The Official Arrandale Timeline Thread

I always feel that ATi has inferior drivers and software compared to Nvidia even though their hardware is on par.

 

From what I've seen with DX11 I'd have to say ATI has a big lead on Nvidia.
Driver support for ATI cards was bad before but I think they learned there lesson and they do better with updates now.

 

I agree with IKAS.

 

For those of you that are curious -
I got sick of waiting and bought the base model vaio z for $1520, but will probably be returning it in the coming days.

The 330m + i5 does a great job of keeping my L4D2 frame rates up where I want them and this thing really is amazingly fast, but the noise it makes kills it. I expect a bit of fan noise when i'm pushing it as hard as it goes, but when it's in stamina mode, it still gives off a horrible humming sound. I took it to my college library this afternoon to study, and the noise was enough to detract me from focusing on my ebook reading. I would love it if there was some way to remedy this problem, but I don't see how. I can deal with the sound of air being moved, but this hum (like that of a fridge) is just horrible.

I hope acer has found a way to cool the 3820tg down without sounding like a jet engine. I would imagine that the lack of ODD compared to the Z will give them a little more room to work with.

 

http://www.eprice.com.tw/nb/talk/?prod_id=862&tid=3521

Sorry if that has been posted before. Just trying to be helpful.

 

Can the 330m run pcsx2 with most games smoothly? That's why I gotta get this Acer!

doesnt make any sense on the website... how can the model bigger than the 14" not have the 5650.... thats messed up.

the 13.3" better have the 5650

 

Did you guys notice the "acer" tatoos on the girls in the photos? Like they are branded or something? Can you say "human rights violation?" They seem cheerful enough though.

I've been getting antsy and am considering caving too and getting the Z. That noise issue is really disappointing though. I thought having the SSD would help keep the thing quiet. The fan runs like that when you're in STAMINA mode? Stamina uses the Intel graphics, not even the Nvidia card. I'm surprised the fan compensates like that...

 

The best Price I could find was $1,610 for the 520M/preconfigured model at Best Buy. Where did you get your price of $1,520?

The constant fan will probably get a software fix.

It is yet to be seen if Acer can do better in a 13". The 3820TG is rumored to have dual fans and dual heat sinks but they are supposto be more efficient than the Sony. The Sony is second on my list at this point ... at least until I actually see a 3820TG congifured the way I want.

Bronsky

Edit: The Acer tatoos are a bit over the top.

 

The SONY was a backup plan for me, mostly because of the outreageous price but the excessive fan noise is a real killer for me.
Expensive and noisy= not good.

 

Don't know if anybony post this before:

http://translate.google.de/translat...://www.techbang.com.tw/?p=44696&sl=auto&tl=en

Was searching for 3dmark06 scores for the 3820tg...

not bad...

greets

 

At $1,520 vs $1,200 (my guess for an I7-540M or better 3820TG) plus $400 for an intel X25 160GB SSD and another $100 for an external DVD drive, the price is not that different. Keyboard, screen and weight > Acer. Sony will solve the fan problem with a software fix something like the 1810T tray program that works so well on my 1410T. It will also likely retro-engineer a software fix to enable Optimus on the Z. That should reduce its heat load from the GPU under most circumstances, since it will be running only a fraction of the time. If you order a 4GB CTO Z, you can also upgrade directly to 8GB for only $150 because the original 4GB is on a single stick. 8GB, SSD, I7-620M or I5-540M would be an awesome device.

Still waiting for news from Acer though. I am intested in what I have heard so far, about the 3820T's engineering. I guess that, as soon as supply catches up with demand, Sony style USA will have a sale or one of the better preconfigured models (an I5-540M)will wind up on NewEgg or Tiger Direct, etc. If Acer is no further along on its release of the 3820TG, I will probably go with a Sony.

Bronsky

Edit: Just saw the post with the 3dMark06 score for the 4820TG ... 7518!! vs the Sony Z at 6200. This is the whole reason were waiting. The Acer's score was with the lowely I5-430M. Acer seems to be putting the bulk of its focus on releasing the 4820TG. We haven't heard as much about the 3820TG. The best 3820TG specs I've seen from a retailer paired the I5-430M with the HD 5650. I was becoming concerned. I could probably live with this level of performance if I need to. Hopefully, we will see an I5-540M o I7-620M model soon.

 

Yes, after all those "upgrades" the price difference would shrink, the Z might be an overall-better choice. If I had the chance to buy the Vaio Z from a local retailer for 1600 USD (incl taxes), I wouldn't hesitate, it's a pity it costs around 1800 EUR in Europe with i5 520M-128 Gb SSD.

 

acer singapore has i7-620m

 

@Bronsky
I don't think a software update will fix the fan whine, it might fix of when it spools up but the same noise will still be there.
I could be wrong but I don't think it would help much with the actual sound it makes.

