Acer Aspire 1410 and 1810 Timeline 11.6" Thread

Keep in mind that Intel 4500 plays HD video just as well as Nvidia ION.

ION is mainly interesting for people who are into gaming.

 

You think the 1810T could run Sword of the Stars? It's mostly 2d.

 

Asus 1201N review, in case you haven't seen this yet-

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=5639132#post5639132

 

Alright, to make it clear; I do my heavy-duty gaming on my desktop, but I'd like to be able to play simpler games like WarCraft 3, Heroes of Newerth, HL1, Deus Ex, etc. So as long as the X4500 can handle simple, and old games, then I'll be happy. On a laptop, I prize CPU power over GPU power, so I guess the 1810 is my choice?

Thanks

 

I hooked up my AS1410 to a HDTV through HDMI. When I select the icon pointing from laptop to HDMI, the screen isn't full sized (black bar around the TV). When I select the HDMI icon, it goes to full screen on the TV, but I these random horizontal lines that randomly appears on the screen. Any idea on how to fix this?

 

We are mostly kind of biased towards the Acer (it is an Acer forum after all). I -think it is currently the best bang-for-the-buck CULV system around.

Others are catching up, but haven't quite come up with a package as good (or willing to under price) as Acer's. Asus is definitely a contender with the UL20a.

 

Speaking of game performance, I'm planning on getting an 1810T after Christmas. How well would games like Doom 3, Manhunt and The Suffering run? I don't expect to have every setting on "high" or whatever but a general idea of how well they'd run would be appreciated.

 

What would be your top 3 for the best bang-for-the-buck CULV systems with around 12" screen ?

 

I own both Acer 1810tz and HP DM1 at the moment.

Acer has the better battery life, HP looks more stylish to me and feels more sturdy.

 

1810T
1410 (SU2300)
Asus UL20a (although I penalize it for being 3.3 lbs and no HDMI)

The Lenovo IdeaPad U150 looks promising, although just pushed over for my comfort level of $599.

http://blogs.zdnet.com/gadgetreviews/?p=9337

I have both the 1810T and 1410. Sometimes I think I could have simply gotten two 1410s since it is that good (for my use).

 

Check out this thread http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=431659&page=2

You may want to PM htwingnut, since I think he put together a gaming thread that kind of died about a month or two ago.

 

So, just got my 1410-2099 today. I like it, ALOT.
I like my desktop neat, and the few icons I allow there, small.
Without going into what doesnt work, here is what will make them small.
Left click and hold control key, then keeping ctrl key depressed, move your finger from the tracpads top left corner to the rightside, then down towards the bottom working in a circular sweep. You will see the scroll wheel icon on the tip of your cursor, indicating your doing it correctly. It looks sort of like a small whirlwind icon. This will also enlarge the icons.
I tried adjusting the size from adavnced themes, but it made no real differance, this method however, will reduce icon size by over half .
R.

 

I was transferring large files from my main pc to my 1410 this week over a wifi adhoc network.

I was getting horrible transfer rates of 2-2.5 mb per sec... is there something I need to do to get adhoc super charged or is this to be expected?

My su2300 1410 is still only showing 4.5 hours in Battery Bar. What are you Acer su2300 1410 owners seeing in your Battery Bar after a full charge?

 

Sorry GC, been tied up for a few days and only got back here tonight. Anyway, yea, I can help you with the tomato. As for functionality, I like the security it offers, and the ability to handle high bandwidth as well as multiple peer to peer. I dont do much torrenting personally, but when I do, I like knowing I wont get dumped. Tomato will handle literally hundreds of simultenous connections. Google Time warner gamer throttling. 90% of these complaints are cheap routers choking on databits, same with torrenting complaints. I will admit, however, ISP's do throttle, its just rare. Tomato also provides real time data monitors with reports.
I am pretty busy, but I will watch out for posts from you and do my best to answer any questions you have, but when you start digging into these sorts of programs, thoery to application can be shakey.
R.

 

I find from personal experience that Battery Bar is a pos. What it basically seems to do is calculate the "full battery life" based off the current discharge rate and use that to project the future life, but it doesn't do a good job at all in handling different discharge rates under different usage conditions, to project an accurate remaining life generally. When the discharge rate is > 11 mWh (because I'm using a 3g WAN dongle), the life it "calculates" has to be vastly different than when I am using no WAN, WIFI or bluetooth, but while it shows the lower discharge rate in the latter situation, it still shows the older remaining life calculated when the > 11 mWh discharge rate was active.

