New Acer TravelMate 8100 Available

Acer comes on board with the new Intel Pentium 915 Pentium M chipsetvia their TravelMate 8100 offering. The 8100 has a 15.4" Widescreen LCD (SXGA resolution), 128MB ATI Mobility X700 graphics card, new PCI Express bus architecture, Bluetooth and WiFi, Hot-swappable optical drive and a light-weight folio design.

The TravelMate 8100 will initially come in two configurations: the 8102WLCi and the 8104WLMi. Both configs have a 15.4-inch, 1680x1050 LCD screen, 60GB hard drive, built-in 5-in-1 memory card reader, an ATI Mobility Radeon X700 graphics card with 128MB of DDR Video RAM, and 802.11a/b/g WiFi. The major difference between the two configurations is that the 8102WLCi has 1.73GHz Pentium M processor, DVD/CD-RW Combo Drive, and 512MB of RAM, while the 8104WLMihas a 2GHz Pentium M processor, DVD-RW Super-Multi drive, and 1GB of RAM.

Link to TravelMate 8100 on Acer Website: http://global.acer.com/products/notebook/tm8100.htm

Acer TravelMate 8100 Specs and Overview

• The latest Intel Centrino mobile technology, featuring: the Intel Pentium M processor with 533 MHz FSB, Intel 915 PM Express chipset and Intel PRO/Wireless 2915ABG network connection Wi-Fi CERTIFIED solution present you with lightning-fast processing speeds and constant connectivity
• Revolutionary PCI Express bus architecture combined with dual-channel DDR2 533 MHz memory provide a faster pathway for better application and system responsiveness.
• ATI MOBILITY RADEON X700 graphics card with 128 MB of dedicated video memory boosts 3D graphics performance, allowing intensive multimedia-threaded applications and multitasking
• Acer SignalUp technology enables superior signal reception and range, facilitating smoother information transfers and ultra-stable wireless connectivity, while Cisco Compatible Extensions (CCX) and Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) compatibility keep your transmissions secure and confidential
• Gigabit Ethernet lets you transfer information quickly, heightening your productivity
  Expert productivity
• Acer GridVista ingeniously resizes application windows to take full advantage of the 15.4" WSXGA+ wide-aspect screen, so you can view two, three or four windows simultaneously, while Web pages of 800 x 600 resolution snap to whole-page width, eliminating the need for extra scrolling
• Acer eManager provides you with intuitive tools to manage your system easily and efficiently -- especially Acer ePowerManagement, which demystifies the secrets to optimum battery-power management
• Hot-swappable AcerMedia Bay modules (8X DVD-Super Multi double layer optical drive, secondary battery, or secondary hard disc drive of up to 100 GB) offer the flexibility to configure your PC to suit your business needs
• The user-friendly layout of the four USB 2.0 ports lets you connect to external devices without having to manoeuvre around the LCD panel, maximising usability and convenience
• The subtly curved ergonomic keyboard with dedicated Page-up and Page-down keys adds comfort for touch-typing
• The TravelMate 8100's slim and curvaceous Folio design is accented by fully-wrapped planes and a metallic silver-green sheen, sure to appeal to image-conscious professionals with a refined sense of style
• Feather-light and wafer-thin, the TravelMate 8100 is a full-sized, full-function notebook -- yet a breeze to carry everywhere!
• Front-access ports and controls and a handy non-slip carry-grip afford you the ultimate convenience while on the move
• The Acer ezDock (optional) is also dressed in the Folio design, so you make the right statement whether working at your desk or on the road
• Flush with 24 expansion ports and jacks, Acer's PCI Express docking solution -- Acer ezDock -- encourages ultra-convenient transformation to desktop computing, and connectivity to a plethora of digital or legacy peripherals
• Integrated Bluetooth capabilities allow you to realise a true mobile digital office via BluetoothR headsets, mobile phones and PDAs
• A front-access 5-in-1 card reader improves flexibility for managing multimedia files
  Acer's SmartCard security solution offers trustworthy user verification to allow only authorised personnel to access sensitive corporate data
• Subjected to a set of 13 rigorous quality tests, the TravelMate 8100's guaranteed reliability and durability provide solid performance for at least five years
  

 

Mobility Radeon X700? Is that a typo? Even ATI doesn't have such a product on their site...

