New Acer TravelMate 8100 Available

Its nothing todo with size. Dell has automated their supply chain so much that the minute we click buy on our screens, it starts assembling the product in three different continents.

So while its surprising that Acer goes a step ahead by incorporating various features that Dell doesnt, yet they havent got their act together with their supply chain management, not even their marketing materials!

These have nothing todo with size at all. Dell was an Acer not very long ago with small market share!

 

Extended warranty update:

I got this information from the same person:

You can purchase it from the reseller or by going to: AcerPanAm.com

The options are:

1. add 2 years on to the std 1 yr (3 total) for $124.00

2. get option #1 above and also get Accidental Care for a total of $280.00

*** She also confirmed that it must be returned to depot. They will have fed ex pick it up BUT we must box it properly. They suggest keeping the original box for returns (she said they have received them wraped in blue jeans and towels!)

Acer pays the shipping both ways! Usually the turn around time is 7 - 10 business days or sooner.

 

They probably just have really bad translators. BTW, that "click buy and immediately it's being assembled in 3 different continents" made me lol.

 

Unfortunately for u its true! Read any of the harvard case studies on dell or michaeldells autobiography where it is described in great detail how you press buy and dell begins building the laptop in three continents. True my friend!

 

Hard drive RPM's Update:

I spoke with a very well informed person at Acer today. She had to check the part # of the 100 gig drive to tell me what the rpm's were.

It is 5400! She checked to see if there was a smaller drive listed to verify it's rpm's BUT the 100 gig was the only one.

 

Updating your BIOS:

Never go to one of the foreign sites! Only get updates from the AcerPanAm.com site!

 

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

 

I hope not - I was planning on getting a laptop with a 60+gb 7200rpm drive

 

Sony just sucks! Chek their nnew flagship s360. Even that has antediluvian specs!

 

I recently purchased a Dell 8600 with 7200 rpm drive. I didn't notice the heat to be an issue! I still don't understand why Sony will only ship their new FS with a 4200 rpm [?]

 

Sony overpriced I'm set, if nothing else comes out that's better, I'm going to order this Acer 8104WLMi next week. I can't wait!

 

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

 

Not a single darn reseller has stock yet!!

 

Just called PCMAll Gov from where we buy routinely and they have no clue when it will arrive!

 

Just spoke with PC Connection: they said they expect to have them early to mid-February for $2,299.00!

I also asked if there is a return policy, but not a defect, (being a Dell owner for years):

15% restock fee and must be returned within the first two weeks! I'm only concened about this because I happen to have some specific resolution needs that may cause this 8104WLMi to not function optimally for me.

 

theres no point. they all get it at roughly the same time.

Does anyone thing the WUXGA screen of Dell would be better than what Acer offers?

 

Has anyone contacted CDW?

 

Harmony has the 8103 listed and it says it will ship in 1 week. Couple of anomolies in the specs. Short description says 1.8M 745, but this should probably be the 1.86M 750 right? That needs to be confirmed. Also the short description says DDR2 333 512mb but the long spec list says DDR2 533 so this needs to be confirmed also. But it is for sale for less then the announced retail at a tad under $1,900
http://www.shopharmony.com/product.asp?i=ACETM8103WLMIXP

-Kevin

 

whats really disheartening is that the review of the 8100 by digit life doesnt show a dramatic impact of the new processor/chip. Infact other than in game performance, the 8100 doesnt outperform the other significantly anywhere else.

Also on cnet theres a less than favorable report about Sonoma's performance.

Is it really a great buy or should one wait for the dual core chip expected later this year?

 

It's very unlikely we'll see dual core chips this year, ESPECIALLY in the mobile sector. Desktop dual cores might show up at the end of this year and that's if there are no delays on Intel's or AMD's projected roadmaps. Things like a user upgradeable PCI express graphics card, high definition audio with SPDIF out, gig LAN, better wireless, express card etc are worth it to me to wait and see what comes out. If those things aren't that important to you then I would snag up an older centrino notebook as the prices drop in the coming weeks and months as everyday use won't see much benefit in the way of performance.

