13.3" laptop please

I'd do a restore point first, and gather all the required the divers on a USB / DVD. I've installed Win 7 successfully on SSD using a bootable USB key. If you don't have a external optical drive, it can be an option. It was a bit of a pain to be completely honest! I'd also make a copy of the key written underneath the laptop, loosing that would be problematic. Note that the key underneath the laptop might not work with a retail DVD version of Win 7 Ultimate. Home premium 'should' work, but it's not guaranteed if it's got an Win 7 OEM version, but it worked with my UL30A. You could save the money from Win 7 Ultimate and get a SSD ;) I haven't tried how the UL30A performs with remote desktop though.

There is a big Acer community on http://forum.notebookreview.com/. Have fun.
 
Last edited:
Received it an hour ago, just got round to opening it up and here are a few shots I took with my phone...

2nvqkh5.jpg


1ih4wk.jpg


mvrpn8.jpg


Build quality is good, it feels quite solid. Not had a chance to use it properly yet but brilliant news in that the website I ordered from said no webcam, no bluetooth and no fingerprint reader... yet it has all those. :)

£330 brand new delivered!

Win 7 64 bit install is up next. :)
 
Installed Win 7 Ultimate 64, so far so good.

To give you an idea of performance, on the Win 7 experience index it scores:
CPU - 4.5
Ram - 4.9
Gfx - 4.4
Gaming - 5.9
HDD - 5.3

Index is just for comparison purposes really, but so far it seems v decent! Need to test some actual games/benchmarks but for browsing the net, watching films and ms office it's great. Will test 1080p video files tomorrow!
 
Gaming score is better than I'd have expected, HDD score isn't bad either - the rest distinctly average but thats good for what you paid for it really.
 
olivier renault said:
Nice! Build quality and features look miles ahead of my UL30A.

EDIT : I see they did the same as my UL30, and put a sticker on the trackpad :/ Hopefully no glue!
Click to expand...

Nope no glue lol, that sticker was removed shortly after I took the pics.

EDIT: The laptop has both the dedicated ATI gfx and also onboard gfx. It switches between the two automatically depending on if you are running through the mains, as soon as you switch over to the battery it uses the onboard gfx. You can also obviously change the settings to run on one or the other.
 
Last edited:
e36Adz said:
Images of lapppy
Click to expand...

Looking at these images and some reviews it's looking like a nice lil netbook. Been looking into something to replace my NC10 as the small screen+touchpad is getting too annoying now and it would be used for doing some uni work in the library instead of at home where I'm so easily distracted.

What are your thoughts on it so far?
 
jpb2001 said:
Where did you buy it from? I'm tempted!
Click to expand...

What's your email address?

BlackCoat2k10 said:
Looking at these images and some reviews it's looking like a nice lil netbook. Been looking into something to replace my NC10 as the small screen+touchpad is getting too annoying now and it would be used for doing some uni work in the library instead of at home where I'm so easily distracted.

What are your thoughts on it so far?
Click to expand...

This replaced a laptop which had a 12" screen which I found a very good size anyway, but I only sold that one because I managed to get a good price on it, and the spec wasn't all that great. Then it was just a case of finding something around the £350 mark, and tbh even if this was around 350-370 I still would have got it, it's a bargain at 330 imo.

13.3" has always been the sweet spot for me, 15" is too large and 10" is too small for everyday usage, but I found 13.3" laptops have always been very expensive! Seems like things have changed a lot as they tend to do in this market.

I will give a proper detailed verdict today after running a few benchmarks, and also testing out HD playback. It is for the mrs anyway but I am playing on it today since I like shiny new things :p and then she can have it. It will be used for college/uni work, internet browsing, films, music etc. Certainly very capable of all those. :)
 
Also I've been told that I'm not allowed to use my main pc for long periods of time if I am just doing some light work or reading (which I do spend a lot of time doing). This is due to some reason our Electricity bill for the quarter has some how gone up £340... Fantastic! So this looks like it'll be a real winnnnaaarrrr
 
e36Adz said:
Youtube video coming later this evening showing 720p and 1080p playback. Did a test run last night and both seemed flawless.
Click to expand...

i could be wrong but the HD4330 and perhaps the onboard graphics will have HD hardware decoding built-in. as the cpu alone i know for a fact wont be able to process 1080p let alone keep a smooth framerate with 720p.
 
What are you saying sja360? From what you say does that mean when you unplug the laptop and the discrete graphics are no longer used you wont be able to watch HD video?
 
haz_pro said:
What are you saying sja360? From what you say does that mean when you unplug the laptop and the discrete graphics are no longer used you wont be able to watch HD video?
Click to expand...

im saying both graphics cards must be capable of HD hardware decoding. i just cant see how a low 1.3Ghz dual core can decode 1080p without some form of HD acceleration from the graphics cards onboard. i wasn't taking a pop at the laptop, it must be pretty damn good for it to do 720/1080p.
 
Well when I did try it briefly last night, it was plugged into the mains so using the ATI card. I will do a more thorough test after work, using the onboard gfx aswel as the ATI card. Will post a youtube video up!

Oh and its a 1.4 dual core not 1.3 ;)
 
sja360 said:
im saying both graphics cards must be capable of HD hardware decoding. i just cant see how a low 1.3Ghz dual core can decode 1080p without some form of HD acceleration from the graphics cards onboard. i wasn't taking a pop at the laptop, it must be pretty damn good for it to do 720/1080p.
Click to expand...

Ah I get ya. I didn't think you were taking a pop at the laptop I was just curious what you meant as I am interested in getting one.
 
sja360 said:
what is the integrated graphics onboard? is it intel or ?
Click to expand...

Integrated should be intel GMA4500HD.

I can decode 720p just about on the CPU. But the GMA4500HD and HD 4330 should work as well. I think there are problems with flash movies though, as the GMA is not supported yet (or through beta drivers, something like that).
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom