Acer Aspire TimelineX 1830T Thread

Didn't you read just a few of the previous postings?
~Amazon and TigerDirect will likely have a few in-stock by August 5th.

No heating problems reported for the first small batch of 1830t i5 models
sold in the US three weeks ago. My wife is using an i5 at this very moment.
The fan has never turned on loud enough to notice.

You probably know this 1830t cpu is the i5-430um,
not the faster and hotter i5-430m.

 

FRY'S Electronics has the i5 1830T. I just bought mine there in Phoenix, AZ. OF course, I got the lat one in stock...

I've seen no heating problems or FAN overdrive with the UM processor. It's as quiet as my Mac Mini.

 

Just went to Frys.com... out of stock on-line.

But my local San Jose Frys stores all show the 1830t -430 available.
Campbell, CA 600 East Hamilton Ave----item available
San Jose, CA 550 East Brokaw Road----item available
Sunnyvale, CA 1077 East Arques Ave---item available
Palo Alto, CA 340 Portage Ave----------item available

 

Of course guys you must know that we hate you for been able to just walk on a store next to your house and touch it,and buy it

 

That's the lack of real benchmarks...!

 

I just want to highlight a review of a 1830T with i5-520 published on tomshw italian

 

Comparing the test results of battery life which from LaptopMag and Principled Technologies，I think the disparity comes from the difference of two CPU type I5-430um and I5-520um.

But the Italian review is a shock to me. Less than 300 minutes? I just buy a I3-330um one form TigerDirect instead of 1810T……

 

There is barely any difference between the 430UM and the 520UM. Most people on here, including me, get at least 6 hours with the 430UM, not sure how the 520UM can only get 4:42.

 

The Intel i5 520UM has a lower clock speed than the 430UM but a slightly higher max turbo frequency. Overall, I don't think there is 10 cents worth of difference between the two chips. Not sure why Acer would mix the two in the same model. I don't see the performance difference between the two processors, although the 430UM is the newer chip. Maybe this indicates an older pre-production design for the 520UM model.

 

PCMag Review i5-430UM.

 

For those still wondering about the pentium u5400, notebookcheck has finally reviewed it :

Notebookcheck: Intel Pentium U5400 Notebook Processor

"The Pentium U5400 (2x1.20 GHz, 3MB L2 cache) bears energy savings features of the new Arrandale generation. The CPU is manufactured in 32nm and has a TDP of 18 watts. That sounds like a lot, but the Intel HD graphics and the memory controller is included. Both are on the CPU bundle and simplify switching on the mainboard.

The Intel HD Graphics in the processor clocks dynamically with 166-500 MHz (Dynamic Frequency). Thus, it's a bit weaker than the Intel HD sisters in Core i3/i5 CPU that clock with up to 667 MHz. 3DMark2006 confirms that with a poor 1107 points. A "normal" Intel HD achieves 1300 to 1900 points depending on the CPU backing. The 3D performance is above the old GMA 4500MHD, but it's only enough for very undemanding gaming cases. It can support the processor in HD videos decryption (in the formats AVC/VC2/MPEG2) and thus provides for smooth HD movies. This hardware assistance has to be supported by the player/video editor.

The new Intel Core generation's performance characteristics are completely foreign to the Pentium U5400, though. No Turbo Boost, no hyperthreading and also no AES instruction (encryption) exist. Practically all qualities that we praised in the i5-520UM (Asus PL30JT-RO030X) are non-existent. Maybe that's why the Pentium CPU is on par with previous CULV Penryn processors?

Cinebench R10 Single (64bit) affirms this while computing with one core: 1691 points (Core 2 Duo SU7300: 1629; Pentium SU4100: 1542). The latter also has two cores and a very similar clock rate with 1.3 GHz.

The same result for computing on both cores. Cinebench R10 Multi (64bit) finishes with 3246 points (Core 2 Duo SU7300: 3054; Pentium SU4100: 2881). Short: The Pentium U5400's computational power has only increased measurably but not noticeably."

from : Notebookcheck: Review Sony Vaio VPC-Y21S1E Subnotebook

 

The PCMag review is rather patchy.
But both the chart and the table at the bottom answer
the many questions about which CPUs are faster.

 

The i5-520UM should be oriented towards more business use with the hardware accelerated AES encryption and VT-d support. i5-430UM would be a more consumer oriented version.

 

Got my Intel Centrino 6200 today, will put it in later.

 

you bought it from amazon right? link please?

so many different sellers... don't know who to trust.

thanks

 

6300's work fine too. I use it in my 1810T without issue.

If you're in the US, there's an NBR user that's selling 6300's:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/com...-ultimate-n-6300-advanced-wireless-cards.html

I can vouch for babyhemi. I've purchased two of the 6300's and they're genuine and works great.

Just another option...

