Acer Aspire TimelineX 1830T Thread

Just so you know, I didn't test battery life while continuously watching Blu-Ray rips, but if my test of playing WoW for three and a half hours is any indication, I would think that HD video would be less demanding...

Intel's Clarkdale (desktop) and Arrandale (mobile) feature integrated H.264 decoding to be fully compatible with dual-stream 1080p Blu-Ray for picture-in-picture commentary and such. As evidenced by my experiments with YouTube 1080p, deviating from the standard codec can cause dropped frames.

 

AL10C31 not compatible 1810T
AL10C31 small

 

The new issue of PC World compares the current Intel chips, and concludes that the i3 chip is faster than the i5 chip on the WorldBench 6 test by 8.5%, although the i5 chip is 25% faster than the i3 chip on the Cinebench test. Any opinions on how this translates in terms of the performance of the i3 and i5 1830t's?

 

It is 1.2GHz (i3 330UM)vs. 1.06GHz (i5 520UM) baseline clock. So the i5 would be faster in single-threaded applications, the i3 better in multi-threaded applications.
But apart from stuff like converting audio/video, rendering and other editing, you will never notice any difference, imo. And even then, the difference will be second, maybe tens of seconds, but not more.
If you need to make use of the other i5 features, go for it. Or if you know you will drive a lot of single-threaded stuff. Otherwise, I wouldn't sweat it. Get the cheaper and/or better spec'd thing.

 

Please excuse my interruption, but may I ask whether Word/Excel are single- or multi-threaded applications? I do not know what the term means. Thanks.

 

See my previous posts on continuous blu-ray playback. I think it was around 3 hours and change.

 

Multithreading - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
It really just means if a program runs on one core/thread (since Intel has Simultaneous Multi Threading aka Hyperthreading which offers 2 threads per 1 physical core) or if it is limited to only one. If it can run on only one, the clock (GHz) determines the speed and a 2GHz CPU will generally be faster than a 1GHZ CPU. If it is multithreaded a 2GHZ CPU which only has 1 or 2 Cores can be beaten by a 1GHz CPU with 3 or 4 cores. In theory at least.
In stuff like web browsing, text editing etc. you will not feel a difference between any kind of CULV processor, as long as you stick to those simple things. Try to encode an HD movie while simultaneously watching a movie and writing an e-mail and you will see stuttering. But stick to watching a movie, listening to music and writing, surfing and you'll be fine with anything higher than an Atom I guess.

 

Oh thank you, you've explained it so that even a noob like me can understand. I bit the bullet and ordered the i3, and come back to this thread for assurance that I made the right decision in not waiting for the i5 to get to Canada. It sounds like for my usage purposes (word processing, spreadsheets, surfing, email) that I will not notice any difference.

 

Well the i5 version also has more ram and a bigger hard drive.

Although I would've probably bought the i3 if it wasn't for Bing cash back.

 

I like the i5 1830T better myself. I ran it at work on batteries for a few hours doing Office stuff and light editing, in power saver mode. When I checked the battery meter, it said I had a little more than 8 hours left! I think you can get the rated 8 hours of battery life in power saver mode, if your just surfing or doing office stuff.

 

Damn, I wish Tigerdirect had the i5 3721 model in stock. Its a good deal with Bing.

 

I got mine in 2-3 weeks. If you don't need it right away, it's a really good deal for this laptop.

After a week or so of using it, I really have no complaints. Battery life is more than enough for me, screen looks nice, and I love how light and small it is. It really is the power of a regular notebook in the size of a netbook.

 

After having my i3 1830T for a few weeks I thought I would provide an update on some usability impressions. The build quality is good but not great. Its is impressively speedy for the form factor and has taken everything I have thrown at it without a problem including making a few short videos (something that made my netbook completely choke as you would expect). The screen is nice. Unfortunately, for my *relatively* old eyes the screen resolution is a bit high for the screen size so I cant use it without my reading glasses or zooming the page. A personal preference but an important consideration for some. The touch pad is also a bit small and "touchy" and the keyboard has a little flex but it isnt bad. Battery life is as others have stated so for my use its great.