-Kevin

 

Regarding the question about the UXGA screen option:

I have a Dell Inspiron 8200 with a UXGA 1600 x 1200 (not a wide aspect!). What you need to understand is the higher the resolution the smaller and tighter the pixels are.

Although the quality is higher as the res increases it is also very small to the eye. I personally do not use the native res. because it is just too small to look for long periods.

Dvd's probably benefit from the higher res. The difference may only be marginal between the Acer and the Dell WUXGA.

If you will use this notebook to make business presentations , as I do, then you may have to down size the res anyways.

Be aware that lowering the res can create new problems too!

 

thanks for both the posts!

Arent you guys concerned about the fact that Sonoma isnt really much better than Centrino or are we missing something here?

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by dock44
But the PCI-express is huge to me.
<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'></font id='quote'></blockquote id='quote'>

Amen - there's just something about the radeon 9700 having been the top of the line (when it was compared to the 9800 and desktop chips) that left a bad taste in my mouth. Unfortunately, that bad taste may cost me many bucks when I get a laptop in the next few months.

 

Well we have virtually no increase in core clock speed, slight increase in front side bus and a little faster DDR2 memory, dual channel. This just doesn't amount to much as the early reviews have shown. But we can only see the head crowning in the vagina of the new release The other additions and goodies are worth it to me. The chipset architecture is set, maybe driver and BIOS refinements can nudge the performance a bit. From what I read no one was saying it was gonna leave the old centrino platform in the dust, it's just a refinement....second edition if you will. But the PCI-express is huge to me.

-Kevin

 

thanks a lot. what exactly is the PCI express?

 

PCI Express is more or less a new type of card connector and protocol for more universal and faster cards. The video card is the most obvious beneficiary. Theoretically users could swap out a dedicated video card for any other PCIE video card. We'll see if that actually happens, but right now there are very few machines that can be upgraded like that.

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

 

JUST ordered the 8104WLMi version. Can't wait to recieve it, it's gonna outperform my computer by far in every aspect...and it's portable! You can expect a full review on it in a couple weeks. The final price was 2183 with 3 day shipping.

 

from whom did u order? any extras?

 

On paper I like everything about this new acer. The only issue I have is with the choice of HD. In a performance machine like this why didn't they go with a 7200 rpm drive.

If I buy this computer the first thing I would want to do is replace the drive with a 7200 rpm drive. That would probably add 175 to the price of the system but would probably be worth it. However I am concerned that if Acer didn't put one in the system might not be able to handle the heat from a 7200 drive.

The other system I was considering are the Dell D810 and the Thinkpad T43. I am concerned about Dell quality control in recent history. Sever coworkers have had problems with Dell in the last year. Another thinkpad would have been a no brainer if it werent for the sale of IBM which now makes that a big question mark for me.

Does anyone know what acer charges for the port replicator? and does it have a DVI port on the replicator?

 

IBM is terrible of late. I had to change THREE T40s before i got a defectless one! Their quality of components is bad of late is my experience

 

Acer never uses high end drives, even with their Ferrari line. As for IBM, you really shouldn't be worried right now. Maybe when the new designs come in next year, but the T43 has been on teh map for a long time, the sale to Lenovo affects nothing.

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

 

Sellitus: can you please post back with your impressions / results (mini-review maybe?) when you get it? [ ]

I'm really interested in buying one. [8D]

 

ordered the laptop from www.PCNation.com Can't wait for it to get here...it'll be my first laptop. I did a little looking at the stuff it includes and wow...there's so much crap that I didn't evne want but could definately use. It's definately a business machine, and I'm looking foward to having it. No extras, cept free 3 day shipping.

 

Sellitus: I'm with you on the 7200 rpm drive. The Dell 8600 is the only one I've found with this option. I did call Acer and they checked the part # and confirmed it is 5400 rpm's. Did they confirm this with your order?

Sony is only offering a 4200 rpm in their new Vaio Fs that is around the same weight as the Acer. I am close to pulling the trigger on the 8104 too.

