Acer Aspire Timeline 1820PT convertible hits Australia, gets specs
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted Nov 16th 2009 11:29AM
posted Nov 16th 2009 11:29AM
Acer's Aspire Timeline 1820PT lit up our radar today after going official in Italy and arriving unheralded on the company's Australian site. Yet another 11.6-inch convertible notebook, this guy ships with Windows 7 Home Premium and features both multitouch display and touchpad, up to 1366 x 768 display resolution, an Intel Core 2 Duo SU7300 (1.2GHz) processor, GMA X4500MHD, up to 8GB RAM and 320GB storage, 3G, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth. In addition to all that, this bad boy sports the usual ins 'n outs, including HDMI and a card reader, and boasts an eight hour battery life. Sounds like the company's 1820P, eh? We thought so too. No word yet on price or stateside availability, but you can get a closer look in the gallery below, and be sure to peep the specs after the break.
Technical specifications Acer Aspire 1820PT
- OS: Windows 7 Home Premium
- Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo SU7300 (3MB L2 cache, 1.20GHz, 800 MHz FSB, 10W)
- Memory: 4GB DDR3 1066MHz
- Hard disk: 250GB or 320GB
- Display: 11.6 inch HD 1366 x 768 (WXGA) pixels or 11.6-inch SD 1024 x 600 (WSVGA) pixels, LED-backlit, 200nits, multitouch
- Graphics: Intel GMA X4500M HD
- Audio: Dolby Sound Room
- Networking: Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11a/b/g WiFi Link 5100, UMTS / HSPA, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
- Interfaces: 3 USB 2.0 ports, VGA, HDMI, audio jacks, multi card reader
- Dimensions: 285 (W) 208.9 (D) 28.5/34.5 (H) mm
- Weight: 1.72 kg
- Warranty: 1 year
Ok, I'm thinking either this, or the 4810T to replace my Extensa. Maybe I should go with the convertible.
I received an email back from Acer this morning. Estimated retail availability for the US will have to wait until Q1 2010, with no pricing options disclosed yet.
When it's got Ion or better and a processor to handle... anything, I could be interested. It looks nice and I can see how it be useful but it's not for me. Sort of a bummer that there's no 802.11n. Where are we with minor futureproofing?
I totally agree with you about Ion... it's about time those crappy GMA's were replaced. But, what do you mean a "processor that can handle... anything?" It's got a Core 2 Duo! It has a rather slow clockspeed, but it still destroys the Atom and those dual-core ULV Athlons...
It'll take years before Wireless N i really implemented into anything other then homes and laptops. Most peoples internet isn't even fast enough for the max Wireless N speed, so it a bit of a bottleneck anyway.
To be fair, a GMA X4500 is much better than a GMA 950.
aznofazns,
Yeah, you're totally right. I overlooked that thinking it was a different CULV processor. That said, I guess I have to take a look at how the X4500 handles 720P/1080P - this might be pretty hot after all.
Thanks for the correction.
I'm pretty sure the G45 (x4500) chipset is pretty neck and neck with ION, if not a hair better, also note that this machine is powered by a CULV-esque processor vs. an anemic Atom 270/280. The benefits accumulate. What I think it needs is something like the GeForce 9400m or 9300 series to take it over the top.
Yeah, that makes this pretty much everything I'd be looking for in a netbook. Hurry up and wait for pricing now.
I have the X4500 with the SU3500, the 1410 Acer model. It does 1080p flawlessly with Windows7, WMP, and Shark007 codec pack. Absolutely flawlessly.
The SU3500 is also much weaker than the SU7300 in this one. And the RAM is better in this too, 1066 v 800. There's basically no reason this laptop shouldn't handle 1080p like a champ.
I have a Vaio TT that has a c2d 1.4 and a G45 chipset. I can tell you it does pretty much everything I want it to do. I mean this lappie is for work, but there have been several times where I use the hdmi or vga to put 720p and 1080p content on my tv.
It's all anecdotal, but I can say from my experiences with that combo, that it works well. And the Timeline isn't gonna cost you an arm and a leg like the Vaio (but it's a Sony, so no surprise).
netbooks shipping with decent specs? now we're talking.
This is not a netbook.
