New Acer TravelMate 8100 Available

Hello, I have narrowed down to Travelmate 8100 & LG's LW70 for buying. Would appreciate anyone who has done comparisons/pros-cons. I know the LW70 has a larger monitor ... thanks in advance.

 

Dear all
first i'd like to say thank you for the revews and advice on this thread, i have just recieved by beautiful 8104 today and am happy. however on trying to use the smartcard, it failed to boot, after i managed to hack my way round it i found i could not disable the platinum secure software, i just got the message "check platinumPAS fail" i managed to uninstall some bits of the software but it still looks for the card on boot. I found no support on the acer site for this, and i cannot find a website or any other support. As it seems i'm not the only one with this problem any ideas or answers anyone has would be extremely helpful!
Many thanks jojo

 

Hello everyone,
I am planning on buying a notebook that looks cool and is as futureproof as possible. Although I mainly use notebooks for rookie music and picture editing as well as for typing and surfing the net, one of the main reasons I want to buy a good notebook is to play Half-Life 2. However, I'm not a hardcore-gamer, and I only play a couple of hours a week.

Now, I am really interested in Acer TravelMate 8104. It's got great features: lots of USB slots, Sonoma-technology and the second best graphics card in mobiles from Ati (I think only Alienware notebooks have the Mobility X800). However, I have serious concerns. I have known for a while now that Acer has a really lousy rep when it comes to reliability with notebooks. It seems like every other Acer laptop is being repaired. This is especially weird since everyone seems to respect Acer notebooks and (in my country of Finland) Acer is the biggest-selling manufacturer (if I remember correctly).

I am a university student and I don't have tons of money. I am afraid that if I buy Acer TM1804 that it's going to have dead pixels, or it's going to overheat and melt or the programs tilt... I bought HP-Compaq widescreen notebook one and a half years ago, and it has got zero problems. The problem is that Acer is the only notebook on the market that has the better X700 graphics card. Okay, there's Dell XPS Gen 2 or Alienware or Voodoo, but they are not available in my country and I think that the problem with those notebooks is either nVIDIA graphics card or big size and lousy battery life. Add to that, I'm not a computer expert and for example don't know how to install components or hack programs.

Tell me, is Acer TM8104 worth it because I really do not want to end up with an expensive notebook that doen not work. By the way, I know that HL2 won't run like a dream with X700, but I hear that it runs good enough so that you do not need to off all the effects.

 

Don't worry, i found out that the problems i was having were due in fact to the virtual drive i was using, not to do with hardware. its a lovely machine and well worth the money in my opinion! The grphics are brill and the machine itself just wizzes along. it doesnt get very hot and it multitasks very well (at present mine is surfing the web, running a lengthy calculation, looking at the results of a previous calculation and playing music without even thinking about slowing down... i love this machine!!

 

I found an article/test on the internet concerning Ati Mobility Radeon X700 and its performance in games. They tested it on Acer TravelMate 8100. I was surprised when I read this article/test because they claimed that TM8100 is not a dekstop replacement notebook, mainly because of its slow CPU. What? Isn't Pentium-M 2 GHz one of the fastest Centrino-CPUs on the market? Then what is a dekstop replacement notebook. A notebook with the (obsolete) Pentium 4 in it? Or is it perhaps a notebook from VoodooPC, Alienware or the Dell XPS Gen2?

I need a desktop replacement notebook as I'm not planning on taking the notebook with me on trips too often. Should I not consider Acer TM8104?

Here's the article/test:
http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NzQ2

 

Interesting review, they do have a point about the pentium M not being the fastest of processors, as it will be moderatly slower than the top range P4s.. however I've had problems with the P4s overheating, have you seen the fans they have in the P4s?? and really if you want to play Doom 3 or half life on their hightest resolution settings you get a desktop! I play Unreal tournament 2004 on its highest resolution and high texture settings at the same time as running various calculations, not a glitch or hang in sight.
If you want to spend over $3000 dollars no doubt you might get a better machine. I have to say however that in my opinion what you get for the extra $1000 simply isnt worth it. I'm in love with this machine!!

 

A (comparison) review has been posted at Tom's Hardware Guide. This review was interesting and it reassured me that while notebooks such as Dell I9300 would be better at games, Acer TM8100 is still a good notebook and not as bulky and expensive as Dell is.

 

I looked at this model yesterday while I was actually looking for a 13.3" and I was impressed but I had and still don't really have knowledge about the quality of Acer. The prices were so affordable and it looks like Acer is an option I'm considering as a 2nd backup notebook.
This thread is so long it'll take me awhile to read through it but I need some input and lots of knowledge about Acer. I thouht Averatec was it but I returned it in one day due to a flimsy DVD Drive that I know would have been a problem to come.

Heart [ ]

Karma, It'll Get You!

 

Hi All,
I am just on the verge of buyin travelmate 8104, i need to use it with DCC softwares like 3dmax, photoshop etc.
Is there anyone who is using this laptop for the same purposes and if there so what are your opinions about this laptops DCC performance?

Thanks Alot

 

Lo all

just got my 8100

v-nice - just been playing bf2 demo in 1024/768 and all was well though the wireless seemed to be unreliable!! not had this issue with the other wirless machines in the house!

my main question though is about that weird audio connector!! i mean what is it??

where do you get a lead from to work wiht that??

i held an optical lead infront of it and my amp immediately started to play the dolby digital stream from an incredables dvd - how cool is that? but i can stand there and hold the lead all day!