kermee, yes, I jumped on the Newegg Deal. I'm not entirely sure of the sanity behind buying a hard drive that cost as much as a 1410 would have...but really, it's only $15 more than I spent on the 80GB G1 last Christmas.

 

Can you tell me if it is worth the extra $150 to get the AS1810TZ over the AS1400?

The differences I can see that the AS1810 has over the AS1410 are:

-BlueTooth
-Bigger hard drive (320gb versus 160gb)
-A little bit faster processor (SU4100 vs SU2300)
-3gb RAM over 2gb RAM

I'm thinking for $60 I could almost bring the AS1410 up to the AS1810 specs by adding a 2gb RAM stick ($40) and a Bluetooth dongle ($20)

Also, does the AS1810 (posted at 8 hours) get better battery life than the AS1410 (posted at 6 hours)?

What do you think?

 

Updated BIOS to 3303 today - worked like a charm. Sent also a mail to Acer and asked for changes in that version. Here is what I got back:

(1) Base on 3113 to add INT15 5F40 function and panel type as below.
(2) Modify VBIOS to disable EDID than add some panel PnPID and DTD timming as below.
1. Samsung HD (0xA34C).
2. AUO HD (0xAF06 0x205C).
3. AUO SD (0xAF06 0x2052).
4. CMO HD (0xAF0D).
5. LG HD (0xE430 0x021C).
6. LG SD (0xE430 0x0253).
(1) Some onboard USB devices (3G) must be unremovable.
(2) Support MXIC, EON and AMIC rom parts.
(3) Remove unnecessary GUID from WMI to improving power consumption.
(1) Set byte 2 bit 0 to 0 in ClockGen
(2) Improving variable rescue method
(1) Enable "LFP Spread Spectrum Clock" for LG HD (Panel #5) of VBIOS.
(2) Enable rotation function of VBIOS.
(1) Remove _GTF method.
(2) Enable VT feature.
(3) Fixed TAT can't detcet temp issue.
(4) Add Brightness control function in DOS.
(5) Update EC v1.1
1. Send SMI event while brg up/down in DOS.
(1) Add CHM logo.
(1) Add WorldWide Partner Logo and the system show that and CHM logo by EEPROM during POST
(2) Update EC to v1.2.
(3) Support WiMax.
(4) Can modify the brightness in WinXP OS.
(5) All onboard USB devices (3G) must be unremovable.
(6) Add vBIOS select by 3G device exist or not.
(7) Improving reclaim fail problem.
(8) Update EC v1.2
(1)Fix 3G OSD is incorrect if WiMax/WiFi card attach.
(1)Fix system would hang during POST if plug certain 3G cards.
(1)Fix system sometime would not find WiMax device.

 

If you're willing to consider 150, consider 200 for the 1810t.
Bluetooth, 320gb hdd, SU7300 (adds virtualization), 4gb RAM.

And yes, the battery is larger on the 1810 than the 1410.

 

Thanks for the Quick Response...do you know of any place on the web to get ahold of a AS1810T in the Blue Color, I've been looking, but haven't found one yet? If not right now, were they recently available and are just sold out lately, or have they always been hard to find?

 

Oh and one more thing, does the larger battery stick out much on the bottom of the laptop?

 

Hello All and thank you for all the information you have shared so far.

I live in Dubai and I am coming to visit the US in a couple of weeks. I was tempted to wait and buy the AS1410 in a brick & mortar store in Atlanta but I am not finding it in the usual stores unless I go for the copy Gateway version. Any particular reason why I should not but it (EC1436u)?

I read in one post in newegg that the gateway did not have the VT enabled BIOS is this still the case?

Should I really splash the 200$ Extra on the 1810 considering I will be using VMWare Workstation on it? Does anybody have any feedback to give me on how it works even with Win7 Pro and XP Mode?

Thank you again for the help so far!

 

Looks like the version you downloaded has already been tapered with (hence the missing ei.cfg).
Yeah, I suppose it is universal.

 

Not even a nanometer

 

Just keep in mind that the 1410 comes with 2 sticks of 1gig, so to update to 4gb you will need not 1 but 2 sticks! So it isn`t just 40$ we`re talking about.
Also the battery is 5600mAh in comparison to the 4400 of the 1410.

 

From what I can find on the Web, it appears the AS1410 and the AS1810 both have a 6 Cell battery...can you provide the specific battery specs both of these?

EDIT: Thanks you already answered my question!

 

How long of a wait do you think before the Blue AS1810T might be available? Before Thanksgiving maybe?

 

To continue our discussion about battery life + SSD, i performed the test you did too. But i had the old HDD then. With the lid closed but the laptop still running, lowest brightness and wifi off. I did that for around 4 hours and the other 5 (yeah full lifetime was 9 hours that time) i was surfing (wifi on) with normal screen brightness.

I`m now surfing for about an hour and my average power consumption is around 5000mW! I`m impressed!

And one more thing. on or off, my pc makes the same noise. Absolutely Nothing!!!