GMA...ewww. Even my 5 year old TC1100 has a GPU
there's lot of missunderstanding from "engadget HW experts" here, so instead of cursing let me explain...
1. you either get nVidia ION (i.e. 9400M DX10 video chip) but crappy CPU (2W Atom N280 usually) not capable of playing flash videos properly (and 9400m won't help you here)
2. or you'll get "culver" platform, i.e. newly released kick-ass CPUs (1,2Ghz or 1,4GHz celerons) with 10W but (at least) twice powerful than Atom, dual core, ability to run 64bit OS (another big advantage) and support for 4GB RAM (sometimes 2 memory slots present) and you still end with decent graphic card (X4500 can handle everything but games) with HDMI out.
I choose 2nd option anytime, ION gen 1 doesn't support new CULVs (afaik), ION 2 will. So, have you seen ION 2 out there? No?
so why complaining then?
kick ass product, ACER been making some amazing progress this year (nettops, netbooks, desktops, notebooks...)
The CULV is much better when the occasional CPU intensive task comes along, like Flash. ION won't help you with that.
Also, I don't know what a 5-year old TC1100 has... my research says "NVIDIA GeForce 4 Go 420" which, I suppose, would be vastly outpaced by the X4500 -_- I've only seen the CULVs go with a 4330 at the nicest. But GPU power is hardly a priority for this type of computers once 1080p is taken care of.
cowgaR totally nailed it. I'm no fan of Intels integrated chipset, but the X4500 is actually not to bad and can handle HD video, and the CPU means that HD Flash video will actually perform decently as well.
I'm also not sure about the line from the article...
"Yet another 11.6-inch convertible notebook, this guy ships with Windows 7 Home Premium..."
As far as I've seen, there's not a ton of 11.6 inch convertibles on the market, running ANY OS. The only convertible netbooks I've seen are the 8.9 inch Asus T91, which is way to slow, or the so-so spec'ed 10.1 inch Gigabyte m10something which is bulky as all hell. The battery life, decent all round specs and fairly thin form factor of Acers new convertible series is a REALLY compelling portable platform.
Whoever can get convertible netbook sized (8.9 - 11.6 inch) machines into the big box retailers en masse is going to have a hit product line for sure. Even an 8.9 inch screen is enough to use Comical on, but 11.6 would be even better.
I'd also gladly pay an extra $50 if they could shoehorn in some of that nice Pixel Qi technology for outdoor viewing. Heck, if 3Qi is a passive tech, I'd buy a kit and mod it myself.
A Geforce4 with 32M memory is hardly a GPU compare to X4500.
Having said that, I love TC1100.
Its a natural progression I would think from gpu that was used from 5years ago. I work in the 3D industry and i would love this kind of form factor to work from. the hardware industry seem think this for busness use only. Frankly i feel its the main reason tablet pc is failing.
I'd love to see tablet that beats out my tx2 in performance. Maybe there's just no market for high-end tablets.
nice design language the new acers are stylish . the old ugly design is finally gone
Finally! I was beginning to lose hope on this one...
Nice!
Hope it's under 600€...
Now I'm wishing I didn't buy the 4810t.. I kinda wished it was a tablet XDD damnnn i want it :(
The specs are everything I need and nothing I don't. No GPU is not a big deal to me, since there are several videos of Acers with this processor (and the lower SU2300) running 1080p streaming video with no (or minimal) mods. Acer keeps hinting at $600-700 in the US, but prices at Aussie sites are much higher. A more definitive number would be nice.
I've been wanting this since it was announced over a month ago. Just release it already, Acer!
I've also been this watching this since it was anounced in Oct. and have been puting off buying a laptop since then. This Wait is killing me!!!! Has anyone had any experience with Acer's touch screen technology?
What I'm curious about is pressure sensitivity. Would love to use this as a digital sketchbook, but Photoshop with no pressure is basically useless for what I do with it...
When oh when will they start making tablets with higher resolutions again? I have a Toshiba Portege M400 with a 1400x1050 screen.
Wow, something was released here before the US!
Guys, SU7300 is 1.3 GHz.
How does this compare to the HP's tx2?
IBM, Lenovo, Toshiba and etc all had same type of laptops years ago. What's the surprise??