Frustrated by this lack of accuracy, I discharged the battery completely a couple of days ago to help it get calibrated, but while there is no improvement in battery bar's accuracy, I instead now have 2.2 % battery wear.

Battery Bar is one of the misguided advise from people in this forum, in my opinion. At least it did me more harm than good.

 

I currently have the AS1410 with the v1.3303 BIOS and have a question. Am I supposed to be able to downgrade to 3302 or ealier version, or am I not able to flash an earlier bios?

I ask because I had my motherboard exchanged with a repair, but noticed that in my repaired one the Product Name changed from "Aspire 1410" to "Aspire1410" (no space) and now when I try to flash the bios with any of the bioses (3303, 3302, 3120) InsydeFlash tells me that "This BIOS is not for your Notebook PC" and quits. When I asked the support guy about this and he said that I am not able to downgrade to an earlier version, but I am skeptic. Its currently not a problem, but I'm worried that I might not be able to flash when an new bios comes out in the future.

 

On the subject of Bios, does anyone have a link to notes on Bios resolutions contained in the recent releases? I see there have been a handful in recent months. I know there been things dealing with CPU capability with regard to virtual settings in the GUI. Anything on battery charge regulating/monitoring?
R.

 

Just received my new 1810TX today.
Have not yet turned it on.
Wondering what bloatware I can safely remove.
And what Acer-specific software must I keep.

This list is from an early US 1410 owner.
Any additions, suggestions?

Remove:
Many games
Acer ScreenSaver
Carbonite Online Backup Setup
eSobi v2
GridVista
MyWinLocker
Orion
McAfee (replace with free AVG)

 

RMClock is a nice alternative. Only works on 32 bit though.

 

I haven't used RmClock for a long time, since Santa Rosa chipsets first came out, because they never update the program. Does it detect the new processors correctly?

 

My SU2300 is detected as a Core 2 Duo running at 1.2Ghz so it seems fine.

I like the battery info from RMclock. It's a bit more detailed than Batterybar.

 

Here, I found the link for game recommendations for the 1410/1810:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=431659

 

Nice, that made up my mind

I'll be sure to pick up the 1810TZ in a few days, so thanks to all the people who helped me make up my mind

 

As much as I like my 1810tz, I decided to sell it.

Reason is I got a offered a very cheap HP DM1 and I prefer the looks of the HP.

If interested check my signature. Pricewise it won't be interesting for people in the US.

 

Out of interest as a fellow 1810TZ user, is there a way to measure battery wear?

 

If you're using 32 bit Windows RMClock is the best option imo.

If you're using 64 bit Windows i recommend only installing the floating setup of Battery Bar.

 

Cheers for that, I've installed Battery Bar. Am I right in thinking it's better to charge it often rather than running it down?

I often use it for a cpl of hours, so there is say 70% left then when done with it put it on to charge.

 

If you want to make your battery last as long as possible it's best not to charge over 80% and do charge before 20%.

 

Cheers for all your help, you'll be missed from the Acer forum!

 

I'll probably still keep an eye on this thread whenever I have time.

The 1410/1810 is still an amazing laptop and probably the best value for money of any laptop.

 

I just received my 1410-8913 with SU3500 core 2 Solo - with Vista 32 bit HP pre-instaled. My unit was manufactured on 7/30/2009, before Win 7 was released.
Since this unit was "old" stock it was sold at what I considered a bargin price through American Express and Tiger Direct for $304.

I ordered the Win 7 Home Premium upgrade thru Acer. I'm hoping that I can do a clean install and get the 64 bit version.

My question is there a way to preserve the: bookmarks / favorites (Safari); and the iTunes Ratings; and my Outlook emails??

I have not been able to figure out how to backup these files and then recover them on a new computer.

Your assistance is most appreciated.

 

If your doing a clean install of Windows 7 you need to backup your iTunes library, your outlook .pst file.
I presume the Safari favorites will be stored somewhere in your C:\Users\<username> folder, but I can't really help with that as I use IE.

 

I kept:
GridVista _ I found this program helpful when using my HDTV as a monitor

MyWinLocker - I have always wanted a way to secure selected files , and this is an easy program to use.

 

You should remove all the games apart from the Microsoft ones, including the Acer Games application. They're not actual games, just 1 time free trials connected through WildTangent, a known malware producer.

