New Acer TravelMate 8100 Available

raguu: did u take the warranty? which one? thru cdw or acer?

 

Athreya: Let's see - $199.00 at CDW or $280.00 at ACER ??? I'd done the same deal with CDW two years ago on the 803 and ultimately was glad that I did - you know how it is - one repair, with a laptop is typically a new motherboard - then you throw in expedited shipping both ways - and suddenly you're out more than $200 - know what I mean? Anyway I went with CDW's plan again this time - which is actually ACER's anyway (you get a certificate direct from ACER via FedEx) and can sleep easier after spending $2300 plus on a laptop (the 803 two years ago was $2500) and even includes accidental damage - beleive it or not! I also upgraded the memory on the 803 at crucial.com to 1GB and 18 months later when one of the "sticks" went bad - they actually sent me two new ones - no questions asked or hassles - so I also can recommend them if anyone is interested in going to 2GB - which I might do - once they offer the RAM for the 8104 - currently they don't even list the 8104 on their website!

 

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

 

I take it that the dual core (yonah?) mobile cpu's will not be pin and/or logic compatible with the 915 alviso chipset? It'd be awesome if current sonoma owners would be able to include this as an upgrade path, but I think I heard it wouldn't be an option.



Quick question - what is acer's policy regarding system upgrades and their warranties? I believe I asked this earlier and didn't really get a response. If I want to plop more ram in a 8103 or swap out the 100gb hard drive for a 60gb 7200 rpm, can I do it without messing up the warranty, or do I have to let an acer authorized place or something do it?

Arima W622
Athlon 64 (Turion) 3200+ | 1gb DDR400 low latency | 60gb 7200 rpm (hopefully SATA w/ NCQ) | 128MB X700 radeon | 15.4" 1680x1050 screen | 1.25" thin | 5.69lb | 4.5 hours battery life
sign me up!

 

Wow - that Arima looks amazing - if only it was actually available somewhere.

 

hmm...i'm sorry if this was already asked or not

could anyone give me a price check in US Dollars? and a comparison (opinions) if Acer is better than Dell?

cuz i'm planning on purchasing a Dell, but dam this Acer looks real nice and it's ligther/smaller than the 9300 (soon to come out)

appreciate all feedbacks[ ] (i'm a "noob" so bare with me)[ ]

TO ARRIVE AT THE TRUTH, WE HAVE TO REASON CORRECTLY.

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by rox1co
could anyone give me a price check in US Dollars? and a comparison (opinions) if Acer is better than Dell?
cuz i'm planning on purchasing a Dell, but dam this Acer looks real nice and it's ligther/smaller than the 9300 (soon to come out)
<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'></font id='quote'></blockquote id='quote'>

It seems that the Latitude D810 is a closer matchup to the Acer 8100 since both are 15.4 wide screen. Here are some of the differences I have noticed.

Dell X600, Acer X700
Dell both pointing stick and touch pad, Acer just has touch pad.
Dell available with 7200 rpm drive.
Dell proper port replicator, Acer not sure yet.
Dell includes 3 year waranty.
Dell single layer DVD burner, Acer has dual layer.

 

Acer has nicer folio design; dell is STILL bulky
Acer has card reader.
Acer is widescreen. Not sure abt Dell.
Acer does not have fingerprint ID. Has smart Card. Not sure of Dell.

 

Joeld100: My experience with Acer warranty has been (1) you better have returned the system to it's "as bought state" prior to telephoning Technical Support and (2) if you do have to return it they certainly will want it in that condition and they might possibly have you remove some items if they are not needed for whatever the issue is you are contacting them about. My video went out on my 803 and they had me remove just about everything removeable prior to sending it to them. I balked on the memory because one stick was actually under the keyboard and they claimed it would void the warranty in the literature if you went in there. On the 8103/4 it's not an issue as it is readily accessible from underneath - as is the H.D.D.. All in all though it was a pleasant experience the one time I had to contact them.

 

Glad to see that many of you are finally getting your 8100's. Mine continues to work like a charm.

I was wondering if any of you have found specs on the ezDock (part #LC.D0103.004). I see it showing up at various sites, but no details. Acer site doesn't seem to have any details, no does the documentation that came with my system. I want to know what the specs are before forking out $275.

AR

 

This thread is so long that I won't even bother looking inside it for the answer. Where can I get this notebook (not online if possible)? None of the stores except Micro Center even carry Acer at all. If it has to be online, I'll only buy from very reputable dealers. I still don't get why Acer doesn't sell directly...

