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Acer Plans A 16 lb. Notebook
jagger writes "Well not exactly gigantic but at 16 pounds and sporting a 17-inch screen this thing is stretching the term portable. It also features a 3EGHz Pentium 4, 1GB of RAM, a 7200rpm 160gb hard disk, DVD-burner and the kitchen sink. ZDNet has a rundown of all of this beast's features." This sounds like a joke (or a typo), but the story says otherwise.
The company is marketing the Aspire 1710 as a replacement for desktops or PC workstations primarily in the workplace.
Stupid, stupid, stupid.
A laptop with docking station does the same thing with far less luggable weight, albeit at a higher price.
3 GHz P4. OK, that's pretty nice.
1 GB RAM. Nothing special about that.
160 GB disk. So what? How many offices don't have a server to store everything on?
DVD burner. Optional on some laptops and you can always use an external to a docking station.
Kitchen Sink. So what? Carry a small bottle of Purell in your pocket.
This has got to be a "Hail Mary" to keep brand recognition in the portable market or one of the worst marketting decisions this year.
Trolling is a art,
...in this case, has neon chaser lights.
Honorary Member of Jackie Chan's Kung Fu Process Servers
See this story for more information...
16 pounds? Man I would much rather tote around a 6.9 pound Apple 17in Powerbook. Yeah the Acer starts around $1500, but if you configure it with WinXP, a DVD burner and wireless networking, we are pretty close in price to Apple's solution. Besides I am more than willing to spend a bit of a premium or so for something that I don't throw my back out hauling across the country on a long flight.
It's like the laptop version of my sister!
"Come on, let's go drink till we can't feel feelings anymore."
It's also powered by it's own sun in a jar!
Does this come with a few vouchers for chiropractor appointments?
1) Make it weigh 16 pounds.
2) Price it at $1999.00.
Granted, I know it's supposed to be a "desktop replacement" that is sometimes portable, but I have desktops that weigh less than this and cost a third of the price!
libertarianswag.com
Acer is bound to succeed! Historical precedent shows us the Osborne-1 was.... ah...
never mind.
When did the future switch from being a promise to a threat? -C. Palahniuk
A notebook is really meant for portability... I understand that this way you can cart a full desktop-capable machine short distances, but its a niche solution for people who want to lug things from their office to the conference room and back. Anyone who seriously needs portability (yours truly, for example) will sacrifice some performance... the target notebook market is still businesses and they dont need a p4EE
This is very much not a joke. The world needs more large portables. A laptop has its place, but there are times when I need a desktop PC that is just portable. I am working on putting a modern PC into an old IBM luggable right now for this very reason. Check out the Max Pac for some more insight into this, they put a desktop PC into a briefcase with a 21" LCD on the side.
What is the difference in a Small Form Factor or an all in once LCD unit? This doesn't seem like a catch at all.
Full size PCI/AGP video card?
This would be great for some college students. A large part of the appeal of a laptop is that you can put it away and reclaim your desk space easily. Also, occassionally moving it to a friend's apartment or a research lab wouldn't be nearly as big a deal as a normal desktop system.
...
Anyway, I think my physics book weighed about that much
I cough in Acer's general direction. 16 pounds, that's nothing! Apple already has a 40lb notebook for sale. That's a full 24 pounds heavier than Acer's, and it has a 20" LCD to boot! Yupm you guessed it, it's called an iMac.
Really now, the article says this brick actually uses a 120GB desktop IDE drive, just cause you throw a hinge on a desktop with integrated LCD doesn't make it a notebook. If this is how Acer plans to recapture the North American market I wish them luck.
now, after you get your BSOD, you can throw your 16 pound juggernaut to the floor and get that crashing effect all over again!
Kind of makes you wonder if they took a design lesson from Apple during the days of the first Portable (or should I say "luggable"?)
for the road warrior that doesn't have time to go to the gym when traveling.
[ Don't reply to this ]
So will they co-brand this with Hummer?
And will Rob Enderle be infatuated with it?
Considering the hygene standards of the average geek, adding a kitchen sink to a laptop is a bit pointless.
I hope it has that excellent Acer quality built right in!
...and the screen is a tad bigger, and my eyes are older, that's probably a great deal).
[this sig has been trunca
I've had to lug around a laptop that weighed about 9 lbs before and I swore I would never do it again. I thought that thing was a beast, but 17lbs. The thing better come with one of those back supporter things that you see the guys at home depot wearing
That doesn't stretch the definition of a portable. This stretches the definition. Those things weighed in at nearly 40lbs. I remember hauling IBM's Portable across London in 1985. It stretched not just the definition of a portable, but also my arms.
Sailing over the event horizon
When I bought my first computer, a heavy metal Kaypro (those of you who had an Osbourne might remember), it was referred to as a "luggable".
I think this falls into that category.
If you are going to go with a power hungry harddrive and power hungry CPU... WHY would you give us the weak mobile video chipset? Couldn't they have simply straight pinned a Radeon 9800 Pro to the MB and saved power ona slower harddrive or slower CPU?
I am sorry... The Video killed this as a Lan Gaming Machine. There are other uses, but they just sliced off a part of the market with no real reasoning as far as I can see...
EMachine's AThlon 64 3000+ with a Radeon 9600 really feels like it should be competition with this newly announced machine...
Does it look like this portable computer? 16 pounds? Come on-- Does it come in a lead-enclosed frame?
Wer mit Ungeheuern kämpft, mag zusehn, dass er nicht dabei zum Ungeheuer wird. --Nietzsche
http://global.acer.com/products/notebook/as1710.ht m contains information about the 1710.
Some snippets:
378 (W)x320 (D)x47-55 (H) mm
6.4 kg (14.06 lbs.) with combo module5
7.1 kg (15.6 lbs.) with combo module and battery
Ridiculous suitcase it is, yes!
If they can put laptops on peoples desk, that means a less open architecture, and therefor more revenues later in the product cycle.
Everyone who has meetings will want one if it's as fast as a desktop simply for the fact it's a laptop. I've known directors who get a new laptop every year, but don't even move it, it's simply for looks.
And it appears to be powerfull enough that even if I did play games I could bring the 'laptop' to a friends house for a gaming night and not have to worry about lugging around a desktop system.
"Thanks to the remote control I have the attention span of a gerbil."
...In soviet Russia, laptop weighs YOU!
Jonathanjk.com
I had an IBM portable that weighed 32 pounds. It only had a 9 inch screen. They called it portable. I called it luggable.
3 exa-giga Hertz? Let's see, that's 3 * 10^18 * 10^9 = 3 * 10^27 Hertz. Maybe Intel will always be faster than Apple.
taken! (by Davidleeroth) Thanks Bingo Foo!