 

In timeline tweeks, there is a thread on raising the 1410/1810 volume.
Taking this a step further, I found that also checking the "Equalizer" option above the "Equalize & Loudness" option, gives you access to an MP3 type equalizer with your various "Rock" "Classical" etc. options. One of these is "Powerful" another is "Bass" both of which will offer a dramatic change in sound performance.
R.

 

For anybody that has installed an internal bluetooth module in the 1410 or 1810--does your light constantly blink on and off while it is on? I finished installing mine and found it strange the bluetooth led indicator constantly blinks instead of staying a solid blue when turned on. Can anybody tell me what their led does?

 

On sound;
Digging a bit deeper took me to Dolby bass adjust and affects.
Here is the thread link:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=171732
R.

 

I see there has been quite a bit of discussion in regard to battery performance.
I have posted a new thread in the Asus board with a fairly concise analysis and explanation of lith ion science and care.
R.

 

Threw together a quick video of my AS1410 SU2300 playing Atlantica Online a pretty cool turn-based MMORPG. It's free to play too

<param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/StrTl-djp-Q&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/StrTl-djp-Q&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width='425' height="344"></embed></object>

 

now i'm getting worried about the difference in quality within the same model

 

In regard to keyboard flex, my blue 1410-2801, (which was supposed to be a black 1410-2099 from BJ's, but recieved the 2801 instead), I have no flex either; as in none at all. I watched a 1410 2300 unboxing on youtube in which the narrator had noticeable keyboard flex. It was a concern. I didnt quite catch what he said specificaly because of sound quality in the video, but he mentioned a fix.
Anyway, yea, BJ"s sent me the wrong color, and wrong model, but the keyboards fine. I'm cool w/the mix up; it has the 2300; thats what matters.
R.

 

Also keep in mind that what one person calls 'keyboard flex', the other calls 'no keyboard flex'.

 

What I viewed on the Youtube video was noticeble flex beyond key springback. In that video, the entire keyboard could be seen dipping when the3 narrator pressed on the H key.
That is the flex that I personally, do not have.
My keyboard's tolerance feels in spec. Springback may even be just a tad stiff. As someone who spends quite a bit of time writing, some days up to 14 hrs, after seeing the video, it was a concern. Though I am comfortable with taking these machines apart, I dont like the idea of having to fix a brand new precision piece of machinery with tape if it can be avoided
An observation would be the various model numbers that seem to have no hardware variance; Odd; Perhaps this points to variables in quality control? ID's of various OEM manufactures for Acer? For this price, they must be cutting corners somewhere. Anyway, in the video, the guys voice seemed to drop when he mentioned how to fix the keyboard, but it sounded like he said use a wedge of electrical tape beneath the keyboard.
Again, I ordered a 1410-2099 from BJ's, which was the only one listed, and recieved a blue 1410-2801 with an 9-22-2009 manufacture date.
Go figure....
R.

 

It could be an unintentional FUD.

Unless people are returning a particular product in droves, I usually take these "reviews" with a grain of salt. For all we know, it's either the competition, or from someone who simply doesn't like a particular product.

 

Anyone experiences the double-keystroke issue with 1410?

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=444362

just try to type "uk" quickly and will you get "ukk"?

 

Dont let the keyboard flex worry you. The backing of the keyboard is just a very thin aluminum sheet with very little stiffness. If you have flex its because this aluminum plate is bulging, usually around the middle of the keyboard.
There is nothing wrong with the parts. It could be caused by how the keyboard was put in place or even temperature differences.

If you have flex, pop out the keyboard (described several places on this forum already), and put a very small piece of thin doublesided tape under the G H area. You dont need to loosen the ribbon cable.

You can use a tiny bit of glue, tape or anything sticky but remember it has to be thin (so not to bulge) and easy to rip off again or else you will ruin your keyboard next time you want to disassemble it.

 

Anythings possible -- even probable in regard to sabotaging the competition.
Now that you mention it, seems a stretch that a keyboard would bow to the extent that one did. Particuclarly from Acer. This is my first Acer product, but I know they have been around a long time, and have a stellar rep.
All I can say is that I am more than pleased with my 1410. Really, its beyond my expectations. As a side note, as dissapointed as I was w/Vista, Win 7 is fantastic. Snappy, and multi-task friendly. I have a couple of machines I am now seriously considering trading in for win 7 Acer's.
Couldnt be more pleased.
R.

 

I'm running rmclock under 64bit windows 7. Do you mean it reports wrong values or does it not run at all?

 

I thought it didn't work.

 

RM Clock does work with 64 bit, I am using it on my 3810t. You just need to download the special file found in the Undervolting thread for it to work.