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    HD on TM 8204

    Discussion in 'Acer' started by greengrass, Mar 20, 2006.

  1. greengrass

    greengrass Notebook Enthusiast

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    Hi,
    I am currently looking at buying a TM 8204 and notice that it has a n ATI x1600 graphics card. Now these cards if i am correct support HD decode assist.

    1. Will i be able to use this laptop to watch HD content? (such as T2:HD)
    2,. Does the screen support HD (will i see the differnece in quality) or will i need to output to a HD ready display? (Is there a digital output that i can use to hook up)
    3. Is the optical drive upgradeable so that i could slot in a HD-DVD or Blu-Ray compatible drive in the future?
    4. Ive got about £1500 to play with, is there a better laptop out there fort the money, i am looking for games, watching DVD and high cpu performance for CAD and encode/decode tasks?

    Any help would be greatly appreciated

    cheers
     
    greengrass, Mar 20, 2006
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  2. Unreal

    Unreal Notebook Deity NBR Reviewer

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    1. Yes with the help of Avivo, which is something from ATI that helps decode HD content
    2. The screen's res is 1680 x 1050, which is higher then 720p but less than 1080i/p
    3. No idea
    4. Not sure.
     
    Unreal, Mar 20, 2006
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  3. shiggs

    shiggs Notebook Guru

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    1. Yes, and you dont even need AVIVO (just make sure if you are using hardware accel in your player that the graphics performance is turned up, ie powerplay)

    2. It does (see unreal's comments) - however 60hz is not ideal film content (24fps or 23.976) so you might get some tearing. Output via DVI to an HDTV should be no problem, but I have been on the road since i got mine and have not tried yet.

    3. Not sure about that either. Even if you can I suspect anything other than a storage medium will not be a cut and dry issue.

    4. Maybe the dell 17" with nv go7900gt (or gtx), not sure on the UK prices though.
     
    shiggs, Mar 20, 2006
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  4. homie

    homie Notebook Enthusiast

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    I know the TM 8402 supports 1680x1050. Is it possible to set its resolution at lower resolutions like 1280x800?
     
    homie, Mar 20, 2006
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  5. EdF

    EdF Notebook Consultant

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    Yabbut, the quality won't be as good.
     
    EdF, Mar 20, 2006
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