The Official Arrandale Timeline Thread

@Bronsky, what's the preorder and delivery date for USA?

 

The Acer Man (from FB) said end of June they will be in the hands of a bunch of retailers (they are named back a dozen pages or so). There is currently a 3820T (I3) for preorder on a canadian site for June 15th. They are finally coming ... slowly.

Bronsky

 

Man. Tough choice, since I've learned the cooling system on 3820TG is superior quality. Wonder how ENVY14 will compare in terms of cooling.

 

I was interested in the ENVY14 at one point- but then I took a look at the weight specs. The thing is a monster at 5.2 lbs, I think my 15.4 NC8430 is around there weight-wise and it is a back-killer.

 

I think that HP is on its third generation of Envys (if you count the gen 1 and 2 of the 15). The notebook is being designed to handle I7QM processors which generate a lot more heat than the Dual Core I5 series. There should be no heat issus with dual core CPUs. I like the Envy configured with an I5-540M. That should cause no heat issues. I wish HP would offer the I7-620M but that looks like it won't happen.

Bronsky

@homeskillet - weight and size are the Acer's biggest advantages over the Envy. The Envy has the display, keyboard and looks on its side (and possibly total price).

 

Yeah $200 AUS I don't think I can wait for the Timeline anymore and plus the Asus seems to have a longer batter life.

 

well, Dell have updated the m11x. The "little" beast has new core i3/5/7 and NVIDIA Optimus. The processors are the ULV kind, not worth bothering i guess...

Alienware M11x gets overseas Core i3 / i5 / i7 and NVIDIA Optimus update, US version due tomorrow? -- Engadget

 

Seriously, go to the weight room if you're that weak. I have almost no upper body strength, and my 5lb Macbook is very light. The Envy should be no problem for portability.

I wouldn't consider the 3820 because of no optical drive. And as for the 4820 vs Envy 14, the Envy's superior screen is the deal-maker.

 

Actually, the I7-640UM is not a bad CPU. It needs a better platform.

Bronsky

@Beric1 - if the display is any good, it is going to be a real asset to the Envy. HP's notebook sales have been down for most of the 2nd quarter. They have to sell 3.3 million in the last month of Q2 to make up the difference or they will have to really step up sales eforts in Q3. There should be some major discount or promotion when the Envy 14 is released. Dollar-for-dollar, after discounts, the Envy may be cheaper than the Acer.

I think you're wrong about the optical drive on the 13"er. The beauty of the 3820TG is that it has no optical drive and that Acer put a second cooling system instead. The cooling system on the 3820TG is likewise a deal maker. The system stays very stable when OC'd.

 

Bronsky where do you get notebook sales information?

 

Fudzilla

Always read fudzillia when I have my coffee.

Bronsky

 

5.25 lbs is indeed very heavy. 3820tg is perfect, hope it comes with hd 5650 and i5-430m before/on starcraft 2 release date.

 

If 5.25 lbs is heavy for you, hit the gym, lol. But to each his own I guess.

 

If you can't understand French, just bask in the beauty:
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Looks fantastic. Definitely worth the wait for the 3820tg, only thing I notice is the screen is very reflective.

 

LOL. Forgot how many wimps are on the internet. Can you even pick up your sandwich to eat it, let alone your car keys?

That sales info is very interesting. As cash will be tight for me, nice to know they at least won't overcharge for early adopters.

 

M&D Computer

Included with all the goodies? UMTS, i5 520M, ATi HD5650, 9-cell...

 

thats in thailand

i go another offer i5 450m+5650 at usd 900 shipping to malaysia USD 50

total usd 950 for 3820tg what do you guys think?

its 2.4 ghz proc

is i5 450m a 520m rebrand? then it will be great

 

The only real difference, I think, is the absence of the comm suite that starts in the I5-520. Looks like a nice unit.

 

Do you know if they ship internationaly?

 

Not really familiar with that site, sorry.

 

I recently just returned my HP DM4, mainly because of the color, and was looking at these Acer laptops. They look great, but I read some reviews that said there was a lot of flex around the laptop. Anyone notice a lot of flex? Also, I noticed everyone is wanting the 13" laptop... is there a reason for that? I wanted a 14" but want to make sure I am not missing something. Thanks.

 

The 13'' has better cooling by deploying two fans and also it weight less...

 

It kicks a*s.

