Acer Aspire Timeline Owner's Lounge

The highest spec in Europe is the 3810TG-944G50n. It is as listed above but with the ATI 4330HD graphics card included on top. There WILL be wwan/3g specifications of this laptop however they have not been released yet. The 3810TG was only released 1-2 weeks ago after all.

The laptop is sturdy, no the plastic does not creek when I pick it up (unless I'm holding one of the screwed on covers underneath of course). The screen for its thickness is impressively sturdy also, this is due to good mounting to the laptop and a metal backplate, it will wobble if you fiddle with the top corners but this is minor and it seems happily resilient to this kind of tampering.

Looking at pictures of the travelmate it is obvious that the case and screen plate used is the same one as on the timeline so I wouldn't consider build quality when choosing between the two. The only differences I see other than the screen finish are the fingerprint scanner and Vista Business.

There's little need for a fingerprint scanner and they don't work with 100% effectiveness so I'd say it all boils down to the price difference between the Timeline + a copy of Vista Business or a Travelmate with Vista Business already included.

 

Depress the back of the lid then observe the LCD Colour changes Temporary.

 

Choose the Synaptics drivers under Vista x64--worked for me.

 

I've downloaded from the Acer site the file "Touchpad-Synaptics_v12.2.8.0_Vista86x64_XPx32x64. I unzip it and attempted to run the Setup program in Vista compatibility mode and without compatibility mode. Each time I receive the error message: "Cannot find OS specific setup program." On the other hand, the file "TouchPad_ALPS_7.5.2021.101_Vista64Vistax86_A does install but the cursor stutter and the stutter stops once I remove the driver. Any suggestions. Thanks. Egan.

 

Okay, just want to device manager and under "Mice and other Pointing devices" was able to have Windows search and find Synaptics PS/2 Port Touchpad. Now I can scroll vertically in FireFox, and use other finger gestures in Internet Explorer. Egan

 

I'm pretty sure the TravelMate doesn't come with a HDMI output either...

 

You're right

 

That's not really a quality issue.

 

Travelmate has the dock available with DVI port which I think is a better solution. Who wants HDMI to a laptop which is video along with sound. Makes no sense.

I would never be using video from a laptop such as a 1.4GHZ ULV CPU directly. A laptop is made to place on existing network computers if you want to access files directly using the ethernet or wireless networking option. The whole point of the 1.4GHZ ULV is for usage on the go and places where monitors to use will not be found. Hence the weaker performance and stronger battery life.

If you use a seperate monitor on a notebook, then you should be getting something more powerful than a 1.4GHZ ULV Notebook since you obviously have access to seperate monitors and electricity and the ULV feature will be a waste and you should go for a higher performance notebook PC if you need the portability.

If anyone feels otherwise, then you can choose the Timeline 3810T with HDMI. To me it just seems like a waste and the Travelmate is the smarter solution.

I still haven't bought anything yet and doubtfully will right now. Still seeing if Travelmate makes its way here or if other models with 8+ Hour battery life come out from other vendors in the same weight range or less for a good price.

 

According to sources the next crop of models and possibly better models from Acer as well will come out in August to September 2009.

 

And I've just got info that probably there will be no SU9400 Aspire Travelmate in my country I'd buy in in Germany but this QWERTZ...
On the brighter side, SU9400 13" TravelMate Timeline is already available but I prefer HDMI and Aspire Timelines look.
Well, US import is always an option, even +vat it's still a good price. I'd only loose 1 year warranty (in EU we got min 2 years for everything).
If anyone find SU9400 3810T or 4810T in EU country with standard (US) keyboard layout, up to 1100 USD, please PM me.

 

The UK keyboard isn't good enough for you? You won't find a USA keyboard, the closest you will find is a United Kingdom keyboard, which will have slight differences. Also remember power adapters in Europe are different than USA as well as licensing agencies so the products will differ slightly.

Not sure what country you are in. Acer is playing havok with global markets with different models in each country with different feature sets. No standardization of models at all.

They don't even have ATI in the USA markets and there does not appear to be any Travelmate's yet with the 8 hour + battery life.

Considering Travelmate is Acer's business class line, it seems odd they would not come out with those in the newer 8+ hour life. But they seem to have loads of the older models in stock which make no sense to purchase over the Timeline series.

Things get outdated so quickly in computers even after they are manufacturered and ready. Considering the new models will be out August to September on CULV, I will not press the trigger before I see where the competition lies so I can get the best model for my needs at the best possible price.

