Some notes on Travelmate 8003.

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Well, I had a chance to run one side by side with (somewhat modded)
Travelmate 803.

TM8003 sees 8 WiFi access points where TM803 sees just 3 - a definite
improvement in wireless sensitivity. The booklet for TM8003 suggests
that antennas are in the display lid. Woo-hoo to that!

Poweradapter of TM8003 is much smaller than that of TM803 - probably
cannot get any smaller yet. Power requirements of TM8003 (19V 3.42A) are
lower than that of TM803 (19V 3.95A). This is very good.

TM8003 is much quieter, i.e. fan turns on during extensive gaming but
very rarely. It just runs cooler overall.

I'd say Acer learned from TM803 and improved on it. Good job on their
part.

Of course, there's icing on the cake: Mobility Radeon 9700 (128MB), DVD+-
R/RW/RAM drive, builtin (vs. PCMCIA card) 4-in-1 reader, Gigabit
Ethernet, DVI-D output (since it is digital, it solves the problem with
TM803 weak external monitor output). With DVI-D, external LCD is
crystal-clear.

The bottom line - I want one for myself ;-)

The funny and irritating thing is that when you run DxDiag, CPU goes to
100% and stays there until you exit the application. That's the only app
that causes it and I have not tested this on other Pentium-M laptops. My
guess is that it's Microsoft's problem.

Alexei
 
G

Guest

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Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

Alexei Boukirev <aboukirev@blah.ameritech.net> wrote in
news:Xns94DF6C0DF9A69aboukirevblahamerite@216.196.105.138:

> Well, I had a chance to run one side by side with (somewhat
> modded) Travelmate 803.
>
> TM8003 sees 8 WiFi access points where TM803 sees just 3 - a
> definite improvement in wireless sensitivity. The booklet for
> TM8003 suggests that antennas are in the display lid. Woo-hoo to
> that!
>
> Poweradapter of TM8003 is much smaller than that of TM803 -
> probably cannot get any smaller yet. Power requirements of TM8003
> (19V 3.42A) are lower than that of TM803 (19V 3.95A). This is
> very good.
>
> TM8003 is much quieter, i.e. fan turns on during extensive gaming
> but very rarely. It just runs cooler overall.
>
> I'd say Acer learned from TM803 and improved on it. Good job on
> their part.
>
> Of course, there's icing on the cake: Mobility Radeon 9700
> (128MB), DVD+- R/RW/RAM drive, builtin (vs. PCMCIA card) 4-in-1
> reader, Gigabit Ethernet, DVI-D output (since it is digital, it
> solves the problem with TM803 weak external monitor output). With
> DVI-D, external LCD is crystal-clear.
>
> The bottom line - I want one for myself ;-)
>
> The funny and irritating thing is that when you run DxDiag, CPU
> goes to 100% and stays there until you exit the application.
> That's the only app that causes it and I have not tested this on
> other Pentium-M laptops. My guess is that it's Microsoft's
> problem.
>
> Alexei

I don't suppose you are in the UK? I've been looking everywhere for an
Acer 8000 series. Local shops are even more expensive, if you're from
the US you'd be disgusted with the prices here, and they often try to
sell you slightly older versions of hardware for more than online
dealers charge for the latest versions. Slower CD/DVD drives, wireless
b and that sort of thing.

I was thinking about buying an 800 series but with the 8000 series
appearing on the Acer UK website I decided to wait a little longer for
one of those.
If they don't hurry up and start selling them over here I might end up
trying one of the latest tablet PCs.
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

S Ross <not.here@inreply.net> wrote in news:Xns94E0CBE18AA34sr009@
140.99.99.130:

> Alexei Boukirev <aboukirev@blah.ameritech.net> wrote in
> news:Xns94DF6C0DF9A69aboukirevblahamerite@216.196.105.138:
>
>> Well, I had a chance to run one side by side with (somewhat
>> modded) Travelmate 803.
>>
>> TM8003 sees 8 WiFi access points where TM803 sees just 3 - a
>> definite improvement in wireless sensitivity. The booklet for
>> TM8003 suggests that antennas are in the display lid. Woo-hoo to
>> that!
>>
>> Poweradapter of TM8003 is much smaller than that of TM803 -
>> probably cannot get any smaller yet. Power requirements of TM8003
>> (19V 3.42A) are lower than that of TM803 (19V 3.95A). This is
>> very good.
>>
>> TM8003 is much quieter, i.e. fan turns on during extensive gaming
>> but very rarely. It just runs cooler overall.
>>
>> I'd say Acer learned from TM803 and improved on it. Good job on
>> their part.
>>
>> Of course, there's icing on the cake: Mobility Radeon 9700
>> (128MB), DVD+- R/RW/RAM drive, builtin (vs. PCMCIA card) 4-in-1
>> reader, Gigabit Ethernet, DVI-D output (since it is digital, it
>> solves the problem with TM803 weak external monitor output). With
>> DVI-D, external LCD is crystal-clear.
>>
>> The bottom line - I want one for myself ;-)
>>
>> The funny and irritating thing is that when you run DxDiag, CPU
>> goes to 100% and stays there until you exit the application.
>> That's the only app that causes it and I have not tested this on
>> other Pentium-M laptops. My guess is that it's Microsoft's
>> problem.
>>
>> Alexei
>
> I don't suppose you are in the UK? I've been looking everywhere for an
> Acer 8000 series. Local shops are even more expensive, if you're from
> the US you'd be disgusted with the prices here, and they often try to
> sell you slightly older versions of hardware for more than online
> dealers charge for the latest versions. Slower CD/DVD drives, wireless
> b and that sort of thing.
>
> I was thinking about buying an 800 series but with the 8000 series
> appearing on the Acer UK website I decided to wait a little longer for
> one of those.
> If they don't hurry up and start selling them over here I might end up
> trying one of the latest tablet PCs.
>

Nope, US here. TM8003 just started popping up in online shops at
approximately the same price accross the board: around $2300, which is
typical now. It won't go down much in the next year unless everything
laptop-related gets a lot cheaper. The same was with TM803 price.

