Acer’s new Aspire Timeline series of thin and light laptops have just started hitting the streets, but Acer president Gianfranco Lanci and chairman JT Wang both recently told investors that they’re not that happy with the Intel CULV processors powering laptops like the Acer Aspire 1410 and Acer Aspire Timeline 1810T.
Apparently Acer is already looking ahead and plans to introduce a new line of thin and light machines with next-generation Intel processors early next year. It’s not entirely clear what chipset the new machines would use, but it’s likely that they’ll be an upcoming low power Intel chip that combines graphics and memory functions onto the CPU to reduce power draw while increasing overall performance.
Does that mean you should hold off until next year until buying a thin and light notebook? Not necessarily. We still don’t know how much the new Acer laptops will cost. And while it’s possible that they may be able to outperform today’s models, the Acer Aspire Timeline 1810T which is available right now has a pretty speedy dual core Intel Core 2 Duo SU7300 CULV processor which can handle HD video playback and which performs circles around slower Intel Atom processors.
Of course, if you can wait… maybe you should. Because will something better be out in 6 months? Sure. But that’s pretty much always the case, isn’t it?
via Netbooked
Just bought a 1410… ugh.
There’s no reason to despair. You’ll get 6 months of great use out of your 1410 before the new model has even arrived. And when the new model does arrive, it will provide almost no difference in form or function. Really, the original Atom processors are “good enough” for all everyday tasks (asides flash video). And you’ve got a machine at least 2-3 times as fast. Heck, I’m typing this on the 11.6″ Acer laptop that came out before yours! Even my Acer 751h, with it’s wimpy Atom processor, does everything I need it to do and provides a nice 11.6″ screen. Anyway, enjoy that new 1410! It’s a great buy. If you really want MS Office to open 0.1 seconds faster, you can always Ebay it and buy the new one in 6 months. I personally wouldn’t waste the time or money, though.
There is nothing really wrong with today’s 1410 using the SU2300 processors. They did it right and I’m getting ready to sell my Lenovo S12 Via Nano. I’ve always liked intel’s processor because their run time claims are more accurate than AMD or VIA’s. Plus their chips don’t run as hot. I don’t find 3lbs all that bad. I’m actually grateful that their battery doesnt stick out like most of all other companies. It’s pretty unreasonable to expect full laptop cpu performance and demanding that it runs for 10 hrs off battery. I think the CPU/battery tradeoff is fine for the moment, but the GPU improvement will make these notebooks perfect. The rest are minor upgrades going with the times (USB 3, etc.)
The whole concept of Atom netbooks and even CULV subnotebook should be they CAN be thinner and lighter…so why is Acer smacking its forehead now about what they made?
I mean…DUH! Lighter, thinner, and cheaper is what people wanted. Sure they wanted more powerful machines in the netbook/sub category, but if Acer didn’t bather to make them thin, light and cheap of course people soured.
The current crop of CULV machines are fat, bloated, and under engineered. They are lazy designs that didn’t even try to shave weight. They just run faster, but do so totally at the expanse of making something people might LIKE carrying.
I really like the looks of the Timelines, but I want more time out of them. One of the big draws of a netbook for me is being able to take it out and not worry too much about battery life for the night. I’m hoping for a solid machine /w HDMI and 1080p graphics able to stand for 5 hours in Battery Eater Pro. Does that sound like a pipe dream?