 

Subscribe to all their "Auto Notifiers" so you can know when they become available.
When i was searching for a 1810T Black myself, i had amazon, JR, Newegg, Tigerdirect, The LOT! bookmarked and was checking their listings!

Just be patient cause they are selling like crazy

About the wait... Forget about Amazon, they are well over their heads with the orders, newegg and JR are your best bets. Newegg got a new shipment at 17/11 and as i can see all are already sold out. Could be a week , could be a month. Hard to say (And i`m not from the US lol)

 

I just upgraded the bios to 3303 and GRUB didn't load anymore: 5 seconds of black screen and then the netbook would reboot itself.
So I had to re-install grub from a usb pen and now everything is back to normal. Just letting you guys know in case you have dual boot with Linux...

 

anyone know how this acer 1810 compare to the Asus UL20A-A1?

and how is the fan noise on this thing? is it off MOST the time?

 

The fan noise kinda sucks stock, but with 1810tray it's all good.

 

Thanks for the heads up!

For anyone who needs it, here is a helpful guide on using and installing GRUB2. You'll need an Ubuntu Live image to reinstall GRUB, so keep one handy when updating the BIOS or installing Windows on another partition.

 

Very similar. I was going to get the Asus over the Acer until I found out that the Asus doesn't have HDMI.

 

About battery life, it might not solely have todo with SSD instead of HDD but with the new BIOS also. My Battery Bar is counting up like there is no tomorrow right now.

 

Thanks again Nader

Anyone else with the SU7300? - comments and feedback welcome

Including battery life please.

Cheers all.

 

All this thread , all these 148 pages have been about the performance and battery life of the 1810T`s mostly , also 1410 and 1810TZ .

No need to say the same things over and over again , just look some pages back

Don`t be lazy!!!

 

I've done a fresh install and am now installing drivers. Wifi and touchpad are done. I'm not sure which camera one to use, as 4 are listed though. Is there a way to check which camera I have?

 

Fair enough my friend you make a good point I will look back.

Everyone has been helpful, and it's certainly appreciated by all including me, but many posting is about configuring this and that. I'm just after real world usage and battery life, with tweaking the thing to death, just using it out of the box in everyday life. That's really what I was after. But you're right I will search backwards.

 

I get the feeling having to read around 148 pages

Just have something in mind. When i joined the forum it was around early October and the 1810`s hadn`t been released yet.On 10/22 the thread was 40 pages long , and in less than a month more than 100 pages have been added!!

Thats why i told you that everything you need is defo in here! No hard feelings

 

No hard feelings taken my friend - all good and I appreciate your advice

We're all here to help each other.

 

I just Flashed the BIOS and everything went fine. I'm using GRUB2. Maybe that has something to do with it?

 

Subtract 2 hours from the claimed battery life. You shouldn't do much worse than that out of the box, but you might do better. This should give you a good starting point in my opinion.

 

What bios are you on?

 

And the Asus doesn't have bluetooth either. In fact, AFAIK, their entire freakin' UL series doesn't. I hope somebody in Asus marketing lost their job over this

 

here's a comparison between the new asus UL20A vs acer 1810TZ for about the same price:

Asus UL20A:
- SU7300 1.3ghz
- 12.1" screen
- 250gb HD
- 2gb memory
- no HDMI/bluetooth

Acer 1810TZ:
- SU4100 1.3ghz
- 11.6" screen
- 320gb HD
- 3gb memory
- HDMI/Bluetooth

in your opinion, does the better SU7300 in the Asus make up for lower HD/memory and no HDMI/bluetooth seen in the Acer? it does have the express gate, which is sexy as hell

 

You should also factor in that the UL20a has a battery that is roughly equivalent to the smaller 48wh battery that comes with the AS1410. Asus achieves it's claimed 7.5 hours of battery life by under-clocking the CPU so I would expect ~4 hours of battery life out of the UL20a. The AS1810's come with a ~63wh battery.

The smaller battery kills the UL20a for me.

 

I've also lost the onscreen volume level display

 

specs aside, i do think the UL20A is better built than the acer and has a better non-flexing keyboard. Is it enough to override the short comings? I dont know, depends on what you need/want from the notebook.

oh, and this is how it goes in my country (japan). both go for around 600usd, both have 4400mAh batteries, and are the only model we get. sort of tells what they think about our market...and whats worst is that these two are the BEST priced culv notebooks here lol.
UL20A
-SU2300 1.2ghz
-12.1"
-320gb hd
-2gb PC2-6400
-Bluetooth2.1
-no HDMI/Gigabit Eithernet

Acer 1410 (no 1810 for us at this moment)
-SU2300 1.2ghz
-11.6"
-250GB HD
-2GB memory
-HDMI/Bluetooth2.1/GbE

 

ah i totally didn't pay attention to the battery included. i assumed it was the larger battery because there were no specs on it. so in the acer 1410 vs 1810, how is it that there's two different batteries with different capacities, but yet they're both the same size and dimension? is the weight also the same?

i do believe the asus feels a little more sturdy, although i don't quite remember because i only got a chance to feel them individual... couldn't quite do a side by side comparison.

