Acer Aspire Timeline 1810T: Looks of a Netbook, Guts of a CULV Notebook
Looking for the love-child of a netbook and notebook? Acer seems to have bred one behind closed doors with the Aspire Timeline 1810T. Macles says it looks like the Acer Aspire One 751 netbook, but only from the outside. Instead of an Intel Atom, Acer shoved an Intel ULV SU3500 CPU running at 1.4GHz. That’s a chip from the Consumer Ultra Low Voltage line that’s surely going to appear in many more devices over the next six to 12 months.
Gone also is the Intel GMA 950 for graphics. Instead, the CPU is paired with the Intel GMA 4500MHD chipset, which can handle up to 4GB of memory. That’s double what most netbooks can deal with and should offer decent HD video decoding. The 11.6-inch display can handle it, thanks to the 1366 x 768 resolution. Using the HDMI port, you can pump the video out to an HD television set in a pinch, too.
With this platform, Macles expects an eight-hour battery life, even with the bigger jolt of the CULV platform. So what happens to the traditional netbook Atom platform when manufacturers start offering large netbook form factors with decent notebook power? It’s likely that cost will play a big part here, and there’s no price yet for the 1810T. If consumers could get greater performance with solid battery life in a light package for only $100 to $200 more than a netbook, they could be drawn to devices like this.
Looking back to an NPD report on netbook satisfaction last month, two data points support that thought:
- 60 percent of netbook owners expected the device to have the same functionality as a notebook.
- 65 percent of the 18- to 24-year-old demographic expected their netbook to perform better than a notebook. Only 27 percent of those felt that the netbook performed better than expected.
With a CULV, the device comes closer to offering the same functionality of a notebook and might perform closer to what consumers expect. On the other hand, if these devices command a $300, $400 or more premium over a netbook, they won’t likely compete for the same consumer decision.
i wonder how the CULV performance compares to the highest end Atom & what the power consumption differences are?
price wise there is going to HAVE to be an impact, “real” CPU, bigger/hirez screen, standard OS. even with that said, its still a faction the price of the Vaio T’s & Lifebook P’s in years past.
ive seen the 751 in person (same chassis but lower specs) & it is impressive. small, thin, light & nearly the same size as 10″ netbooks due to the more efficient use of the screen bezel. knowing Acer, the only way its going to get that kind of battery life is with a big ugly extended battery. i would prefer a “fat butt” where the extended battery fits flush like how Asus does.
Ah yes, the dawn of the “Not Book” – It’s not a netbook, it’s not a notebook
The name looks like a ‘leet speak’ variation of the ID10T error. Maybe not the most confidence inspiring name…
Patrick
My latest find is the Gateway L110:
Athlon XP
AMD X1270
720p resolution
11.6″ screen
$400 at Best Buy
Almost tempted me, a real computer in netbook size.
Sorry, specs for the Gateway L110 are:
Athlon 64
ATI X1270
11.6″ screen
720p resolution
250GB HD
3xUSB
6 cell battery.
It looks black Mac-like and is a winner in my book.
$400 at Best Buy
Yup, we covered a very similar Gateway model two weeks back. Some of the commenters noted that the ATI graphics are only marginally better than the standard Intel GPU. Benchmarks for the Nvidia Ion however are reportedly much higher.
Those statistics are fascinating, especially the 27% who thought their netbook performed better than expected.
I expect OpenCL/Cuda support from any real computing device of 2010, which is the lifespan of this ‘netbook’.
its a step in the right direction, but i want AMD or nVidia for my next, unless Intel has RAPID plans to adopt OpenCL in the near future for its 4500HD chipset.
Here’s an Acer straight from the land of fake: http://www.shanzai.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=46:shanzai-aspires-to-quality-netbook-&catid=3:notebooks&Itemid=5&dsq=12679632#comment-12679632
Looks ok apart from the Via CPU