All things considered its a great little computer but just not for me since I have trouble interacting with it with the high screen resolution for the size and the smallish and finicky touchpad.

Im going to be selling mine and going back to my netbook

 

Does Somebody know where I can buy an azerty 1830T online in USA ?

 

So was darthhen's 1830 just a fluke (fan always running at high speed and 5.5 hours max battery life) or have others had the same experience?

 

If you are doing a lot of intensive tasks, like running scans from Avast, Malwarebytes, and SAS at the same time, the fan is loud (louder than my 3810t's fans got at full speed). But under normal tasks they are very quiet. And it is very possible to get only 5.5 hours, I have an ssd and on my battery test I got 6.5 hours.

Really if you want good performance and good battery life, the upcoming 1840T powered by a Sandy Bridge cpu will give you that, but getting an 1830T now you sacrifice battery life for cpu performance.

 

i dont want compromise battery life.
so i think ill go either with acer 1810, unfortunately i cant find no more asus ul20 so i would go with ul30 or....maybe wait for acer 1840?

 

So just buy 1810T with SU9400!

 

I've had similar issues trying to do some development on the 1830T. While I don't need reading glasses, when there's a lot of information being displayed the somewhat compressed nature of 1366x768 on an 11.6 inch screen made it hard for me to get around. This is not an issue of resolution independent of screen size. There isn't a single thing I like better about the Asus UL20A over the 1830T except that it has a 12 inch screen sporting the same resolution, which made things a lot easier to see. I'm curious to see what the apparently AWOL successor to the UL20A, the UL20FT is going to be like, and would like to have something of that size as a portable development machine, but I'm not too hopeful that's it's going to be a huge improvement over the UL20A in terms of build quality.

Ideally I guess I would like to have something with the same form factor of the 1830T with a somewhat lower resolution (1280x720?), but I don't expect something like that will be available anytime soon.

 

X201i with Core i3-330M and 1280x800 res is $833 on Amazon.

 

If you use power saver mode, I think you can get close to the rated 8 hours of battery time; at least that is what the battery meter says for my i5 1830T. No need to sacrifice the faster i5 for the i3 or the 1810T to get long battery time. As for the small screen, I use my Acer with my HD TV most of the time, except when I am on the road. One peculiar thing though with the screen resolution, when using a second monitor with the Acer 1830T, the recommended resolution is slightly less than the advertised 1366 x 768 . It makes the text easy to read of course without glasses, but I am at a loss as to why the computer has to downgrade the resolution slightly on a large display. Is the built-in Intel video driver not strong enough to drive it at it's full resolution? Has any one else noticed this oddity when hooking up a second monitor/tv?

 

You need to actually test it. I did and got only almost 6.5 hours. With my 3810t Windows sometimes displayed over 9 hours possible. The previous Timeline's with Core 2 Duo's were more power efficient, and the next gen after the TimelineX's will combine both generations into a powerful and long lasting lineup.

 

My gut feeling is the 1830T i3/i5's with the same battery would be on par with 1410/1810T's. The increase in TDP from the CPU is offset by reductions in power consumption from the supporting chipset and the GPU being on-die with the CPU.

Cheers,
Kermee

 

You lost me on that one Kermee. The 1830T has the larger battery, yet it seems to be worse (according to some) or "just" on par with the 1810.

When I purchase a laptop I'm expecting less than claimed battery life for my use. I would expect a solid 6 to 6.5 hours from an "8 hour" battery. Anything more would be icing on the cake to me.