--------------------
Compaq Presario 2800T
Pentium 4-M 1.6 GHz - 15" UXGA
512 MB RAM - 40 GB (5400 rpm)
ATI Mobility Radeon 7500 64 MB

 

No, but there can still be that card. It is kind of confusing between the site and ati's site. I mean, you see almost no notebooks with the mobility x800, but the have it. You see almost no desktops with the Allinone x800xt, but they still have it. I don't know, but it is likely it does have the x700.

 

For the ATI video card: http://www.ati.com/products/radeonx700/

Is there a price point with the laptop right now?

 

I cant get the link to work. Can someone tell me how much this will run? It doesnt seem to be on the USA sight yet. does this mean it is only availabe overseas? thanks for any input.

 

thanks for the heads up. that travelmate looks pretty hot.

i'm rubbing my hands anxiously. i've been waiting 3 months for a laptop. i'm serious.

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

 

The Acer Singapore website has the comparison shown clearly.

http://www.acer.com.sg/products/travelmate8100/psp_travelmate8100.asp

 

Just noticed one more model with 915 chipset Aspire 1691WLMi

http://www.acer.com.sg/products/aspire1690/psp_aspire1690.asp

Seems to be the same as of 8100 but with
15.4" WXGA Acer CrystalBrite TFT colour LCD, 1280x800
ATI Mobility™ Radeon™ X600 with 64MB of external DDR video RAM

I thing all the upcomming acer model will be based on 915

 

Its not on the US site at all.
It seems just about perfect except for:
1) No fingerprint scanner
2) Ugly ports at the back!
3) When will they learn to make black color notebooks!!

 

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

3) When will they learn to make black color notebooks!!
<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'></font id='quote'></blockquote id='quote'>

I keep asking myself the same question. Black notebooks seem to be extinct. I guess my search will go on until I find something in black.

 

At 6.3lbs, it seems pretty portable. It's even lighter than the new Sony FS series, heh.

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black notebooks extinct? The IBM ThinkPad has been black for over a decade now!

thanks for the heads up on the Acer 1691 george_l!

 

http://www.pcconnection.com/ProductDetail?sku=5586987
more...
http://www.pcmall.com/pcmall/shop/detail.asp?dpno=185222
http://www.pcmall.com/pcmall/shop/detail.asp?dpno=185223

 

Hi
Just spoke to our corporate contact at Acer. He tells me that 8104wlmi is now officially available in the US with authorized retailers for $2299 suggested price.

Go fir it guys!

 

CDW has it on their site, but with no details other than model and price.

http://www.cdw.com/shop/products/default.aspx?EDC=733812

 

Did anyone check out the Virtual Tour for the 8100 on Acer's site? It looks like this beast has VGA, S-Video, AND DVI Video outs!!! Talk about overkill!

Also, the 8100 has a PC Card Type II slot - whatever happened to Express Card?

Finally, does anyone know what ports are going to be included on their port replicator?

 

I'm pretty sure it's a single layer

 

Two more week? For shipping out?
Does anyone know if the dvd is duallayer dual side or single code

 

Does anyone know if the dvd is single or dual layer?

Also does anyone know where these machines are actually made? Like ibm is made in china,malaysia and mexico.

 

I am somehow skceptical about machines made in China. I had to change my IBM T40 thrice! the first two times i got Chinese made machines which gave me the blue screen serious fatal error on booting for the first time!! The third time i insisted on and got a Mexico made one which was surprisingly good!

PMP: What colour is it? ACer initially said only the 3200 and Aspire 1800 would be Folio Design. Is this true folio in design? (i know their brochure says so)

 

buddy you dont have to answer every question! by the same token you neednt be on the forum either!

 

if you look closely all of them donot have the folio design (i confirmed this with the Acer corporate relationship manager). he said only 1800 Aspire and 3200 TM are Folio (This was before the release of the 8100). he also explicitly said 4000 etc are NOT folio.

Secondly, the brochure talks of a silver-green color? Wonder what that is?

 

yeah but if you read the detailed specs closely only the two models i mentioned and the 8100 are defined as Foli thers are not

Did you remember the green part of the color?

 

thank you, pmp, for all of your good posts on this thread! it's helpful to me!