Who wants to a laptop that will probably have a 45 minute battery life?
Its like stating "64k cable broadband" or a "a fast tortoise"..
16lbs and notebook used in the same sentence. Hah
The term "outside the box" is squarely within the box at this point.
Sorry, the specs aren't that outstanding.
And at 16 pounds, and with that 3Ghz processor in there, it will burn your legs AND cut off circulation to them at the same time!
...
Ford has announced plans for a new steam-powered roadster. "We believe this new vehicle will set a new standard for vehicle perfomance and efficiency, easily surpassing both oxen AND mules for both speed and maneuverability", a spokesman said.
Roving Web-Teleoperated Robot
It's the spirit of Adam Osborne, pioneer of the luggable computer!
--
make install -not war
Back in my day.... We didnt' have "laptops". No, if we wanted portability, we strapped a few lead acid batteries to our hips, a full tower to our backs, and hung the monitor from our necks. Now that was traveling. 17lbs, you whippersnappers these days have it easy
Even business stalwarts Toshiba launched bulky widescreen notebooks into the market last year. Barely portable, these devices are designed as crosses between desktop replacements and media PCs. Sony even have a compact PC system which comes at it from the other angle.
Why is all this happening? It's because notebook prices are now at around the price which consumers are willing to pay for new computer systems. So if you walk into a shop and you can afford a notebook, it's an attractive proposition in the home. You don't need to build a huge permanent home for it, you can move it from room to room and people like the idea they can take it with them if they need to.
But really they're after compact luggable home computer systems, the real desktop replacement if you like.
The real news wont be 'is this is a joke' (which indicates to me that the poster doesn't understand the current market very well but this is Slashdot after all...) but when a vendor makes a notebook without a battery.
The day is coming.
It will be interesting to see how they handle two of the problems that seem to plague laptops: heat and battery life. All that hardware will generate quite a bit of heat and demand a good bit of power to run.
I don't believe it's positioned as anything "special" (cue 'short school bus' comments). It would indeed be a handy desktop replacement, requiring less real estate than a desktop CPU + monitor (even an LCD, unless you mount it on the wall). I suspect it would also require less overall power, leading to lower heat output than that of a similarly configured desktop.
No, you probably wouldn't want to try to use it very long on battery power - or on your lap - but it would be nice to be able to fold up such a capable machine and transport it from point A to point B with minimal fuss. For the record, external devices often == "fuss".
Not to flame, but a product is not a dumb idea (or a "poor move") just because you personally don't want one. To each his own, right?
I want to drag this out as long as possible. Bring me my protractor.
The heaviest model is under 7 pounds... all it took was a google search for "aspire 1710".
HIV Crosses Species Barrier... into Muppets
Of course Acer is hoping you'll purchase the new Sherpa1.0 transport package. You'll also have the option of upgrading to Lama4.2 with bundled expectorant.
I've always wanted a portable desktop computer. Desktops costs less, but they're a pain to take too/from work. I don't think 16lb is any more than the books a high school student has in their bags (well mine weighed that much). Sure there's lots of people out there who want a laptop that's the size of a PDA, but there _is_ a middle ground =)
Like all pain, suffering is a signal that something isn't right
when you could just get a 17" powerbook?
according to Acer's website, this monstop is powered by a 12-cell lithium ion battery: up to 1.0 hour life depending on configuration and usage. Battery recharge times: 2.0 hours with system off, 4.0 hours with system in use.
Yet further down it says:
Average Dimensions and Weights
14.9" (378.0mm) W x 12.6" (320.0mm) D x 1.9" front - 2.2" rear (47.0mm - 55.0mm) H / 14.1 lb. (6.4kg) with combo drive, 15.7 lb. (7.1kg) with combo drive and battery
Weighing in at 16 pounds, I think auto maufactures and the airline industry need to start implementing seat belts for notebooks.
-Grump
Is it true that more people vote for the winner of American Idol, than vote for the president? -Ali G.
Any pro's won in the portability of these systems over traditional desktops is easily countered: there are far lighter laptops available.
This is the most tremendously ignorant engineering move in laptop computing that I have ever borne witness to.
Methinks you have misread the kg for lbs.
Right on said web page it states, it's 14.1 lb. (6.4kg) with combo drive, 15.7 lb. (7.1kg) with combo drive and battery.
Yeah but will it play race car sounds when I start it up?
Prevent email address forgery. Publish SPF records for y
You didnt even bother to read the page you linked to did you? It CLEARLY states in the page you linked
"Average Dimensions and Weights
14.9" (378.0mm) W x 12.6" (320.0mm) D x 1.9" front - 2.2" rear (47.0mm - 55.0mm) H / 14.1 lb. (6.4kg) with combo drive, 15.7 lb. (7.1kg) with combo drive and battery"
It took two seconds for me to find that, apparently when you look at something for two seconds you dont actually process any of the information.
You should read your own link:
14.1 lb. (6.4kg) with combo drive, 15.7 lb. (7.1kg) with combo drive and battery
16pounds, desktop processor. Sounds like an Alienware Laptop. Those puppies have 3 fans (!!!) to cool it down. In fact, I don't think it can technically be a laptop. If you put it in your lap, the high temps would boil your sperm...
"There is no teacher but the enemy."-Mazer Rackham
Notebook/laptop is really a bit of a misnomer, this machine sits squarely in the "desktop replacement" segment of the market. HP ZD7000 is another example. If you think of this thing as a notebook, sure it sounds like a joke, but you're failing to recognize that the old laptop-desktop dichotomy isn't valid anymore. These machines are actually quite useful. Lots of people don't ever actually take their laptop on the road, but they also don't want the big footprint of a desktop. Or they're like me, a student, and so the only time they transport their laptop is in a suitcase, to and from home. They need a smidge of portability, nothing more. (Some of these machines don't even have onboard batteries.) Desktop replacements make perfect sense. They're cheaper--you don't have to pay for the space-efficiency premium of a good notebook--and you're not stuck typing on a cramped keyboard, squinting at a miniscule screen and listening to tinny music from miniscule onboard speakers.
I think there is a world market for maybe five personal web logs.
Apple's offer:
http://www.apple.com/powerbook/index17.html
PowerPC G4 at 1.33 Ghz
Gigabit Ethernet
FireWire 800
Built-In Bluetooth
SuperDrive (DVD/CD burner)
Built-In AirPort Extreme (802.11g)
Up to 4.5 hrs battery life
The next pasture is always greener
Is it time to bring back the term "Luggable?". This trend is reminiscent of the original portable PC's, ie. the 35 lb monsters from Kaypro & Compaq usually depicted being lugged by a sumo. Course we've progressed from the 9" bw screen to 17" and all the colors of the rainbow.
These are just the PC markets' answer to the iMac type customers.