Back to school sales is pretty much where the new CULV's will be heading to.

 

Indeed, Acer has very strange policies.
For example in Czech or Slovakia they have both 13" and 14" with SU9400, but 14" is only with ATI.
I'm from Poland and dominating layout is standard US here. Unfortunately UK layout is different enough for me.
Where You got information about August-September Acer changes?

Maybe I'll buy TravelMate, You'll buy Aspire and we will send them to each other ?

 

Yeah we want different systems and cant get what we want.

I want ATI, SSD, WWLAN, and a Travelmate ideally.

I don't know if Acer will make changes but in August to September there will be much more competition in the marketplace. So Acer could refresh or add something to stay competitive.

I bet as we get closer to year end a SU9600 or will emerge from Acer as well since there is a SU9600 setting. As volumes increase on those, then Acer should get them.

No need to buy anything today. What I want is not out on the market today. The closest is the Timeline 3810T-6415 but its not exactly what I want and the price is at full retail and in limited quantities right now but in stock at $899.

Come closer to year end, the market should be more competitive and likely new configurations and refreshes could emerge.

Acer 1810T also looks promising, but I don't know if it will have a dual core version and what the weight will be. It is 11" approx and has a core 2 solo.

11" could be even better since its smaller. But is it too small and what will the weight be I wonder.

 

Remember that Acer is (was?) rather inexpensive company in terms of products prices. Compare Timeline prices with MSI X-Slim or upcoming CULV Asus (~1000GBP)
Also it might be hard (espacially in US, because a few upcoming CULV laptops will not reach US) to get dual core variant with such battery life in +- Timeline price.
Do You know any US shop that has and ships to EU 3810T-6415 ?
About SU9600, I saw that photo but it might be only leftover from planing stage and might never be manufactured. I hope to be wrong.

 

As we speak, engineers are designing and building laptops. Intel is busy with the ULV CPUs. ODMs are pumping out models, and the like.

As far as the 3810T-6415, no. Only a limited # of vendors have this and they do not ship to the EU.

J+R happens to be local to me and has it in stock at $899.

Very limited vendors have them available at this time. Supply is very limited apparently and has not been opened to the full array of Acer dealers.

My own gutt is that they produced mostly core 2 solo models and the Core 2 Duo's will be limited.

Unclear if they will open up to more vendors.

I need the following : Intel 5150 wimax, SSD, 1.4 or 1.6 SU9400 or SU9600 and WWLAN and bluetooth and I would like the ATI option if it has switchable video. Preferably a Travelmate model since I want the matte screen as well.

If Acer can deliver a Travelmate with 5150, SSD, 1.4 or 1.6 SU9400 or SU9600, and WWLAN and Bluetooth and ATI with switchable video, then Acer would have my dream laptop and I would pull the trigger.

Or if another maker comes out with the same specs and battery life and beats out the Acer but costs maybe $100 more or so.

To date the Acer Timeline 3810T-6415 comes very close but is not ideal.

So I will wait till the next crop of models come out and will see if Acer comes out with Travelmates with a broader configuration spectrum and if other firms come out with anything.

The 8+ plus battery life with the ULV is really what makes the Acer appealing as well as the price point since it has longer battery life than the pricer X301 Lenovo.

I just can't buy Acer right now with the existing models on hand.

I know the features and specs I want and I am willing to wait for them.

Requirements:

8+ battery life with 6 cell battery or longer battery life, 3.5lbs or less, ULV SU9400 or better CPU, 4GB Ram, ATI switchable video, Bluetooth, Wimax, 13.3" footprint preferably, WWLAN, SSD, Windows 7 upgrade must be included at a min (Acer has a free upgrade), would also like fingerprint reader, matte screen, Vista Business

Price must be reasonable as well.

 

you can always use a service like usa2me they give you an address in the USA.. I use a different service which I don't think is available for your country but many of my coworkers here in Saudi use this service

 

Buy one in Holland ... they also use US keyboard

 

ACER Travelmate 8371 seems to be what I really want.

Lenovo X301 not enough battery life and way too pricey. I dont see any other brands with similar specs right now.

Seems like only Acer got the battery life equation right and that is the biggest plus of Acer so the Travelmate 8371 with full specs if it came out to the USA seems like my IDEAL notebook, but people are saying it wont come to North America which to me makes no sense since they have to refresh and upgrade their travelmates eventually.

