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Gruffi Apprentice
Joined: 15 Aug 2003 Posts: 209 Location: Antwerpen - Flanders - Belgium
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Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2003 12:30 pm Post subject: Travelmate 800 LMib, WAS:Notebook: Travelmate 800 or 435? |
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Hello everyone,
I want to buy a new laptop. At first i wanted to buy the Acer Travelmate 435LMi. After doing a search on the forum i heard allot of good stuff about the Acer Travelmate 800 series but nothing about the 435 series.
Acer Travelmate 435LMi notebook LX.T2606.151 :
Intel P4 3,06Ghz, 15'' TFT, 512MB (2x256MB), 60GB HDD, DVD-RW, LiIon, 56K modem, LAN, Windows XP Prof. Azerty BE
http://www.acer.be/vi_dutch/page9.do-dau34.oid=2314&UserCtxParam=0&GroupCtxParam=0&dctx1=2&ctx1=BE&crc=2494000277.htm
Acer Travelmate 803LCiB Centrino notebook LX.T2506.095 :
Intel Centrino 1,6Ghz 15'' TFT 2x256MB 40GB DVD-CDRW LiIon 56K Modem LAN(wired & wireless) Windows XP Prof. Multi-Language, Azerty BE
http://www.acer.be/vi_dutch/page9.do-dau34.oid=2358&UserCtxParam=0&GroupCtxParam=0&dctx1=2&ctx1=BE&crc=2710663496.htm
They both cost about the same (1900 EUR for the 800LCiB and 2090 EUR for the 435LMi) while the 435LMi has a way faster CPU and a bigger HD, so whats so good about this "Centrino" cpu that is has to be so expensive compared to the P4?
Anyone know what's actually inside these notebooks? (On the acer website they show nice pictures with very vague descriptions...)
Sound chipset? Network chipset? Modem chipset? DVD-R brand?
On the acer site they claim the P4 stays alive 2 hours on battery, that's not that much.... are the batteries swappable while the system is on? I guess not?
Any pro's or con's would be very much apreciated! _________________ ... and we will show Microsoft, that they cannot take whatever they want. And that Free Software is our software!
Last edited by Gruffi on Sat Sep 06, 2003 12:51 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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kamikaz3 Apprentice
Joined: 06 Feb 2003 Posts: 187
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Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2003 1:51 pm Post subject: |
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sound on the TM 800 is from intel, works fine with alsa and intel8x0
LAN 10/100 is from broadcom, available in most of the kernel sources (broadcom 44xx or something)
Wlan is intel 2100B (Centrino) which is unsupported
VGA is a radeon 9000 Mobility with 64MB ram
modem, never used it
I have the model with CDR/W, don't know the brand, but it just works, and as far as I see it, I won't be using it regularly. I have a faster writer in my desktop _________________ - Gentoo Linux gives me power, speed and flexibility - |
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smiler.se Tux's lil' helper
Joined: 18 Aug 2003 Posts: 115 Location: Sweden - Europe - Earth
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Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2003 3:02 pm Post subject: |
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The centrino isnt THAT much slower than the P4.
Check out a comparation here.
The centrino has a much longer battery life (I have been able to push out over 5 hours using speedfreq to tune the speed dynamicly on my TM 800LCi but they say that 4 hours is normal @ 1.3ghz).
Only thing I havent got working on the TM800 is the smartcard reader (havent tried), the internal wlan (unsupported so far by intel) and the internal modem (havent tried).
If you want to know anything more specifik about the TM800 ask me _________________ Christian
Sig out of date. Please upgrade to a newer one. |
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smiler.se Tux's lil' helper
Joined: 18 Aug 2003 Posts: 115 Location: Sweden - Europe - Earth
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Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2003 3:03 pm Post subject: |
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I forgot to mention the bent keyboard that I just love! _________________ Christian
Sig out of date. Please upgrade to a newer one. |
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Gruffi Apprentice
Joined: 15 Aug 2003 Posts: 209 Location: Antwerpen - Flanders - Belgium
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Gruffi Apprentice
Joined: 15 Aug 2003 Posts: 209 Location: Antwerpen - Flanders - Belgium
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Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2003 7:38 am Post subject: |
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First of all: thanks for all the info!
The parts list sounds great.... No via and no realtek.... what a blessing this laptop is!
I have a laptop with a realtek network card that only works when i first boot to windows and then reboot into linux...
And the onboard via82686 sounds is making me lose all my hair...
Now if my boss wants to pay me for all this hard work i did this month (reading gentoo forums for example ) i can go out and buy me a real laptop
Anyone read my previous post cause i still dont understand the difference between the 2 laptops _________________ ... and we will show Microsoft, that they cannot take whatever they want. And that Free Software is our software! |
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kamikaz3 Apprentice
Joined: 06 Feb 2003 Posts: 187
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Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2003 8:03 am Post subject: |
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LCib - with CDRW
LMib - with DVDR
There is also a 804Lcib, with 1.7 ghz Pentium M _________________ - Gentoo Linux gives me power, speed and flexibility - |
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Traveler n00b
Joined: 27 Aug 2003 Posts: 1 Location: Netherlands
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Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2003 7:11 pm Post subject: |
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LCib actually has a CD-RW/DVD-R combo, while the LMib has a DVD-RW (I'm planning on ordering that exact same laptop tomorrow (the 803LMib), so that's why I know - and here to look out for any info on the (im)possibility of easily getting Gentoo to run on it to make me change my mind at the last moment - though so far things are looking very hopeful.) :)
Oh, and to Baron FrostFire: since you're from Belgium, you might find this thread (at tweakers.net - in dutch) interesting - part 3 about the 80x laptops so far - ...and part 4 was just started. |
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Gruffi Apprentice
Joined: 15 Aug 2003 Posts: 209 Location: Antwerpen - Flanders - Belgium
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Posted: Fri Aug 29, 2003 6:58 am Post subject: |
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I have ordered the 803 LMib... i CAN read ordinary CD's i assume??
Can't wait to have this baby in my hands
Edit: Thx for the information Traveler _________________ ... and we will show Microsoft, that they cannot take whatever they want. And that Free Software is our software! |
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feffi Apprentice
Joined: 29 Mar 2003 Posts: 216 Location: Sol->Earth->Germany->Giessen
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Gruffi Apprentice
Joined: 15 Aug 2003 Posts: 209 Location: Antwerpen - Flanders - Belgium
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Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2003 11:45 am Post subject: |
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yeah i noticed, thanks! when i get the laptop i'll post my results.
Maybe i should call the store for the 10th time and tell them to hurry? _________________ ... and we will show Microsoft, that they cannot take whatever they want. And that Free Software is our software! |
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Gruffi Apprentice
Joined: 15 Aug 2003 Posts: 209 Location: Antwerpen - Flanders - Belgium
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Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2003 5:49 pm Post subject: |
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i guess i should write some stuff down while installing, like how long the emerges take etc... any other stuff i should report? (-: _________________ ... and we will show Microsoft, that they cannot take whatever they want. And that Free Software is our software! |
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feffi Apprentice
Joined: 29 Mar 2003 Posts: 216 Location: Sol->Earth->Germany->Giessen
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Gruffi Apprentice
Joined: 15 Aug 2003 Posts: 209 Location: Antwerpen - Flanders - Belgium
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Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2003 5:28 pm Post subject: |
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i'm bootstrapping this candy as we speak now!!
edit: bootstrap
real 171m42
user 60m33
sys 103m44 _________________ ... and we will show Microsoft, that they cannot take whatever they want. And that Free Software is our software!
Last edited by Gruffi on Wed Sep 03, 2003 8:16 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Gruffi Apprentice
Joined: 15 Aug 2003 Posts: 209 Location: Antwerpen - Flanders - Belgium
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Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2003 6:15 pm Post subject: |
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Ok time for a stupid question:
Did you manage to remove the Designed for Microsoft XP label without damaging the surface?
btw I have the 803 LMib but thats almost the same _________________ ... and we will show Microsoft, that they cannot take whatever they want. And that Free Software is our software! |
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feffi Apprentice
Joined: 29 Mar 2003 Posts: 216 Location: Sol->Earth->Germany->Giessen
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Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2003 10:46 pm Post subject: logo |
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@Baron FrostFire
yes i managed it with....alcohol !