 

Bought by z at bestbuy with bing cb and reward zone coupons. Since I'm premier silver I can take it back without a restcking fee, which is why I did it this way.

I've turned the fan management setting to silent and even in stamina mode it still hums away. If there is any type of other ambient noise, you can't hear it but of you're like me and love a silent study/sleep/work enviroment, it's horrible. Now I know why they include the noise canceling headphones.

On a side note, l4d2 heats the 330m up to 81c and the i5 to 89. These are horrible in my mind. (temps taken from realtemp). If the i5 and 5650 are going in the 3820tg, it will need dual fans and some type of ingenious heatpipe to control it. I hope acer doesn't compensate for heat by always running an annoying fan like the z either.

 

According to http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2010/03/31/acer_timeline_x_aspire_ethos/ the Timeline X models will be shipping to the UK in May.

As to the accuracy of the article and its sources, I do not know. But I figured it was worth posting for all those watching this series of notebooks.

 

Also, PC Pro released an article about the Timeline X notebooks today as well, though they do not mention a release date, they do have estimated prices...they do retread what specs the machines will have when released as well.

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/blogs/2010/03/31/first-look-review-acer-aspire-timeline-x-laptops/

 

@alaskajoel
Out of curiosity how many FPS were you getting in L4D?

 

Hi everybody. I've been lurking the whole time. Don't know if it is clear to all, but this shop sells the 3820 TG with 430m and Ati 5650 to anywhere in Europe for 849 euros (plus a 50 euros for shipping). Or is my german so bad?
The site doesn't have a translation (what's the point of selling internationally then?) so I don't know.
Is there a german here who can confirm?

http://www.notebooksbilliger.de/ref.../acer+aspire+timeline+x+3820tg+434g64n#navbar

 

ok so im going to defend my vaio z a little bit here haha. i almost never hear the fan in stamina mode (intel hd graphics). i only hear it when its in performance mode and im gaming or watching youtubes videos or something intensive. i really dont find the fan noise annoying unless im gaming. which is my next point. i overclocked my 330m to get 7200 3dmarks at 1280x800. 720-1254-850 overclock compared to the stock 475-1045-700. GPU temps are right around 80C to 85C playing battlefield and crysis w/overclock keeping both smooth on medium @1368x768. yes the fan is definitely audible while gaming w/overclock.

EDIT: alaskajoe-there has got to be something wrong with your z. temps shouldnt be that high obvi

 

Yep, as you can read here: http://www.notebooksbilliger.de/shipping.php it costs 50€ to deliver to the following countrys:
Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Czech Republic, Hungary, Great Britain, Netherlands, Ireland.

I can only guess but maybe it's meant for german (-speaking) people who are living in another country or something else... dunno^^

 

I had my temps backwards - 89 for cpu 81 for gpu.

Took a screen shot of my most recent session: 90 max cpu temp 80 max gpu temp:

Fraps shows the following:

Native resolution, shader Medium, everything else set to high, AA off, multicore rendering enabled...High of 60fps low of 45fps

Native resolution, Everything set to High, multicore rendering enabled, AA at 4x
gives highs of 60, lows of 32

This thing is a beast of an ultra-portable. I'm excited to see results from the 3820tg.

EDIT: There seems to be a significant variance between levels...the swamp level gives lows of 25 and 35 on the same settings as above...the above was done on the hotel campaign.

 

Some more price guesses. Aren't they fun?

http://s.lowyat.net/uploads//attach-25/post-84825-1269962896.jpg

This is from Singapore, I believe, who is releasing the higher spec'ed versions.

They have the i7-620M for SGD1550 = USD1100.

So, my guess is that the i7-620M will be in the $1100 range and the i5-430M will be in the $900-950 range.

Of course, who knows, but it's fun to try and figure it out!

 

yeah, I'll be ordering from them when they have it in stock, and acer hasn't released anything in the states/canada by then.

 

So then can we say for sure that the 5650 will be in the 3820TG?

 

Looks that way.
Different regions come with different specs, but I'm guessing yes.

 

^ in select models

 

The list price is 2663 singapore currency
1550SGD.. should be the telecom promotion thing from signing a contract.. we've been seeing this for a few weeks
but 2663SGD Converted to USD = 1903$ LOL !!!

 

They do ship to most of the countries in Europe, the catch is - for me at least, - the fastest CPU they have is the i5 430M.

It is fun indeed, a lot of us do that and again, it's totally OK.
However, I think the price in SGD probably contains the student discount, which is actually like 1000-2000 SGD (as mentioned in a way earlier post), so this raises the estimated price a bit.

OK, gadgets in the US usually cost less, let's take that as a cutback regarding the estmated price.

Though I don't live in th US, I guess the i5 430M would cost 900 USD, while the i7 620M would cost 1250 USD (both of them with the HD5650).

