Acer TravelMate 4500 review

When I looked for a notebook, I could not find a decent review on 4500, so here is the first one with the info I missed

System configureation:
1,5 GHz centrino CPU (Pentium M 715)
512 MB RAM
15,4" WXGA TFT screen (1280x800)
60 Gb HD
DVD-Dual
Wireless lan: 802.11b/g
ATi Radion 9700 mobile
10/100 Mbit ethernet

Screen/graphics:
The display is awesome. It is large (15,4" and 1280x800) and it is bright and clear in the colours. Looking at it from the side gives good view, but looking from above or below it makes it dark. The screen can turn 180° (from closed to completely open). Control of brightness is easy. It's the fn key+2 arrow keys

sound:
The internal stereo speakers could be a bit louder and they sound a bit cheap. They are ok for most work, like system sounds and some games, but they are not the ideal choice if you want to watch a DVD movie. The speaker mini-jack makes external speakers possible and that shows that the problem is the speakers and not the sound card. External speakers plays very well.

noise:
First of all, this computer is very silent. You can somtimes hear the HD working if it is active, but that's not a problem. It just gives the clicks they always do. I don't think you can buy a notebook with lower HD noise.
The DVD is a bit too noisy for my liking, but I have heard worse. It is moving the laser fast that generate the noise, so it is not a real problem if you watch DVD movies (they tend to be linear, which reduce the need to move it fast)
The fan is only activated when the computer gets hot, which is when the CPU gets a lot to do. It is so silent that I fail to hear it most (all?) of the times it starts. Most of the time with normal (non-3D gaming), it is off

heat:
it is a cool computer. It will remain cool at the places where you place your hands. However it can get a bit hot underneath, but not really hot. When the fan kicks in, it will emit a lot of heat, but since it is blown away vertically in the upper right of the computer, you will not be hit by it. It will not heat up the room, it just feels hot because it is consentrated in such a small area.

touchpad:
the touchpad is controlable and I have no problems pointing at the stuff I want to. It is also rather large, so there are no problems with hitting the edge all the time

TV-out
There is a s-video output. It acts like a 2nd monitor. It uses the full TV area for displaying (unlike the other s-video out I have seen, which had black areas around the screen, which could NOT be removed) and it have no problems updating or displaying all colours. Being s-video, you need a s-video converter if the TV do not understand s-video. They can be bought rather cheap and is also really small in size.
I recommend that s-video is used together with an audiocable, so both video and audio shows on the TV. Together with the buildin DVD-decoder, it removes the need for a DVD for the TV. Quallity can't improve with one. The display is even better than the TV signal

battery:
the battery says 4400 mAh. I know acer also uses 6600 mAh, but I do not know if it fits in this model. You can also replace the DVD drive with an extra battery (or an extra HD if you like)
Just using the one battery on 4400 mAh, it seems to fit with 4,7 hours of battery life. I have not make a timetest, but I think it lasted more than 4 hours when it asked for a recharge. It was at 10% at that time. A general rule to improve Lithion batteries is to prevent them from dropping too much below 40%. You can set it to display a waring at 40% if you like. This way, the battery will work long when you really need it and not kill the battery on "I forgot to plug it in"

software:
acer didn't include a lot of junk on the HD, which saved me from removing it. They included Win XP pro and a trial of Norton Antivirus and software to control the features of the computer itself (like drivers)
The OS comes preinstalled, all you have to do is to choose what language you want and it will install and then delete the installers to the other languages to save space. It supports some sort of system recovery, but I haven't tested that. The HD is formatted 50/50 in two partitions on delivery. If you do not like that, you can reformat it. I don't know if stuff like partition magic can merge them without reformatting.

Stuff present, but not tested:
Wlan, 3-in-1 card reader, PCMCIA slot, infrared networking

overall:
this is a really good notebook. It does everything fast and in high quallity. I have yet to see frameskips, but since I don't like 3D shooting games, I have not tested really demanding 3D. Waiting for stuff to install, stuff/unstuff and so on is really fast.
If I should grate his, I would give it max grade. I don't think it's possible to find a better notebook within this pricelevel

Note: It went out of stock when I ordered (as the only model out of stock). After 2 weeks, a new shipment arrived from Shanhai and I got one with 2 mb level 2 cache instead of the 1 mb I was told it have when I ordered.

 

good review but just wanted to add that the recovery is through a hidden partition and is vrey very good i did it today just ot test it.
i will soon remove the fat32 and make it ntfs
but i havent done that yet.
will update more on that later
bye
shr

Acer 4501== laptop that kicks the llamas ass.
I LOVE THIS LAPTOP!!