I keep waiting and waiting and waiting and my ideal notebook has not come out yet. Factories are in motion and Acer is delivering to Europe but not to the USA which is mind boggling.

Im in agreement with everyone. Acer's multiple models in various nation strategy ain't so great.

I want a Travelmate 8371 with ATI, SSD, 4GB, 5150 Intel wimax, Vista Business, bluetooth, WWLAN. Loaded up with all the frills with SU9400 or SU9600 or better.

I dont know if other vendors will have a decently priced notebook with the magic 8 hour + battery life and spec set like this when models come out closer to year end.

Ideally the Travelmate will be available to be had in New York City for the Travelmate 8371.

On the website it has the following for 8 hour + computing models:

TravelMate
Achieve your business goals

Aspire
Create, explore, relax
Aspire® 5810 Timeline
Aspire® 4810 Timeline
Aspire® 3810 Timeline

Extensa
Power and performance for busy professionals

The TravelMate and Extensa lines don't have them. With TravelMate being business class you would expect them to refresh the Travelmate models with 8+ Hour battery life.

Acer brand is not a must have but the specifications I want and require are.

Apparently J+R does NOT carry Acer Travelmate line should they get the TravelMate I want in stock.

Anyone know what deep discount NYC vendors have Acer Travelmate?

Amazon seems to have Datavision as a supplier which carries Travelmate in NYC but I heard bad things about them in the past.

 

I'm just curious what Acer did to get this battery life out of these machines. Its quite phenomenal when other 'higher end' manufacturers use almost the same hardware and get < 75% of the same battery life.

 

I just ordered my Acer Aspire Timeline AS5810T-8929 today and I can't wait until it comes. I couldn't find the SU9400 cpu here in the U.S. so I settled for the lesser SU3500. Hopefully I don't regret it. $699.99 for this sweet laptop seemed like a great deal to me though.

This is my first laptop ever, so I am definitely a newbie at all of this.

So here are my questions for all of you other Timeliners:

What are the first things I should do to the machine out of the box to optimize it (for speed, memory, etc.)?

What should I uninstall? What should I keep?

Is it true that Windows 7 drains the battery faster than Vista?

Should I stick with McAfee or should I wipe it out and download another anti-virus system?

Lastly, should I update the BIOS from the Acer website? Any other drivers I should download?

Thanks to all for any feedback!

 

4 vendors have the SU9400 Timeline 3810T in the USA right now that I could find:

Microcenter
J+R
TigerDirect (thru Amazon.com, not listed on mail site, dunno why, choices are J+R and TigerDirect.
Provantage has the SU9400 as a special order.

Other vendors such as buy.com and others actually wind up using J+R to get the item.

Other Acer dealers don't seem to have the item unless anyone else here knows otherwise. Seems like the SU9400 is kept in tight supply right now.

I am waiting a little more before I decide to purchase.

I will say Acer's review hit the spot on the Timeline series and they seem to be getting a lot of sales and interest in this product now.

Availability of the Timeline 3810T-6415 with SU9400 has inventory in stock though as it seems most customers are getting the core 2 solo models.

 

Here's my answers kfleish

hat are the first things I should do to the machine out of the box to optimize it (for speed, memory, etc.)?
Delete the bloatware. There's online back up software, games, etc. that are just wasting space. Get rid of them.

What should I uninstall? What should I keep?
I'd uninstall anything that's not directly from Acer or Microsoft. I uninstalled the Office trial because I have access to the real things but you might like having the trial.

Is it true that Windows 7 drains the battery faster than Vista?
Yes I'd say it's about an hour to two hours shorter. I messed up something and had to restore to Vista and I'm just going to keep it on until 7 officially comes out and hopefully new drivers from Acer.


Should I stick with McAfee or should I wipe it out and download another anti-virus system?
I really can't answer this. What I did was delete the original McAfee that came with the computer and then downloaded the McAfee download that my university offers.


Lastly, should I update the BIOS from the Acer website? Any other drivers I should download?
I have not and probably won't unless I absolutely have to but that's just me. I'd suggest getting two finger scrolling from Google but that's about it.

 

This may have already been asked but for those that have the 3810T, how is the noise when it is working pretty hard? Hard drive, fan, etc.

 

I never really notice the fan being bad but sometimes my HD gets a little clicky not very often though. It's also made a scratching/screeching noise that I don't think everyone has...

