15.4" Acer Dual Core Laptop with 2GB RAM, Dual Layer DVDRW, & X1400 GPU!

[imported_vr6]

bought mine today. a bit on the heavy side, other then that, pretty good.

been playing guild wars on highest settings, no problem at all.

not too happy about the 5400rpm HD speed, but not enought to discourage me from buying one.

 

[probzy]

I think I want the 1GB ram...

 

[imported_Shivetya]

While it appears to be a great deal its not quite what I need. I am going to wait for a similarly equipped laptop sporting a X1600 chipset. I also want 1080 vertical (or whatever that res is). My previous laptop, Dell, had a 15" 1600x1200 display and going back to 12x8 just isn't going to cut it.

So, weakness in the video nips this deal for me.

 

[hans007]

Originally posted by: fbrdphreak
Well honestly selling the 2x1GB for 2x512MB is not the smartest move. If you want to sell the RAM that much, sell only a single 1GB stick and keep the other one. Going through the hassle of selling BOTH sticks and having to buy 2x512MB isn't wise as you then have NO open slots left.

Besides, 2GB can do wonders for how smooth a system feels. If you don't need 2GB now, you might next year. I just wouldn't bother

Personally I'd love to get a T60 and when 2GB DDR2 SODIMM modules come out, deck it with 4GB :Q

yeah i agree it would be a hassle, though most benchmarks show, almost nothing benefits from 2gb, aside from maybe 2-3 games. and those would b egames you wouldnt be running on an x1400 anyway.

i have had 2gb of ram in my desktop and not noticed the difference, but well its still an option if you know you wont use the ram. keeping just 1 would be a bad idea as it would make it not dual channel.

 

[fbrdphreak]

Originally posted by: hans007

Originally posted by: fbrdphreak
Well honestly selling the 2x1GB for 2x512MB is not the smartest move. If you want to sell the RAM that much, sell only a single 1GB stick and keep the other one. Going through the hassle of selling BOTH sticks and having to buy 2x512MB isn't wise as you then have NO open slots left.

Besides, 2GB can do wonders for how smooth a system feels. If you don't need 2GB now, you might next year. I just wouldn't bother

Personally I'd love to get a T60 and when 2GB DDR2 SODIMM modules come out, deck it with 4GB :Q

yeah i agree it would be a hassle, though most benchmarks show, almost nothing benefits from 2gb, aside from maybe 2-3 games. and those would b egames you wouldnt be running on an x1400 anyway.

i have had 2gb of ram in my desktop and not noticed the difference, but well its still an option if you know you wont use the ram. keeping just 1 would be a bad idea as it would make it not dual channel.

Actually dual channel on the Intel platform won't do a whole lot. I think the difference will be more noticeable with the dual core chip & 667MHz FSB, but it won't make or break the machine. On Dothan it did squat:
http://www.laptoplogic.com/resources/detail.php?id=20

 

[TheSiege]

does compusa do finacing? im too poor to pay all at once

 

[fbrdphreak]

I'm sure they do, with a CompUSA credit card. Just read the terms carefully. I know BBY's CC isn't bad, pretty straightforward; you get X months interest free with such&such purchase. As long as you pay it off within the promotional period, zero interest or fees.

 

[TheSiege]

sweet, they are instock around me, ill wait til friday when i have time off from both my jobs and pick it up

 

[waxking1]

Dual core does have benefits depending on what you are doing. I use Photoshop CS2 which utilizes dual core technology and makes a significant difference. Two Gigabytes also makes a difference as it will utilize 4 Gig if you have it. If you are just playing games this is probably not the best choice. I bought one yesterday and so far I like it. I may reinstall the OS with XP Pro as I'm not too sure I like the partitioned HD with Fat32 file structure. I would have liked to have had the 7200 HD but I'm not sure how much difference it would make. I guess I could always upgrade later. My biggest complaint is the glare from the screen, but it looked like most of the new laptops had more glare than my old Dell 8100. I don't have a need for more resolution with this screen size. Right now this is the best deal out there for a dual core laptop.

 

[TheSiege]

Originally posted by: waxking1
Dual core does have benefits depending on what you are doing. I use Photoshop CS2 which utilizes dual core technology and makes a significant difference. Two Gigabytes also makes a difference as it will utilize 4 Gig if you have it. If you are just playing games this is probably not the best choice. I bought one yesterday and so far I like it. I may reinstall the OS with XP Pro as I'm not too sure I like the partitioned HD with Fat32 file structure. I would have liked to have had the 7200 HD but I'm not sure how much difference it would make. I guess I could always upgrade later. My biggest complaint is the glare from the screen, but it looked like most of the new laptops had more glare than my old Dell 8100. I don't have a need for more resolution with this screen size. Right now this is the best deal out there for a dual core laptop.

as long as it can play starcraft, ill be happy

 

[Nab]

Can someone explain to me the difference between a 1.6ghz desktop and a 1.6ghz laptop? I have a 1.6ghz desktop (looking for a laptop upgrade). My brother just got a 1.6ghz dell laptop and it seems to run almost twice as fast as my desktop does. And last question, how does the x1400 compare with the radeon 9600? I'm just trying to figure out if it'll be a good upgrade or not.

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

Originally posted by: Nab
Can someone explain to me the difference between a 1.6ghz desktop and a 1.6ghz laptop? I have a 1.6ghz desktop (looking for a laptop upgrade). My brother just got a 1.6ghz dell laptop and it seems to run almost twice as fast as my desktop does. And last question, how does the x1400 compare with the radeon 9600? I'm just trying to figure out if it'll be a good upgrade or not.

Pipeline length. Two cars are racing. Both are going 60 MPH. One has to go 1 mile and the other 2 miles. Which will finish first?

