3201XCi questions (RAM, HD)

Im looking to buying the 3201XCi from newegg, and i have a few questions. Thank you in advance for your answers.

First, theres the ram, it has 512, im considering getting 512 more for it, so my question is? does it have a free bank? or do i have to swap out the existing 512?

If theres an empty slot, would any of these rams be what it needs?
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-145-484&depa=0
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-208-003&depa=0

Second, the HD, i've hard about it maybe being 4200 RPM and not 5400. I'm not worried about the space, 60 gig is fine, but i'd like to play some games (mainly sims2, wow, half-life, etc) would a faster drive make a noticable difference? should i spend an extra 160 USD and get a new drive plus an enclosure for the old one?

I think that's about.. thanks again.

 

The RAM comes as two 256 MB SODIMMs. So you have to remove one to add more RAM. Both of those look fine. It's just PC2700 200-pin standard RAM. I got 1 GB of http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=20-155-111&depa=0

The HD is 4200 rpm. I upgraded to the 7K60. I love my comp with 1.25 GB of RAM and 7200 rpm hard drive. The 3201XCi is exactly what I wanted...

 

Ok i just called acer america pre-sale support and they told me that yes, its two 256 sticks each on one bank.

But they also told me the drive is 5400 RPM and not 4200. I told her i read online poeple stating that it was 4200 and she said nope to that.

I also asked her if it indeed had bluetooth or not, and she said no. that bluetooth is not avaliable for the 3200 series yet, the button is just there in anticipation for newer models that may have it (?!?)

Do you have bluetooth on yours morgois?

 

Thank you so much morgois. Another quick question about the drive.. this is the one im looking at to replace the current one:
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=22-152-503&depa=0

and this the enclosing for the 60gig one: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=17-146-034&depa=0

does it all seem ok?

 

i have 3201xci, and mine has bluetooth. i tested it with my sister's cell phone, and it worked. and the hdd, it comes with 4200 rpm hdd not 5400 rpm.

 

Well the girl said it was 5400, not 4200, i asked her explecity and that's what she said. I might as well try to ***** back at them after i get the laptop to see if they ship me a 5400rpm one.

Never the less, i decided to buy this HD:
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=22-146-020&depa=0

It's still 60 gb, but 7200rpm, and i want loading speed on this thing. I also got a gigabyte of ram: http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=20-155-111&depa=0

I will be taking one of 256 and out and sticking that in.

I ordered all today, 2 day fedex shipping, i CANT WAIT.

Thanks a buch for the bluetooth confirmation, i kind of want to play with it.

 

If anybody here has been specifically informed by Acer Sales/Support, that the 3201XCi's come with a 5400rpm HDD, you may want to take a look at this link. Other users have been able to get their 4200rpm drives replaced with a new 5400rpm drive, FREE!

http://www.notebookreview.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=6863

-Vb-

 

Just thought I would let all 3201 users (without wasting a new thread) that the 3in1 card slot killed my SD card! Anyone else had problems like this? I only have one SD card so can't be sure it was just a one off.. but now my Desktop and Pocket PC card readers can't read the SD card.

 

I have used a Sandisk 128 MB SDcard and a TwinMOS UltraX 1GB SDcard in the reader, no problems.

 

mmmm i was running mp3s off it for a few hours.. maybe that's what did it. i have a sandisk 256 one. i thought sd cards were supposed to be VERY durable.

 

Chaiseylain,

You may want to start a new thread for this problem. Users may not look inside this thread, but may have experienced this issue and might have a solution. It could also be a problem with the unit which would inform others of a possible problem.

-Vb-

 

I started a thread about it in the Brighthand.com discussion forums, but noones answered me! I give up.. just gonna get another one. I bought it in Hong Kong so I can't really return it (they don't let you anyway).

 

Sorry to bump this old thread, just wanted to update on possible future buyers, specially with december on our door.

I absolutely _love_ the damn thing. I bought a 7200 rpm drive, exchanged the 4200 stuck for a 5400 with acer support (they sent me the new one before i shipped the old one) bought a coolmax aluminum alloy external USB 2.0 enclosure and stuck it in; then i bought a kingmax 1 gb stick, took out 256 and i now have 1.25 gb of ram on it.

I installed omega drivers for the video card, and i usually play world of warcraft on it.

I barely got to see the included software, since i just reinstalled on the new drive and formatted the old one for the enclosure, so i wouldnt know. I used a slipstreamed sp2 cd i had with the cd key for winxp pro found on the bottom of the laptop and all was fine.

It's fast. I can be playing WoW and hit alt-tab; i istantly get the desktop and i have firefox and thunderbird running, both of which run and respond much, much better than in other machines even with the game running. That ram makes a LOT of difference compared to 512 mb systems. I absolutely recommend this upgrade.

It can get somewhat hot after extending gaming sessions. I have a granite table (a type of stone) and i think it helps with the cooling, it never get's too hot to touch it, but it can still be quite hot. The fan will consistenly be on, but it will swich from it's two speeds, only sometimes bumting to the more load and fast one.

Watching divx over the wireless, surfing or just coding away it never gets hot at all, fan barely turns on and i can barely hear it on it's slow speed.

It does have bluetooth. Works with a treo 650 and i get dialup networking (this is with vodafone in europe, so it depens on your carrier- i did buy the laptop in the USA but i imported it here).

It's small, it's fast, it's sleek to look at, i love the latchless design. I've had 5 laptops on the course of time, and for the price, this is the best i've had. I recommend it.

 

thanks for the review..

ive been debating between the acer 3200 and the Lg lm50 for a long time

the 3200 ownz the lg in everyway performance wise, but the LG is more a classy, small business machine, yet there still is ati9600.
but the price tag is insane.


What is the true weight of the 3200?
if its 5-6lbs, maybe i'll take a look at asus again.

thanks!

-nathan

 

i'm gonna buy ram and hd, but question about the hd.

how do you install it??? or should i go to a computer shop.