 

I have a SU3500 Timeline, I think BobbyNumber9 has a SU9400 Timeline.

For myself, the fan is very quiet. Under battery power, but not under hard work, my fan does not turn on. This is under balanced and power saver profiles though. When plugged in, the fan is almost always on at a very inaudible level. My hard disk, a 250 GB one, is essentially silent.

 

Inventec is the ODM on the 13.3" notebook. I have heard horror stories on Acer Aspire Compal built models where they would break after 1 year or so and all the used models on the net that are sold for them are for parts only.

If I get the Acer Travelmate if it comes out in the USA and meets my specs assuming no other notebooks come out that exceed this one, should I consider the extended warranty?

My credit card will double the warranty up to one year and has purchase protection as well so the truth is that may be all I need. With Acer you can buy an extended warranty AFTER purchase.

Acer Travelmate 13.3" with 8+ hour battery life if it comes to the USA in the coming weeks is #1 on my list right now. Here is hoping.

 

Has anyone updated the Acer power management software? It looks like there is a newer version available for download, and am curious as to whether anyone has noticed any difference between this version and the default version that ships with the laptop.

 

It looks like Acer is right on the ball with Driver updates on this laptop. Very impressed with the way Acer is handling its customers who bought this notebook. Sony had a battery drain issue and updates were horrible.

This Acer seems to be very up to date with drivers and bios upgrades and everyone reports a good quality build on the Timeline's.

No problems seem to be reported on these models with the upgraded bios and drivers. Seems like everyone has good things to say for the most part.

Seems like Acer has come a long way. Now if only they can get the Travelmate with 8 hours + to the USA market.

 

I checked NL keyboard layout and it doesn't look like standard US to me
LINK but Wiki also says most of computers use US standard layout. Could someone from Netherlands confirm layout in Timelines?
I've spoken to my local Acer representative and You were right adamj023. He said that August/September will bring more powerful Aspire Timelines. Shortage of some models in some countries might be because of vacations and maybe market probing. I'd be confused if Acer would not deliver more powerful Timelines after all those promotions in my country (they sent all possible sizes to all major IT portals, MediaMarkt got a big banner with it, newspaper commercials and they also founded it as one of prizes in polish Discovery Channel contest)

 

New BIOS released. 1.22. Data 07/21/09. I don't see a changelog.

 

Where do you see this at? I only see 1.08 on the website for the 3810T

 

That's not true. With 7 installed on my machine I get 9 hours of battery life. You just have to know what to install.

 

Is there a guide somewhere on how to do this exactly?

 

embrion: All the information is public domain and I used info from executives of Acer, firms like Intel and news media such as digitimes which concentrate heavily on monitoring the Taiwanese notebook market. All found on the internet.

I haven't seen any promos here in the USA for Acer. But Im looking for the upgraded Travelmate, not the Timeline which are higher end.

The highest end of the Acer 13.3" here now is 3810T-6415 but I need better than this so I'll wait in the coming months and will see what Acer has to offer.

Im in no rush.

 

Wow. I apologize. I just looked at the 3810T and I only see up to 1.08. I guess I should rephrase and say 1.22 BIOS update is out for the 4810T* and 5810T*.

http://us.acer.com/acer-v2/service....tx1g.c2att92=453&ctx1.att21k=1&CRC=2054404012

 

I don't think so. I found this out myself just by installing different apps and trying it out. At first I just had Win 7 with nothing and tried it out for a day. Then next day I installed epower and launchmanager and battery life improved.

This are the steps I took when I installed Win 7.

1. Install Windows 7

2. Make sure you are running latest bios if not install it.

3. Install synaptics touchpad driver from acer website (no compatibility mode).

4. Windows update so all drivers get updated including graphics drivers. Reboot

5. Install launchmanager

6. Install epowermanagement

7. If you see no error messages then reboot and go to windows mobility center and select the power saver profile.

8. Now turn on leafy battery. If you see the picture on screen and Windows 7 taskbar turn a lighter shade of blue that means epower and launchmanager installed correctly. You are now running 7 without aero but should still have aero peek.

Edit: Also make sure you force the synaptics, launchmanager, and epower software install exe to run in admin mode yourself. This might be why some people are getting error messages. As a matter of fact any time you install a driver manually in 7 force admin yourself as sometimes the OS won't do it by itself and you will get an error message.