 

^ no, 1550 is student/faculty price. This is misleading because currently only students/faculty of polytechnic schools in Singapore have access to these models anyway, so this price is the only price. Also, theyre not actually going to sell it at the list price, no one would buy them then. The telecom promotion thing gives a free 4820T for renewing contract (I think), upgrade to 4820TG for 500 SGD.

 

Is the i5 that big a downgrade from the i7 in real world usage though? What would you do that would give you a markedly different experience if you used the i5 over the i7? afaik for gaming the bottleneck is usually the GPU, and photoshop/HD decoding are all GPU compensated.

 

In germany it's 100% sure, acer website lists that configuration, and every online shop who allready list any timelinex model.

 

Now that you mention it, I do remember some in this forum talking about student discounts in Singapore. Hey, it was only 100 pages ago! Didn't realize that's what these were. Thanks for the clarification.

I guess speculation is just that...

Wow! $1900! I know it won't be that, but maybe it will be closer to $1250. That would push me towards the i5 if it came in decently cheaper than that.

 

At leaset its nice to see a 3820T with an I7-620M and HD 5650.

Bronsky

Time to go back to waiting patiently.

 

Depends...if You choose the i5 540M CPU it's not a big downgrade, if we talk about the i5 430M than it is.

There are games that are CPU dependant as well, like the GTA series, Crysis, etc.

If You want to know more about CPU clockrates, You'll find a post about it around page 97-100, I belive Bronsky posted it for the last time, it also tells You about the power draw of the CPUs, so that You can pick that one that suits Your needs the most. You might only go for the GPU, keep in mind it's good to have computing power, I'd go for the i7 620M but dosen't seem provide the kind of performance gain that'd be worth it's bigger hunger for power.

Acer claims all the new TimelineX models would be available with the HD5650 GPU and i3 / i5 / i7 620M CPUs. As of this moment singapore has the i7 620M, Europe (Italy, Germany, Sweden) seems to have the i5 430M, America is waiting for specs.

These infos are definatelly a repost, sorry about that, hope it made Your job easier.

Speculating - good
Decissions / THE WAIT - awfull

 

The i7-620M is ~20% faster on two cores and ~30% faster on one core than the i5-530M, and has AES-NI. Personally, I wouldn't pay more than ~$120 for the difference, and that's under the assumption that power consumption is the same.
If the i7-620M really does eat significantly more power, I'd be very unlikely to get it.

 

Did anyone notice any mention of heat in the 4830TG reviews that have been posted? I'm anxious to find if it will have any heat problems since it only has one heatsink+fan correct? Do you guys think the fact that the 3820TG has two hsf will run cooler than the larger 4820TG if all internal specs are equal?

I've been considering the 4820TG more and more since I don't want to bother with an external ODD and I think I can live with the 1/2 pound increase in weight and 1-2mm increase in thickness. Just worried about potential heat issues. Currently I'm about 50/50 when it comes to which of the two I want.

 

I'm aware that the i7 620M is quite a bit more powerful than the i5 430M in processing power. What I'd like are comparisons between the two in real world usage + gaming. Of course, if your work involves CPU intensive application usage then the difference would be substantial; however, I suspect the difference would be negligible for most gaming and regular usage (email, youtube, flash, browsing, photoshop, HD video etc, no programming or managing enormous excel spreadsheets).

 

In gaming I doubt there would be much of a difference, except in the rare game or two that is actually bottlenecked by the CPU.
As for the examples you put forward as "regular usage", I agree that you wouldn't notice the difference.

 

States availability in May:

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1599364/acer-launches-laptops

 

wow... may
cant wait

 

Damn, May...

 

the beast is waiting to be released from its cage.

 

Quick! Catch the bills before they hit the ground after burning a hole in my pocket!

 

May, a little later than I thought but not bad, I can wait and see what the competition brings to the table.

 

I know there was a bunch of you interested in the Sony Vaio... since it might a long wait before the 3820t. People were looking for a $1600 price tag after taxes? Well here you go:

http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?sduid=165782&t=1925612

 

http://www.electricpig.co.uk/2010/0...hands-on-photos-trackpad-packs-a-touchscreen/

http://www.electricpig.co.uk/2010/03/31/acer-aspire-timelinex-12-hour-laptop-hands-on-photos/

 

Well at least we have a release date in sight now all we need is pricing.

 

Nice, May. Just in time for college.
At least it's not vaporware like the Asus UL30JT

 

Argh, I'm so conflicted. It's between the 4820 and 5820. My dilemma:

14 inch

Pros:
-weighs less
-screen resolution won't be too bad of a problem

Cons:
-no numpad

15 inch

Pros:
-numpad

Cons:
-heavier
-screen resolution might look bad on this big of a screen

Flaw for both:
-NO ESATA or USB 3.0