Acer 3810T? Or something else?

blueacid

blueacid

blueacid

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28 May 2007
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735
Hi all,

I'm looking for a laptop to replace my rather (by now) doddery IBM T40.

I have a desktop rig, so that's what I use for gaming and any processor-intensive tasks (such as heavy photoshop sessions etc).

My requirements are:
- Good battery life (5hrs when browsing etc)
- 2gb RAM or more
- A HDMI Port
- Able to decode 1080p x264, youtube HD, iPlayer HD etc (nb: if this uses all the laptop's power that's fine - if I'm watching something, I'll likely have it full-screen so don't mind if it's using 90% CPU). I will likely be doing this over the HDMI port too at 1080p
- 13.3" screen or less
- Light: 2KG or less ideally (the T40 was 2.4KG, which came to feel heavy by the end of a day!)

I don't care about:
- What wireless card it has; I've only a G capable network
- Optical drive
- Gaming
- Having a dedicated graphics card, unless this is required to achieve the 1080p playback mentioned above
- The onboard speakers


I'm looking to spend around £450, but naturally if I can achieve everything for less then I'll go for that.


So far I've seen the Acer 3810T for sale, hovering around the £400 mark. I've read conflicting reviews about its ability to handle HD material; some say it's silky smooth, others reckon it's hateful. Any thoughts? would the 3820 be a better bet?

Or, can anyone suggest a wiser choice?

Thanks,
Blueacid
 
Asus 1215N, or the new AMD E-350 notebooks will fit the bill.

Not sure about the 3810TZG (switchable GMA4500HD / HD4330), or 3810TZ (GMA4500HD). The GMA4500HD is suppose to handle 1080p videos, but I never tried.

I can sort out my UL30A (core 2 Duo SU2300 + GMA4500HD) and give it a try. I've heard of new versions of Flash and I Player that make use of the GMA decoding capabilities.

If there is an issue then it's most likely on the driver / application front.
 
Well there you go. I have the latest intel drivers, and I can watch 1080p youtube videos without trouble (under 20% cpu load) full screen, but i player HD just doesn't work. Looks like no hardware acceleration for flash player (*curses*).

So my guess is, avoid GMA chipsets, and go for dedicated graphics. It's all a bit of a mess tbh. I'd try to get a reply from a 3810TZ user to confirm HD playback on the applications you want to use.

But I can confirm youtube support hardware decoding on gma4500 HD with the latest drivers, I-Player does not.

If there is no support for hardware decoding at all on i-player, then a i3 would be the minimum requirement.

EDIT : further note. It appears to be a BBC **** up. I'm seeing HD content fine (flash or not), only I-Player HD. Hardware acceleration on / off does nothing. It would be reasonable to expect a fix soon, but that wouldn't be the first time the BBC elves mess it up...
 
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I have a 4820T the 14" screen version with the GMA4500HD and an i3 cpu.
iplayer is spot on in HD as is You tube.
Not the exact model you were asking about, but close.
 
Hmm, so there is the 3810T which has a slower CPU but HD capable graphics (in the x4500mhd), or the 3820Tz which has a faster 2ghz processor but just the x4500. Both are within literally a couple of pounds of one another... I suppose for the use I'm going for I could forego Iplayer/youtube HD, but then gain a more capable processor which would stand a chance of deciding x264 in software, and be better for general computing.

Sound good? Or does it sound like disappointment waiting to happen?
 
Although it states GMA4500HD on the box, It is in fact using Mobile Intel HM55 Express Chipset (GMA X4500 i think??)
 
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olivier renault said:
If we're talking P6100, it is much more competent than a CULV but still a bit behind a i3. It should have decent battery life. AFAIK, the P6100 is related to the i3, but does not have hyperthreading and virtualisation.

some info

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-Graphics-Media-Accelerator-GMA-4500M.20379.0.html
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-Pentium-P6100-Notebook-Processor.37083.0.html
Click to expand...

Based on that, I think I'll grab the Acer Aspire TimelineX 3820TZ-P613G32nks
It looks the best bang per buck, and with further consideration I'm not head over heels with 1080p (well, not enough to spend the extra cash on it; I'm not going to need it on my laptop!)

I'll let you guys know how it goes :)

Thanks for helping me decide!
 
Raptor said:
Although it states GMA4500HD on the box, It is in fact using Mobile Intel HM55 Express Chipset (GMA X4500 i think??)
Click to expand...

Seems mine is a GMA5700MHD, glad i read the thread and did some digging about:D

Seems to be a good choice for you, look forward to hearing how it goes.
 
So far so very good. Battery life is easily 7-8 hours if browsing, plus the system is nice and nippy.

I've not watched much video on it - currently in the threws of moving house, so if anything I've only really been using Firefox and Excel... nothing too power hungry!

I'll get some better testing done soon and report back :)
 
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