Last decision, 4002WLMi or 1681WLMi

Ok - I've looked around alot and noted all my price ranges, and the n3510 is the 'dream' for me, but unfortunately, one i can not afford, and i need it soon. So, these 2 are my last choices, both around the same price range.

4002wlmi
-1.6ghz Dothan core (2mb)
-60gb HD(4200 i believe, i dont really need a 7200rpm)
-512 DDR(2x 256 though, i may just get one 512(for about $120 more..) or just leave as is, and get a 512 later on for 768mb)
-intel extreme graphics(extremely crap - but i wont game much...)
-dvd+/-
-15.4" WXGA

1681wlmi
-1.5 Dothan core
-80gb hd (same rpm)
-512ddr (2x256 as well)
-intel 865GME int. (errr...is this better or worst then the "extreme" graphics on the 4002wlmi)
-dvd+/-
-15.4" WXGA with crystal bright.

Pretty similiar, and before i make my choices, and yes these two are the ones i can afford and i only want Acer(got "connections" [ ]) whats the difference between the two really crappy graphics cards and the screen? Is crystal bright just the mirror-ish coating?

thanks

 

heyaa.. basically acer eliminated the ati card and shoved in a bigger hardrive along with the crystal bright screen.. in other words.. te new 1681 would be refered to as the 1689.. which i have.. this notebook is perfect for me.. since i dont do any heavy gaming.. works great for doing work.. surfing and watching movies.. screen is beautiful except the fact that the crystal bright screen may look unevenly lit when looking at different angles.. but this doesnt bother me.. another flaw with this notebook is the dvd writer.. it gets picky when it comes to dvd-/+r.. it burns slow..

in response to your questions.. the video card is an intel extreme graphics 2.. the 855GME is just the chipset in the motherboard.. which contains this extreme graphics 2 card.. also.. the crystal bright screen is just a mirrored finish.. but looks incredible.. if you want.. i can send you some pictures via email.. hope this helps

 

Hmm

sounds good...

yea id buy it over everything else if it still had the radeon 64mb..

but its europe only now..


hmm im leaning towards the 1681 too

thanks

 

i like the looks for the travelmate over the aspire.. what the are price differences you are getting it att?

 

the 1681 is about $1290 and with tax, $1400 maybe? This is Canadian btw.

the 4002 is cheaper, about $1210..

The n3510, is really really really sexy but will cost me $1725(best price one store has quoted me), with tax a bit less then 2 grand.

However - after re-calculating my budget, i have $1600 but i'll add about 200~ or so every month. As well - I think i can probrably wait, a couple of months, as by the end of march, there will probrably be many refreshes, and of course, price drops.

I'm still debating whether i should buy now...

ahhhh

 

are you going to be doing any gamingg? if you can wait.. the 1690 will be coming out sooon..

 

You can check out the 1690 here:

http://www.acer.com.hk/english/product/as1690-f.html

I believe it's avail now in HK AWA other Asian countries. As you can see after reading the specs it's based on the new Sonoma chipset with a Radeon X600 PCI-Xpress VC and DDR2 ram and all the other stuff. Sounds like a pretty wicked heavy duty machine.

I'm going there in a couple month's time for a vacation and while there I will be checking it out. They get all the new techno stuff there usually months or years ahead of what's avail here.

Tony



T. Chan

Self built PC, P4 3.2Ghz HT

Acer 1681WLMi

 

I will game, but the most intense will probrably be warcraft 3 or age of mythology. and thats not really much. I'd play WoW if i have the time, but school, work, night school and my side "volunteer" work has me in a spiral of doom(pretty much sums it up[^])...

And i stay away from FPS, i get real sick if i do play...

But what attracts me to the fujitsu is the sexy sexy sexy sexy times 900, screen. I mean, it looks so crisp and everything. Oh sorry for the slight advertisement[:0]

1690? I can wait, hmmm ill look in to that, i didnt really hear much about it.

 

Nice...

now if i only find out when they'll be shipping it here...

actually i have an aunt whos going to Hong Kong in April...

hmmm...nice


I'll see, but indeed the 1690 looks sweet..

although 3.5 hours on a 8 cell is kinda low compared to the 1681/4002 they have about 5hours each..

hmm

 

It's a newer chipset design, more powerful Centrino with more stuff running at faster bus speeds, hence probably the more power it will consume.