 

If you wanted to repartition this machine, does the recovery software have a partitioning program included, in the manner that Windows XP allows you to partition during setup? And if you repartition the drive (say, taking out that 50/50 divide, or changing the sizes of the two partitions), will it set the partitions back to the original settings if you use the recovery software?

 

No, the recovery software does not allow you to change the partition. You can get rid of the second partition by formating the hard drive with XP and using the recovery cds If you don't have any partition software. It's also worth converting the fat32 to ntfs which can be achieved with the convert command.

It's an excellent laptop, games such as FarCry and Call of Duty run fine making It an excellent mobile gaming laptop. Wireless networking has good signal strength. Battery lasts for over 4 hours.
The only things 'wrong' are If the battery is removed and you run off the mains It does not sit level. And the Intel wireless software is included on the recovery cd and the acer ftp site but not installed. I'm not sure If this makes any difference to battery life.

Overall an excellent laptop at a very competitive price.

Anyone know where to purchase the extra battery to swap out with the DVD writer?

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by Evoga

 

Convert command:-

convert e: /fs:ntfs

With regards to the battery, I know about shelf life but I was interested in swapping out the dvd burner and putting another battery in to extend the battery life even further. It would be nice to have the laptop charged for 8 hours.

 

Sorry wrong drive letter. It should read:-

convert c: /fs:ntfs

 

hi cool_guy-- like the review, and wanted to add that infrared works like a charm and it is really got a nice setting in the BIOS- its got on, off and automatic which is where it is on tricle power till another device is detected. this feature is ABSENT in my friends dell and other notebooks and this is a great idea if you want infrared but not 24/7 my cellphone syncs perfectly and i can say- no complaints
WLAN i assume you mean wireless and it works well, i cant comment on a comparison as it is my first wireless enabled device. wireless works for sure[ ]
just wanted to add that
good work!
bye
shr
<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by cool_guy

 

I agree with most of your review but I found the screen on this unit very disappointing. It is very bright, but the contrast is poor and the colors look washed out. The optimal viewing angle is very narrow, in fact I did not find a single one where the whole screen looks uniform. It is also unevenly lit, the blacks at the bottom of the screen look more like a light grey. This seems to be the same screen that is used on the Aspire 1680 series and is certainly a step down from the one used in the Aspire 2000 series.
I’m from Europe, so maybe Acer uses a different screen in the US. In any case, if you plan to use this laptop to watch movies or present data to other people I would advise to look at the screen in person. I found it unacceptable.

One thing that I can add to the review is that WLAN reception is excellent, and the software for hooking the laptop to a projector works very well.

 

I've decided to return my Acer Travelmate 3200 because the fan is turning itself on every 5 Minutes, even if you use Speedstep XP. I find that very annoying. Its a shame, because apart from that I really like this Laptop (well, keyboad could be a tad better, but its okay).

I am considering to order a Travelmate 4500, speculating on the fact, that the bigger the laptop, the better is its passive (non-fan) cooling. So, my question is, under which circumstances does the fan run? Whats the noise level like, if running? Does it come on even if you don't do cpu intensive things, like browsing/office?

Last but not least: how is the display? (brightness, colours)

Thanks!

 

Owning one myself, I think a newegg.com price should be included. I bought the whole package for 1417. after 2-day shiiping

The keyboard DOES get a bit hot after you play UT2004 for 5 hrs continous or something. The touchpad buttons are bit too loud. And having all the ports on the right side does make someworka a bit tough.

arjung

 

Just want to add some notes and benchmarks that might be useful.

The laptop boots win XP in 25sec (from pressing POWER button). When windows is loaded task manager shows 94MB used from phisical memory.

HDD installed is 60GB ATA 100. To test HDD performance I picked Sisoft Sandra 2004(sp2b). Here are the results :
-Drive Index : 22MB/s
-Average seek time : 13ms
According to program's database this result is better than one, taken from 2,5" 60GB 4200rpm HDD - 15MB/s
For some "real life" testing, I made a copy of 703MB AVI (from one dir to another on the same drive) in about 140sec

Video installed is ATI 9700/64MB, with latest Omega drivers, DX9.0c
Here are some 3D benchmarks:
3D mark 2001 : 10832
3D mark 2003 : 2612
3D mark 2005 : 627 (this result is a little questionable, becouse 64MB video card doesn't meet 3D mark 2005 system requirements -128MB or more)

I hope this info will help someone [ ]

 

On Acer site the specification says 3xUSB2 ports

But when checked with Sisoft sandra it reports only one port with USB2 (480Mbps) and and the remaning two as USB 1.1 (12Mbps)

Have any one connected some High speed device(USB2) and checked if all the ports are USB2 as Acer says in specification

 

Hi everyone,
I am going to buy my first ntb. I decided to take TM 4502 WLMi, but yesterday found 4002 WLMi and now I dont know what is better for me. I dont know exactly the difference. Is it the same quality? Is it a good choice - 4002 WLMi? Pls, help. [email protected] Thanx a lot!