It's not supposed to be portable. It's to serve the people out there who don't want to deal wire wires or don't have the space in/on their desk for a full tower etc. But they want desktop performance.
They don't need it to travel with, but being able to move it around the house might be nice. Or they move frequently and don't want to deal with taking the thing apart and putting it back together each time (My desktop sure is a bitch to move.)
So close and yet so far from the world's perfect ID number
"14.1 lb. (6.4kg) with combo drive, 15.7 lb. (7.1kg) with combo drive and battery" 6 lbs? huh?
How is this much better than a 15.2 or 17 inch Powerbook?
This guy is way out there
Hey!, by the time you add the extra battery, external HDs, keychain USB drives, digital camera, iPod, bose headphones, bag, DC/AC power supplies, voltage converters. I've got mine to 23.4lbs in the bag! Beat That!
-CowboyNick
yhbt. hth. hand.
the 1980's 32lb "portable" computers. It even has 8 inches more screen and color graphics (let alone the greater then 64k memory).
We were all warned a long time ago that MS products sucked, remember the Magic 8 Ball said, "Outlook not so good"
I can slap my system on a cart and hook it to a UPS.
Athlon XP 2100+
512MB DDR
52x24x52 CDRW
4x2x4 DVD+RW
dual 17" monitors
Verto GeForce 4 64MB
etc.
Even without the UPS and batteries, I'm sure it weighs in @ at least 100 lbs.
Cruising the internet on my TI-99/4A @ a whopping 300 baud!
Did you even read the page you linked to? It clearly says, under the "Average Dimensions and Weights" section that the thing is 14.1 lb. (6.4kg) with combo drive, 15.7 lb. (7.1kg) with combo drive and battery.
Did you guys even read the topic you were repling to? There are 6 replies stating the correct weightage.
- what is the definition of simultanagnosia?! I've been meaning to look it up!
It doesn't have a battery. Much like this.
I have an idea on how to make money.
1) Buy Acer 17lb monstrosity.
2) Use laptop on lap and get 3rd degree burns from the desktop components.
3) Sue! Profit!!! Yay!!!!!!
"...Microsoft's Windows XP Professional Edition operating system, is expected to cost about $2,000, according to a report by analyst firm ARS.
They must be using the "Total Cost of Ownership" argument. If so, I think they're underestimating it.
. . . the notebrick???
It's like an entertainment center type package. I guess the idea is you won't WANT to leave home and therefore never carry it.
HP Pavilion zd7000 review on freshgear/techtv
*shrug* some things don't need to be supersized.
e.
Build Your Own PVR/HTPC news, reviews, &
Please mod accordingly.
some company decided to release a new piece of hardware. The company says it's better and that you should buy one. Slashdot editors run with story, more at six as this incredible story develops.
Acer 1700 series laptops are HUGE. And heavy. And they sell like hot cakes. Not to mention the fact we had at least 3 returned to Acer who broke down before we even sold them... Seriously, they make a good alternative to people who want a computer for home use but who don't want any kind of case. After they done with it, they just cram it in some drawer and forget about it, leaving plenty of desk space.
Hate me!
Ok, so its got a 17" screen, those aren't that heavy. 7200rpm drive, again not that heavy. Is all the weight in the cooling mechanisms for the prescott chip then? Heatsinks, aluminum casing, etc?
Apple offers a 17in at 7.9 lbs but you can get Windows for only 10lbs more.
3) Short battery life
The acer site says the battery lasts only 1 hour.
Actually notice the absence of a checkmark next to "Under 7 lb. (heaviest model)"?? Yeah.. thats because it IS 16 pounds. Dont be stupid please.
It could be powered by sun in a jar.
Carried by a two legged robot.
And uses the latest ghost voice.
Pete Carr Owner Chatmag.com
Um, no. if you take another 2 seconds and re-read that link you posted it says 6.4 KILOGRAMS. which translates to roughly 14.1 POUNDS. and thats w/o battery. looks like it is, in fact, 16 POUNDS with battery (or 7.1 KILOGRAMS).
Slackware
Kitchen sink eh?
So it means there's a CD with EMACS on it.
Not exactly their best selling points.
I have a Shuttle SB61G2 with a 2.4 GHz HT P4, a gig of ram, a 120 gig hard drive, and a Radeon 9600. It probably weighs about 7 or 8 pounds.
It's readily upgradable, has a small desktop footprint, and is easy to transport. As long as I have a monitor or TV I can use at my destination it's perfect for work or gaming.
Without the video card it cost me 1000 CDN. I could have shaved off another hundred or more by going with an Athlon, but I was taking heat into consideration with the tight airflow restrictions.
You get a laptop for the convenience of portability at the cost of being able to upgrade. And generally a desktop is a statically placed computer that can be upgraded, but isn't all that portable. They just hybridized the negative aspects of both, slapped on a nice big screen and put it to market.
What type of user is going to derive the most benefit from this?
The Aspire 1703/1705 models weigh exactly the same (7.1Kg or 15.06lbs), see them here or here. They're desktop replacement "notebooks" and Acer calls them "transportable" rather than "mobile". ;-)
"I love my job, but I hate talking to people like you" (Freddie Mercury)
I replied first dammit! Everyone else was within seconds of mine :) Oh who cares.
Check out the related models in the same family, which are all seven pounders. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand that somebody confused pounds and kilograms.
If this were in the old PC Convertible family, that would be something different!
I'm waiting for the release of the new IBM Thinkpad X40
2.6 pounds and %20 smaller (with the same full size thinkpad keyboard) than my already tiny X22, 8 hours on 8cell lion batt with the Ultra Low Voltage Pentium M 1.0 Ghz proc.
It's all I need to run some Debian goodness.
BTW, prices start at $1499, and Intel should be releasing the centrino drivers soon.
It's about time I found a decent replacement for my old Zorba.
I wonder where I put that thing anyway...it was so easy to misplace with it's small size.
when someone orders one of these without looking at the weight. Tries to pick up the package and is all "What the fu.."
Celebrities are like ads, if we all ignore them, they'll just go away.
I've got mine to 23.4lbs in the bag! Beat That!
The old Mac Protables had to weigh more than that.
Note they are all within 4 minutes of each other. Some of us don't compulsively click on refresh (and /. likely takes time to put posts up as well). ;p
...use a piano hinge to attach a Apple 23" cinema display to a dual 2GhZ Xserve.
1) Fully tweeked Xserve ~$10,000. (Low end ~$2,500)
2) 23" Display ~$2,000.
3) Piano hinge ~ $20
4) Several hours case mod time...
Hum.... what do we use for a battery?
