Aspire 5670 with weird specs :\

We were in a local CompUSA today, and saw an Acer Aspire 5670 (don't remember the exact model) with some weird specs:

Intel Core Duo 1.66 Ghz (standard on this model)
2 GB RAM (standard is 1 GB and the only say that the use can upgrade to 2)
ATI Mobility Radeon X1400 512 MB with Hypermemory (meaning 256 is discrete and 256 comes from the system memory afaik)

...and it was a very good bargain considering those specs, plus the specs were listed right on the laptop (there was a sticker put there by Acer).

Has anyone else seen these specs on a 5670? Because the Acer site and the reviews here also say that the ATI Mobility Radeon X1400 on it has 128 MB of memory, so what's up with that?

 

If I were you, I'd double (heck, triple) check the dedicated RAM. I bought the 5673 in Singapore. It had a X1600 but as it turned out, the GPU only came with 128MB of dedicated RAM

 

Hmm...well I'd be fine with a 128 MB card too (especially considering that the competitors' notebooks I'm looking at are GeForce Go 7400 and ATI Mobility Radeon X1400s with 128 dedicated + 128 system shared)

Just wondering because this seems to be an amazingly super special one.

EDIT: Here it is: http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=336978&pfp=cat3&tabtype=ts#moreinfo

Model: Aspire 5672WLMi

Looks like it has ATI Mob. Radeon X1400 128 dedicated + 383 shared. That's perfectly fine with me considering it's got 2 GB of system memory.

Only thing is that I need to have Windows XP Pro for my school next year, but I think that that will be relatively easy.

Edit2: BTW, what's this about the 120 GB hdd really being 2x60 GB and them being formatted as FAT32? I'm fine with 2 hard drives (in fact it's probably better), but I don't like FAT32, and that means I'd have to reformat (which is fine, but a slight inconvenience)

 

Yup, sounds about right. The 5672 was also launched in Singapore had did come with the X1400 but it only had 128MB of dedicated graphics RAM. If that's enough for you, then it's a good buy.

My only grouse with the 5670 series was the heat. I'm not sure if the same problem exists with the 5672 but with the 5673, the palmrests would be really hot. Not to the point of cooking but hot enough for you to realise and lif your hands off the keyboard every so often.

As for the HDD, I believe it's still 1 HDD. A 120GB HDD which is then split into 2 partitions. If you prefer NTFS, you'll need to reformat the HDDs since XP comes preloaded. Make sure you burn a recovery CD first

G'luck!

 

That version should come with XP Pro according to the Acer site -> http://us.acer.com/acereuro/page4.d...aram=US&LanguageISOCtxParam=en&crc=1163154511 (scroll down a little, it's the first one listed)

Like Techno said, I would check with the display lappy in the store, or you may be able to find a better deal online.

 

It's a single 120 GB hard drive formatted as 2 60GB FAT32 partitions.

 

This is the same laptop I bought back in Nov 2005 from CompUSA. It was $1499 at the time.

 

Mm-hmm.

Well I think that if it's FAT32, I'll be reformatting anyways. The one in-store at CompUSA is XP Home I believe, but I'll probably be getting a Pro disk for it.

And as far as the palmrests go -- I'll probably be using a wireless mouse with it 95% of the time, so that's not much of an issue.

Does anyone know if there's a docking station avaliable for it?

Thanks for the info, BTW.

 

You don't need to reformat as long as you do what's suggested elsewhere on this site.

This is what I did (forgive me, I have a bad memory)...
Get Partition Magic and merge both partitions.
Go into the command prompt and type something similar to convert C: /FS:NTFS
I believe it'll say it can't do it atm, just go through that message and it'll ask if you want to do it on the next reboot, select yes then reboot.

 

Hmm interesting.

But then it'll end up being something like : Get Laptop, install XP Pro over current install, merge partitions, reformat to NTFS, uninstall any unnecessary crapware (does Acer do as much crapware as Sony/Dell/others?), clean registry, make restore DVD, heave a huge sigh that you're finally done

 

Well, if the version at CompUSA does indeed only have XP Home, then you can forget about everything I just said
Just boot up with the XP Pro CD, delete both partitions and make a new one with NTFS, then install XP Pro to that partition. Would be a good idea to create a recovery disc before you do any of that though.

 

Yeah, probably would do that.

Do all the Acer drivers and stuff (like their power management software) come on a CD for re-installation? Or would I just be left without those then?

EDIT: And since we're here, how is the quality of this notebook? Good? Is the 1.66 dual-core a pretty good clock speed (even for gaming) or should I find one with 1.83+?

 

Acer does not give you a cd. You need to make a recovery disk from the notebook. This is how you get the drivers, do this first before upgrading to XP Pro or you will not have any drivers.

 

Wait...if you make a restore CD then upgrade to Pro, wouldn't the CD restore you back to Home then?

And would you really notice a huge difference between Core Duo 1.66 and 1.83 for gaming? I'm thinking that since most of the processing is on the GPU, that that is what matters more.

e: (or is it worth holding out for Core 2 Duo and/or Turion x2 laptops to hit the mass-market?)

 

ACer does have some "crapware" but not as bad a sony and dell.

whay is wrong with FAT32 anyway???

 

Smaller cluster size = more wasted drive space. Especially on drives as large as 120 GB.

 

I stuck with FAT32. Too much of a hassle to reformat and install everything. Ho hum

 

Techno, it takes about 30 keystrokes and a few minutes to convert ;P

Ilya, I agree with you. I doubt going from the 1.66GHz model to the 1.83Ghz would show significant (if any) difference at all. Personally, I'm in no hurry to jump over to 64-bit, but if you really want to, you *should* be able to upgrade to one of the initial Core 2 Duo models with this system.