--------------------
Toshiba Hard Drive (40GB 5400rpm) finally blew on my 2.5 year old Compaq 2800T.

 

It seems like more 8104's are starting to arrive in the next week, while 8103's are still about 3 weeks away. So I'm tempted to switch my 8103 order for an 8104. Apart from the time issue, does anyone else have an opinion on whether the $300 difference is worth it? You can pick up 512Mb DDR2 RAM for about $120, so that leaves a $180 difference for the CPU speed. Anyone have any comparitive benchmarks between 8103 and 8104?

 

Surely someone from Acer Moniters this forum and hears all the questions about the EzDock. Is it real or a figment of their imagination because they have a price but not a pic! Go figure

 

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

 

Here's a link to the best description I could find on the Port Replicator for the 8100:

http://www.pcconnection.com/ProductDetail?sku=5665685&SourceID=k15505

It at least shows a photo and lists all the ports, etc,. - quite impressive - quite costly too I might add.

 

Hello everyone,

I recently acquired a 8104, and I m happy with it, except that the fan is on a lot even on lowest settings. Though it s more wind sound that mechanical sound, and it seems this kind of noise is easy to get rid of with a covering headphone and a little mp3.

What I wish is thoses making notebooks would allow some power setting mode to get the hell rid of noise, when you want to just type text and think, and dont need any of say the friggin 5847 vertex shadders of the radeon as when you re playing Half Life 342.

Well after this little feedback I will try my luck and ask if anyone know a way to force the "HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GMA-4080N" CD/DVD reader/writer of the 8104 to spin at low speed (like 10X) instead of 24X, because this is a great source of noise (whereas it s like silent at 10X) and I found no way with the friggin Acer settings to set it to friggin slow speed.

Then I went on BHA corp website and I just found "driver updater" here but no a driver for their product, that I hope would allow the SO SIMPLE THING of setting spin speed.

So I installed Plextools that I had from my former Plextor CD writers, and it allows me to set the speed setting in some way, but it seems to conflict with other drivers and cause bugs where CD/DVD can't be read and I have to kill Plextools etc.
I will stick to the Plextools trick (Thanks Plextor) untill Acer or BHA finally allow their customers to use their notebook elsewhere than in a boeing reactor when they just want to listen to some peaceful music.

 

Finally I found out "Nero DriveSpeed 300" is the thing I was looking for, no more need for PlexTools trick.

Now quiet slow CD playing

 

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

 

I was wondering if any of the new 8103/8104 users had been monitoring their H.D.'s with the HD Tune software that was mentioned earlier in this post. It's available free at www.hdtune.com and is actually quite interesting to watch the statistics on your H.D. I was particularly intrigued by the constant monitoring of the H.D. temperatures. Mine usually starts out at 23 C and has gotten as high as 49 C - though it usually hovers around 40 C - I'm wondering if anyone else is using the software to monitor their's and if so what they are seeing. The software even monitors hours of usage - mine is currently at 109 hours. I had no idea this information was kept by the H.D. - nor that it had the capability to report this information! Wish I had this installed on a couple of earlier laptops - especially my Acer 803 - which would really get HOT!

 

Getting tired of the hurry up and wait game - First late Jan , then Feb 18th , then Feb 23rd .....yesterday I heard it was expected in Vancouver late afternoon ... if so it will be two days to get here for me .......

Will hear today if yesterday's shipment arrived - if these rumours keep up may have to go with a Dell ......I remeber starting this , being in no rush - but after 6 weeks .....never considered it would take this long to buy something - oh well .....the saga continues ...

 

I could not wait. I decided to get a Dell Inspiron 6000. I was able to option it with everything I needed and nothing I didn't, which is not the case with the Acer. Acer pretty much gives you everything but you pay for it. My Dell is costing me about 1500 so I plan on upgrading in about 14 months or so when the new dual core laptops become available. If I spend alot on the Acer now I don't think I would want to upgrade in 14 months.

These were the things that were important to me. only has x300 video but gaming not an issue for me, just didn't want integrated video with shared memory.

PM 760
1gb (buying 533mhz pc2-4200 from crucial)
60gig 7200
bluetooth
cdrw/dvd

 

Hey everyone, my first time posting. I just got my travelmate 8104 about a few weeks ago and has this problem with my 23 inch display using. Currently the screen flickers with red lines all over when I use the DVI out with my 23 inch display, seems fine on my 20inch display though.

Has anyone tried using this laptop's DVI out with a 23 inch display(particularly the apple 23" cinema display). I sent it back for repairs and when it got back it still has the same problem. Anyone else have this problem at all? Hoping this isn't a problem with this laptop in general.