Bronsky

 

I had an ASUS C90s 15" laptop previously which was sturdy, the only down side was the ty NV 8600M GT. I went to the store to try out the 4820 and 3820 and both have considerable flex on the screen. You twist it lightly and it just beeeeends. The keyboard dips slightly in the middle. If you pound the keys like an ape when you type it'll probably flex alot, otherwise it is fine. If you depress the edges of the keyboard the plastic flexes easily as well. The only worrisome part of the 4820/3820 is the screen flex.

For me the lack of 4gB RAM sucks too, but I will ask to make sure it is 2 DIMM instead of 1 DIMM, where in the latter case the $800 USD price tag is quite agreeable for the build quality. You have to consider the price you're paying for the quality of product you get. For $1000 the flex would be unacceptable since you could get something like a Envy 14 , Y460 , EA16 for slightly higher prices. I may still get a 4820 since it is hard to beat the combination of Price, Weight, Specs and battery life at the sacrifice of increased build quality and power.

 

Pounding keys like an ape is my typing style.

I think the 3820TG is probably the best little 13" notebook on the market considering all factors. I don't feel the same about the larger TimelineX's. If I was buying a 14" (which I still may be), it would be the Envy 14 (assuming that its CPU does not fry eggs), not a Timeline. Given the added weight of the 4820TG, the deficiencies in the keyboard and display make the Envy more attractive. I expect that the Envy will be released with a significant discount as well, making it even more attractive. By the time you get to the 15.6" 5820TG the weight, specs, crappy keyboard and display make it far less competitive than other 15" units.

If I was already spending $800 for a 14" unit, I would go the extra cash to get the 1600 x 900 display and better keyboard, not to mention the full metal chassis that looks much better than the Acer.

Bronsky

Edit: Waiting for these notebooks is like watching paint dry. I can't ever remember having such a hard time trying to spend my money on a product before.

 

what flex are you guys talking about? you mean it bends physically?? damn thats not good

@brehidran are you in US? which store did you see the timelinex for 3820 for 800 usd? can you tell me the specs?

 

The 450m is a faster version of the 430m, it has NOT the same function like the 520m. As an example the AES Unit ist missing.

 

It's actually much worse than that, at least you know the paint will eventually dry.
*sigh*

 

I called Acer USA today and they said the Timeline X's will be available to resellers by early July. The acer guy didn't have any idea about which models would come to the USA though.

 

Looks like Acer's focus on Asian and European markets has been a profitable strategy for the company. Acer reported a 47% increase in sales year to year for Q1. Based on its inroads in these markets Acer has increased its market share to 13% of the global market, gaining on HP's 19%. I guess we can expect future product roll outs to follow this pattern.

Bronsky

 

Seriously

Awesome

 

I spoke to acer aswell today. Same thing. Ts they said in week or two...TGs 'early part' of July
Realistically with the usual delays, that probably will be mid to late july and probably not with the 5650.

This was my #1 notebook to get, but now i guess thats not going to be possible as I do not see any hope of getting it by July 9th at this point...

Its going to have to be the Lenovo Y460, m11x refresh or the HP Envy 14. Heavier than I would have liked.

 

sony vaio Z?? =D

man that deal which appeared here some time ago was incredible, something like 1300 for a Vaio Z... I want that again =/

 

I bought my 3820TG the 1st of June , 2010. Im worried about my Battery
. Have already like 5 or 6 charge/discharge cycles.




This cannot be normal... 5,3% Battery wear??



Please help

 

if anyone finds a good deal on a vaio Z let me know, but I am not willing to pay 2k for a laptop...

 

5,3% seems to much. Just contact the Acer support and ask for a replacement. In germany are 6 month waranty on the battery pack.

MfG

 

Well Bronsky looks like the year over year sales numbers and market focus you site are in support of the theory I stated back on May 25 in post #2907.Is your info from Fudzilla?It appears when the bean counters at ACER say "show me the money" it`s not north america they`re looking at.

 

That is exactly why i posted this ... I stand corrected.

Bronsky

 

Yea ... the microsoft store put its I5-520M Z11's up for sale for something like $1,245. They sold out in minutes. I got the notice origianlly from slick deals. I actually tried to order one but by the time I entered the CC info the inventory was gone. That was a great deal.

Bronsky

 

​

If only Acer would offer a 1600x900 screen option I`d happily pay the premium.In all other respects Acer seem to be able to build a good product at reasonable cost.Apparently I`m only one of hundreds if not thousands of north american consumers that feel this way.Too bad Acer`s not listening! I bet Acer could steal a lot of sales from potential Vaio Z owners if they were paying attention.