I always get a 2nd power adapter so home to office travel is much lighter!

I was told my Acer that we can buy the 2nd & 3rd year warranty extension anytime in the first year. Can anyone confirm this?

***Do they know for sure when they will ship it to you? ****

 

Absolutely Nicolas. And from what I've heard, the 7200 RPM drive doesn't cause much more heat than the 5400. But, they don't offer the 7200 100 gig, and I need space over anything else. I'm into video and audio processing/editing...and gaming. One thing I'm really wondering about is the ability to share some of the computer's memory with the graphics card. I wonder how much of a performance gain I'll get with...let's say 256 megs more of DDR2 memory? I guess we'll see when it gets here. Oh, and on the shipping thing, it should ship tomorrow. The website says it's shipping to me straight from the factory, so hopefully it ships tomorrow. I can't wait!

 

I'm pretty much sure you can't share system's memory with the graphics card on the TM8100 notebook, as it uses the Mobility Radeon X700 with 128Mb dedicated RAM for it.

BTW: nice prices on that store...

 

Actually you can. It's listed as one of the main features on the X700 description on the website.

 

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

 

That's interesting... I didn't know that.

Is it something you can customize? (Disable or enable limiting the amout of memory allowed to be used?)

It's probably not interesting to be used today (due to poor performance) but it might be useful in some years... (Better be able to use a software at ultra-slow speeds than not being able to open it).

Please keep us informed...

 

So if the 7200 drive is not too hot for this laptop then my plan would be as follows.

Buy a 7200 60gb drives such as this one (http://www.pcnation.com/web/details.asp?item=D57764) for $159. Remove the original drive and place it into an external enclosure (http://www.pcnation.com/web/details.asp?item=C20023)to be used for extra space and backup.

Does Acer ship system restore disks so the new drive could be initialized the same as the factory drive?

Has anyone seen a price for the port replicator?

 

We have an 8104 en route as well and will issue a preview and full review when it arrives. We now also have prices in for the 8104, including PC Nation, which has the best price. So, if you don't mind supporting this site...

http://www.notebookreview.com/price/default.asp?display=priceDetail&brandID=1&productID=11215&productFamilyID=530

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

 

Here's another interesting review for the 8100. Specs seem a bit different from what we've been seeing - faster CPU and smaller HD... but this was probably a pre-production sample.

http://www.hardwarezone.com/articles/view.php?id=1395&cid=14&pg=1

I think I've found my next machine but I'm waiting for some good independent reviews of the shipping version before I pull the trigger.

Anyone wantan old Toshiba? [ ]

 

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

 

Brian: is yours really "on the way"? If so when do you expect to post a review?

 

Just got off the phone with PC Nation to order the 8104wlmi: I was told they are not in stock and they will not drop ship from the ACER supplier! They don't expect them to arrive for 1 more week. Here is some "add-on" info:

2nd A/C adapter : their part# D34569 - $59.29 ( they say this is a Travelmate adapter that works for all models )

Acer ext. warranty for years 2 and 3:

standard is $110.00 ( mail-in service only [ ] )

Total care service $199.00 ( covers accidents, etc. [ ] )

I spoke with Rebecca at ext. 3012

 

I just read that review. For some reason I have a feeling that notebook they reviewed wasn't from this country. They said it cost almost 4 grand and had a Dothan processor, and a few of the key features of the notebook were different. Either that or they recieved a pre-production version of the notebook.

 

It'll be interesting to see a couple reviews from people on this notebook. I'll definately be posting a review, and now the website is recieving one. It'll be interesting to see how our opinions either run together or contrast each other on certain aspects. Anyway, I hope I get mine soon, I'm not gonna hold my breath but hell, it's hard not to.

 

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

 

aww Do you know what it means in the order confirmation part where it says "Waiting CC Approval" ? Does that mean I'll have to call in and approve it or are they just taking forever in making the transfer?

 

Probably waiting to do it for stock to arrive. I'm going to keep an eye on other merchants. Sooner shipment is worth a little extra to us.

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