NotebookForums.com › Forums › Notebook Manufacturers › Acer Forums › Acer Notebook Reviews › ACER TravelMate 8104 "Sonoma" Review
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

ACER TravelMate 8104 "Sonoma" Review - Page 3

post #41 of 293
2/4/05 at 7:25pm
I have spent most of the day reading the many reviews, posts and comments about the Acer TM 8104. SO, I broke down and ordered one from PC Mall. I am SO excited!! Hopefully, it won't take 2 weeks to get it. Can't wait!!
Reply
Reply
post #42 of 293
2/4/05 at 7:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by DarthAcer
The only issue I have with Travelmate keyboard (both TM8104 and my previous TM8003) is that sometimes when you don't hit a key straight, there is a feeling as if it's about to break or something, and I'm always afraid to break keys. It misses characters sometimes for me if I don't push keys far enough, but that's probably my typing problem and not Acer's.

And with all that no key ever broke on Travelmate keyborards for me. I just happen to be very careful with computers, especially laptops, to minimize a chance of accident.
haha i have the same problem with the sony FS series the keys i dunno seem fragile and i am afraid they are gonna snap off!!

i broke down and ordered one today too a 8104! i get it next week can't wait!
Reply
Reply
post #43 of 293
2/4/05 at 8:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MrMsyvc
REF this quote from the other thread, how did you do this? Using the Advanced settings in SpeedSwitchXP or something else? My fan runs a lot, but I feel the temps are stable. Mobility Meter usually shows a CPU temp of about 57C, and it was at 63C right after the 3DMark2001 benchie, but went down quickly again. The HDD temp is usually around 37-39C.
I did not do anything special but at least CPU runs mostly at 800MHz except under heavy load (then it's 1.1GHz, 1.3GHz, etc. up to 2GHz depending on demand). CPU temp hovers around 50-52C and HD is same as yours (37-39C) Under heavy gaming CPU temp does rise to 61-64C but only at times, mostly it is around 57-60C

What I like most about setup is minimum of extra apps and "services." Cut down about 30MB of RAM usage too (not much but pleasant anyway)
Reply
Reply
post #44 of 293
2/4/05 at 9:01pm
Darth, when I get my 8103, do you mind if I shoot you an email, PM or some such to get advise? I'm a total newb to notebooks and want to get mine streamlined and "light" as possible.......no extranneous junk, as you did. As soon as I get it, I'm going to get a 7200rpm hitachi to replace as the main HD. I'll buy a USB enclosure for the seagate. Since I'm buying hardware I'll also probably get an extra OEM version of XPP. I'll want to wipe the seagate and format it so it is detectable and ready to use once plugged in w/ USB enclosure. Don't exactly know how to do this. Then I'll probably format and install the OEM XPP once the Hitachi is in and then add the drivers I need from the Acer CD. Should all of this be pretty straight forward? And do you feel you really need any of the Acer e-management stuff at all?
Reply
Reply
post #45 of 293
2/5/05 at 12:58am
Thread Starter 
Added 3DMark03 and 05 benchmarks. Added some Performance, Graphics, and Battery observations to first post of review.
Reply
Reply
post #46 of 293
2/5/05 at 1:27am
so overall.
MrMsyvc, are you impressed with the laptops performance? I mean it's a laptop, and i think some things are better left for desktops
But as a laptop would you say it's good ? great? how would u rate it, for the time that u have had it?
Reply
Reply
post #47 of 293
2/5/05 at 1:45am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by lastdon
so overall.
MrMsyvc, are you impressed with the laptops performance? I mean it's a laptop, and i think some things are better left for desktops
But as a laptop would you say it's good ? great? how would u rate it, for the time that u have had it?
IMHO, grrrrrreat. I was mesmerized watching the graphics quality on the 3DMark tests, particularly 2001 and 03. Beautiful. Trees blowing in the wind, special lighting. I have to load more games (just have BF1942 DCFinal on right now). Probably see if I can HL2 back on. Performance is excellent, despite my comments about drag while doing large file copy. I like the wiiiiide screen and the color is quite decent. I'm on batteries at the moment at 80% brightness and it looks fine to me. I'm even on the 1680x1050 and its very readable. Yes, it's a laptop and you'll probably never get the massive water-cooled ultra-OC'd performance you can get in a souped up desktop. (Shouldn't say never in this biz.) When I bought my first laptop (the 8887) I sold 2 desktops. I still don't need one and don't forsee ever needing one unless I get an itch for one of those supercharged dragsters. So far this 8104 has light weight, portability, excellent cpu performance, and should game like a bandit. It has all the bells and whistles you could hope for at this time. I like the 100GB 5400 HDD. PLENTY of room for awhile. My twin 60 5400s performed well in my 8887 and this one seems to be doing just fine. "Personally" I can't see dropping 40GB for a 7200 unless you really want that extra performance. We're spoiled for choice for good laptops these days. This, IMO, is the start of the next wave, but to each his own. AFAIC, it's a keeper. Good luck!
Reply
Reply
post #48 of 293
2/5/05 at 1:57am
Quote:
Originally Posted by dock44
Darth, when I get my 8103, do you mind if I shoot you an email, PM or some such to get advise? I'm a total newb to notebooks and want to get mine streamlined and "light" as possible.......no extranneous junk, as you did. As soon as I get it, I'm going to get a 7200rpm hitachi to replace as the main HD. I'll buy a USB enclosure for the seagate. Since I'm buying hardware I'll also probably get an extra OEM version of XPP. I'll want to wipe the seagate and format it so it is detectable and ready to use once plugged in w/ USB enclosure. Don't exactly know how to do this. Then I'll probably format and install the OEM XPP once the Hitachi is in and then add the drivers I need from the Acer CD. Should all of this be pretty straight forward? And do you feel you really need any of the Acer e-management stuff at all?
I never ever had a need, nor could I justify to have a regular setup of bootable OS on external USB enclosure. Bootable CD/DVD and USB sticks for repair/restore purposes are fine. But if I want multi-OS boot, I do it on a main drive in multiple partitions, and use external enclosures to host data-only drives. So I won't be of any help in what you are trying to achieve

