The Official Arrandale Timeline Thread

I've noticed a trend of separation anxiety regarding the lack of an internal ODD on the 3820tg. Currently using an HP dv2z with no internal ODD, and I never want to go back. Having an external ODD, which I pull out of the closet on the rare occasion when I need to use physical media, suits me fine and I am happy not to lug around a (mostly) useless piece of hardware 95% of the time. No ODD is like no floppy (and yes, I do have an external floppy lying around somewhere).

Now if only ACER could get its act together and let me buy an 3820tg with a I5 520M and an 5650!!!

 

I like your post!
But does sony Z have DX11 GPU?

 

Probably because the larger chassis gives it more room to breathe and thus there was no need for 2 hsf

 

No, it has NV GT330M...

 

I totally agree.

 

Perhaps I'm just behind the curve (actually, I'm sure I probably am), but I still see an ODD as essential for just about everything. Where are you getting all of this non-physical media?

 

a ISP company in Singapore is having a promotion that's giving away 4820 with subscription *jealous*
specs of the machines they have:
http://livinginsingaporetoday.com/8722/singtel-acer-aspire-4820t-notebook-specifications/

also
http://forums.vr-zone.com/notebooks...e-4820t-notebook-black-singnet-promotion.html
"i have just receive the notebook redemption letter from singnet to
collect at Acer building on 29th March 010, "

looks like 4820T is ready in Singapore this weekend.

 

Most anything can be downloaded nowadays. No I don't mean illegally, pretty much any useful program is can be purchased online and downloaded off the website. For OS's and such you can put them on a bootable USB stick. I have a tablet that has no ODD and I might have used my external ODD like twice in 1 1/2 years. It adds dimensions, eats up battery, and unless it can be incorporated into a laptop the way Apple does it to the MBP then I don't see a need for an ODD anymore.

 

An internal ODD adds more weight and can change the streamlined design of certain notebooks. I prefer an external ODD but that's just me. I don't even use it often. I only use it for installing Windows/Microsoft Office and other essential programs.

The new Sony Z should have ditched the internal ODD. I wanted to see what they could possibly do without it.

 

Downloading programs in this way probably takes up more hard drive space, right? You don't have the disk from which to read, so I imagine you are copying more files directly to your hard drive (for games anyway--I know that wouldn't be the case for say an operating system). And what if you want to uninstall a program you downloaded, but want to be able to reinstall it later?

Hmmm...maybe the scale is shifting back toward the 3820tg...

 

Does anyone happen to know the product number of the i5 540M + HD5650 version 3820 model?

 

That's an area where services like Steam are great.

 

hehe I asked the same question a few days ago and got no answer.

 

Then you can:

a) get the dusted external odd from your shelf and burn a few disks with stuff you want archived (I do this about once a quarter)
b) plugin your massive external hdd and put everything you don't immediately require on it (I do that every other week)

I don't have an internal ODD on my LG P310 and have limited storage (only 160GB), but the lack of odd has never been a problem...

 

Optical drive less computers are where its at. Just keep a usb drive on your desk at home, and you are set.

 

I have to agree the use of an external ODD won't deter me at all. I'd rather have a lighter laptop. Especially so as I haven't used my ODD on my PC for several months...

 

The only time I used my ODD was when I needed to reinstall my OS (Win7). I basically never use my ODD. For the OS installation I could've used an external ODD. In conclusion, I don't see why anyone really needs to carry around an ODD all the time nowadays...

 

Not having a Optical Drive is the best thing that has happened to Laptop computer for a long time, and in the end of the day, I think that's the ultimate legacy that computers like Macbook Air and Netbooks will leave behind. We don't need them.


Steam, Itunes, D2D... We need to install programs at home, but when we're on the road, we rarely need the ODD anymore.

And an external USB ODD is cheap, small and efficent.

 

Does anybody know when the 4820TG will come out? This is the one with Core i5 and ATI Radeon 5650 right with optical drive? Do you think it will be available in the US next month? My friend needs a laptop and I want to buy this for him. Battery life should be more than 4 hours with intel HD right? Thanks for the infos. What would the price be around? $900?

 

Watching DVDs on the road is fun and I don't want to take out my external ODD out of my pocket in this case!

 

Can I be your friend too? :wink:

 

@mrPico
I bet that would cost ~$1200 at least (for 430M)

 

you can copy it to your harddisk at home

 

Yeah, just do yourself a favour and rip that dvd to a divx on your hard drive. Not only you won't need to take the external ODD with you, you can also leave the DVD at home...

 

divx can not come close to DVD quality and I would rather save my precious hard space for more important stuff!

 

I do agree about the lighter laptop argument. Though in this case, the Sony Z with ODD is actually lighter than the Acer 3820tg without, and they're about the same size...

