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Acer Plans A 16 lb. Notebook

Posted by timothy on from the good-exercise-at-least dept.

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.

9 of 514 comments (clear)

  1. More large portables, great! by Sparr0 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    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.

  2. more storeable than portable by pwarf · · Score: 5, Interesting

    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 ...

  3. Luggable by kwandar · · Score: 4, Interesting

    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.

  4. Re:Poor move.. by metlin · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I agree. The only thing thats actually big about this notebook (other than the size ofcourse) is the hard-drive - the rest are nothing *that* great.

    However, one selling point maybe the fact that this notebook is just $1,499 - which is quite cheap considering the configuration (and the fact that if you are a gamer, it comes with Nvidia's GeForce FX Go 5200 graphics card).

    The rest of the features are cool, but nothing *so* special. Honestly, I would rather have a desktop for way lesser price than a beast that weighs so much.

  5. I'd buy it by microbox · · Score: 4, Interesting

    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
  6. Re:Not a poor move by skiflyer · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Couldn't agree more.

    My situation is an apartment setup such that there is no real desk/work area. There's the counter, the kitchen table, and a little table by the couch/tv.

    Now, if I needed this kind of power/screen real-estate, it would make sense to me, it's never going to leave the apartment, but it's a nice computer that I can work on where I want within my apartment, and put in the closet when company comes over.

    I also have other requirments which have lead me to a different purchase, but my point is simply to provide an example for your point.

  7. Re:Poor move.. by kfg · · Score: 4, Interesting

    There's a real use for large, heavy, transportable desktop replacements. The problem is, that once you get up to that size and weight the laptop is a very poor format. What you want is an "old fashioned" lunchpail type machine.

    KFG

  8. Re:1-hour battery life, 2 hours to charge by PCM2 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Whaa-a-aa-aaa?

    By comparison, Apple's 6.9-pound, 17-inch PowerBook packs a "58-watt-hour lithium-ion battery (with integrated charge indicator LEDs) providing up to 4.5 hours of battery life."

    So basically, this is a notebook that's too heavy to carry and has too short a battery life to use when not plugged in. I am ... baffled.

    And a workplace system that comes with a DVD burner? Terrific. I know IT departments that don't even allow CD-RW drives for most of the workforce. I predict a new software market: "virus" scanning software that will alert admins whenever a copy of DVD2One is installed...

    --
    Breakfast served all day!
  9. Re:Powerbook.......all the way by Chanc_Gorkon · · Score: 3, Interesting

    That as they say....depends.....

    I was looking for a small laptop equipped with:

    DVD burner
    Decent amount of ram
    Ability to edit video
    Firewire
    USB 2.0
    At LEAST 40 GB hard disk
    WiFi

    I found all of this for around $1799 in a 12in Powerbook. I know, I said I wanted to edit video.....I added a 120 GB external hard disk. I use this to archive projects and when I am working on a large project. The CLOSEST I came in a laptop not only cost more, but weighed more as well.

    Also, the 17 inch PB is not much thicker then my 12 inch. Just like people did not understand why folks paid 400-500 for ye olde Palm V when it was released (when the Palm III with mor memory cost less), people don't understand why the 17 Inch Powerbook costs less. The smaller it is, the harder it is to make. Almost every PC laptop I see is thicker then most Macs are and if they are the same thickness, there's tradeoffs....like external CDRW/DVD_R drives. My only beef....include packet writing to RW media in the OS. Even windows doesn't do this yet.

    I also hazard to guess that the LCD in the Acer is no where near the quality of the one in the Powerbook. I have NEVER seen better LCD's then the ones in all Apple products.

    YMMV, but Apple does have decent systems and while somethings aren't cheap, there's enough variety in the line to make the price similar.

    --

    Gorkman