That's the simple answer...the other answer is also bus speed and optimization of memory controllers, etc.

 

[fbrdphreak]

Originally posted by: Nab
Can someone explain to me the difference between a 1.6ghz desktop and a 1.6ghz laptop? I have a 1.6ghz desktop (looking for a laptop upgrade). My brother just got a 1.6ghz dell laptop and it seems to run almost twice as fast as my desktop does. And last question, how does the x1400 compare with the radeon 9600? I'm just trying to figure out if it'll be a good upgrade or not.

It all depends what processor it is. Clock speed is not everything.

You probably have an old Pentium 4 desktop CPU. What it comes down to is how much work a CPU can do per clock cycle. The higher Instructions Per Clock (IPC), the higher performance it has than a CPU at the same exact clock speed. The Pentium M CPU in your brother's Dell laptop can do approximately 1.75 times more work per clock cycle than your Pentium 4. Thus, at the same clock speed, it wipes the floor with your desktop!

Here is a rough estimation of performance:

1.8GHz Pentium M = 2.0GHz Athlon 64 = 3.0GHz Pentium 4 (Prescott Core)

That is just a rough estimate, and each CPU has strengths & weaknesses. So while the Athlon 64 & Pentium M will kick ass in gaming, the Pentium 4 will be very fast in video/audio encoding.

This is a very simply explanation, I hope it helps.

 

[Snowice]

still debating if i want to keep this or not. i really wanted a 14". wish the asus w3j could come out sooner...

 

[mikegama]

I saw one person mention they are thinking of loading XP Pro on it. I need XP Pro, and am concerned about having to format, and install, and then install all the drivers. Since no recovery disk is included, is locating those drivers a pain in the rear? Or does Acer make them available online? Will all the doo-dad buttons work afterwards? Such as the bluetooth/WIFI buttons?

I plan on hooking a keyboard/mouse/monitor up to it, so the actual laptop's screen/keyboard/touchpad isn't that critical. I just need to be able to bring my work home which is why I'm considering the laptop. Has anyone run into any issues doing this?

 

[ShadoWing]

a very nice laptop for the price, especially since it's acer!

 

[agrall]

Originally posted by: mikegama
I saw one person mention they are thinking of loading XP Pro on it. I need XP Pro, and am concerned about having to format, and install, and then install all the drivers. Since no recovery disk is included, is locating those drivers a pain in the rear? Or does Acer make them available online? Will all the doo-dad buttons work afterwards? Such as the bluetooth/WIFI buttons?

I plan on hooking a keyboard/mouse/monitor up to it, so the actual laptop's screen/keyboard/touchpad isn't that critical. I just need to be able to bring my work home which is why I'm considering the laptop. Has anyone run into any issues doing this?

I installed XP Pro. All of the drivers are readily available on the Acer website.

 

[mikegama]

Originally posted by: agrall
I installed XP Pro. All of the drivers are readily available on the Acer website.

Thank you for the info.

 

[HexiumVII]

Anyone know the core and mem speeds of the X1400?

 

[TheSiege]

i bought it, its pretty slick, has a camera on it also, 1.3 megapix, i just cant get the bluetooth working with my blackberry

 

[TheSiege]

nevermind, this laptop rocks

 

[jodhas]

Originally posted by: waxking1
Dual core does have benefits depending on what you are doing. I use Photoshop CS2 which utilizes dual core technology and makes a significant difference. Two Gigabytes also makes a difference as it will utilize 4 Gig if you have it. If you are just playing games this is probably not the best choice. I bought one yesterday and so far I like it. I may reinstall the OS with XP Pro as I'm not too sure I like the partitioned HD with Fat32 file structure. I would have liked to have had the 7200 HD but I'm not sure how much difference it would make. I guess I could always upgrade later. My biggest complaint is the glare from the screen, but it looked like most of the new laptops had more glare than my old Dell 8100. I don't have a need for more resolution with this screen size. Right now this is the best deal out there for a dual core laptop.

7200 rpm drives will make moderate to significant (depending on your situation).
Check out storagereview.com .

Momentous Drives are really nice.

 

[TheSiege]

so i was looking at the bios, ide0 has the HDD ide1 has nothing, and IDE2 has the dvd drive, does this mean i can install another HDD on ide1?

 

[fbrdphreak]

Originally posted by: TheSiege
so i was looking at the bios, ide0 has the HDD ide1 has nothing, and IDE2 has the dvd drive, does this mean i can install another HDD on ide1?

Do you see a place inside that laptop to find another 2.5" hard drive? Just because the port is there doesn't mean you can use it

 

[fbrdphreak]

Originally posted by: jodhas

Originally posted by: waxking1
Dual core does have benefits depending on what you are doing. I use Photoshop CS2 which utilizes dual core technology and makes a significant difference. Two Gigabytes also makes a difference as it will utilize 4 Gig if you have it. If you are just playing games this is probably not the best choice. I bought one yesterday and so far I like it. I may reinstall the OS with XP Pro as I'm not too sure I like the partitioned HD with Fat32 file structure. I would have liked to have had the 7200 HD but I'm not sure how much difference it would make. I guess I could always upgrade later. My biggest complaint is the glare from the screen, but it looked like most of the new laptops had more glare than my old Dell 8100. I don't have a need for more resolution with this screen size. Right now this is the best deal out there for a dual core laptop.

7200 rpm drives will make moderate to significant (depending on your situation).
Check out storagereview.com .

Momentous Drives are really nice.

Roundup of all 2.5" drives available; outside of Samsung and the newest WD drive.
http://www.laptoplogic.com/reviews/detail.php?id=104