 

The X201i seems like an interesting option for professional use. I understand from the NotebookReview review (although it doesn't specifically mention the X201i) that the screen might no be so hot, but I don't know of any other laptops out there that size and weight that have a great keyboard, great battery life, are cool, and are as powerful and well-built. And of course it addresses my resolution issue I'd say that's more than a fair trade for the price difference. I'm a little leery of ordering from anyone but Amazon, and they seem to not be selling the X201i themselves, but this is a great option to keep in mind for when I finally break down and do the next best thing. Thanks for the recommendation!

 

Maybe you do need reading glasses. Denial is not just a river in Africa.

Bronksy

 

Hah, I had a feeling someone would pick on that bit Honestly though, I don't have a problem reading the text on the 1830T, but when you have a lot of dense C++ code in front of you in a relatively small space it can be overwhelming. I just seem to remember having an easier time getting around Visual Studio on the UL20A. Everything else I've tried on the 1830T is just fine display-wise.

 

It's already available. I'm completely baffled by the comments on screen resolution. Right click on the desktop, select screen resolution, then adjust the resolution to 1280x720 (or lower!). Why would you need to buy a different laptop when the 1830 already does this? What am I missing? Also, there are other tools to make the resolution easier to use (e.g. using large fonts, zooming in on web pages, etc.). I suppose w/o a mouse zooming web pages may seem bothersome but it is pretty painless w/ just holding CTRL + scrolling the wheel mouse.

Now going to a larger screen (e.g. a 12.1" UL20A as indicated by nirslsk) makes sense to me because you're actually getting something. But why scudder2u would want to go to a smaller form faactor (e.g. a netbook which implies 10" to me) is totally confusing.

 

Agreed with everyting Mr. Foo said, except for the part where someone should deviate from the native resolution of a LCD screen . It just gets blurry and reads even worse, unless you go for 1/4 the size, meaning 1 windows pixel will occupy 4 LCD pixels (so 683*384... weird stuff ).
But I think the density of the screen is pretty awesome, going back to my 24" 1920*1200 screen seems blurry for a few minutes . And with tools you can always make it more readable.

 

I know I will probably be attacked for saying this but the 1830T thread and the travelmate 8172 thread are becoming boring.People are talking constantly about battery time.....

 

+1 rep

Bronsky

 

how about someone start an owner's lounge for the 1830t?

 

I third that.

Fantastic idea!

 

I also do a lot of C# coding. I can work on the 1830T screen with Visual Studio OK for short periods, but I need my glasses. However, when I use the HDMI port to my HD TV 26 inch, the display is wonderful. I can code all day without getting tired, although the resolution is lower than at work, its easier on the eyes. I played some movies on it including The Crawling Eye with Janet Monroe. The video and sound is very good. THis will make a great portable movie machine to augment my Mac Mini HTPC. I'm very happy with the video and sound output with the HDMI port.

 

Please don't abandon the 1830T thread until someone can tell me when the thing will be available in the UK! I am desperate to buy one. The Acer stand in T5 Heathrow has disappeared so that source of info has gone. Calling Acer UK was about as much use as a chocolate teapot.

Anyone have any idea?

 

I am sure it will turn up eventually in the U.K.And I am also sure we will learn about it right away.It is also probable that the UK models will as always have some peculiarity(e.g only i3)...In the meanwhile you have some options like ordering from some other european country...Don't worry nobody is abandoning this thread.We didn't abandon it all these months when the 1830T was just vaporware.....

 

Thanks for that thundernet. I am a regular visitor to the States and am considering buying there. I guess I better start looking at the prices and checking the Acer warranty to see if it is worldwide. I think it is because I am sure my Acer 8204WLMi has global cover.

 

All Acers have one year international travelers warranty..If something happens to it in the U.K you just pretend that you are an American visiting.From what I have heard they don't make any fuss about it....

 

Hi,
I just received a 1830t i5 version. Strangely, it can't connect to my D-Link Dir655 router at all. Connects fine to other APs. I've got my router configured with WPA2 personal with AES but I've tried different security settings and even disabling all security. Weird.

I began to think that maybe it was 11n incompatibility but I switched the router into 11g only mode and that didn't help.