 

I have a Acer TravelMate 4501Wlmi for sale with a 3 year warranty.

I ordered one and love it but then for work was given a dell. No use in having two.

My loss is your gain.

Comes with a 3 year international warranty and laptop bag.

only 1 1/2 months old.

[email protected]

 

hey how is it going?? i am a student and just need for basic uses as well as for my mp3 and stuff like that.. i am thinking about getting TM 4502 WLMi .. do u think i should go for .. or u guys recommend me something else..

 

I'm bout to buy a notebook but I do not know exactly which one to buy.
What are the differences between the 4002 Wlmi and the 4500?

The price may circle to 1500€.

grts koen

 

Hello everyone

I bought a new acer travelmate 4502LMi, its a great and powerful laptop!

I have a query maybe anyone can help me! in this laptop thare is an integrated microphone in the bottom left corner, underneath the screen! In the begening it worked fine when i used it to communicate with friends on some communicators! last week they couldnt hear me. i tested the microphone from the options in the control panel but for the mic to take my voice i had to keep it just 2cm away! does any one can help me please! PS. when i tick the microphone boost option in the volume control, a lap back rexults.

 

Hey dude, I decided to buy the same model which is 4502LMI. Are there any cons of this type. In the forum, some guys said the display of the 4502WLMI is sort of unacceptable. Some said only 1 of the 3 USB ports is USB2.0. Do you have the same problem with your 4502LMI?
I really love this unbeatable notebook with awesome price and quality. I'm looking forward to information of this notebook as much as possible before I buy it. Great thanks.


<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by commando

 

I can say that this laptop is very powerful, the battery lasts long! As they said the screen is nothing special but for me its enough as i dont use the laptop for entertainment! All i can say is that over performance is great!

 

I am choosing between 4502 WLMI and 2023 WLMI so I'd like to know:

1) Which model has a better screen?
2) Is it true that only 1 USB port in 4502 is 2.0?
3) Which model has a better design?

I desperately need an advice...

 

Hey guys,

Just a few questions, sorry i can't help out with any of your one's yet as i have only just ordered the 4502WLMi. One thing that is worrying me is the widescreen resolution. 1280x800 is not standard... how do games like UT and HL2 cope with that? Also, if you do drop the res to something like 1024x768, is the quality bearable or is everything stretched and distorted?

Looking forward to hearing from someone...

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by jwheffer

 

Thats cool then i suppose... just out of interest, do you or anyone else know what mainstream games support widescreen res such as 1280x800?

 

Someone please answer me[xx(]

Is the 4501WLMi really out of production?

Thanks

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by coriolis

 

Hmmm that sucks for me..

I wanted to order it from a cousin's store who can sell it for me for the price he gets it from Acer...but now....

I did see it in Resellers so i was thinking if it was still in production..

I guess I'll look around for the 4501WLMi still though.

Thanks for the answer!(asked it around 3 times here )

 

Hi, I have some questions about this excellent notebook.

First of all, why are there NO REVIEWS out there for this great notebook? I guess you can't really know that.
One other thing thats really frustrating is the fact that half say that the Acer TravelMate 4501LMi has Intel Intergrated Graphics, wilst the other half says it has the ATi Radeon 9700 64 MB.What the? The worldwide Acer Site says it has the Ati card.Online Resellers (Except for http://www.mpsuperstore.com/Computer/discr97462.htm?Chksource=cnet
) say it has Intel Graphics.I mean, didn't they bother to, at least, name it diffrently?
One last one: What's the Diffrence between the Acer TravelMate 4501WLMi and the Acer TravelMate 4501LMi?? Wifi??

Thanks.A lot.

 

Im guessing that it's out of production so NAmericans cant write one for it...

So people like ME can't order it from Acer or resellers unless they have a few left in stock..[ ]

Hmmmm all the 4501's I've seen, oh wait, only ONE store has a couple left, have 64mb Radeon. It could be like the 4002WLMi, in NA it has intergrated video, in Europe it has a 64mb Radeon...oh and i just noticed that zizler stated this in his post


And i doubnt its WiFi, since all Centrino's have WiFi's...I believe it means Widescreen..., i was looking at their website and all LMi's has 15.0" screens while WLMi had 15.4" LCD's

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by commando

 

I was wondering what is the maximum resolution this laptop can produce on lets say a 19" lcd monitor that i have sitting in this room. Thats the only detail i can't seem to find. So basically my question is: whats the maximum external monitor resolution of this laptop.

 

Does any one know how to remove the partition after using the notebook - ie with out loosing data?