Several years ago a just released laptop of this kind would cost $3500
initially and will go down to $2500 in half a year when the next
generation comes out. These days it's a bit better.

I have not checked tablet PCs - not my area of interest. But I've heard
good things about Acer in that area.

Alexei

Alexei
 
K

karl

Distinguished
Mar 4, 2001
12
0
18,560
Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

Alexei Boukirev <aboukirev@blah.ameritech.net> wrote in message news:<Xns94DF6C0DF9A69aboukirevblahamerite@216.196.105.138>...
> Well, I had a chance to run one side by side with (somewhat modded)
> Travelmate 803.
>
Hi Alexei

nice to get some ideas how the new 8000-series models are.
Here is just another question: What about the display quality?
Although I think the quality of the 803 display was sort of ok, it was
much less bright than the displays of the new widescreen machines like
the Aspire 2003 / 2012 eg.
Does the 8003 have the same display than the 803, or did they include
some improvements there too?

Thanks for sharing your experience

K
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

khirzel@gmx.de (Karl) wrote in
news:6f2a39e2.0405100314.14a11bdb@posting.google.com:

> Alexei Boukirev <aboukirev@blah.ameritech.net> wrote in message
> news:<Xns94DF6C0DF9A69aboukirevblahamerite@216.196.105.138>...
>> Well, I had a chance to run one side by side with (somewhat modded)
>> Travelmate 803.
>>
> Hi Alexei
>
> nice to get some ideas how the new 8000-series models are.
> Here is just another question: What about the display quality?
> Although I think the quality of the 803 display was sort of ok, it was
> much less bright than the displays of the new widescreen machines like
> the Aspire 2003 / 2012 eg.
> Does the 8003 have the same display than the 803, or did they include
> some improvements there too?

Yes, it's the same old display. Nowhere near the good displays in Sony
or Fujitsu laptops. I wish it had MVA or such.

I don't know if that is considered "Centrino" but Acer 8003 is built on
852GME chipset, not 855. Well, the sticker is there. The bright side is
that it supports DDR333 (and that's what it comes with) while 855 maxed
at DDR266. Also, it theoretically supports FSB 533. The first
generation of Dothans will be FSB 400 for compatibility with current
Pentum-M architecture. The next wave will be FSB 533. Sounds
interesting.

I have a feeling that sound in TM8003 is a bit weaker (at max volume)
than in TM803. But that is a rough impression, I have not conducted any
real tests.

European price seems consistent with US. I know, I know, you also add
VAT, and that hurts. I used to care about VAT too several years ago back
in Russia :)

I bought TM803 for a simple reason: Asus is not represented well (in
terms of laptops) if at all in US. I was eyeing Asus laptop at the time.
Thank God, I ended up with Travelmate. I love it. Hehe.

Alexei
 
L

leto

Distinguished
Apr 5, 2004
5
0
18,510
Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

Thanks for the mini review. Yea I love my TM800 with all its faults. Poor
WiFi (remedied by a Dell 1300 Mini PCI card), no internal Bluetooth module
without dismantling the machine (provided I can get the part), strange
beeping sound on certain flash (active) websites (only noticeable in quiet
rooms). I never tested the external video out since I don't use it so I am
not sure about this on my laptop (it was too late to return it anyways once
I heard about the issue).

Now if we can talk Acer into some sort of exchange program I'd be all over
it...

"Alexei Boukirev" <aboukirev@blah.ameritech.net> wrote in message
news:Xns94DF6C0DF9A69aboukirevblahamerite@216.196.105.138...
> Well, I had a chance to run one side by side with (somewhat modded)
> Travelmate 803.
>
> TM8003 sees 8 WiFi access points where TM803 sees just 3 - a definite
> improvement in wireless sensitivity. The booklet for TM8003 suggests
> that antennas are in the display lid. Woo-hoo to that!
>
> Poweradapter of TM8003 is much smaller than that of TM803 - probably
> cannot get any smaller yet. Power requirements of TM8003 (19V 3.42A) are
> lower than that of TM803 (19V 3.95A). This is very good.
>
> TM8003 is much quieter, i.e. fan turns on during extensive gaming but
> very rarely. It just runs cooler overall.
>
> I'd say Acer learned from TM803 and improved on it. Good job on their
> part.
>
> Of course, there's icing on the cake: Mobility Radeon 9700 (128MB), DVD+-
> R/RW/RAM drive, builtin (vs. PCMCIA card) 4-in-1 reader, Gigabit
> Ethernet, DVI-D output (since it is digital, it solves the problem with
> TM803 weak external monitor output). With DVI-D, external LCD is
> crystal-clear.
>
> The bottom line - I want one for myself ;-)
>
> The funny and irritating thing is that when you run DxDiag, CPU goes to
> 100% and stays there until you exit the application. That's the only app
> that causes it and I have not tested this on other Pentium-M laptops. My
> guess is that it's Microsoft's problem.
>
> Alexei
 
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