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by screen23

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by joeld100
I recall somewhere that dvi has a limit to the resolution it can output, and the laptop may have an even lower limit. Did you try the native res or a lesser resolution on the 23"? Is it the same as the 20"? Good luck...
<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'></font id='quote'></blockquote id='quote'>


yeah I tried several different resolutions even tried using the hp 2335 as the LCD instead same result.. on resolutions below the 1900x1200(native) I get mix results, for example 1280x768 looks ok and 1024x768 looks decent, but resolutions above and below all have the thin red lines. Anyone out these used this laptop with a 23" at 1900x1200?

 

I'm using a Dell 26" LCD TV/Monitor with the 8104 with the DVI-Out and they both perform well together - the Dell's native resolution of 1280 x 768 is below the Acer's max of 1680 x 1050 and I have no display problems - other than some of the problems mentioned previously in this post when switching from the laptop's display to the Dell LCD. I would certainly download ATI's HYDRAVISION software if you haven't done so already - it certainly won't work very well at all without it! If someone can figure out a way to permanently keep the 8104 attached to an LCD monitor without having to "Alt-F5" every time you boot up the 8104 I'd appreciate hearing from you!

 

Screen23: The 8104 Radeon X700 doesn't support 1900 x 1200 - the highest it'll properly support is 1680 x 1050. Do this: Go Control Panel > Display Properties > Settings > Advanced > Adapter > List All Modes. This "list" will show you what display settings the Video Card will support for the selected/installed monitor(s) that have been installed on your laptop - nothing outside of that "list" will work correctly on the your 8104. Did you install the latest drivers (if any)for your LCD monitor? "Windows Update" yielded an updated driver for my Dell 26" when I first set the laptop up - I also installed Microsoft's "Clear Type" which helped with text readability immensely. Hope some of this may help.

 

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

 

Damnit Jim .....I give up - No Acer 8104 and no ETA ....Tommorow looking at a LG LM70. The video card a little weaker (x600) screen 4x3 15" - HD is smaller but it is SATA. Pretty comparable machines albiet the LG is more $$$$ but I suspect it is also put together a little better...off the LG forms [ ]

 

I got an email tonight from costcentral.com ,that said they had 8104's in stock. I think bytewize have them also.

 

Screen23: I decided to check ATI's website on the X700 spec's and here's what it listed: "165 MHz integrated TMDS transmitter, for support of DVI Digital Flat Panels at up to UXGA resolution (1600x1200)". Certainly better than I had thought - it does mention higher resolutions on notebook displays though - "LCD-EE™ display engine allows for support of the latest high resolution and wide-screen notebook displays such as WXGA (1920x1200) and QXGA (2048x1536)" - but this only pertains to notebook displays. This should help clarify things.

 

Just when I gave up hope I get an Email.....Acer 8104 landed !!!! I should have it in my hands on Tuesday .....I stared looking in mid Jan ..so be patient I guess is the key ....at least I will get it before it is outdated (wait a minute there are more powerfull processors , better video cards ......ummm well nature of the beast..and of course more $$$$$$)

Wondering how good the WiFi is ....will see soon.

 

I recently visited a Micro Center and had the chance to see a few Acer models in person. They only had a couple of less expensive models on display and had no information on 8100 being in stock any time soon.

This was the first time I had seen an Acer in person. I was not overly impressed with the quality of the models I saw. The case overall had a cheap feel to it as did the four ways scroll button. I am wondering if the the more expensive 8100 models have better material and build quality. The model I saw was also a Travelmate and looked similar to the 8100s, but was about half the price of the 8104. For those of you who have seen both cheap and expensive Acers is there a noticiable difference in quality?

On Ordered:
Inspiron 6000d
PM 760(2.0GHz)
15.4" WSXGA+
1 GB RAM (pc2-4200 533mhz from crucial, hope it works)
64MB ATI X300
60GB 7,200 RPM
CDRW/DVD
Bluetooth
2200
XP pro

 

Steven: I've only owned the Acer TM800 and now the TM8104 - albeit they are both made entirely out of plastic, I've never thought of either laptop being shoddy or lame on build quality. The TM800 was as strongly built of a laptop as I've seen - it took two years of hard use - both here in the U.S. and abroad in the Persian Gulf. With the TM8104, I think Acer has tried to pretty up the outward appearance, making it look more in line with the Apple Powerbook series, which I think is a metal case on the Apple. My only hesitation with the TM8104 is that it looks like it could scratch easily - it appears to be a painted silver finish - though time will tell - I'm even considering giving it a coat of wax! The fit of the TM8104 though is outstanding - lid hinges and closes snugly - no slop - and all components seem a couple of notches more heavy-duty than on the TM800. The DVD burner on the TM8104 is built like a tank compared to the TM800 - I might add! Hey, as an aside to this - have you seen the "deals" Dell is offering on the new 9300? I saw in Dell Small Business where you can get it for 35% off! 17" screen, 256MB Video, a bit heavy though at I think almost 9 pounds! I was playing around with their "cafeteria style" build and had one nicely configured for around $1,500 - Wow!