Unless you know what you're doing and a "perfectionist" or are really dissatisfied with Acer-provided applications, don't change it. If it works for you, leave it be.

Information that I provide here in the forums is my personal experience. It is for adventurous souls like me. I'm not going to guide anyone or take any responsibility for tweaks I'm describing. That should be clear. I'm just writing about my discoveries and experiments (no laptops were hurt )

What I'm saying is that I'll be glad to suggest some hints or give an opinion. But that's it.
Reply
Reply
post #49 of 293
2/5/05 at 1:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MrMsyvc
REF this quote from the other thread, how did you do this? Using the Advanced settings in SpeedSwitchXP or something else? My fan runs a lot, but I feel the temps are stable. Mobility Meter usually shows a CPU temp of about 57C, and it was at 63C right after the 3DMark2001 benchie, but went down quickly again. The HDD temp is usually around 37-39C.
Try reading this...

Wip
Reply
Reply
post #50 of 293
2/5/05 at 2:02pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wip3out
Try reading this...

Wip
Thnx. Saved it.
Reply
Reply
post #51 of 293
2/5/05 at 9:40pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by DarthAcer
I never ever had a need, nor could I justify to have a regular setup of bootable OS on external USB enclosure. Bootable CD/DVD and USB sticks for repair/restore purposes are fine. But if I want multi-OS boot, I do it on a main drive in multiple partitions, and use external enclosures to host data-only drives. So I won't be of any help in what you are trying to achieve

Unless you know what you're doing and a "perfectionist" or are really dissatisfied with Acer-provided applications, don't change it. If it works for you, leave it be.

Information that I provide here in the forums is my personal experience. It is for adventurous souls like me. I'm not going to guide anyone or take any responsibility for tweaks I'm describing. That should be clear. I'm just writing about my discoveries and experiments (no laptops were hurt )

What I'm saying is that I'll be glad to suggest some hints or give an opinion. But that's it.
Darth, I probably didn't word that too good. I don't want an OS on the external. I just want it completely bare for storage, probably just 1 big partition. I just don't know how, or more precisely when to wipe it clean and format it. Should I wipe it clean and reformat it while it's still in the chassis, then take it out without installing anything on it, then it will be ready to use once hooked up USB? Or should I just take it out with everything on it as it comes from Acer and then reformat it clean once hooked up via USB enclosure? Or wouldn't make a difference which way I did it? That was the gist of my question.
Reply
Reply
post #52 of 293
2/6/05 at 12:12am
Quote:
Originally Posted by dock44
Darth, I probably didn't word that too good. I don't want an OS on the external. I just want it completely bare for storage, probably just 1 big partition. I just don't know how, or more precisely when to wipe it clean and format it. Should I wipe it clean and reformat it while it's still in the chassis, then take it out without installing anything on it, then it will be ready to use once hooked up USB? Or should I just take it out with everything on it as it comes from Acer and then reformat it clean once hooked up via USB enclosure? Or wouldn't make a difference which way I did it? That was the gist of my question.
You can first put it in enclosure and then do whatever you want to do with it: wipe out, repartition, format,... It will appear as series of logical drives when you connect it through USB. Open Windows Explorer, right-click mouse on "My Computer" and select "Manage". Then select "Disk Management" in the tree on the left. On the right, in the lower part, you will see your primary drive, DVD drive, and your USB-connected drive. There you can right-click on partitions to delete them (or format), you can click on "free space" to create new partitions. It's pretty straightforward.

