Acer Travelmate 8371 Timeline Owner's Lounge

Hello all,

I figure this is going to be a very small group (at least at first) given the lack of much discussion on it here and that the consumer version 3810t is preferred by most people over this business version. This machine is available internationally and also in the USA but less prevalent in retail outlets / online in the US at this time.

This first post is simply devoted to creating this thread, giving some links to information, and specs. I just got one the other day and after some use will post a review.

Basic Specs (may vary by country):
Intel Core 2 Duo Processor SU9400 (3MB L2 cache, 1.40GHz, 800MHz FSB)
4GB (2/2) DDR3 1066 SDRAM
320GB SATA hard drive, 5400RPM
TFT Display: 13.3" (1366 x 768) (NON GLOSSY!!!)
Weight: 3.6 lb. (1.65kg)
USB 2.0 Ports: Three
Windows 7 Professional (32-bit), CD with Windows XP Professional downgrade
Mobile Intel GS45 Express
5-in-1 Card Reader
Integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD
Communications: 802.11a/b/g/Draft-N WLAN, Bluetooth, gigabit LAN, webcam
Six-Cell Battery: Up to 8.0 hours life with Acer PowerSmart Manager enabled and depending on configuration and usage
Interface Ports: DC-in, RJ-45 LAN, VGA, headphones/speaker/line-out, microphone, connector for optional EasyPort IV port replicator
Security Feature: Fingerprint reader
Chassis: Matte Silver/black


Links to information:
Acer US Product Page

Excellent Review at Notebookcheck.net

Trusted Reviews UK review

Retails in the US for $1000. Lower prices with coupons can be found but look around.
I paid $877 with $10 coupon and 2nd day shipping from buy.com

 

Why I bought the Acer Travelmate 8371

In November/December 2009 I decided to look for a new notebook; more for business and productivity and less for entertainment. I wanted a new notebook computer to be high quality (which for me ruled out HP, Compaq, and Dell!) and the following:

1) Ultraportable with 13 inch screen, weigh 4 lbs or less with decent battery life of at least 4 hours or more and cost less than about $900.

2) Be powerful enough to run MS Office apps and multiple browser windows and tabs at the same time.

3) Nice to have would be to be able to play HD mkv files of up to 4 or 5 gb
seamlessly and same for streaming media.

4) Anything else above and beyond that would be nice to have but not necessary for example, an HDMI vs a VGA port, or big sounding speakers vs average speakers. I preferred Win7 over Vista. I wasn’t planning to use it for gaming so extra video power beyond playing media files was not necessary.

This lead to me an article in laptopmag.com as a starting point about the latest top four choices for notebooks in this ultraportable range. I also read reviews here and on other sites, read user opinions, and went to the store to see the ones that were available (not all are available in store).

After a lot of reading I a narrowed it down to the following:
Acer Aspire Timeline 3810T
ASUS UL30A-A2
Sony VAIO VGN-SR520G/B

There were various other models in that range which I discarded from consideration for varying reasons such as quality, power, quirks, etc.

The Sony VAIO I was interested in was sold at Best Buy but was not available in my area which meant I would have to order it sight unseen which I was not ready to do. I checked what it would cost to order on the Sony site and it was more money. I decided it was a little too heavy, had reduced battery life, and was too costly.

Between the Asus UL30A-A2 and the Acer 3810t, the Asus was more powerful, more universally well reviewed, and more people seemed to buy and like it. I kept researching and reading about them, and came upon bit after bit about problems with the Asus Atheros Wi-Fi card and signal quality. It became apparent that there was a problem and that it seemed like a crap shoot as to whether or not you were going to get one with this problem. I couldn’t stomach that risk and decided I should reconsider the Acer 3810T. It was about that time that the Acer 8371 came to light. It was more readily available for purchase outside the US and that was where the reviews were.

I read the review for the Acer 8371 on notebookcheck.net which was highly favorable. Someone in a thread here which I can’t find again compared the 8371 to the 3810t and has an overall more favorable score. The 8371 was a business version of the 3810t which was more powerful, came with a Pro version of Win7, a matte screen which was what I preferred, and a normal (non-chicklet) keyboard which again is what I preferred. The reviews said the Wi-Fi was good and my old Acer 3201 Travelmate always had excellent Wi-Fi especially compared to a comparable Dell D620 I used or work which was often poor. I also liked that the 8371 had two separate touchpad keys instead of just the one in the 3810t.

All things considered the 8371 for me was preferable to the Asus UL30A or Acer 3810t. I found suppliers which had recently started selling it in the US and pulled the trigger! So far I am very happy with it and will post a review at some point soon.

 

Have just ordered one.

hopefully it is as good as the notebookcheck review states. Deal sealer was definately the semi-matt screen and non gloss surfaces. Slim design and light weight were also important.

 

Cool let us know how you like it! I love it!

I am using it right now. It's a multitasking beast! I often have multi-browser/tab windows open along with file explorer, and 2 to 4 MS Word windows open, IM, and it works great! I was just watching a 2gb 720p mkv file in full screen while having MSIE open with 5 tabs and it played perfect. I have it hooked up to external speakers and the sound is great. Yes the built in speakers are tiny and low volume which would be expected from a business machine to be used in an office environment where you wouldn't want to disturb other people. When I am in a quiet office with the sound up, the tiny speakers are adequate to hear sound prompts etc.

 

I have the 8371 too, and love it. Its very fast, good battery and a nonglossy screen. Only think i dont like is that there is a lot of space from the keyboard to the edge of the pc, which means that the hands often gets stretched when you use the pc on the lap while lying down. the feel of the kb is awesome. the pc gets a bit hot, but i guess thats common for all laptops. BTW, i have the version with 512mb switchable graphics card. I have even played mass effect 2 on this pc. the lack of loud sound doesnt bother me, just connect some external when its needed.

 

Chares your configuration must be different from mine, like with the switchable memory, because mine does not get hot, stays cool! But I havent tried playing any games on it yet. Maybe Halo2 at some point.

 

Have been a very pleased user of this laptop for 3 months now and orginally chosed this as it had 160gb intel SSD, lightweight, large battery and the price was 666.70€.
The other configs are Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU U9400 @ 1.40GHz, 4GB dual channel 800mhz ddr3, GMA4500mHD, intel 160gb ssd g2 with trim after fw update, 3g wan, fingerprint reader and other basic features.

Battery life has suprised me and I have been getting over 8h use times with undervolted processor ([email protected]) with 3g web surfing and OOO usage in my school. Normal battery life has been about 5-7h.
Only things I don't like about this is the screens very low contrast and weak speakers but can live with those easily and as the screen is matte so atleast I can see something outdoors compared to my old glossy acer.

Things I have done with this are installing win 7 cleanly without acer software or other useless junk, updated bios to 1.27 as it gave vt-x support and the SSD fw update and disabled webcam as I have read it can cause problems and for privacy consers also. Performace has been very good thanks to the SSD but would like to overclock a bit and hoped that this had the radeon 4330 but for this price it doesn't matter.

One thing I would like to change is the fan usage mode as it starts spinning at 25c but its rather quiet but would like to shut it down as temps vary between 25-45c and is 35c atm on my bed as I'm typing and fan vents are blocked. Don't remember what the load temps were but I didn't hear fan spinning faster while using occt for 4h as I tested stability for the undervolt.