Comments on: Acer Timeline Finally Puts Battery Life First!

By: I Miss My Camera » random process | charlie 2.0

I Miss My Camera » random process | charlie 2.0 — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 03:02:16 +0000

[...] core disabled to see if I could make do with a single core, low-voltage processor. The 13.3″ Acer Timeline that I have my eye on is most reasonably priced in its single core variant, at under $700. I plan [...]

By: Acer Timeline - Pricing Disappointment » random process | charlie 2.0

Acer Timeline - Pricing Disappointment » random process | charlie 2.0 — Thu, 28 May 2009 19:57:42 +0000

[...] written about the Acer Timeline a couple times in the recent past, mainly because I was terribly excited about the thought of a cheap [...]

By: First Reviews of the Acer Timeline » random process | charlie 2.0

First Reviews of the Acer Timeline » random process | charlie 2.0 — Mon, 18 May 2009 16:27:32 +0000

[...] recently wrote about the upcoming Acer Timeline series laptops, eagerly awaiting official reviews to ascertain if the 8 hour battery life claims were actually [...]

By: Will

Will — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 22:48:01 +0000

Another important factor for me is durability/life span. I won’t be able to replace the laptop I buy for probably around 4 years, so I want something that will last. From the (admittedly little) experience I have with “regular ol’ PC”s they often seem like the build quality just isn’t up to par. Often they feel like they are going to fall apart if you lift them up too fast. Macbooks, on the other hand, seem very sturdy.

I’ll be the first to admit I have way too little experience to be making generalizations, so please correct me if I’m wrong. I definitely need an optical drive with my laptop though.

By: charlie

charlie — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 18:28:04 +0000

Will – Definitely focus on portability – I ended up realizing after two iterations now that if you really want power, you need a desktop, and a laptop should be something that is portable and lasts the day if needed. In upper years especially, when there are a ton of group projects, you want something you can easily carry.

Case in point – I ended up with a mATX form-factor desktop to make it a bit easier to move all the time, but still have a big display, as it makes me so much more efficient.

I considered a MacBook to replace my M1330, but can’t get past the fact that it’s about 25-30% more expensive than a regular ol’ PC and even its battery life isn’t enough for me (4 hours or thereabouts). I’m looking at the Lenovo X200 currently – 7-8 hours of battery life at around 3.5lbs and just over $1100 with the friends and family discount.

Definitely nowhere near pretty though. Gotta make some compromises…

By: Will

Will — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 19:04:12 +0000

I’m buying a laptop for this fall, and I have to choose between power and portability. I’m definitely leaning towards portability lately… The only reason I would need power would be for gaming, and I’m sure there is a large enough catalog of older games to keep me busy. I have actually been considering a MacBook. It seems like it would cover all my needs (plus it’s so pretty!).

By: Richard

Richard — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 12:01:01 +0000

I realize battery life will degrade over time, but my battery is only about 1.3 years old now. I didn’t realize that was considered a long lifespan. I also didn’t appreciate it because I only started noticing the decreased battery performance after installing Windows 7, which was supposed to improve battery life. I’m tempted to find myself an older, quieter Rev from DELL since my warranty has next-day, on-site service…

I bought the 8400M GS because I thought I would be doing some gaming on it. So far the only gave I’ve bothered playing was 20 minutes of Galactic Civilizations in the airport, and the combination of a lack of a mouse and lowering my neck to view the laptop was just too much. Funny how not getting the discrete graphics card would’ve saved me $100 and a major headache with Dell support when I needed to get the card replaced in the US.

By: charlie

charlie — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 15:34:50 +0000

Richard – It’s a fact of life that the batteries will eventually wear down over time, but that doesn’t help the fact that it’s becoming more and more power-plug bound.

I probably won’t end up selling the laptop. Not really worth what I’ll get for it (probably $500 or less), so I’m planning on just using it back home as a kitchen computer or something.

It’s interesting to see my laptop mentality progression since the beginning of university:

As powerful as possible -> More portable, but still wanted decent graphics performance (and some good that 8400M GS did…) -> Next up – as portable as possible with amazing battery life