You probably could reduce or turn off some of the features to save battery life, ePowermanagement lets you turn off firewire, PCM card and WLAN features when they are not in use to reduce power.

Personally, in real life usage I doubt you really would get 5 hours of use with an 8 cell battery. I use an 8 cell with my 1681 and I usually only get about 3.5h out of a charge, with the stk 4cell battery I get only 1.5h.

T. Chan

Self built PC, P4 3.2Ghz HT

Acer 1681WLMi

 

Ah...

Hmmm, is there any info when the 1690 will come to NAmerica?

 

I don't think you'll hear anything about it for a while. The only Sonoma based Acer laptop avail. in these parts that I know of right now is the Travelmate 8100 that was reviewed here not too long ago.

I've noticed lately that most newer Acer laptops of the Dothan design have gone to the Intel Extreme graphics chip and are no longer using the Radeon 9700 VC. I picked up an Acer 1681LCi for my GF's friend which has the above mentioned graphics chip. It was sold at a pretty good price since she didn't want anything too fancy and that laptop was perfect for her needs. I take it that they are going to want to sell those off first before coming out with the newer Sonoma based laptops like the 1690 mentioned above, here in North America anyways. Like I said earlier the Asian countries usually get the first picks of all the newer techno stuff. If you know you're not going to need the latest and the greatest stuff on your laptop it may be better to pick up a Dothan based LT now, or wait till the newer stuff comes out although you will be paying a premimum for the newer technology.

Tony

 

I just noticed everyone in this topic are all from Toronto[ ]

Yea - it's a pity Acer had to stick IEG vcards instead of the 9700 in North America. Would of sold alot more that way too.

Hmmmm is there any way to check the price of the 1690 in Hong Kong? And if I get my aunt to buy the notebook, how would the warranty be? I'm pretty sure she can avoid customs(stealth skills![8D])

Thanks

 

Surprise your aunt by floating her a phone call and get her to check out the price of the 1690 in HK. AFA warranty it'll come with an international travellers warranty so that shouldn't be an issue.

BTW if you find out what the 1690 is in HK before I get there let me know. [ ]

T. Chan

Self built PC, P4 3.2Ghz HT

Acer 1681WLMi

 

Nah - She will be going in Mid to Late March...

Mmm good to know about the warranty as well...


Another good thing is the price - It's a hell of alot cheaper in Asia after currency conversion.

oh and anotehr question about the 1691, or rather, all Acer Notebooks, do they come with 8 cell battery? or 6?

Oh and is it possible to somewhat "customize" notebooks in HK or other parts of Asia, unlike Canada, but like US. Stupid warehouses wont let us customize...



Thanks[xx(]

 

mine came with an 8-cell.. but this machine drains the battery like crazy.. i only get roughly 2 horus on this baby

 

I'm from Singapore and I'm intending to get a notebook within the next week or two.

I'm looking at the Acer Aspire 1691WLMi which comes with

Intel® Pentium® M Processor 730 (1.6GHz Processor)
Intel® Centrino™ Mobile Technology
Integrated 2048KB L2 cache
533MHz FSB
Intel® 915PM Express chipset
512MB DDR-SDRAM
15.4" WXGA Acer CrystalBrite TFT colour LCD, 1280x800, 16.7M colours
80GB ATA/100 HDD
DVD-Writer
ATI Mobility™ Radeon™ X600 with 64MB of external DDR video RAM

The dealer was willing to give it to me at $2600 Singapore dollars if I paid in cash.

I thought the specs look pretty good and this machine is a lot cheaper than the Acer Travelmate 8100 series

 

Hmm so it's like a bit under 2000 Canadian....


1-s0uljah, did you maximize your battery with the tips the admins made?

 

I picked the TM 4002 over the Aspire 16?? because I was told the processer would run cooler, both models are very close in specs but I'm happy with the 4002. Been copying DVDs like mad. Only negitive so far has been the sound card. When I boot up it makes a screeching sound at the resuming windows black screen. I paid $ 1425 CAn from Digital Spiders,,they where excellent to deal with too.