 

I posted this in the 3820TG owner's thread, but just in case you didnt see:

Anyone know any resellers/retailers in USA that will be selling the 3820TG with customizable options?

Thanks

 

That is a tragedy indeed. I can wait until early August, but not a 5650 by that time? Ridiculous, but of course, realistic.

 

now ETA is July/Aug damn if its really that rate then there might be some other alternative or mobile gpu popping up

 

Today I tried a 5810, and I swear to god the Keyboard flex was really bad. Store mode, so maybe that was why.

Besides that the keyboard was actually fine. It was nice trying, but you dont have to pound on it like an ape to see significant flex. at least according to my standards.


it's weird because, I am not annoyed by flex in the screen for say.. lol. I dont think it's a big deal, but in the keyboard, I just go "FFFFUUUUUUUUU"!

 

Hi everyone. I just spent about 3 hours reading this thread and the 3820 owner's thread. First let me thank all of you who contributed to these thread, they're a goldmine of information.

Before reading those threads I was about to buy a 4820 (430/5650) but the heat issue really worries me. Besides you made me discover the 3820 and now I'm tempted to buy it instead . This being said, I'd be thankful if you could clarify some questions for me:

- Is the heat/throttling issue on the 4820 either solved or non-existent on most models to begin with ?

- Is the 3820's screen really worse than the 4820 ?

- I want to do a clean Win7 install on the new laptop, from a Win7 Pro iso that I have. Given that the 3820 doesn't have a DVD drive, I'm not really sure how to proceed, I probably will buy a USB DVD drive, will any drive be recognized and work ? I'm not sure if I can really boot from an USB CD drive. Is it possible to boot from a SD card ?

- I haven't seen battery-life comparisons between the two models. In this test (notebookcheck) of the 4820, the battery life is 10h idle, 5h surf. Do you know what I can expect from a 3820 (with i5 430 + 5650) ?

- Are there any other differences between the 4x and 3x that I might have missed, other than the form factor, HDD, screen and optical drive ?

While I'm at it, it may be a bit offtopic, but I've seen people mentionning Lenovo's Y460 (or Ysomething, I'm not sure anymore), do you have any idea whether the Y series is available in Europe ? I haven't seen any of those anywhere (in switzerland, both IRL and online).

 

i see people saying ETA is july/Aug, thats not hard or anything, thats just my perception.... Acer only said "we expect to get them to resellers in the EARLY PART of July"....I personally do not have faith in that statement and really believe this means late july....and also based on what we are seeing I think there is a strong possibility they wont have the 5650... Acer just seems to have a ed up strategy, not sure why they cant have a consistent one across countries. I would love for them to get it out by end of june as this is my #1 lappy on my list...however its not realistic based on the info being provided this week. My only option to get it is to buy another laptop from amazon to use for my trip and then exchange it for the TG when i get back (being 1st week in august). Of course this would ride on the fact the TG even has 5650 otherwise its a waste of time for me.

 

Here's my 2 cents:

- there is no evidence that the 4830TG has any heat/throttling issues. The only one reported by a reviewer was apparently fixed as noted in the review itself. That has not been reported anywhere else.

- 3820TG display is not worse than the 4820TG. I would say it is better considering the resolution per size.

- You can clean install from an external ODD. Just change boot order in the bios.

- 4-5 hrs under power - 8 hrs in idle.

- you seem to have a good understanding of the models and their differences.

- dont know about the Lenovo Y460 availability in Europe. Maybe some of our european friends can help.

Bronsky

 

Although this may be hard to hear, the only way to deal with the converging release dates of all of these models is to take it one day at a time. But you have to have one or more backup plans. That is why I have been looking at the envy and other options. At least one 3820T is available for preorder and the delivery date is June 15th. That is a good sign. If it appears on the 15th as in stock, it should give you more confidence. Then you can watch to see if new models appear in retailers by the end of june as the Acer guy said that that should give you greater confidence. If nothing happens by the first week of July, you will have to go to your back up plan. If you can buy alaptop with an unconditional return period, it might be worth it. You can see at the end of that period if the Acer has come to the market. I would get something that I could live with if nothing else appears.

I feel your pain.

Bronsky

Edit: The first TimelineX has been added to the US Acer site ... it is the 1830T.

 

Wait. Which model is the June 15 delivery date? And from what reseller?

Also, anyone know if this Timeline series will share the same chassis at the existing Timelines which are sold by Fry's? Kinda wanna go to my local one and see it for myself.