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.

Powerbook.......all the way

[Anonymous Coward]

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.

Perfect plan to design a laptop that won't sell...

[bc90021]

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!

Whats the point?

[j0keralpha]

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

Great for home use?

[Stone316]

Personally since I don't play many games anymore (well cutting edge ones anyways) so I was thinking of getting a laptop for my next home computer and setup a wireless network. This would seem to be what i'm looking for... Not as mobile as a laptop but I don't expect to lug it around with me but its compact enough to fold up or bring to any room in the house.

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.

Re:Powerbook.......all the way

[Wateshay]

Here! Here!

I've only got a 15" (and 5.6 lb) version, but it is by far the best laptop I've ever used.

Why should it be a joke?

[Lurks]

The boom in notebooks/laptops is a large part of the revival of the fortunes of IT. What's more, it's actually consumer notebook use which is the big sector which has been on the rise and most of the notebook vendors realise this.

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.

Not a poor move

[sczimme]

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?

why would anyone buy this

[pummer]

when you could just get a 17" powerbook?

Not really a laptop

[drix]

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.

Laptop Evolution

[psbrogna]

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.

It's obviously not a "portable"

[aengblom]

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.)

Re:Powerbook.......all the way

[dreamchaser]

Except for the fact that, believe it or not, some people *prefer* a Wintel or Linux on Intel solution over an Apple solution. You're comparing apples to oranges really.

I agree with the other comment made here, just because YOU aren't the target market doesn't mean there isn't one.

Re:Not a poor move

[haystor]

I'd gladly "suffer" 16 pounds just to be able to move this around my house easily...oh and to be able to afford it easily.

Sheesh, 16 pounds is easily portable. My son is 30 pounds, but we don't leave him at home because he's too heavy to lift into the car seat.

Sure it might be a pain for someone that takes their computer everywhere, but there are lots of more expensive options for those people.

Re:Poor move..

[efflux]

160 GB disk. So what? How many offices don't have a server to store everything on?

Umm.... how about most of them? Or better yet, maybe their desktops workstations out-perform their server [ibm.com]. There are a variety of different office environments, with varying levels of technical support.

That said, I still think this notebook would be overkill for less tech-savy environments. Note: We have a rather low-end iSeries, so I recognize my shot was rather cheap.

Re:Poor move..

[dave420]

It uses the 5700, actually.

This is a good machine! It fills the void between desktop and notebook, with a price that's affordable. The only notebook I'm aware of that's trying to fill the void with that much gusto is Dell's Inspiron XPS, which offers up to a 3.2GHz Pentium 4 Extreme Edition, as well as the stuff you get in this Acer.

Students might love this - they can have desktop performance in something they can take to lectures. slowly. in a cart. :-P

Re:Poor move..

[DR SoB]

I disagree with all these posts, this laptop is cool for 1 reason: 17" monitor.. Now if only there was a airplane seat other then FIRST CLASS that could actually fit it, I might even consider buying it. My first laptop was a compaq AT, and it weighed almost 25 lbs, so this is actually pretty light still :)

Compaq AT specs:
30 Meg HD
Running MS-DOS 5.0
Monochrome 12 " monitor
1 floppy drive :)
No mouse - Use an external (Who needs a mouse for DOS NEwayz?)
Weight = 25lbs
Battery life: ~30-60 minutes.
BUILT IN 2400bps modem (Blazing fast at the time!)

And the year? 1989.

Oh yeah, and it was a BETA laptop given to me as a gift from Compaq, hense you couldn't open the case without the self-destruct mechanisms destroying it.

Re:Powerbook.......all the way

[dave420]

Yes, but you can play games on this one.

With all due respect to macs, the games are slightly lacking.

The article states that you get the 3EGHz, 1gig ram, 120gig hard disk, Windows Pro, .11g wifi for about $2000, which is a lot less than a 17" powerbook with the same features (can you even get a 120gig HDD for a powerbook?)

Some people are missing the point

[-noefordeg-]

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.

Re:Poor move..

[kommakazi]

Hell, a 17" PowerBook G4 only weighs in at 6.9 lbs... it's called "poor design"

Re:Powerbook.......all the way

[Anonymous Coward]

You certanly can't get 3GHZ in a powerbook, and games probably need it.