Each time Windows just complains it was "unable to connect". Very confusing.

Any ideas?

TIA,

D

 

I'm sitting in McDonalds, with my i5 1830T, watching Bugs Bunny Cartoons, while I eat a Big Mac. No problem connecting wireless. At home I have been wired to my Liink Sys Router 100 bps, g. No problems there either. I haven't tried the 1000 bps connection yet, but I assume that works fine too. The best guess is there is something non-standard about your router setup that the Acer doesn't like. I would take it to a hot spot or another network and see if you can connect. Could be something as simple as windows security settings.

 

Hello,

I have my 1830T i5-430UM for 5 days now and I'm really happy.
Unfortunately the 520UM version is still not available in Poland.

Anyways, what I'm interested in right now is getting the 3G to work.
I've already ordered miniPCI-E connector and SIM card slot. I had some spare 3.9 mm JAE miniPCI-E and a Proconn SIM slot after my EEE901 3G mod, but unfortunately the JAE connector doesn't fit. As for the Proconn SIM slot I compared it with the SIM connector used on Aspire One and 1810T 3G mod and the pinout seems different.

Has anyone already opened 1830T and checked if there's 3.3V on second miniPCI-E?

 

I have a D-Link Dir-655 at home and have not had problems connecting with either the i3 or i5 1830T units. I did notice that the wi-fi on the i5 1830T would be disabled whenever I come back from hibernation, and I would have to use the appropriate Fn key to turn it back on, but once I did it connected just fine. Let me know if you want me to look up any particular configuration settings on my router.

 

My wife's i5 1830t connects without problem to our DIR-655 router.
We don't use security settings though, due to the rural location of our home.
But twice over two weeks, I've needed to use the Function-F3 keys to turn on
the wireless adapter. Not a big enough problem at this moment to try to solve.

Have you tried it without security?

 

how would the 1830t compare to an asus 1215n for watching 1080p and 720p mkv movies? I plan on outputing to an hdtv

 

FYI, update from TigerDirect:

"We appreciate your interest in purchasing our product. Our records indicate that item Acer Aspire Timeline X AS1830T-3721 LX.PTV02.043 Notebook PC (A180-11667) is on backorder and should be available on the third week of July. "

Thanks for all the good info shared on this thread!

N.

 

Wow ... just in time for one last shot at Bing Cash back.

 

update on the wifi issue. after trying everything with settings and scouring google it looks like it's a range problem. I moved a lot closer to the router and it magically connected. Hard to believe that it couldn't connect because of this since every other PC i've ever used had no trouble.

I've ordered an intel wifi adapter to replace the broadcom garbage.

thanks for your comments
D

 

Interesting... no distance problems with my Linksys. Range is 140 feet through two walls before the connection starts dropping. (Actually measured it into my friendly neighbors' home just for curiosity).
Let us know how the Intel wifi adapter works out.

Same thinking here... Bing cashback stops July 30th
However, here is the response I received from TigerDirect sales.
___________________________________________
RE: Pre-Sales Inquiries / Product Information (#8796-183457128-9848)‏
From: TD Sales Leads ([email protected])
Sent: Wed 7/14/10 12:49 AM

Dear Valued Customer:
Upon checking on our records, item number A180-11667, Acer Aspire Timeline X AS1830T-3721 LX.PTV02.043 Notebook will be available around the 1st week of August 2010 and We apologize for the inconvenience, we do not accept Pre-Orders.
Sincerely,
Mark
TigerDirect.com Web Response
_____________________________________
BTW.. the next day I received a $20 off $200 discount code from TigerDirect.
Don't know if it was related to my inquiry.

 

I got this email the other day from TD

Since you were kind enough to spend more than 200 dollars with us during our 20th anniversary celebration, we'd like to return the generosity: by taking 20 bucks off the total cost of your next order over $200

 

Is it possible to buy i5 now in USA?
What about heating on this laptop?