 

Install Launch Manager.

 

Anecdotal evidence (such as in this forum) suggests that problems of a flexing keyboard or chassis are only present in 1410's and possibly not in 1810t(z) -- at least I haven't heard anybody with an 1810t(z) complain. For what its worth, my 1810t has completely rigid keyboard and chassis. While I haven't used/seen an Asus, I don't think there is anything at all to complain about my 1810t's build quality. More objectively, Asus' 2 year warranty vs. Acer's 1 year is worth mentioning, but that was not enough to override a subpar Asus feature-list, at least for me.

 

Thanks - I hadn't noticed the application tab on the Acer support website.
Any idea which camera driver I should use on my UK 1810TZ?

 

Just use the trial and error method. One of the drivers should fit

 

I just wrote out the instructions for someone else, but der_mali's suggestion of trial-and-error works too

Cheers,
Kermee

 

Just ordered this from eBay for my 1410. Took a chance with a Chinese/HK source. Decided since my 1810T has the BCM92046 for Bluetooth, I'd stick to the same chip vs. the BCM92045's that are available in the States...

Cheers,
Kermee

 

Great instructions! Added to Timeline Tweaks, plus some Rep

 

I second that I think my 1810tz is up to date for now

 

i don't think they would build two different chassis just for the higher end model, so i think the flex is very subjective. it depends on what flex is acceptable for each person. pretty much for every notebook out there, i don't think flex should be a problem because when you rest your hands on it or type, you're not going to be mashing down the keys. every notebook has flex, it just depends on each person's tolerable level.

 

I agree that the flex it is subjective.

My AS1410 keyboard feels fine to me. It's a little springy compared to other keyboards I've used, but I wouldn't call it flexible. The chassis is stiffer than all of my old Dell C-series Latitudes. I think it's stiffer than my Vostro with its magnesium chassis. We'll see how it stands up over time, but I'm completely satisfied right now.

 

Agreed, on the subjectivity of flex. On the point of building different chassis for different price points, however, they don't have to. As an example, microprocessor makers price their various microprocessor skews based on how they fared at different quality ratings ("bins") after the product is already made. They start out with the same specs, but stochastic processes in manufacturing render the end products having slightly different capabilities/"qualities". Instead of rejecting the chips with slightly lower quality, they instead sell them at a lower price point, often disabling certain capabilities (such as maximum clock frequency) so that the end user is insulated from any failures. Its a win-win for consumers and certainly the maker. While chassis making is a different ball-game of course, but its entirely possible to do this here as well -- by subjecting the product to different levels of quality levels/controls. I thought this might be possible because I haven't heard a single complaint of chassis flex from a 1810t(z) owner, but the single core thread has lots of complaints from 1410 owners.

 

so you're saying their manufacturing tolerances vary that much? and if the 1410 model is in higher demand, then they must purposefully manufacture worst quality to meet the demand? i'm not disagreeing with you, but i just think it's highly improbable.

maybe it's a psychological thing where owners 1810 wouldn't think of the flex as much since they payed a 50% premium over the 1410 so the quality is expected?

 

No, they won't purposefully manufacture worst quality -- note what I originally said how the binning is decided. In the case of chassis, Acer likely simply sources from different makers of the keyboard, etc. and some suppliers could be given more leeway than others so far as quality goes and also paid less (Acer doesn't itself make the plastic chassis materials, do they?) The cost of the 1410's for the featureset they offer are almost unbeatable by any competitor (right?), and also the bill of materials (at volume pricing) for what is offered extra in the 1810t(z) such as the superior processor+bluetooth+battery isn't quite $ 150 - $ 200 as far as I can tell. So while surely they are making a better margin on the higher priced models, I am arguing they could be offering more value than just the quantifiable component cost differential -- and I don't think its a highly improbable strategy (its okay if you disagree)

I thought of the psychological angle too, except that 1410 owners after having gotten themselves such a good deal, they may just be looking for problems where there aren't At this point, I am ready to face one proud but also brave 1810t(z) owner who can be man/woman enough to state that their beloved 1810t(z) actually has keyboard flex

 

i reinstalled windows 7 and have gotten all my software installed...this thing is running amazing now.
this is the second windows 7 install..first one had some really strange stuff going on....two program files directories (along with the programfiles x86 directory)...and overall sluggish performance. It couldnt play hulu full screen with the latest video drivers although I knew it was possible.
I updated to the latest bios and reinstalled win 7....its a new machine. plays everything flawlessly.
I have installed launch manager and have my OSD and fn keys working. I just cant get fn+f5 to work....it worked when it was new from acer, now it doesnt give me the OSD with the different display configs..
the newest launch manager is not the one that came on the system..and for some reason, the older one is not installing correctly.

 

Maybe there is some flex in the 1410 because there is less in it :lol:
You know, less ram, smaller HDD

I have to agree with soliton, the psychological factor is big in such cases!


They only "bad" thing quality-wise that i could say about my 1810T is that the battery isn`t fixed in to place, it wobbles. Don`t get me wrong, i`m not talking a lot, just a tad