CNET Review: TravelMate 8200 defeats MacBook Pro

Hi all,


I came across this article on CNET comparing the top-notch PC notebook and Mac notebook. Representing the PC notebook is the TravelMate 8200 and MacBook Pro for the Mac notebook. The reviewer compared the two notebooks in a contest and evaluate them based on the criterias of price, design, battery life, features, etc., and Acer beats MacBook in the final round.

As someone who's looking forward to buy the 8200, I'm more convinced now this is a truly powerful notebook.

Any TravelMate 8200 users want to comment on this?






Please read the contest: Acer TravelMate vs Apple MacBook Pro:



http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-10442_7-6511774-1.html?tag=lnav

 

Interesting comp and each notebook clearly has their strengths and weaknesses. Apple's X1600 is underclocked though - so I'm sure it'll make a difference if you over clock it and rerun the performance benchmarks. And some of the other head to heads are marginal, giving the Acer a slight edge. Don't get me wrong, the 8200 is a great notebook and you can get it for under 2K as you can with the MBP. So what I'm saying is which of those criterias are more important for you, personally. And taken as a whole, Apple blew out the Acer outright on several categories while Acer did marginally better on some others in which it won.

 

The review was incorrect when it said that the Mac Book Pro has a dual layer DVD burner. In fact, it currently does not. Also, the biggest topic that the article overlooked is the fact that BootCamp is still not supported by Apple. They will provide you with the means to run both OSs, but then you are one your own. You still have to use hotkeys to perform a right-click and you still have to change the system clock everytime you log onto windows. These issues make a big difference. To their credit, Apple has created an incredible notebook, and BootCamp is a stroke of genius. However, there is no doubt that Acer is the better Windows PC. That is, until Apple's new OS rolls out with official support for BootCamp with highly efficient drivers. Then we can compare the MBP to the Acer running Windows Vista and decide on who the new champ is.

 

Yay for the 8200. Acer Owns All.

 

Personally, I think it's a bit of a draw, and personal preferences will move it one way or another. I own the 8204 and really enjoy it, but would prefer to do most of day-to-day stuff under OSX (I need Windows for my sw development work). The MBP is beautiful and elegant - I prefer its looks and its lightness slightly over the 8204 (and my daughter is getting a MBP for graduation, so I've had a chance to use both machines).

One other thing. There is more free *nix software available for OSX through fink than there is for Windows through Cygwin. I haven't been able to get a usable Linux installation up on the 8204 yet, but even if I did, I'd have to be rebooting between the two OS's more than would be worthwhile.

- Ed

 

Depending how much functionality you wanted in your guest Linux system, you could of course try VMware server. A co-linux install like Topologilinux ( www.topologilinux.com - a co-linux distro based on Slackware) also allows you to run Linux with Windows running and network the two. In either case your devices are virtual so direct support won't be too important. They won't be really good at graphical/sound development (though, topologilinux does have a stand-alone mode as well). If you do web development either is a godsend!

 

Oh i just won a bet cause of this thread. My german teacher is a big fan of Macintosh. I told him that they are inefficient and over-priced compared to other... He made a bet with me on what's better - my 8204 or the new Macbook Pro... oh i just won $20 ha ha ha

 

I own an 8204 and I am very pleased with the machine. I had an issue with ACER technical support, but I am sure that they will fix after I sent back to the repair facility.

My screen is great, and at home, I have the laptop attached to an external Viewsonic 20.1” with the DVI output, and works great.

Concerning the MAC, they are very, very well designed, but they run very “hot”, I mean “hot”, if you go to any Apple store and try one of this “guy”, you can see that they are hot where you put your hands, and also the bottom of the MAC is also very hot. In terms of design, Apple is undefeatable, on my personal view of course.

But , bottom line, I am very happy with the 8200, and I need a Windows laptop, no Apple development platform for me.

 

Thanks, Mike.

 

Really down to personal needs and preferences. If CNet split Round 1 into two categories, 'Design and Looks' and 'Size and Weight', then they would have tied for instance.

The battery life round was more of a draw as well. They also didn't calibrate the MBP's screen down to the same brightness. More impressive how the MBP achieved nearly the same battery life with a 60Wh battery compared to 8200's 90Wh.