acer 1690 <-> 8104

Hi guys

i'm looking to by myself a new laptop and i was browsing around to see my options


now i saw Aspire 1694WLMi,
Intel® Mobile Pentium® processor Centrino™ 2.0GHz(Dothan 760/2MB/533MHz), Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition SP2, 15.4"WXGA Acer CrystalBrite, 512MB DDR RAM (2x 256), 80GB HDD, Double Layer DVD-RW, LiIon, 56K modem, Wired & Wireless 80



and TM 8104WLMib,
Intel® Mobile Pentium® processor Centrino™ 2.0GHz(Dothan 760/2MB/533MHz), Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional Edition SP2, 15.4TFT WSXGA+, 1024MB DDR RAM (2x 512MB), 100GB (5400rpm) HDD, Super Multi Double Layer DVD-RW, LiIon, 56K modem, Wired & Wireless 80

now looking at the price there is a huge difference
the 1694 costs about 1600€ and the 8104 costs 2900 € [:0]

yeah ok i can see that the ram is double,the harddisk is 20 gig bigger
and the 8104 has winxp pro

but are there other differences between them, it seems to me they are both sonoma technology

So can you help me out on this one

It would be much appreciated

Thx

 

It's more expensive for many reasons.
First of all the screen resolution. The 1694 has a 1280x800 pixels while the 8104 has a WSXGA+ that has something around 1500x1000.
Then the graphic card, 1694 has an ATI X600 (basically equal to an ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 overclocked) the 8104 has a X700 very powerful GPU.
3DMark2005 X600 around 1250
3DMark2005 X700 around 2250
The 1694 has normal DDR 333 memory while the 8104 has DDR-II 533 (guess even dual-channel)
The there are other stuff like the wireless card of the 1694 is 802.11 b/g while the 8104 is 802.11 a/b/g.
The 8104 has a smartcard security system.
The 8104 keyboard is a bit bended for a better use.

In conclusion a 8100 is a real Centrino Sonoma Platform (even if without PCI-Express card slots) while the 1690 is a mix between a Sonoma and the previous Centrino platform.

You will be fine with the 1690 unless you'll work a lot with graphics.

 

If you going to do gaming, get the TM 8104. A very powerful computer. If your just going to do movies, maybe some photoshop you could go with the 1694.

 

thx for the quick responses [ ]

the main reason i want a laptop is for musicproduction with programs like logic, ableton,....
and yeah i hear a lot of ppl say get a mac but cause i m used to working with pc 's and certain programs i use are not for mac, i dont consider that as an option.

I just want a laptop that can handle audio well, before i had an packard bell easynote r7730 which wasnt bad but there were compatibility issues with my audio-interface "mbox" from digidesign and the disk was way too slow

Maybe there are other options/brands i should consider?

Grtz and thx again

[ ]

 

Few notebooks come with phenomenal audio cards. The card in the 8104 (from my experience) is better than the standard AC'97 that is standard on a lot of computers w/integrated audio. However, for anyone who is a discerning audiophile in any form, you'll have to 1) Definitely use exernal powered speakers and 2) Upgrade to the Creative Audigy 2 ZS (notebook pcmcia card). It's a phenomenal deal, and you can get it for close to, if not under, $100 anywhere on the net or even brick and mortar stores. I know it has optical in and out, as well as a dongle that attaches to up to a 7.1 surround setup. For more details, check out Creative's website.

Best of luck!

Edit: ZS is the pcmcia card, the NX is the USB breakout box.

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by Raffo

 

Yes the ATI mobility radeon X600 has better performance than the ATI mobility radeon 9700 but not so much better. As you correctly noticed, they both have 4 pipelines.

Anyway to complete my previous post:
In Australia the Aspire 1690 comes with the ATI X700
In Germany too but it's called Extensa 4100.