I'm not drawing any connections between M$ and alcohol...no...I'm not...
Your's
_kev_
BTW: Can you note wwhat drivers you're installing and how ?? would be great if not too much trouble...it would help other geeks... _________________ have fun
feffi
/(bb|[^b]{2})/ that is the Question!
Gentoo-Wiki: Acer Travelmate 803 LCi manual |
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Gruffi Apprentice
Joined: 15 Aug 2003 Posts: 209 Location: Antwerpen - Flanders - Belgium
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Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2003 7:31 am Post subject: |
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So far i havent much to say yet... i followed the installation manual reccomended settings except for the CFLAGS (will have to check back home) and the kernel.
bootstrap took 170m, emerge system a little over an hour
I tried the ac-sources wich segfaulted on me... then i tried the development sources 2.6beta4 wich compiled but paniced on me on reboot... i must have forgotten something in all the excitement
Now i'm running the gentoo sources wich boot op fine. Haven't installed anything yet. Gonna install the 2.6 sources more carefully tonight.
btw: in the kernel i compiled the broadcom network driver as module, in the help it said "the driver will be called b44" but it's "modprobe bcw4400" actually.
Will report back when i got x running _________________ ... and we will show Microsoft, that they cannot take whatever they want. And that Free Software is our software! |
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Gruffi Apprentice
Joined: 15 Aug 2003 Posts: 209 Location: Antwerpen - Flanders - Belgium
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Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2003 12:50 pm Post subject: |
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ok, here's where i am so far...
under kernel 2.4:
as usuall the sound with alsa sounds is extremely disorted so i unmerged it and used esd wich works perfectly
edit: actually not entirely true: the sound volume is way too low and there is no volume control on the laptop itself as far as i know and i don't know how to fix it in software [FIXED: emerge aumixer]
the DVD-RW works fine with ide-scsi
the radeon 9000 works for 99%
important programs such as tuxracer en quake3 work however in quake3 i am "missing" a very small part of the screen (on the right part of the screen it goes like 1cm "outside" the real screen), the resolution is ok.
when i swap between console and kde with altF1 - altF7 the screen often is messed up, moving some windows around sorta solves the problem.
the broadcom driver in gentoo kernel 2.4.20.whatever.rc6 sucks, the driver is called BCW4400, the driver doesnt work under heavy load. When i do an emerge -f on 3 consoles and thus opening 3 connections the network locks up and i have to do a net restart. Same happens when i try to download a single file from another computer @ 100MBit.
Kernel 2.6
Can't get X to start up: it complains that it can't load kernel module agpgart and a dri module.
the broadcom driver is called B44 and works perfectly under heavy load.
Thats's it so far... I can choose between a decently working network or a working X
I had hoped it would be allot easier... I'm gonna score me a beer and try kernel 2.6 again! _________________ ... and we will show Microsoft, that they cannot take whatever they want. And that Free Software is our software! |
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Gruffi Apprentice
Joined: 15 Aug 2003 Posts: 209 Location: Antwerpen - Flanders - Belgium
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Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2003 11:27 am Post subject: |
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cdrao works now too... simply adding "generic-mmc" to dao in k3B did the trick _________________ ... and we will show Microsoft, that they cannot take whatever they want. And that Free Software is our software! |
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Gruffi Apprentice
Joined: 15 Aug 2003 Posts: 209 Location: Antwerpen - Flanders - Belgium
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Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2003 1:37 pm Post subject: |
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Allright... getting quite happy now...
ditched the gentoo-sources and used the ac-sources 2.4.22-ac1
It has the working b44 broadcom driver, and X and dri work.
it works a bit different than the gentoo sources:
I compiled agpgart static in the kernel and DID NOT compile in support for DRI in the kernel.
then i did emerge ati-drivers, rebooted and important programs such as tuxracer work.
I still have the weird quake3 problem tho.
getting close to a fully working system now _________________ ... and we will show Microsoft, that they cannot take whatever they want. And that Free Software is our software! |
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