For more storage, hot-glue a 3.5TB Xserve RAID to the bottom! (Add ~$11,000).
the Netork card is set to Promiscuous Mode
You say the world needs more "large portables", but don't give any reasons at all. What part of a desktop PC is missing from ordinary laptops, and exists in this monstrosity? How does a regular old laptop fail to meet your needs?
You are just as much of an idiot. He didn't read the whole page, and neither did you.. See the previous comments negating our friend Zed2K? Yeah it's already been covered 6 times.
Since the Ferrari laptop has a logo and red paint job, does this one have an ugly Hummer-style case? Does it make machine gun sounds when you fire it up?
Will Rob Enderle buy one?
Reading Slashdot is ruining my spelling and grammar.
"this is our 7lb heaviest model. and this is our 17lb notebook." riiiiiiight.
don't be stupid. indeed. :) :) :)
I have already seen notebook-like "desktop replacement" systems that don't even bother with a battery. If I weren't supposed to be working right now, I might even be able to dig up a URL. :-)
Cheers,
Jeremy
16 POUNDS? I certainly hope that is a typo. What could possibly be that heavy? The battery, and an optional extra battery? I prefer smaller laptops as opposed to desktop replacements, that is just me. I have a 12" Powerbook, and if I were to ever buy another PC laptop (ie, when hell freezes over), it will be one of those flip open ones seen on /. last week, or a tablet.
I hate sigs.
Back to the future here - I remember all the criticism of the Macintosh Portable back in 1989 when it came out. "16 pounds!" was the cry. But what it had was the first active matrix LCD and a big honkin' lead-acid battery that would run forever (for the time).
Of course, I think Apple sold like ten of them.
It's kind of funny that it's taken 15 years to get back to the 16-pound laptop again. Go figure. You knew this was coming, though, when Apple and all the Wintel companies started going to 17" screens. Someone was bound to try it.
-- Josh Turiel
"2. Do not eat iPod Shuffle."
He was quoting, from the top of the Acer Specs page in the bulleted list:
"Under 7 lb. (heaviest model)"
Later, in the specs is where it says what the actual weight is. So, don't blame the poster, blame the Acer page.
Of course, this is slashdot, where we all jump the gun, then jump the gun while pointing out that someone else jumped the gun.
If I were a student looking for a gaming system I might consider it (easier to lug from dorm to dorm etc..). But for working on the go, a small PC and docking station do the same thing, and your back will thank you.
Free Mac Mini Yeah, it's
What about http://www.pcsuperstore.fi/tuote.html?product_id=A CER-LX.A0805.104&category_id=1_3 then?
The mass is in kilograms, but converted into lbs it seems to be a bit over 15.5. I almost fainted when the first time I saw that thing in the store and tried to lift it from the table.
I may be the only one, from reading some of the other posts, but I'm definitely interested. Our company uses laptops as our only machines. The only time I move the laptop is going from home to work in the morning-- and I would really prefer the larger screen real-estate. I have been toying with getting a flat panel and carrying it, too, but something like this integrates things much more cleanly.
When I was going to school, we had to carry ENIACs on our backs, walking to school in 4 ft. of snow uphill. Both ways!
And we liked it!
So how many furlongs per hogshead does it get? Are we scientists here or do we still use ancient systems of measurement?
From the Acer site (www.acer.com): "12-cell lithium ion battery: up to 1.0 hour life depending on configuration and usage".
1 hour battery life???? WTF!
Why in my day we had the world's first portable, the Osborne 1 that weighed 26 pounds (and had a screen with a viewable area of about 3 inches) and WE LIKED IT!
Ever dream you could fly? Get up from the Flight Sim. I Fly
Powerbook.
It's "no one," not "noone." Who the hell is noone anyway?
Been there, done that. Anyone remember the Macintosh Portable? 16 lbs of pure love, baby.
Once again, Apple is ahead of their time!!!
I'm interested in this notebook. It's priced and featured closer to a desktop than most portables, but it would allow me to move around the house and work in the office, kitchen, living room, etc. I don't need lightweight for that; I'm not traveling with it. I may represent a small market, but I find this very interesting.
ShoutingMan.com
lugging around a 16 pound laptop will give us geeks some much needed muscles
*ducks*
The closest product I have seen in recent years is the Dolch. It is bigger than the Acer.
It sounds like a cool product. I hope they do well with it.
I recall a reviewer calling PCs larger than laptops 'trans-lugables.'
Forget teaming with Ferrari to build notebooks, they should co-brand this one with Hummer.
governator...
My laptop has a widescreen 17" monitor. It's a joy to work with, really. The increased screen size changes eveything. At this size you don't have to make ergonomic concessions anymore to use a laptop, It just feels better than any workstation i've put my hands on. No eyestrain, no noise, great keyboard, 1440x900 resolution and still very transportable. How can you beat that ?
No, I don't think anyone confused kilograms for pounds.
The page you linked to lists features and specs as though they were search criteria... yours fails the 7 pound and the 1.5 inch high criteria. It also has no port replicator is not a modular design, and it is apparently not suited for the enterprise or healthcare markets.
What a crappy page.
We'll have come full circle when our "laptops" start looking -- and weighing -- like the Compaq "Portable" computer.
These notebooks are not for using on your lap while traveling etc.
They are instead excellent replacement for desktop computers which take A LOT of space, have multiple cables running everywhere and most importantly are almost impossible to put away when space is needed for something else. And if need you can take it with you without having to drag with you a keyboard, mouse and several extra cabels.
Right now I use one desktop compter and one Dell Inspiron 8200 (luggable laptop) with 1600x1200 lcd screen and I would love to have two of those or this one.
Congratulations, You're the 5,000,000th Slashdotter to not realize that current P4s run considerably hotter than current Athlons!
reminds of that old portable kaypro i had...
love is just extroverted narcissism
Trust me, that's not a 16lb notebook. I'm a dirty dirty troll, but I also have common sense.
http://www.acer.com/APP/AKC/INTERNET/AACPubli.nsf/ allDocs/RWP5316796DAD14705D88256D55007A13CB?OpenDo cument
Go there, and see that THEY USE THE CHECKMARK WHEN IT'S UNDER 7LB!
Big, bloated, heavy, overstuffed, unnecessary. Provided that it goes through energy like there's no tomorrow, it should sell very well in North America.
I must say that 0x3E = 62 Gigahertz laptop
is well worth the 16 pounds it weights. Yet again acer has shown itself to be well ahead of
the curve. May the innovation continue.
Ummm... people? Nerds? People that reason for a living?
ZDNet writes an article about a laptop which seems to indicate that they haven't actually touched or felt it, an article which just might propogate a typo from the original Acer press release, and everyone goes hog-wild about how ridiculous such a creation would be.
Think about it.
Where would the extra weight appear?
