Acer TimelineX 3830/4830/5830 T/G

Sandybridge is an evolutionary step. The big advantage is that if a chip is say 15% faster, then it'll do some lower amount of work. If you're talking two chips in the same basic class, say a 1st versus 2nd gen i5 at the same clock rates, the newer chip will pull that much less power. Even if it's not a more power efficient design, it'll already be giving you some advantage in the battery life. Don't count on the SB machines being twice as fast with twice the battery power, but a 10 or 15% improvement in both areas would not be surprising.

The real limitation for games is the GPU most the time, and the 6650 should add enough fps to most games to be noticeable.

The other thing to consider is USB3.0 which would be FREAKING GREAT to have when copying things onto external hard drives.

Finally Intel and the manufacturers have a gentlemen's agreement in place now to ship parts if the mfrs promise to only use the built in 6Gb/s SATA ports. A simple wire change, if needed, means the next gen TG TimelineX machines could ship much sooner than the beginning of summer. so you could wait a few days maybe just to see if the TimelineX is coming out sooner or later.

EDIT: By the way the lack of E-SATA ports on the timeline X and only having two SATA devices puts it into the class of machines that would need little or NO real work to re-release with SB.

 

When are the new models projected to come out again? I probably need a new laptop by late march by the latest

 

get the 3820tg. the scheduled full production is something around march for the fixed SB chipsets.

Only Nvidia uses the definition of TDP as the current pulled, everyone uses the definition as it meant to be in physics.

Your line of thought dont make any sense, since that when people test the battery life, they put the notebooks to the same basic test, refresh some tabs of any internet browser, wi fi on, some brightness setting of the display, so if you take the test into account, the idea that the chip having more power thus it saves battery is not entirely wrong, but its not applicable here.

So yes while we dont know the performance of the dual core SB chips, the added battery life is a go, and the difference should be about the same as the one that was established with the quad core offerings. The last revamp of the archtecture was the nehalem, and the performance difference from the c2d was not as blase as you are trying to imply.

Architectural changes are the ones that brings the better improvements, not the die shrinks. The new AMD line of desktop gpus is a recognition of that as well.

I can only hope that the poor performance of the mobile AMD cpu that the 6650 was tested is the responsable for the not so exciting fps.

 

It is a huge issue for those of us who work with multiple windows and don't like to switch often. If you don't do anything except for play around, then it's not that useful.

What do you mean? It's not any less useful as long as you have proper eyesight. I wear contacts and still don't have a problem with high dpi screens, I can read them just fine.

It is a huge issue for those of us who work with multiple windows and don't like to switch often. If you don't do anything except for play around, then it's not that useful.

You know you can just turn down the resolution. Using the screen at its non native resolution might look bad when using windows, but it looks absolutely fine with games.

The only resolution that should be on a 15" screen is 1080p. It is NOT too small.

 

If you turn down the dpi scale in windows for some programs you get the terrible blurring or the incompatibility in some programs as I said, and you ignored, try to use the vaio z with the 1080p screen.

I use my laptop mostly for work, and I do have at least 4-8 programs open, that is why I connect it to a 1080p 32'' monitor to do some real work. To deal with a 15000 lines excel tables plus various office related programs in such a small screen you inevitably lose something along the way. if you deal with artsy programs like the adobe package the added space indeed will save you some problems most notably in 3d programs like lightroom, but what is the most common usage tables and text or intensive design programs? Inevitably we have much more administrators than designers, and for engineering programs it doesnt make that noticeable difference.

The quality of the screen however is something that you missed completely, go grab a N53 and compare to a dell xps 15, both are 1080p, but inevitably you will get the dell, the colors are richer, the contrast is higher, and so forth, graba a envy 14 with and without radiance, its not the dpi that makes the jump its the fullness of the colors

If you turn down the dpi in games, you are lead to the world of blurriness.

 

Uhhhh, where did I mention TDP here? I think you're still trying to win an old argument on a subject you don't really understand.

So I'm wrong, but I'm right? Gotcha.

Let me explain the line of thought I was having, but this time I'll type more slowly...

Take two chips, similar design, but one is a newer gen, say i7-1 and i7-2. If they are otherwise similar but the i7-2 can do in 20 cycles what the i7-1 does in 25, then the i7-2 will get a longer battery life because it will be working less hard internally to do the same work that the i7-1 is doing.

 

Jeeze, not this crap again. OK. I have a black box. It has a ground line and a power line. It is pulling 1 amp at 1 volt. It is delivering no power else where. How much power will this black box be dissipating? 1Watt. Period.