I'd postpone repartitioning/reformatting drive until your new setup for the main drive is working. Just for safety. And even wait a bit more. What if you forgot to copy/save something important... That's from personal experience
Reply
Reply
post #53 of 293
2/6/05 at 12:34am
DarthAcer:
I think I read in a thread somewhere that you installed xp using the key that came with the 8104 but with a different xp disk. If this is true I think this is what I'll do to eliminate the extra crap Acer puts on there. It makes a ton of sense to streamline the lappie but I see someone had trouble repartitioning Guess I'll have to read up on the solution before I try this. What software do you recommend to make a backup image? I have a copy of UBD but I can't recall if it has imaging software on.
Reply
Reply
post #54 of 293
2/6/05 at 2:40am
my one buddy had an acer with partitions , what he did he bought a copy of partition magic, and just merged the two drives together, as this is an options in partition magic, and than formatted it with the windows xp disk with no problems
it might work this way? did for him..

so we can use a xp pro cd? with the key provided? though the pro cd has to be OEM right?
Reply
Reply
post #55 of 293
2/6/05 at 3:08am
Quote:
Originally Posted by lastdon
so we can use a xp pro cd? with the key provided? though the pro cd has to be OEM right?
If you have an XP Pro disk, make a "copy" but replace i386 directory with the one from your Acer laptop. In reality, only setupp.ini file is what you need to use the serial on the back of your laptop. That setupp.ini contains encoded serial and also identifies type of install (retail/oem/corporate).

There are many resources on Internet on how to create bootable WinXP CD, for instance: http://www.nu2.nu/bootcd/#wxp

I usually pick i386 directory from laptop, SUPPORT, VALUEADD directories and files in the root of CD (WIN51, WIN51IP, WIN51IP.SP2, NAME.BIN, etc.) from some retail WinXP CD, boot.bin from one of those sites, and then use Nero with customized settings to burn it. Works like a charm.

Picking i386 from this laptop has another advantage, it has SP2 slipstreamed, so no extra steps required unlike if you started with i386 from retail CD and copied only setupp.ini from laptop.

I use this CD for clean reinstall once. After that, I typically install all drivers, some basic applications, do OS tuning/optimizing, and then backup drive C: with Ghost to bootable DVD (PCDOS + Ghost boot floppy image as a boot part of DVD). This DVD is my ultimate restore DVD. I can restore to a useable system that way. It cost me many attempts and literally days of experimenting (Ghost is a tricky app) to get it right. Might be easier with Acronis or something else but I don't want to try since what I have now works
Reply
Reply
post #56 of 293
2/9/05 at 9:52am
Thread Starter 
BENCHMARKS and DVD INFO

3DMark2001SE. Is this good? It was run at 1024x768. It was awesome to watch. Un-be-LIEV-able quality.

All stock settings (mostly High Quality) in the graphics. Norton AV was running as was ePowerMgr.


Details


-----------------------------------
3DMark03, 1024x768x32, says Core Clock is 358 Memory Clock is 297.

Details

-----------------------------------
3DMark05, 1024x768x32. This test drags along at 1-3fps, but according to online comparisons and results that's what it does.

Details
-----------------------------------
DVDInfoPro freeware analysis of DVD drive:



-----------------------------------
SiSandra Benchmark pix links:






Reply
Reply
post #57 of 293
2/10/05 at 4:19pm
have a question for you about the fan. Does it turn on at all if notebooks idles at 600 Mhz?
Reply
Reply
post #58 of 293
2/10/05 at 4:32pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by klas
have a question for you about the fan. Does it turn on at all if notebooks idles at 600 Mhz?
I'd guess it is OFF most of the time at 600 Mhz. A very noticeable difference.
Reply
Reply
post #59 of 293
2/10/05 at 4:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MrMsyvc
I'd guess it is OFF most of the time at 600 Mhz. A very noticeable difference.
Just a note: if you turn off wireless and use wired network, it runs cooler and faster. But you are tied with one more wire that way. I personally run all my internet gaming over wireless just for the freedom of movement. But a couple of days ago had to do it over wire. Definitely about 3C lower temp with wireless off. Probably because wireless card is located next to the hottest place in laptop, under touchpad.
Reply
Reply
post #60 of 293
2/10/05 at 7:16pm
MrMsSyvc,

Is there any weakness about the LCD display?

I am very concern about the backlight brightness uniformity.

Thanks
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Acer Notebook Reviews
NotebookForums.com › Forums › Notebook Manufacturers › Acer Forums › Acer Notebook Reviews › ACER TravelMate 8104 "Sonoma" Review