Re:Poor move..

[beeblebrox87]

Its not so much that the 5200go sucks, its that nvidia also produces 5600go and 5700go chips, which are faster, better, eat more battery, and have higher version numbers. The market for this laptop is the sort of gamers who want to be able to brag that they have a 3EGHz laptop at a LAN party. A graphics chip that is any less that the absolute biggest number available detracts substantially from said bragging rights. Thats all.

Re:Poor move..

[erwinkarim]

i think there's a market for these kind of notebooks.

the people who bought these kind notebooks are people who usually don't planing to move those notebooks around too much, leave in their room, but on occasion, do move from place to place and would like to bring their computers around.

or those few paraniods who hides thier notebooks around when they are not at home but would like to have the best technology on their hands.

there are some people, for example, students who uses campus computers on campus, but move from one house to another every year and come back to their parents home every now and then. or the business person who travel very little. stays in the office most of the time.

Apple Trolls

[Anonymous Coward]

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.

Re:more storeable than portable

[nukem1999]

I disagree, at least in my laptopless mindset when I was still in college, the laptop should be pretty well portable, specifically to take it basically *everywhere* with you. All the CS and CompE areas are covered with wireless, better than scribbling in a notebook, be able to build sample code as it's being discussed, and there's always games for the spectacularly boring classes. And if you have a tues/thurs class without an available outlet, good luck with this laptop's expected battery life of 1 hour (when most tues/thurs classes run 1:15)

Re:Poor move..

[kfg]

Well, obviously I disagree. :)

The primary value of the laptop is it's small form factor, low weight and unitary design that allows you to use it, well, on the top of your lap.

A 16 pound desktop replacement is never going to be used on your lap, except, perhaps, under some sort of duress. You're going to put it on a desktop to use. The ergonomics of a desktop machine are superiour to a laptop's ergonomics when used on a desktop. The unitary desktop machine died for good reason.

When I just need to stick something in my bag so I can write a paper or something, say while doing research at the library, I take my notebook, but I don't enjoy using it.

When I need the full power of a desktop in a remote location I take a lunchpail and bless it for not having the laptop form factor.

If all you want is a handle on your laptop, well, that's what the carrying bag is for.

KFG

Re:Compare to a 6.9 lb 17-inch PowerBook

[Glonoinha]

Damn that thing is nice. 'Cept I don't do anything remotely served by the OS/X (or whatever) platform.

At the risk of being burned at the stake as a heretic I would say that if Apple make hardware that I could install Windows 2000 Pro / Win XP Pro on I would be all over it. The case of the G4 is simply amazing with the handles on top and smooth edges, their displays are top notch (although I like my Logitech keyboard and mouse) - everything about the exterior of their hardware is simply amazing. Too bad I can't use it.

I know, crazy talk - but with IBM (et.al) looking at adopting Linux as the desktop there are going to be a few open spaces in the partner list for Microsoft - who better than Apple? It would be like USA and USSR cooperating to the effect of a new world order and maybe a space station or something. Stranger things have happened, and it would be one way for Apple to gain market share.

Re:why would anyone buy this

[mst76]

> when you could just get a 17" powerbook?

Because it costs about $1500 less.

"Never mind the quality, feel the width!"

[TintinX]

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.

Lan parties?

[techstar25]

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.

Re:Poor move..

[Gherald]

The primary value of a lightweight laptop is that, yes, you can put it on your lap.

The primary value of a heavy, desktop-replacement notebook as oppossed to a lunchbox is that its a simple brick with a screen that folds up, meaning its easier to carry from place to place.

There'll allways be some strange people who prefer lunchboxes, but they are the minority and I doubt the general desktop-replacement-buying-public gives a shit.

As for my suggestion that a handle might be useful to carry 16 pounds, I agree a carrying case is better for long distances but if you are moving a relatively short distance like, say, one side of a large room to another, you aren't going to want to stuff it back in the carrying case for such a short time.

Re:Powerbook.......all the way

[zerocool^]

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.

Crack?