Now, I have a CPU. It has a power line or two, and a ground. It is pulling enough current at whatever voltage it's running to add up to lets say it's maximum design power, of 45 Watts. Considering that data lines might be responsible for < 1mw total, we'll leave them out of the discussion. how much power is this CPU now dissipating? 45Watts, because the power is used up as heat, period. There is no other by product except for the digitial signals requiring < 1 milliwatt total to work. Can that CPU pull less current and dissipate less than 45 Watts? Of course it can. Can it pull more current than what it takes to create 45Watts? Of course it can, for a short period, then it will thermally throttle back to the current that allows it to dissipate 45W.

But please explain TDP to us, I'm sure it'll be enlightening.

 

This is a good moment to remind you both to keep it civil and on topic.
Both seem to be getting increasingly off target.
Posts are going to be deleted if it continues along the lines of "Jeeze, not this crap again" or "Let me explain (...) but this time I'll type more slowly..."

 

so question about these new ones. How much more hefty price would it be compared to the old 4820tg that is $700. If its only $100 ill probably wait but $200 ima go with the old 4820tg.

 

I'll put it at around $1000 starting off, it should taper off to $800 by the time it comes to North America (that is assuming that you live here).

 

I will simply say that there is a lack of basic physics. I dont want to extend this anymore.

Just a reminder, the current pass through a material due to the excitation of the electrons.

Now to finish the OT

So the russian forum got any pics yet, or is there another place? And the ethos line hos is their build quality?

 

He said he would post pictures of the 4830 he has on hand - but has not done so thus far.

The spec seems right. The Turks based 6650 should be very interesting combined with the natural boost in performance / clock that comes from SB.

I am less sure about the Ethos design. IMO it would look great.

 

Indeed if the AMD cpu took its toll its going to be a great gpu.

Since I own one notebook with poor build quality, and i would have to trash it in 2 years instead of the always goal of 3, then I want something with good build quality.

I agree with the ethos design looks great, too bad the models released weight a ton.

 

I don't know if I can stand this crappy LCD much longer.

 

lol, I just ordered the acer 4820TG, thinking that it wont be until May that they release the 4830TG, performance boost will be minimal, and the starting price might be around $1,000. Is the screen really that bad? I'm coming off of a 4 year old Asus F9S.

 

To those worried about power consumption/battery life:

Intel?s Sandy Bridge i7-2820QM: Upheaval in the Mobile Landscape - AnandTech :: Your Source for Hardware Analysis and News



Consumption can go as low as 8-12W at idle.

Basicaly the ULV parts now are just regular chips with lower caps on MHz and voltage, the regular chips when the power is not needed can enter the same envelope of the ULV chips.

 

Well, it's certainly shaved a few watts off of power draw. The i5s are winning at right around 10W average over time, current i7 gens show about 15W, and the next gen one is down to 12W. If they can shave 2 or 3 idle or mostly idle Watts off the draw of the i5 next gen that would be the CPU to wait for.

 

Well may be the new one has the same lcd i don/t see any thing about the lcd in the specification

 

Thank you! Finally someone answered my question! The current 3820TG comes with a 66Wh battery, would the extra 5Wh in the review unit have made any noticeable difference (30mins or more)? And if so, how much?

 

5Whr * 5.86 Minutes/Whr = 29.3 Minutes less if based on that graph..

 

Wow, flashback to dimentional analysis (sp?) in high school chemistry... Thanks!

 

the 6650 will be a really nice upgrade over the 6550/5650.

20% greater shader performance (480 vs 400) + increased clock speeds

I am just hoping the LCD is better. If not I will switch brands, I don't have any allegiance to Acer.

 

What would you switch to? I can't find another notebook that can offer similar price/performance/battery.

 

Yea not to mention screen is actually upgradable.
I dare say if not for Acer aggressive pricing we never be able to see powerful portables at a very affordable price.

 

The Lenovo e420s is comparable to this X830TG.
Its going to have the 6630 GPU, however.

 

Don't ThinkPads tend to be expensive? Plus the Whr on current ThinkPads are very low even compared to the Envy 14.

Speaking of the Envy, why doesn't HP ship it with a longer-lasting battery? They had enough space to fit an 8-cell in there, I'm sure they could've thrown in a larger capacity 6-cell like Acer does.

 

It won't make it based on the specs, and pricing.

For pricing you can be sure Lenovo is going to milk the Thinkpad™ branding to the max.

For specs you can be sure it will lag behind what TimelineX offers.

So I do not comprehend what you mean by comparable.