Cheers,
Kermee

P.S. 6300 has three antenna connectors. You can leave the 3rd port disconnected or add a 3rd antenna.

 

On the contrary, I found it to be a very good review. The 1830 i5 certainly stacks up well in performance, battery power and price to the other units in the review. In fact, I would say it came out on top for an under $1,000 unit!

 

I do agree! The 1830 did very well.

It was confusing for me to have commented on the quality of the review,
which I think was quite poor.

Notice I posted direct links to the benchmark charts.

 

Doers this lil lappy struggle with 1080p content (.mkv, x264) playback? How about 1080p streaming? Does it stutter like the 1410/1810 series?

 

Doesn't matter the power transimission, does matter the power consumption!
How does 6 serie behave compared with 5 serie about electric consumption?

 

I posted my findings here and concluded that 1080p content (VC-1, H.264, x264, etc.) in a variety of wrappers (AVI, MKV, OGG) plays perfectly, even over HDMI to a 1080p display. 1080p Youtube was almost perfect, dropping only a small number of frames.

 

There's no hard public #'s on power consumption on either device. I would assume the power consumption between the 6-series and 5-series would be about the same.

Cheers,
Kermee

 

I just picked one of these up this afternoon from Fry's... As we speak I am installing Win7 64 on the SSD I got along with it.

First impression: Impressed by how light it is

 

It is a 11.6" laptop...

 

just got this today and having an annoying issue... can't get the multi touch gestures working after a clean windows 7 install. tried the drivers on the site but they don't seem to work. ideas?

 

Use this one - works far better than stock drivers.

 

The track pad is not one of this computer's better features. If you bought the computer for iPad like multi gestures on the track pad, you bought the wrong computer. However for those of us who love the mouse, its a great computer.

 

mobzd how different are those drivers for the 1830t? Do they allow extra functionality over the stock drivers?

Finally got my 1830t i5 from Tigerdirect and have been charging it for 12 hours now as part of the "first charge" process some sites recommend (but seriously 16hrs - 24hrs??).

 

thanks i'll give these a try soon

 

don't know how you jumped from "i can't get the trackpad working as advertised" to "i thought this was an ipad"

just want it working right so i can scroll, etc, not looking for any incredible magical trackpad features

 

My 1830T is in Acer's hands. Trying to change to the Intel 6200 wifi the Broadcom would not come out (I hate screws), so I use scissors and broke it. Then the computer wouldn't turn on, the power button and power light just blinked. Screws have also hampered my attempt to fix my Panasonic ZS3's screen. So I am typing this from one of my college's computer lab, as I am computer-less until at least Aug 3rd where my just fixed from the recall 3810t awaits me.

 

Hmmmm. Well, I finished doing a clean install and found that my WEI score (yes, yes... I know it's not super accurate) was significantly lower than where it started... particularly the graphics score (overall rating was 2.0). I had tried reinstalling the drivers but to no avail. Next I tried doing a system restore with the DVDs I created from the original HDD but after it finished copying and went into the first boot it started to loop from a Windows 7 Home Basic screen.

Got to work for the next couple of days so I'm not going to be able to look at it until Sunday, but are there any ideas on how I can fix the graphics issue? Has anyone done a successful clean install?

 

very awesome. just installed them and they seem to be working just fine.

edit: maybe not. i wonder if i have a synaptics touchpad. tried checking the hardware ID in device manager and it said SYN.

1830t-3721

 

Use these.I have a feeling is exactly what you need.If they don't work unistal them.
http://go.notebookreview.com/?id=52...re-1410-1810t-1810tz-timeline-tweaks-2-a.html

 

TigerDirect sent you an i5? Cool. When did you order? Its still showing as unavailable on their site, but maybe stock is arriving, and they're about to press go... fingers crossed.

N.

 

Ordered 6/29 and received yesterday 7/21. I thought it wasn't ever going to ship since they took it off their site 2 days after I ordered. I ended up also ordering an i3.. but that's still on backorder.

So far this is one great laptop. Extremely light, thin, and quiet. Will post any problems I run into as I spend more time on it.

Side question, does anyone know how to remove the stickers cleanly without scratching the palmrest and destroying the stickers (i5, W7, and Timeline X stickers) ?

 

Tiger Direct, Circuit City and Comp USA take down the listing when they are not available and will put the items back up when they have more available. I've seen items disappear one day and then show up again a day or two later. I always search "a180-116" for a listing of all of the Acer 11.6" models. Using "g180-116" will produce their Gateway siblings

 

I bought my 1830tz yesterday. Oh man, why didn't I check it's crappy trackpad more thoroughly (

1st - trackpad is AWFUL! Its an alps and it's so called multitouch is a joke, even the single finger scroll works only in 50% of times, with maximum width in settings and DELL drivers. Amazingly bad. Can I help it somehow?? Can I change the trackpad?

2nd - wifi is working same 50% of times. WHTF with this? It just doesn't see any networks, than I put it asleep, wake up, and now it works! Crap!

