Acer Aspire 1830T Timeline X Review Discussion

If you want a netbook because of the convenient size and amazing battery life but need better multitasking and video performance than what a cheap netbook offers then the Acer Aspire 1830T might be the perfect notebook for you. Keep reading to see what this $900 ultraportable offers.

Read the full content of this Article: Acer Aspire 1830T Timeline X Review

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Why some 1830T have Synaptics touchpad and some others have Alps??? Is it geographic (Alps for US and Synaptics for Europe, for example)? Is it evolutional (older ones have Synaptics and recent ones have Alps)?

I really don't understand... please help me!

 

It's totally an issue of manufacturers using the cheapest available parts at any given time during the production process and also using multiple suppliers so that production doesn't stop due to supply issues with vendors.

Yes, this issue can be further complicated if a manufacturer has production lines in multiple countries, but it's an issue even when only one factory is producing a particular laptop.

The editors here at NotebookReview.com often have a tough time deciding when and where to draw attention to the specific parts and parts suppliers for any notebook. Regardless of whether you're talking about Acer, Apple, ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Toshiba, (insert your brand of choice here), every manufacturer uses multiple suppliers/vendors ... even multiple suppliers for the same part in a single notebook.

Our review unit of a "Dell XYZ notebook" might have an LCD panel by LG, an ALPS touchpad, a Western Digital hard drive but it's possible to buy the same notebook in the EXACT same configuration from Dell and end up with a LCD panel from another manufacturer, a Synaptics touchpad, and a Hitachi hard drive.

 

Great review as always. I'm also disappointed in the lack of USB 3.0, it could be done with a simple NEC chip. Especially for $899, which seems kind of high to me for an ultraportable with integrated graphics. Considering an equivalent U160 can be had for $150 less. And this is Acer for goodness sakes.

 

Roger, that is my attitude as well regarding USB 3.0.

I can tolerate the lack of USB 3.0 on low-budget systems, but this is the high-end configuration of the 1830T ... so giving consumers at least one USB 3.0 port would have been nice.

 

The slightly bigger 3820TG with radeon 5650 destroys this for lunch at a cheaper price, and on the 11.6" side the AS1551 is $400 less. i7 is definitely faster than AMD K325 but it's not like you can do any serious gaming on both.

Yet another ho-hum "let's put a i5/7 and hope nobody finds out that the GPU suck and falls for it" laptop.

 

This is now being sold at newegg for $849.99 although the MSRP is $899.99:

Newegg.com - Acer Aspire TimelineX AS1830T-68U118 Notebook Intel Core i7 680UM(1.46GHz) 11.6" 4GB Memory 500GB HDD 5400rpm Intel HD


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I'm not quite sure there are that many gullible consumers out there. I think anyone looking at this laptop would take the size into consideration and figure out for themselves that its gaming potential is nil at best.

 

The 1810T/3810T can get 10 hours with the 9-cell...

Who is buying this for great gaming? We buy it for portability, good performance and battery life in a small package. The 3820T in no way destroys this if you have no desire for a larger display or a need for greater gpu power.

 

I agree that the OVERWHELMING majority of consumers interested in this 11-inch notebook don't care about gaming.

That said, modern notebook technology is getting to the point where we can put reasonably powerful GPUs inside small notebooks (Alienware M11x, 11-inch Apple MacBook Air, and there are some other 11-inch notebooks with impressive gaming capabilities coming soon).

The bottom line is that we're entering a point in the notebook market where you don't have to choose between portability, performance, gaming, battery life, and affordability ... you can have it all.

Yes, larger notebooks will ALWAYS have more room inside for higher-performance components, but we're starting to see ultraportable notebooks that can do things that old ultraportables could never do. I was messing around with an old Fujitsu P7120D notebook a few months ago and I was amazed that my wife's Sony VAIO W netbook is MUCH more powerful than that old Fujitsu ultraportable. The Fujitsu was priced at more than $2000 back in 2005/2006 and you can buy a more powerful netbook with better battery life for less than $300 today.

 

Is there a 9-cell battery option?

And also, would this thing MAYBE run Deus Ex: Human Revolution at MINIMUM settings?

 

Acer brought out a 9-cell for the previous Timeline's, don't know if they work with the TimelineX's.

 

There are also 9 cell batteries for 1810t on Ebay. I think they fit on 1830t but I'm not sure.

 

Ultraportable with flex is just asking for trouble.....

 

The i7 versions at US$899 does seem expensive for the "look". Acer should have given it an aluminum lid or something to distinguish it from their netbooks. But the US$599 i3 model and US$699 i5 model seem like good choices for the money.

 

This cost way too much for what you get.
It's nice but not worth $900 IMO.

 

I think that's why Acer offers cheaper configurations of this notebook with Core i3 and Core i5 CPUs. That Core i7 chip isn't a cheap one and that's the single part that contributes to the high price.

At the time of this writing (November 2010) the price for that CPU is $317. Acer might be able to get it for a little less through bulk order pricing with Intel, but you can safely assume $317 is close to the price Acer paid per CPU for each of these notebooks. The lower cost configurations of the Aspire 1830T also appear to have less RAM and smaller hard drives.

 

I've got the core i3 1830t w/ a SSD I tossed in myself. It's an amazing little unit and definitely worth the $600 I paid for it back in September. I easily pull 5 hours out of it on a daily basis while on the web pretty much constantly.

 

Anyway to get an actual 7Hrs from these ULVs while browsing using Wifi?

 

Might be possible on 10% brightness with an SSD with low power consumption.

 

A better question would be, have you ever spent a "solid" seven hours "actively" browsing the internet?

I imagine you take occasional bathroom breaks, stop to get something to eat, mess with another application so that you aren't actively loading new web pages, etc.

I have little doubt that you could get 7hrs+ of actual use out of this laptop before the battery dies (as long as the screen isn't at maximum brightness and you aren't constantly accessing the hard drive and/or stressing the processor at 100% load).

 

Recently bought 1830T with i7. Nice machine, the only thing disappointing - no WWAN. If someone can tell if it is possible to buy spare-parts and install it and force the system to see and use it? Acer support couldn't help me...

Thanks in advance...

 

I was looking for a very unique skin for my laptop and i just got one from here. It is very easy to apply like a sticker and can easily be peeled off, Indeed, it gives a very cool look to my laptop

skinslaptop

 

Careful guys, Acer's international warranty is a great thing, though as soon as needed in Hong Kong, I was made aware by Acer that they count the warranty from the manufacturing date. Discussions do not help - not with Acer.
A friend who is Acer dealer confirmed me then that the RMA rate of Acer notebooks is among the highest in the industry.

A pity, nice notebooks but bad quality and lousy service.

 

Ok, I have the timeline 4810. and I get a solid 10 hrs of useage before I have to plug in again. on a 3 yo battery!