 

for those of you wondering about it, acer has their own spec sheet about ezdock...

http://us.acer.com/acerpanam/wr-resource/854514257/upload/E0Entity13/1/ezDock%20data%20sheet.pdf

 

After seeing that Dell deal I had no choice but to get rid of the Acer and jump back on the Dell bandwagon... lol

So, Acer sold (not like there's a shortage of buyers!) Dell ordered. Opted for 1gb of ram, Go6800, 100GB hd (not really care about the 7200rpm on a laptop, prefer size over the itty-bit of speed improvement lol), WUXGA screen (might regret that decision, cuz the resolution does seem a bit TOO high for that screen size), and 2yr on-site warranty, dvdrw, bluetooth, intel wireless. all in all it comes out to be around $2200. Definitely a great deal!

ETA March 18th. Waiting patiently...

cheers,

yass

 

Buy.com shows that they have a very few 8104s in stock - I just ordered one, next day shipping. I think I made the 4 PM order cutoff, and if so I might actually have my new machine tomorrow or Thursday. Hooray!

I was just about to get a Dell 9300 but I just can't handle the idea of trying to travel and work on a plane with the 15.5" wide machine. 17 inch displays are great for true DTRs, but if you actually have to travel often, I think 15-15.4 is the maximum practical laptop screen size. If Dell had put the Gefore 6800 in a chassis with a 15" display this dude would have gotten a Dell.

The really good news is that my current laptop (Toshiba 5205-S703) seems to still be going for 800-1000 on Ebay - not taking into consideration the fact that I have extra batteries and 1 GB of RAM (stock is 512K)- so when everything's done I'll effectively be getting the Acer for $1200.

 

Just got mine (8104) today - spending hours installing software ....will give a review later - so far so good [ ]

I want to do a review with all the software I normally use - factory is pretty light and the machine smokes ...let's see how it does with some 'bloat ware' loaded (MS/Oracle/Nero/etc....)

My Systray is overloaded already [:0]

 

daacon where did you order it from and for how much? thanks

 

Argh, bad luck. Buy.com has decided that the notebook is now on backorder. Just cancelled my order.

Does anyone know where 8104s are in stock? If not I might just wait.

 

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=34-115-178&depa=3

They have them right now.

 

Thanks siestaseaturtle!

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by sjw985

 

No, I missed it. I was in meetings this morning and was just about to order.

C'est la vie. Frankly my Toshiba still does eveything I need it to do that doesn't require 3D graphics.

 

I'm actually glad I got rid of the Acer while it is still in high demand... The 9300 I ordered has same or better specs across the board in EVERYTHING(even includes a 2yrs on-site warranty), and actually end up costing just $50 more than the Acer 8104's price on newegg. [ ]

cheers,

yass

 

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

 

looking at the availability of 8104 im not sure Acer makes notebooks to sell them.its perhaps only for internal use. I have now waited 6 weeks! and am seriously thinking of the Vaio S380. Tired of waiting.

 

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

 

I have just got my new 8104 notebook and am somewhat perplexed by the eRecovery requirement to burn a Acer factory-defaut backup disc. My computer arrived with 1 system and 2 Acer software back-up CDs... why do I need an eRecovery disc on top of these?

Also what is the story with the FAT drives? Can I use Partition Magic to replace the existing FAT partitions with 2 NTFS volume 30 and 70GB in size? If I do this will it stuff up any ACER or Windows programs?
I notice that there is a small PQSERVICE partition (FAT)in addition to the C and D partitions. Is this needed or can I remove it if I switch to NTFS?

I have a 2004 version of Norton Utilities with GHOST on it... can I use this to make backup a NTFS version of my computer instead of eRecovery?

I notice that when I try running Partition Magic, I get an error saying that it has detected an error 116 on the partition starting at sector 100534770 on Disc 1.
Partition Magic offers to fix the error..... should I let it?

Cheers
Ken

 

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

 

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