Screen? A 17" screen is about 25% larger in surface area than a 15" screen. So perhaps a few extra ounces at most.
Processor? Negligible at most.
Heavy-duty graphics hardware? An ounce or two, perhaps?
DVD burner? Again, ounces difference if that.
We still have about 9 pounds left to explain...
One more data point, and then I'm going to rest my case for a typo: the reported difference in weights with and without battery (14.1 lb vs 15.7 lb) indicates that the battery itself would weigh 1.6 lb. For a battery that lasts 1 hour. My Dell 8200 battery weighs approximately half of that, and I'm assuming there isn't much dead space inside the battery compartment.
Wouldn't it be a bit more reasonable to think that , as others have suggested, people got their pounds and kilograms mixed up, and that the laptop weighs 6.4 lb (as per the "under 7 lb" bullet point)? This would make the battery weigh approximately 0.7 lb, which seems more in line.
Picture
If you buy one, why bother taking the battery anywhere?
Pop it out and save a pound.
You're going to need the AC adapter anyway.
Share and Enjoy!
Doesn't look terrible. I wouldn't mind having an inexpensive luggable desktop myself. Dragging my machine into my living room when I'm watching TV would help me pretend to get that much more work done.
There ought to be a market to sell portable 1 U boxes that perform as well as any big desktop fitting regular sized PCI cards.
That's what this Acer box sounds like.
... of gigantism in the automobile industry lately?
Mind the frickin' laser...
Not even close...the very first Mac Portable weighed in at 16lbs, as it was designed under the same principal: make a portable desktop Mac. After that first beast, the PowerBook line came out and they weighed much less.
Something to build muscles so that us geeks won't be tormented endlessly anymore.
Especially when you look at this new Voodoo laptop. Although it is a tad more expensive.
http://www.voodoopc.com/systems/m780.aspx
My Oreck will pick it up!
This is the shit. I've wanted a desktop in portable form, but not lunchbox style. This is perfect, if it weren't the the fact that it's manufactured by Acer (don't really like them) and my company already supplied me with a nice Centrino-based laptop. One thing I would be curious about though is the battery life -- it sounds like a lot of the components are high wattage -- maybe half the weight of the laptop is battery :-]
"No one likes working in a hamster wheel, and your shop smells of cedar shavings from here." - TaleSpinner
That's one hour in marketing 'hours', which are sort of the antithesis of Microsoft minutes (copying 1.4 gigabytes in 17,381 files, 2 minutes remaining.)
... 45 minutes on a charge before the warning light starts to go all blinky blinky on you.
I wonder what that is in real life Earth time
Glonoinha the MebiByte Slayer
Sixteen pounds is getting pretty close to the 18.75 lbs of the M60E3 machinegun.
And which one do you think kicks more ass?
...he wanted his laptop back.
I have the last design iteration of the 15" TiBook and its the best damn laptop out there. It has replaced my SGI O2 Irix workstation and my dual PIII SGI 320 Windows 2000 PC as well. With all the major applications running natively on OSX (MS Office, Palm Desktop, Macromedia, Dreamweaver ..., Adobe PS...) with X11 and RDC for OSX
those other machines are turned off most of the time.
Only thing I wish I had in my version was the backlit keyboard. Well, guess I have to get that with my next Powerbook purchase.
Free Karma for all Apple Trolls.
All you need do is type '17" Powerbook is better', and you'll get instant +5 Insightful.
My 3.06GHz 17" Widescreen Notebook PC (not an Acer) absolutely smashes any performance benchmarks set by your 17" Powerbook.
And OH YEAH, I can play GAMES on it too.
Fucking stupid Apple Trolls.
Acer has teamed up with Ferrari to create a new breakthrough laptop. This laptop weighs a revolutionary 2500 lbs, and comes with both a P4-3.06GHz w/ HT processor and a 300HP engine.
Advantages are that it makes engine noises upon bootup, and it's flexible in that the user can use it for both doing work and getting to and back from work.
Prices start at $149,999.
My dog ate my sig
Check it out:
c hd 4700.htm
http://www.m-techlaptops.com/specifications/mte
The price is very similar, and the m-tech sports an awesome 17 inch display, which I believe is exactly the same resolution and size as that found in the powerbook. Probably the same LCD manufacturer. Plus it weighs less than the acer - 'only' 9 lbs instead of 16. I got a backpack for it and I tote it back and forth from work everyday. Battery life is only 1.5 hours, but I'm willing to live with the weight and battery in exchange for the low price, speed, and nice LCD.
I have a friend who just bought a boat... He'd like to live there parttime. A desktop isn't mobile enough, and he's not interested in leaving it on the boat fulltime (power problems too).
A laptop like this would be almost perfect for him... Just about everything you'd see in a desktop except for the size... He could build a small hardcase for it, toss it in his duffel bag and carry it inconspicuously onto his boat with the rest of his stuff.
In truth the expandability of a desktop isn't quite as important as it used to be. The last upgrade I made to my desktop was a CD burner.
A stacked out portable that I could plop on my desk and add an external kbd and mouse to would be just peachy. I'd just have to build some sort of lid for the keyboard so that my cat wouldn't sit on it when I've got it at home.
Free Software: Like love, it grows best when given away.
I guess the Ferrari 3000 notebook was a big enough screw up. Best of luck Acer.
"And a voice was screaming: 'Holy Jesus! What are these goddamn animals?'" - HST
Read the product overview, it's pitched as a "portable workstation", it's seemingly designed as a "half way" between a full desktop (or, a SFF style).
I've been using Sager notebooks for a while now, they have a nice 17" with better specs and its only 9lbs. Is the computer industry going the way of the American waist line?
The article seems to indicate that the Prescott line of P4's will mainly be used in these laptops. This doesnt make a whole lot of sense, because not only do prescotts perform worse than northwood cores at 3.4ghz, but they are also somewhat hotter, and a northwood core would be much easier to cool in desknote.
If you have to ask, you'll never know.
here
After upgrades I imagine it is over 10 lbs. My dad got this, and seems to be pretty happy with it. When you take into account that a lot of people put their laptop in a bag and roll it around anyway... it isn't so ridiculous. And he really loves having a full sized keyboard and 17 inch screen.
In fact, when I was shopping for a laptop a couple of years ago, I seriously considered building a machine in a briefcase around a flat panel screen and standard components.
My reason was a combination of price and expandability. I want a couple hundred GB, and I want to be able to plug in standard PCI cards. I don't give a damn about running on battery.
I didn't because of laziness, so now I have a laptop that I never run off batteries. I just have it because I want a machine that I can carry to a few places.
For the money I probably would be better off building three separate machines and carrying the personality around on a hard drive.