 

What's the release date because the sites with this model have no solid time estimate?

 

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

 

Release is first week of feb.
Something stuck me: there r significant differences between the acer 8104, dell 6000 and the vaio fs, though they r all the first offerings with sonoma by each of the manufacturer!

But for the display I think acer beats the other two hands down in terms of features

 

Release is first week of feb.
Something stuck me: there r significant differences between the acer 8104, dell 6000 and the vaio fs, though they r all the first offerings with sonoma by each of the manufacturer!

But for the display I think acer beats the other two hands down in terms of features

 

dell has a big advantage over the acer for at least one reason - you can custom configure it to your likings before shipment. I will probably have to go with another maker besides acer even though it has many features I want (x700, bluetooth, dvi, 1gb ram) because I can't afford all those features that I need (windows, dvdrw, 100gb hard drive - rather have 60gb 7200rpm anyway). I'm just hoping some of the small makers like chembook and sager like you can find on discountlaptops.com will offer this class of laptops soon.

 

i agree. Acer is terrible with customizations!
Does anyone have any experience with their customer service in the US?

Wonder why the Acer is WSXGA where as Dell is WUXGA screen.

 

Does anyone know what the hard drive rpm's are on the new Acer 8104LWi?

 

Here is a link to a Russian site that lists "DDR2"

http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/acer-tm-8100/

Still can't locate the rpm's!

golfkwesi

 

Here is another good link also stating DDR2:

http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2005/Jan/1109371.htm

still NO rpm's[?]

 

The detailed specs sheet of 8104 on the Singapore site shows the RAM as DDR and NOT the newer much talked about DDR2 version!! Am i missing anything?

 

check this.this is their OFFICIAL brochure. Which contradicts what their own website says!!

http://www.acer.com.sg/products/travelmate8100/tm8100datasheet.pdf

 

the russian preview is a great catch maan! but what worries me is that the official acer website in singapore shows it as DDR and not DDR2?

 

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

 

PMP: I guess you are correct! thanks!

 

Are custom config's available in the US? I found this link that offers it but I can't get the site to work:

http://www.acer.com.au

 

http://us.acer.com/acerpanam/page9.do?dau34.oid=7985&UserCtxParam=0&GroupCtxParam=0&dctx1=25&ctx1=US&crc=3160585103

 

im glad they finally have it on their US site! Though none of the resellers links under where to buy shows it!

The difference between the two models is the 1.8 vs 2 Ghz and 512 vs 1 GB RAm for a 300$ price difference!

Sadly they dont customize otherwise we can buy the lower end model and add the extra RAM to it and save a couple of hundred bucks!

 

Return Policy: is there such a thing with Acer resellers? Being a Dell customer for over 10 years I'm used to the option of having a 21 - 30 return option if something just didn't work for my specific needs. Has anyone returned their notebook for credit to any resellers. Could you list them please.

 

Extended Warranties: Must these be purchased from the resellers?

Are they backed by Acer or some unrelaed 3rd party?

Are they worth the money? (I've always had 3-yr next business with Dell and service has been great)

 

not sure how good acer is.in general not even IBM matches Dell in this aspect in the industry.

 

athreya: if they don't customize as you've stated; what is this link that i posted with the "custom build":

http://www.acer.com.au

 

Try clicking it. It doesnt do much! In the US they offer no such option.
Checked with their corporate contact here

 

Right, there is no customization in the US at least...sad if you ask me, but they're trying to minimize their inventory load and time to ship.

Editor in Chief http://www.bargainPDA.com and http://www.SPOTstop.com

 

I agree. But Dell does both and offers customizations!!

None of the stores have it in stock yet! Some of them clearly say no returns.Wonder why?!

 

I am shocked that Acer is so poor in its marketing efforts. AT different places the RAM is defined differently . Somewhere as DDR, somewhere else as DDR2 400 , elsewhere as DDR2 333!!

Its quite sad. I just hope they MAKE their laptops better than they market them!

 

While Acer has no excuse to get information wrong about their products, they aren't Dell and your expectation that they should be isn't fair. Acer is VERY small in the US, Dell is #1, you can't have the same expectations for both.

Editor in Chief http://www.bargainPDA.com and http://www.SPOTstop.com