3rd - In 50% of cases I cannot wake up 1830 from sleep, it kind of halts, so I need to restart it!!!

What can I do with this ? Can I return it directly to Acer (I bought it in Malaysia) cos of too much serious problems with it?

4th - the screen is really glary

 

The track pad is the one weakness of this machine. But all the reviews have mentioned it so should not come as a surprise if you are a die hard track pad person. I"ve had no problems with WIFI connectivity or wake up after sleep. The communications is great, especially with gigabit IP and bluetooth built-in. And I have no problems with the screen. It works great with HDMI to a big screen display too.

 

1 - The trackpad on my 1830t i5 (not tz) is a Synaptics and it's actually not bad. It might be slightly too small so getting to one end of the screen to the other involves two swipes sometimes, but increasing the cursor speed helps this out. It's pretty responsive and the side up and down scrolling isn't bad.
2 - No problems with WiFi.
3 - No problems with coming out of hibernation.
4 - It's not a matte screen. You will have problems using it outdoors like any other laptop with a glossy screen.

 

You got lucky. Those of us with Alps suffer.

 

I may be the only one, but I prefer the Alps over the Synaptics on my 1810tz.
But then, I'm not much into using Synaptic's "Gestures".

What I dislike about the 1830 are the poorly defined edges of the touch pad.
I've considered putting strips of tape to help.

And left-handers such as myself have a further problem.
The touch pad is located to the left of center.
Doesn't leave much room for big-guy left palms to rest.
Why do they do that???

 

i'm finding that the sound is pretty low compared to other laptops...is this typical?

 

Hmm I haven't noticed that. The sound is average for a laptop and good enough for every day usage.

You should obviously be using external speakers or headphones most of the time anyway.

 

I'd rather not spend an extra $12 on a wireless card w/ features I don't plan on using anytime soon .

The 6200 for ~$28 fits my needs perfectly and will yield the same speeds as the 6300 in my notebook.

 

I finally purchased an 1830t, with an i3, because of the 15% bing cashback for $509 (after cashback). It actually increased yesterday from 12%.

There was one i5 left at the San Diego Fry's but it was fully priced at $699. I saved $200 by going for the online deal with cashback...at the expense of the i5 processor and getting it same day (rather than having to wait 7-21 days through tigerdirect).

Thanks to everyone here I am confident I made the right choice.

 

I think the i5, 4 GB of memory and the 500 GB HDD with built-in bluetooth is worth the extra $200 in my opinion.

 

Hey guys,

I am so torn between buying a 1810tz and a 1830 variety.
They both have almost everything I am looking for, I was hoping you guys could help me figure out the rest.

Battery life is a really important factor to me. I am a student and tend to write my papers in pubs, coffeeshops or the park, and being able to leave the power cable at home is a big factor for me. That being said, when I do need long endurance, I will be doing very idle tasks - typing in word, reading pdf's and perhaps browsing a few web tabs. When I am home connecting the unit to a projector for watching HD videos, battery is not an issue.

Apparently the 1830 generally has lower battery performance than the 1810tz due to better processor. But can anyone tell me whether there is a difference in battery life on the i5 and the i3 model?? How much do you think I could squeeze out of the i3 with idle tasks and no wireless/bluetooth on?
The thing is, as much as I love idea of the 1810tz package, the glossy finish is a real turn-off, and the 0.3 mp webcam is a disgrace. In that sense, the 1830's are much more appealing. The overall increased performance isn't so appalling either (But seeing that I am coming from an ancient 4 year old 15 inch, I have a feeling either will be satisfying )

If I were to go with the 1810tz, I have noticed there are so many different models. Which one is best for battery life? I live in the Netherlands.
Is there any chance there is an 1810tz on the marked somewhere with a higher megapixel web cam and/or matte finish??

I hope someone can help me with this - after weeks of plowing through reviews, I am getting seriously impatient to buy a new little friend! I just wanna make sure to get it right... Any thoughs, ideas, suggestions?
Thanks!!!

Anna

 

Where? Who has i3's in stock with 15% cash back?

Thanks.

N.

 

They take some time to ship, but I just searched "acer timeline" and found it on page 3 of bing shopping. Here's the link:

acer timeline - Bing Shopping

On page 5 you'll find similar deals with compusa (powered by tigerdirect) and circuitcity. But again, 7-21 days. X(

EDIT: The order is "In Process" but is a backordered item (...it figures). I'll update this post if the Bing cashback is still able to go through.

EDIT2: I now have $90 pending in my Bing cashback account as of today.


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I too think it is worth $200, but not for what I'm aiming for with this notebook. If I were completely replacing my [well-]aging full-sized notebook then I wouldn't get anything below an i5, but this little guy is more than enough for my purposes (an office companion to compose tex documents and watch vids via hdmi).