"I'm a worker who needs a powerful computer. I need/want to take said computer home from time to time, with all my stuff handily available. I don't want a big PC at home and want to be able to store this away in a drawer. I commute to and from work in a car. So my total lugging with this 16lb beast is work door to car to home door. That would suit me fine."
Personally I have a sub-2lb ultralight (less powerful than this, but more expensive) and cycle to work, but that's just what suits me. I don't just dogmatically shout 16lbs, no-one will want that, because it doesn't fit my personal situation. If I wanted to transport something powerful to and from work, I'd prefer it was this than my Shuttle, which is a very small desktop, together with 17" LCD. Besides simple weight considerations, this folds up to a more convenient size and you don't have a ton of wires to gather together.
It's called a built-in UPS. If you are using a laptop as a desktop replacement, you're usually sitting within an extension cord's reach of a power outlet, and the battery is designed to give you enough time to re-connect the power cord should somebody trip over it or to shut down the machine should the location's AC power fail.
Now that's innovation, not only you get 20 inch LCD screen and 48 hours battery life, you also get some good workout. As an additional benefit, you can fry eggs on it when watching DVDs!
I think by "under 7lb (heaviest model)" they mean under 7lb for the heaviest possible configuration of that particular model
This is not meant to be "portable." Think of it more as a compact desktop.
It's all about the footprint, honey
The subject line is an old reply to an even older English joke related to picking carpet or something, but it relates well to the perception of laptops/notebooks for the 'home' market today.
If you're a mobile professional like me, then you probably make the most of your 'not too heavy, not too light, reasonably powerful' (invariably) Dell laptop your company supplies you with.
However, a lot of laptops these days are sold on their size rather than their power/capacity.
I recently helped my sister-in-law buy a laptop that she is going to 'write a book on' (yeah, right!). But the point is that although she has no plans to ever take it 'on the road', she wanted a laptop purely for its footprint in her smallish London apartment.
Many of us are geeky enough to demand that we live in a house where we can occupy a whole room for our server and four workstations (not to mention the other three over the house, but I digress).
News flash! Not everyone is like this! They want a computer that is as pack-away as the ironing board and that's why high spec notebooks are a good idea from the point of the vendor, almost regardless of their weight.
Sweeeeeeet!
From excellent karma to terible karma with a single +5 funny post...
At that weight, it's not a notebook, but a dictionnairy!
Menzoberranzan Networks
Seems to me this would be nice at lan parties where you would have all the performance and speed and a good size monitor without having to lug your desktop system around.
My portable weights 28 pounds.
Funny.. I thought he was comparing Apples to PC's, not apples to oranges.
The truth about Scientology, Xenu, and you: Operation Clambake
And to take it to/from your work, you'll want to upgrade to a car of the same caliber
- 4r0g
Gee, that's great, but we had athlon's and P4's side by side and the heat in the case was about 5 degrees in favor of the P4s in a regular case, similar heat sinks and fans.
I'm less worried about on-die heat as I am about ambient heat caused by dissipation and lack of air flow. The chances of the CPU hitting electron-migration temperatures is slim without a critical failure.
Doesn't mean I want my hard drive retaining extra heat because it has less cool air to dissipate into naturally.
Your are missing the point, it comes with a desktop, and chair.
You don't need a lab to make mud.
Everyone is complaining that it's so heavy moving it around is this great uncomfortable challenge.
It only weighs 6-8 pounds more than a typical laptop now... I know the Slashdot crowd doesn't exactly include alot of body builders, I haven't been near a gym myself for several years, but come on now... all the power and screen size of a desktop and you're complaining over a few more pounds?
Would it be nice to have a lighter laptop? Sure. But should a few more pounds be the determining factor in what laptop to by? That's stupid.
NO ONE IS GOING TO BUY THIS THING!
In my 8 year technical support experience, no one wants a laptop that weighs more than 8lbs TOPS!
So, go back to the drawing board. If you think you can unseat IBM and Dell as the workplace's preferred laptop with this big heap of crap, forget it!
People who need a P4E at 3.0ghz, aren't going to use a laptop, anyway! Unless you can squeeze an 800mhz FSB, 2x10,000rpm RAID array, and a professional graphics card in there, forget it!
I'll admit, though, it's more than a little confusing!
Does it spit or swallow?
Sorry, my mistake.
The bigotry of the nonbeliever is for me nearly as funny as the bigotry of the believer. - Albert Einstein
my desktop plus monitor probably weighs less than that!!
I thought my Toshiba P25 series was large. My laptop weighs in at a hefty 9.5 lbs. Here are the differences between that laptop and mine.
I have a 2.8 P4 W/ HT
I have 512 (but it's upgradeable) vs. the 1 gig of RAM. (not a huge weight difference)
I have a 17 inch monitor as well.
I have a DVD burner, and I believe the HD is a 5400 RPM. (7200 is nice but where's the weight coming from?)
32 meg video vs. 64 (weight weight weight)
Where is their extra 6.5 lbs coming from?
They fail to mention that its native resolution is 640x480.
*I used to be quite irreverent and ignorant. I am probably much smarter now. I seem to realize this every 45 days or so.
A lot of comments are saying that this is a piece of crap. Basically, the theory is that anything this heavy is useless and a waste of money.
However, at $1500 this is a fairly cheap laptop for what it can do. The screen is big enough and the machine fast enough to:
E-mail/Word Processing (ok, 12 inches is big enough for this)
Coding
Web design
Graphics design
Store and play movies (160 GB)
PLAY GAMES (my favorite)
This machine is not great if you have to bring it with you to class or work everyday. But, if you go on vacation once or twice a month, it's nice to have your computer (life) with you. For $1500, you now have a portable desktop.
Thank you Mario! But our princess is in another castle!
I often lie down putting my laptop on my tummy. With this one I'D have to do some serious workouts for my abs.
Tell that to the folks at Compaq, whose original "Portable" model weighed about 30 pounds.
http://alternatives.rzero.com/
Corporate Gadfly
Jonathan Archer: the most beaten up Enterprise captain in Star Trek history
Yes, yes, we all realize there are reasons to prefer a powerbook - and I'm writing this on one, so any followup flames from my Mac comrades are misdirected - but 17" apples and this machine aren't even remotely in the same price point, as the Apple costs double.
This looks fairly comparable to the one I just purchased a few months back.
The one I just purchased is a P4 3ghz HT, 1gig ram, 60gb HD 7200, an expansion bay for another HD, 16inch 1600x1200 LCD, radeon 9000 128mb, TV tuner, and a host of media slots, and about 13 pounds.
The poundage doesnt bother me.
The high BTU heater aspect doesnt bother me.
The 15 minut battery life doesnt really bother me (OK, I am lying on this one).
The noise rarely bothers me.
The 2500$ pricetag doesnt bother me.
I love my laptop and I am sure I would love this Acer.