 

well. i installed bios 1.22 in my 4810tz (intel su2700) and the cpu index in win7 x64 7600 went from 3.0 to 3.1

 

Did you see anything different in the bios itself?

 

nope nothing...just the 1.22 instead of 1.20 and the time

 

Either way, I'm glad to see Acer being diligent about BIOS updates. Hopefully we'll see some more changes in the ramp-up to the release of Windows 7.

 

Kudos to Acer. They want business and are able to keep it up and they aren't screwing up like they did in the past.

Acer has my business IF they can release the new Travelmate with full specs to the USA with ATI, SSD, Wimax, WWLAN and the like. The most loaded up model they can make. IE the most premium version they can do.

Im hoping something happens in the coming months. I am still waiting but now am heavily leaning Acer IF Travelmate comes out with the specs I want. I do NOT want a Glossy screen and the 3810T is completely out of the question.

Right now is 7/22/09 and Acer is hard at work building notebooks for the public so hopefully souped up models will emerge.

My ideal model will also have SU9600. Im trying to get closer to the magic 2GHZ mark for performance if possible as well in the ULV line. I am not in a mad rush to buy but I also want something as well. So Im trying to keep holding out till I get something closer to what I really want.

Acer seems to be beating out other makers on the notebooks as of today. Unclear if others will surpass Acer in the future. Somehow I think its doubtful. Lots of competition should be out as we hit closer to year end though so if someone else bites with 8+ hours on a ULV with a good price, I'll consider that one.

I definitely want to buy something this year. I can't hold out till next year. :-(

http://www.osnews.com/story/21848/Gartner_IDC_Dell_Loses_Acer_Wins

Acer is gaining huge marketshare now. Gateway which is owned by Acer has gotten top marks for its large performance PC's.

Acer is definitely turning into a very good PC maker. Just wish they could give me my ideal notebook PC in the Travelmate line.

If it doesn't come out in the USA and considering it has an international warranty, I may buy a European model and buy a set of travel plugs. I assume this doesn't come with multiple plugs for international travel. It has the autosensing adapter so only plugs would be needed. And I could remap the keyboard using the Operating System to USA.

That is assuming even Europe or somewhere else has the exact model I want now or in the forseeable future. Price of getting it shipped to the USA may break my price barrier though as well as VAT or other tax structures. If anyone has any suggestions let me know.

Im just hoping Acer was lazy and will introduce the new Travelmates to the USA in the next month or two. That is my real hope.

Just like Acer marketshare figures, these forums are kicking, with 60 pages of posts related to the Timeline series.

Hint to Acer: Travelmate 8371 to USA market! SU9600, ATI, WWLAN, Bluetooth, and a SSD with 4GB Ram, Vista Business, fingerprint.

SSD prices should be dropping too so it shouldn't be overly expensive. SU9600 yields I don't think are too high right now though for some reason.

 

Has anyone been able to get the Synaptics touchpad "flick" gesture to function as forward and back in Windows explorer? The usual 4th and 5th back and forward buttons do it, but flick doesn't.

BTW I'm using a 3810T SU3500 with Win7 RC x64.

 

Any solution to Hdmi artiifacts when viewing Netflix instant view (NIV) ? Some darkly lit scenes will show changing patterns on a wall where you know the color should be uniform. NIV is not quite dvd quality, so I'll bet these artifacts would be here with any hdmi output pc. This could be an advantage to the old analog Svideo which is pretty much obsolete on new pcs. On the other hand i think the artifacts are not too noticeable and the picture seems sharper with hdmi vrs Svideo.

 

I just got me 3810. I love it. Intel 34nm 80GB SSD soon.

 

I wish Acer would have Travelmate 8371 with Intel 80GB SSD X25M in the USA.

Seems like while the stores have a huge inventory, I want the cream of the crop and something specific thats not even out here yet.

 

Has anyone tried using their slingbox HD?
Looking at the SU3500, and wondering if it can handle it.

 

Are people buying their 3810T-6415's at J+R for those USA purchasers?

If so, how was J+R to deal with. I am in NYC and wish they had the Travelmate and Im trying to hold off.

Seems like those with the 3810T-6415 have the cream of the crop in the USA.

 

I ordered mine on the 17th of this month, got it today. It took a while to ship, but once it did I got it fast (Philly is close to NYC). I had no issues. If you order it from their website, go through Bing and get cash back.

 

I live in NYC so I wouldn't have to wait. Just pop to the store and buy it.