 

Yeah, Acer single-handedly makes mainstream laptops for gaming affordable (sub-$800) to everyone.

 

you guys forget that hp offer dm4t with the same specs and same price also the battery life is the same 800$ for specs as curent acer model 3820TG plus battery

 

Radeon HD 6370 is inferior to the highest SKU TimelineX Radeon HD 6550.
I think the pricing of the 6550 HD TimelineX is equals to the inferior speced dm4.

TimelineX has 3 SKU
Intel Graphics, Entry Level Radeon and Class 2 Radeon.
The amazing part is that the Class 2 Radeon TimelineX is cheaper than any other OEM's offerings.

 

DM4T isn't just HD6370 ?

edit: I'm too late

 

I've noticed that HP usually has sub-par battery life. Including the dm3

 

ah missed this part with the graphic card

but it has better screen and also better casing isnt it ?

 

1) that's a pathetic GPU compared to Acer's TimelineX ones. (edit nvm several peeps posted faster lol)

2) HP's lowly line vs Acer's top line? Battery and reliability contrasts are stark here. <-- I'd like to emphasize this point as the current HP chassis design is still no-no; they seem to want to build something that has a MTBF short enough for maximum profit and long enough to avoid warranty repairs.

 

Screen has the same resolution, I believe they source from the same group of manufacturers.
Acer call theirs CrystalBrite or whatever I don't care because it is the same thing.
Casing is subjective. Acer has nice Aluminium Lid etc...
Guys on Acer Forum justify their purchase with Specifications which means if Acer's new offerings isn't competitive enough we say bye bye, no fanbois behavior.

 

interested doesn't all manufacture do the same expect may be apple

 

Well, we don't know if the new 30's are going to still cost $800.
The base of Lenovo will cost $750, and perhaps with the gpu and an i5, it will cost about $950-$1000.
If everything were the same, the only difference between the two would be their GPU (lenovo getting 6630, and Acer having the 6650). The only difference b/w the two is the core and shader speeds, according to notebookcheck. I'm not sure how much of a difference 115 mhz will be, but OCing it will make the two laptops comparable.

And again, looking at what acer is putting into the new timelinex, I don't think it will stay at its $800 price range. It will probably be bumped up to $1000.

 

That is where you are wrong.
Everytime they never fail to surprise us with their cut throat price(Compared to other OEMs) every release.
So far so good.
The only exception to this rule was Acer Aspire 3935.
It was the only 1 I remembered that went for the look good, poor specs route.
And of course...there was no successor to this model.
If you consider Timeline as the successor then it has the good look, good specs route. TimelineX simply ups the ante. Acer did right in dumping the ULV Processor in favor of the mainstream Intels at cost of a little batterylife.

 

I think he does have a point. Acer is still shipping the 6550 in the new x830s, which is pretty much a tweaked 5650. They might sell those at $800 while the 6650 models will come in at $100-$200 more, which will also include the quads.

 

Maybe, but I know that Acer Laptop prices drop much quicker than other OEMs as well, if you wait then you can get a really good deal.

 

What were the prices of 3/4/5820TGs when they first appeared in North America last year?

 

Prices started at around $800 up here in Canada.

 

The 4820TG (i5-460m, 5650) was about $830 on Newegg in September. Over time it gradually dropped, although availability occurred in bursts.

I was lucky to get mine from Amazon for $800 with a $100 GC plus $25 cashback credit from my Amazon Visa.

I expect the x830TG models to be a little more expensive, though. Acer knows that people love the TimelineX series and they might as well raise the price a bit while maintaining the price/performance advantage over competitors.

 

I'm guessing $900 this time, basically the SB processors being the selling point.

 

I hope they charge a lot more and ship them with LCD panels that match the rest of the specs.

500:1 contrast FTW

 

+1, I'd like to pay 1,000-1100 or so and get 1600x900 and it'll be perfect

 

I wish they could do 6570 or 6670 for the added GDDR5. Oh well. Too much heat I guess.

Yeah, I have to agree. But I would bet of 6 GB RAM and 640 GB HDD @ $800 and 8 GB and 750 GB HDD @ $1000 with the 6650 and hopefully a better LCD panel. Acer tends to use its buying power to kill others with RAM and HDD space.

I don't mind paying for extra quality. An i7-2630qm and 6650 could keep me happy for a long time if it were accompanied with a 500:1 contrast LCD.

 

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HD 6570M FYI

not as good as I was hoping - I guess GDDR5 is optional.

 

No news?

 

A mysterious photo which is probably photo of 3830tg:



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I like the new keyboard! But, why there is nVidia logo there?