I think you underestimate just how much I just dont care.
Instead of designing high weight, full featured laptops, someone should build a portable PC that has 2 parts: an extremely lightweight and flexible keyboard/trackpad/LCD part that resembles a laptop and is tethered (with a SINGLE cable) to a computing unit that is designed to fit in a backpack - maybe even build it right into a custom made pack.
Make the computer use standard components - say 1 PCI and 1 AGP slot, but stacked on top of each other so that the overall thickness stays as low as possible.
Give me 6-8 hours of battery life and make the pack comfortable (read: hip belt) and leave a compartment for carrying other junk.
16 pounds really isn't bad at all when carried properly, but most people put laptops in shoulder bags which are just about the worst way to carry a lot of weight for any amount of time.
Hey, if potential perps have to throw out their back to steal the thing, plus it wouldn't exactly be as inconspicous to drop into a sack as a 4 lb iBook.
C'mon people. The thing is heavier than usual, sure. But it 16 FRIGGIN' pounds, not 60. Unless the geek masses are living up the the 98lb stereotype, then this isn't a massive (heh) weight to carry, is it?
"Faith: Belief without evidence in what is told by one who speaks without knowledge, of things without parallel." - A.B.
Keyboards on laptops suck, because of size constraints. Screens have sucked, because of size and power constraints. CPU performance has sucked because of power constraints. Power has sucked because of weight and size constraints.
Well, why do the size and weight have to be constrained? While there are probably a lot of people who won't buy anything over six pounds, that's not a concern to me, or to a number of other people. I'd much rather lug around a 16-pound (or even 20-pound!) notebook, if it had a good keyboard, decent performance, and decent battery life.
It really doesn't do me any good to get a 5-pound computer somewhere if I can't type on it when I get there.
steve
Oh, you're not stuck, you're just unable to let go of the onion rings.
Do you never get tired of the same crappy joke?
I remember back when I bought my Wallstreet Powerbook it was positioned as one of the first true desktop replacements - it had pretty much everything one could expect in a top-of-the-line desktop system circa 1998 save PCI expansion slots. Unfortunately, Powerbook PC card and expansion bay options have never quite matched the market for their desktop brethren, so it's lying more and more fallow these days (and mired in its Oldworld architecture).
Regardless, it was significantly heavier than most laptops on the market at the time - it clocked in at nearly ten pounds with twin batteries. It really drove home the desktop-replacement concept, though, with a 14" screen and DVD playback unheard of on portable systems at the time. I wasn't alone in thinking that the extra weight was an equitable tradeoff for its capabilities, and it's served me as well as could be expected in the years since.
Now, having lived with it for six years, I'd've gladly taken another six pounds for complete upgradability. Heck, if it had a swappable video card and a Newworld motherboard, I'd still content using it as my primary machine for another four years.
Don't be so quick to write off behemoth laptops - they definitely have their place.
This product fills the gap for those who don't really want the portability of a laptop or the low price and ergonomics of a desktop.
Stop complaining about the weight. The Osborne weighed more and dammit it did the job. An unintended benifet of lugging that thing around was that owners got really defined biceps, trapadeltoids, and cloits. Combine that with the Ab-Abber and you were one studly geek.
.deviatefromtheabsolute.
That's 7.3Kg, for those of us metrically inclined.
That was the approximate weight of the first Apple Macintosh portable. Or more to the point "luggable".
You can find humor everywhere, but it is particularly special when you find it in the technology "wheel of reincarnation".
- Tjp
I am in wallow with my inner money grubbing capitalistic pig. ... Oink!
Its not a laptop. It's a small desktop. That was the point of the post.
The "you must be new here Ha Ha" one?
I think he's talking about a mini desktop PC.
...because it contains a 17" CRT. They decided to keep the cost down by eliminating the LCD.
That's 256 ounces! Da dun dun!
"She aint heavy, She's my laptop"
+ For 2 grand I can buy 2 8 lb laptops I think. So they must be charging by the lb.
(+1 Funny) only if I laugh out loud.
Meh. With the dollar down the toilet right now, I can pick up a decent-spec PowerBook next time I'm in the States (I'll be going anyway) for less than the price of an iMac in the UK. And it won't crush my spindly, calcium-deprived geek legs to powder either should I set it on my lap, unlike the lead-cased Acer!
You must think in Russian.
4 years ago, i owned the biggest notebook on the block. it had a 15.7 inch screen, 2 in think, weighed in about a ton. it's not portable. not at all. and so, when i was looking for a replacement, it had to have no more than a 12.1 in screen and be less than an inch and a half thin. that's portable.
I write code.
Yes, but it can't run Mac OS X even in imaginary time.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
This has ideal applications in the film and video industries. Technicians in these industries are used to lugging around amplifiers, mixing boards, and computer equipment. With 160GB of hard drive and a DVD burner amd a 17" monitor, this is an ideal portable video editing station for on-set editing. Typically, technicians in the film and video industies will set up their equipment at the beginning of the day on set, and strike at the end of the day. At 16 pounds, it's light enough that it can be easily set up and put away once a day.
One thing it's not meant for, I suspect. is the latte drinking Starbucks crowd who are just word processing and working on the next great American novel. No... this thing is meant for on-set video editing, if you ask me....
Thats no luggable! this, this is a luggable....
ELITE IBM LUGGABLE
38lbs, dual floppies, 9" amber CGA, 256K! (yes I said K) and a keyboard that could double as a bludgeoning instrument... and a case that made it like a suitecase that you could put over your shoulder. Not for the feint of heart geek....
does no one on slashdot do any kind of fact checking? geez... acer's page on the 1710 says it maxes out at 7 pounds!
s f/ 0/B222B6B5F539666588256E370003E404?OpenDocument
http://www.acer.com/APP/AKC/INTERNET/AACPubli.n
They must have neglected to mention their new 'Fuel Cell Killer' tech that uses Plutonium rods to keep the thing powered up. S'pose? Honestly though I'm wondering why it weighs that much. I'm not one to quibble about the weight - my D800, which I love btw, has a lot of those features with a fsk'ing gorgeous display, and although a little on the heavy side for a notebook PC is not lacking in traditional desktop PC features at all. This is the first notebook I've had that I'd really call a desktop replacement.
I agree with many of the people here when I say, What's the POINT? I'm also curious as to where most of those pounds come from.
For example, an Alienware Area-51m can be configured with everything this 16lb beast has, minus the 160GB HDD and 17" LCD (The Area-51m only has a 15.4" or a 16.1"), and yet only weighs 8-9lbs, HALF the weight.
First of all, why does anybody need 160GB on a laptop, that's what servers are for, the current 60GB 8MB cache 7200RPM laptop drives from Hitachi are more than sufficient.
