Acer TravelMate C110: Centrino infused Tablet PC
by Andrew Ku on September 19, 2003 2:15 PM EST- Posted in
- Laptops
Construction — Under the Hood
Trying to keep the voltage consumption at its lowest, Acer has decided to go with the ultra low voltage 900MHz Pentium-M. Aside from that, the system we received was configured with the Intel 855GM chipset, 512MB DDR PC2100 memory, WiFi connectivity, and a 40.0GB 4200RPM hard drive.Like the IBM ThinkPad X31, the Pentium-M on this system is mounted directly onto the motherboard, most likely to save space since this is also an ultraportable system. The CPU makes contact with the heatsink with some thermal interface, similar to that on some of the bottom of the Pentium 4 heatsinks.
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The aluminum heatsink that cools the CPU is attached to the metal case that covers the components on the top of the motherboard. There is no fan, as the CPU is passively cooled in this system. Within the aluminum heatsink, there is very slim copper heat pipe, which runs parallel to the keyboard. While this proves some cooling, the exhaust is passed to two aluminum ducts above and to the right of the CPU. Since there is no fan, the system is dead quiet, which is a definite plus.
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Next to the CPU sits the National Semiconductor PC87392VJG Super I/O controller for the parallel port, serial port, digitizer, and FIR. The keyboard and PS/2 are controlled by the KBC M38857, which is south of the north bridge.
To the left of CPU sits the 855GM north bridge, which has a thermal pad on the metal case covering it to help dissipate heat. Previous Centrino based systems that we have looked at have come with the 855PM north bridge, so this is a first for us. Like the Intel desktop chipsets, the G designates integrated graphics. The 855GM comes with Intel Extreme Graphics 2 technology and shares up to 64MB of video memory. This isn’t intended for even moderate 3D graphics, and our recommendation would be to stick to 2D or simple 3D graphics. While this is a space saver, the shared memory architecture is going to eat into at least 32MB of system memory and will cramp the front side bus.
While it isn’t labeled, the modem for the C110 is the Ambit V.92 MDC fax/data modem.
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The motherboard for the Acer C110 is quite small. It has a surface area that is little over that of the casing, and its gapping left side allows for the C110 to cut down on weight and clutter.
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BlueFish - Wednesday, March 23, 2005 - link
Oh, one more thing to add. I asked the guy why should I bring it in, given that they had replaced the card. His response: "Maybe they replaced the wireless card with a faulty wireless card" - this was the reason for bringing it in so they could test it further. This is incredible! Acer support staff can do that? I'm guessing that their quality assurance processes must be horrible and that they can't even guarantee the wireless card is not faulty BEFORE you put it into a notebook!!!BlueFish - Wednesday, March 23, 2005 - link
I couldn't have made a bigger mistake. I was impressed by this unit. I totally bought the whole idea, tablet PC, small, light, tiny, hand recognition. What I got instead was wasted time, useless unit, horrible support and a real waste of money. Here goes a brief run down. If anybody from acer is reading this, you'd better get your act together, because stories like this only scare away consumers.1. Purchased the laptop in Jan (mid). Also purchased an external battery charger. Seemed like a good idea (given it came with 2).
2. Noticed that the laptop didn't shutdown well. Everytime I booted into the unit, it would hang, windows would go into grief and you needed to do it a few times before it decided to be useful.
3. Tried full system restore using Acer disks. Failed to be fixed.
4. Brought it into Acer's repair center. Wow, they guarentee 2 hour turn around. Only problem is, they're not quite in a convenient location. So it'll take you like 2 hours to get there and back anyway. Add it all up, that's 4 hours of wasted time. To top it all off, they are only open from 9 - 5. So what do they expect? customers to take time off work just to fix a stupid PC problem?
5. Got the unit back. Unit boots properly (yay).
6. Noticed the unit's Wireless IP stack keeps dumping. I'd drop a wireless connection many times and often just 5 mtrs away from a Netgear G wireless router. Rang Acer support - put on hold for 20 mins. Finally got through. Reported it and brought it back to the Acer repair center (again). Wasted another 4 hours.
7. Got a call to pick up the unit. Picked it up. The job form indicated they replaced the wireless card.
8. Got it that night and tried out the wireless. Same problem. Noticed that the problem occured depending on what software was running (seems very strange). This was MSN i was attempting to run and it caused the IP stack to dump! Discovered others are having this problem! Why didn't Acer support tell me of this?? instead of wasting my time. I'm a consultant and I hate to have to do these things because I'll have to make the hrs up later. Will Acer pay for my wasted time?
9. Called service support (again). Spoke to the support guy who wasn't very helpful, nor very sympathetic. Not even apologetic. He didn't even say sorry. What a bastard! I've had to waste almost 2 freekin working days and he didn't even have the courtesy to say sorry.
10. Worst still. I've discovered that the second battery they provided - which use to work - now doesn't even charge. I think it's the external charger. It's a bit flimsy in construction and could cause damage to the battery unit. I just tried the primary battery (the one that was working) and now it doesn't work. Probably because I used the external battery charger. Now I have two dud batteries. And to top it all off, you can't even use direct AC power (ie. run the laptop without a working battery). So if one day, the battery dies, forget using the power adaptor cos the unit's dead.
11. Service support said to bring it in again to the Acer support center to have a look again. I asked whether they were willing to replace the entire unit - no answer. The helpdesk guy IGNORED me. Asked if they were going to pickup and deliver they said no. So I have to waste another 4 hours to fix the unit, with no guarantees that after that it will be fixed. Asked for a total refund, they said no.
Am I wrong to expect so much from Acer? I don't think so. If I pay peanuts for something, I would expect peanuts. I'd say, "fair enough, it was cheep anyway. I can get another one... easy no fuss". But I paid AUD $3,700 for this product - an easy price for a plasma TV or LCD TV and now have incurred the following charges:
1. Transport charges to the service center (say 80 bucks)
2. Wasted time waiting and travelling (Say 1000 a day as a consultant) - 16 hours.
If you are looking for a good laptop - stay away from anybody who cannot deliver. Especially stay away unless they have the following:
1. Pickup and delivery of the laptop.
2. Willingness to stand behind their product
3. Renown product support.
Forget Acer's 2 hour guarantee. It's not much considering they don't pickup. You waste time doing all of that. And to sit there and wait 2 hours... forget it.
Acer - fix your products and do some real testing of them. Until then, everybody else, stay away from this pathetic, useless, counter productive vendor - you'll be a happier man/woman.
tomaal - Sunday, December 12, 2004 - link
so what are these rubber bits on the side of the monitor? I thought they might be some kind of speaker mounts, but I cant find any. Are they just bumpers to protect it?Andrew Ku - Thursday, October 23, 2003 - link
Nope it isn't bud. Check again. That isn't a true convertible notebook. It is just a slate with the ability to attach a keyboard.Anonymous User - Saturday, September 20, 2003 - link
Umm, you are forgetting the Compaq Tablet PC which is also a convertible.Poopship - Tuesday, December 18, 2012 - link
Gross