If the 3820tg is significantly cheaper than the Z (and all signs point to yes), then I might have to face the separation anxiety and give up the internal ODD. But burning entire movies onto a hard drive? That seems like a it would fill up a hard disk pretty quick. And even if one is vigilant about removing them when you don't need them, that seems like an awful lot of work when you could just bring a book full of DVDs in your suitcase and plug them into your internal ODD whenever you feel like watching...

 

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You can always carry a usb flash drive. Or even an sdhc 32gb card.
I'll never again need a odd on a laptop. I installed Win7 HP64 on my dm3t with a flash drive. I couldn't believe how fast it went. Anything I need to install gets put on a flash drive first through my other laptop.

All that being said, I wouldn't mind a slot loading odd such as the one on the MBP. I'm surprised that form factor isn't on more laptops considering how much space it saves.

 

i dont know which progi you use - but with a good dvd rip you wouldnt even notice that it isnt a dvd, and beside it would take only 1.4gb of HD space...

 

Do not miss the built quality>>>I hate creaking plastics!

 

I buy a new DVD movie every day! I love watching them...

 

ok then u maybe should think about getting a laptop with ODD

 

What is he saying?

 

@staa
Thanks for your advice!

@chthepilot
He is dreaming of the new 3820TG!!

 

while i am waiting for US release...

4820TG
i5 430M+ ATI 5470
$1070 USD in Norway link

i3-330M + G330M
$880 USD in China link
3820TG

i5-430M +ATI 5470
$1153 USD in Norway link

can we have i5+ATI 5650 for $900 in the US please.. that's not too much to ask for is it? XD

 

hey - couldnt know that u watch that much dvd

 

See guys I told you,the new ACER is not that cheap guy.Does it worth waiting?
My predictions:
430+5650-->$1200 (min)
520+5650-->$1300 (min)
540+5650-->$1400 (min)
They try to fool you by 5650,but for the price it doesn't worth it.

 

I think most people who still want still want an ODD are overrating the hardware greatly. When I first made these jump to a laptop without an ODD it was almost the deal-break for me; I didn't think I could live without one. I went through the same arguments of DVD, physical media, etc... What's the point of an ultra-portable laptop that you can't even bring around to play DVDs with?

But now that I've gotten accustomed to no ODD I refuse to go back! Putting an ODD into a laptop would be the deal breaker for me now - like most people have said its just unnecessarily added weight. I think its a step that's hard to take at first but something that you will greatly appreciate in the long run.

Media is making the move to virtual anyway, everyone should start getting use to it. Physical media is good for backing things up but that's about it... sitting in cabinets in my room, just in case I ever lose their virtual copy. There are plenty of legal (and even more illegal) ways to move your media from physical to virtual.

 

I can tell you right now, the prices you got from Norway are over-inflated. The USD prices will be significantly lower.

 

Nope,you can have it for a pound lighter (>>>Z<<<) but I guess you are more worried about the price!

 

This store from Norway is selling the Acer 3810TZ for $988 USD (assuming I did my math correctly), while Amazon is selling it for $569. So $900 for i5+ATI 5650 is definitely possible !!!

 

Don't think it's over-inflated more than $100

 

Amazon sells a 1810 with a SU4100. There are also various editions of the 1810 such as the olympic or SU7300, plus are you sure that norway site didn't throw in other hardware like an SSD? $988 should be the MAX price of an 1810 olympic editiong with an SSD, I don't think that price can be compared to the 1810 you saw on Amazon.

Regardless, prices should be inflated in smaller markets, plus other countries pre/post tax differently then in the US. At this point you can already see all the variations of cost from country to country, even after converting the prices into USD. None of these are very accurate indicators of the price, and no one is going to tell you the US price except Acer!

Calm down guys, we still have quite a long wait to go.

 

Is it my eyes or is that 5820TG screen is transparent to the wall

 

You could see right through that thing. It was errie. Could the background be a green screen effect?

Lots of news since I last checked in. Looks like Acer TimelineX's are now for sale in Singapore, Germany, Norway and Italy. All of them are low spec'ed so far. The 3820TG with the I3-330M/GT 330M is the first I have heard of a NVIDIA GPU being used in this series. Will the NVIDIA machines run Optimus?

It's time to send some high spec models to US retailers.

The prices are looking better than I expected.

Bronsky

Edit: Oh I looked again and the 330M GPU is in the 4820TG, not a 3820TG.

 

Europe usually have really higher prices than the US due to the import tax.

If I can get a Core i5 with ATI Radeon 5650 while maintaining 4 hrs battery life for $900. I'm sold!

The Lenovo Y460 has Core i5 with Ati radeon 5650 for $900. How is it not possible for Acer to do that?

 

Don't worry, later today we will all be happy.

 

Do you wait till 12:01?

 

i doubt it...

 

Do we know if the 13inch will have the 5650? I was going to order the m11x but this has a much nicer cpu and gpu!