And second of all, either that laptop has an 8lbs hard-drive, or one BIG motherfucking battery.
16 pound laptop a.k.a. a desktop computer
-Tony
tonyville dot org
It's not a laptop, it's a small form factor desktop machine. If you only want to use the machine and points A and B, and don't care about the trip in between, it's the way to go.
You should be able to get it through any dealer that orders from Ingram Micro in your area.
http://www.shuttle.com/index7.html
...to be known as the "Kaypro" or "Osborne" computer of the 21st century ...
Not really portable but "luggable"...
The alternative is to do a case mod for a regular desktop and build in an LCD screen to the side of the computer case and make the keyboard latch onto the front or back when carrying...
Me too, but I decided to be fair and quote the "anybody" prices. With academic discount, I got my 15" with superdrive, airport extreme, 512 MB RAM, and Applecare for $2240. ;)
Comes out to 0.01 lb per dollar whereas the sony x505 comes out ot 0.0004 lb per dollar.
why not?
"You get all the fun of sitting still, being quiet, writing down numbers, paying attention...science has it all."
for 16 pounds, it needs to have at LEAST four processors, an 18" screen, subwoofers, and 20 hours of battery life. I'll wait.
Who moved my sig?
Considering that Thoroughbred Athlon XP 2400+ puts out 68.31 watts of heat versus 74.7 (or 77.32 for another version) of P4 2.4, he's right.
... 5deg is pretty slight difference and is easily reachable by small variations in one thing or another.
So obviously the heat sinks and fans weren't all that similar, or were installed differently, or
1. NO PC CARD SLOT! What the heck even Toshiba Libretto and Sony Picturebook, which are much smaller that the 12 PB, have a PC card slot!.
2. The firewire port is prone to die! The USB ports ho not have enough power, for example de USB ports do not provide enough power for an external USB 2.5 USB drive. If the firewire port dies, you are screwed, the solution is to replace the motherboard. If there were a PC Card slot the solution would be to purchase a $25 firewire PC Card!
Please, don't complain about pc options, or make comparisons about why you'd prefer your apple computer, it never never never fits, ok! This is like saying a ferarri 360 spider and a pontiac grand am are the same, only the grand am is lighter. Of course they both hold 4 people, but the difference is the grand am has a fraction of the horse power. Don't talk about benchmarks or the "megaherts myth", we know they're true, but why disappoint people when the find out in the end that the Apple is still almost half as fast a comparibly priced pc.
:-)
Just in case you're wondering? I'd rather tote around a 3-in-1 full tower, 17"lcd, logitech (wired) keyboard with a -3- button optical wheel mouse on the side, along with my 40lb backpack. Forget the 12" Yao Ming notebook... he probably cant type on that thing without pushing 3 keys at once anyway
Most of you will just read a few lines, figure out that I'm not madly supportive of Apple, osx etc... go ahead flame me, mod me down, etc... it will just prove the whole point; try not to compare pc's to apples. Different platform, different OS, different mental problems on both system types.
"And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the World"
1 John 4:14
Id rather have something like that if it could use an AGP video card and 1 pci slot. In fact, ive been waiting for something like that for 4 years and it doesnt seem to be happening :(
I now use a Shuttle PC and an LCD screen. Im probably gonna end up making my own laptop in a few years - the "suitcase" Laptop! Weighs only 25 lbs; fits easily into most overhead storage bins.
the Trophy wife. I always had to shop for snazzy, top of the line laptops for the vice pees and the pee. THey had more powerful mobiles than our heavy number crunchers or programmers and all they did was surf and check email.
"What we do in life echoes in eternity." Maximus Decimus Meridius
For the non-Americans among us: according to Google's units feature, 16 lbs is approximately 7.26 kg.
...and why would I need 16 of them?
Zilch
What the fuck is an lb.?
This would make a terrible substitute for how some people use laptops. However, I just meant to point out that it has a niche in college. Many of my friends with laptops would keep them at their desks in the dorm the vast majority of the time and then throw them on the bed or in a drawer when they needed desk space for an art project or such.
:)
I was a chemistry major, so I could never take notes on a computer. I tried taking notes with a handheld, keyboard and drawing program, but it failed miserably. Chemistry just has too much drawing or diagramming.
And games during the boring classes is a really bad idea. At least use the time to do homework.
I didn't notice the battery life of only 1 hour. That is abysmal. Oh well. Not the point for this one.
You may all thing this is a crazy move by Acer, but I would actually buy this. I'm a software developer that spends 95% of my developing hours in the office, but some are also at home and a lot are at customer's sites. I must have a portable computer, but it is _always_ plugged in both for power and network. Since I only get to order from Dell, I'm not happy about this. Dell does not have a desktop replacement notebook (I'm in Sweden). There is a notebook with P4 3,2GHz, but it has a 4k2rpm hard drive. Wtf, that will kill my compiling. They have 7k2rpm hard drives, but only in "centrino" laptops that are crap. Luckily, I've talked to a Dell salesman and I'm getting the 7k2rpm drive in the P4 3,2GHz computer, but the Acer would be better (and faster!).
I hope to see this laptop in the Linux Laptop Installation Survey soon. Because many laptop manufacturers do not provice enough Linux support it often needs too much time before Linux installation reports become available. So if you want to buy a new laptop to install Linux on it, you are often on your own.
I'd KILL for a 16lb lunchbox with two Opterons (or maybe a budget version with two AMD 2600MP CPUs... I might even slum it and settle for dual Xeons if I'm really desperate) and, more importantly, a real honest-to-god buckling-spring mechanical keyboard like the IBM "Model M".
Hell, I'd go for it for the keyboard alone!
Realistically, it would add about an inch of thickness and a little over a pound (most of the keyboard's weight is due to the steel plates intentionally put there to give the keyboard more mass... something the laptop itself would do just fine). The only real challenge would be designing a cam-raised "terrace" to raise and tilt the keys to the right height and angle when the lid gets opened, and flatten them down when it's closed.
I suspect that if some laptop ODM (like, say, Clevo) were to make a model that was substantially similar to their biggest 16:9 17" display desktop replacement system in every other respect (so vendors familiar with configuring one could painlessly handle the other and offer it as an option), they'd sell a LOT of them.
People who type 100+ WPM don't need to be convinced that buckling spring keyboards are worth the extra cost, weight, and thickness... most people in that group (myself included) are absolutely dysfunctional trying to type on most laptop keyboards (my typing rate goes down to maybe 60-70wpm, and my error rate soars).
What does this laptop offer that you can't find in other 7-10lbs laptops?
Isn't it the point of "desktop replacement" though?
If you have to, you can carry it around, but that's not really it's primary selling point.
Treehugger? Treehugger... Treehugger!