Check it: From the article - the notebook with WinXP Professional and a DVD burner will run about $2000.
From Apple's website, a powerbook with a 17" screen, 512 megs of ram (half that of the acer), 80 GB hard disk (half that of the acer), and an ATI mobility radeon 9600 (less good than the NVidia counterpart in the Acer) runs a whopping $3000.

So, to recap -
$3000 Apple laptop
1.33 Ghz G-4
17" screen
80GB hard drive
512 MB ram
DVD burner

$2000 Acer laptop:
3.0 Ghz P-4
17" screen
twice the hard drive space
twice the RAM
DVD burner

Please. Research first. Apple laptops are:
1.) extremely high quality
2.) aesthetically pleasing
3.) lightweight
4.) really really expensive

Please don't take this as an endorsement of one over the other: I love apple hardware, and am probably soon to be in the market for an apple laptop; however, it bugs the shit out of me when people claim that Apple hardware is cheap. It's not.

~Will

Re:Poor move..

[MyFourthAccount]

The only thing thats actually big about this notebook (other than the size ofcourse) is the hard-drive

Yeah, and did you notice the article says this relating to the harddrive:

Although Acer simply dipped into the desktop PC parts bin to get the two components

I certainly hope that's not true. Your typical desktop harddrive has nowhere near the shock and vibration resistance as a notebook harddrive. I think we are talking almost an order of magnitude.

It's hard to believe that they actually stuck a 3.5" HDD in there, but looking at my (relatively big, but not too crazy) notebook, I suppose it's possible. And incredibly stoopid.

If you want a 7200 RPM drive, just get the 2.5" 60GB Hitachi one. I have one of those and it works as a charm. Still the notebook drive shock and vibration though.

Re:Poor move..

[Tailhook]

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

3 GHz P4. OK, that's pretty nice.
That's damn nice. Certainly not stupid...

1 GB RAM. Nothing special about that.
Not for a desktop. For a portable it's still on the high end.

160 GB disk. So what? How many offices don't have a server to store everything on?
Depending on file servers for large amounts of storage you need to use remotely is stupid...

DVD burner. Optional on some laptops and you can always use an external to a docking station.
Docking stations are somewhat heavier than this machine...

These are my requirements; High performance that is not compromised when I'm not at the office. All software, storage and media devices available regardless of whether I'm at the office. Just enough portability to make it from the office to the car and back in short order. Enough battery life to survive 60 minutes in a meeting, assuming it never goes standby. Cost low enough that I can get it in the budget with adequate frequency.

Given that set of requirements this machine is a good setup. It has no appeal to the dainty, sandal wearing consultant types of the .com age, but most of them are using 3 year old laptops and thankful for it.

Re:Poor move..

[EverDense]

I bought a Clevo D470W [clevo.com.tw] about six months ago.
Clevo make the Alienware gaming notebooks.

It weights 4.2Kg, which, considering the processing power of the PC, doesn't bother me at all.
I use it for playing FPS games and coding. The Unreal Tournament 2004 demo, for instance, runs
smoothly with all the graphics settings maximised.

It is a VERY portable desktop replacement.

Re:Poor move..

[Sylver Dragon]

Spend some time looking at the benchmarks. The older GForce4 Ti4600 and Ti4800 tend to outperform the FX5200 by a huge margin. Heck, they even tend to outperform the FX5600. This isn't to say that your card it absolute shite, but you would have done better to by a higher end GF4 card, as opposed to a low end GFFX card. You'd get better performance for about the same price. Sure, you don't get the pretty DX9 features, but then you probably won't need those for a while, and by the time you do, the lackluster performance of the FX5200 will start to be a problem.

Film, Video, Lights

[VoidEngineer]

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....

Re:1-hour battery life, 2 hours to charge

[Rob Simpson]

Well, it might be okay as a "desktop replacement". Though I'll bet that with trying to cool the 3GHz P4, I'd find the roaring fans to be extremely distracting, especially since they're probably of the laptop variety that are quiet on idle then ramp up as soon as you start a program that uses more than 2% of CPU load. But the battery is pointless - why not just remove it and make the thing a little less massive?

(OT) Personally, I'm more interested in finding a small, light, Pentium M system with great battery life and low noise - but I haven't seen any with more than 256 megs of memory, which is ridiculous. Any suggestions?