bye bye Desktop computing

[Paddy]

The idea is that i can have a laptop and power cable and nothing else. I will have a monitor / mouse / keyboard somewhere, but that can be stashed away most of the time.

I spend most of my time browsing the internet and watching movies - and i don't need peripherals for that.

[Wombat]

Yeah, you go ahead and browse the internet with a touchpad, and see how long that lasts.

[Paddy]

LOL Are they that bad??

I have a server in the garage which has the printer and everything else connected to it. I don't actually need to have any other hardware about the house.

I know laptops are more cumbersome, but the only advantage I can see about owning a desktop is that I can potentially upgrade and tinker with it. We'll see... I just sold my A7m266-D with 512mb DDR for £102, so I only have to find another £1K

[William]

The William solution Tablet dock... Turns into your monitor

[Paddy]

I think I am going to go for the Ferrari 3400 whilst the wife is happy on the subject... How noisey is this then JMS?

Any niggles with it yet?

[Paddy]

hmmm... from what i have read, it's main flaws are poor viewing angles, crappy speakers and a slow HD.

The speakers are no concern, and the HD can be replaced with a 7200RPM 60GB drive, but the viewing angle does worry me... especially as Tony mentioned it earlier... can any one comment on this?

Tony, how bad is it? Would you buy another?

[Fat Tone]

Originally posted by Paddy
hmmm... from what i have read, it's main flaws are poor viewing angles, crappy speakers and a slow HD.

The speakers are no concern, and the HD can be replaced with a 7200RPM 60GB drive, but the viewing angle does worry me... especially as Tony mentioned it earlier... can any one comment on this?

Tony, how bad is it? Would you buy another?

On my 3000: I'd say the viewing angle is poor enough that you have to be a long way back to see the whole screen (vertically) at the same brightness.

The fan can be a little noisy - it does have a lot of heat to shift. The part of the bottom of the case under the DVD drawer is a little flimsy, so care needed when handling, but it has been ok.

I agree with wombat on using the trackpad for browsing; the Acer is better than most as it has the scroll buttons as well as the usual mouse buttons, but can become tedious. It does come with a USB mouse.

£1300 inc. seems a good price.

I've had it a year and the battery is shot (~40 mins browsing).

But it is Ferarri red in colour

[Paddy]

ok - I have my plastic in hand now...

Pros: its red, fast and is more or less a true desktop replacement
Cons: crap speakers, flimsy DVD tray and questionable viewing angle.

But at £1300, it seems cheap!
The DVDRW can be replaced if needed, but the screen does bother me.....

Ah, sod it

[Paddy]

Oh, can you turn the vrrrrrrrrrrroooom sound off?

[ZokesPro]

Originally posted by Paddy
LOL Are they that bad??

I have a server in the garage which has the printer and everything else connected to it. I don't actually need to have any other hardware about the house.

I know laptops are more cumbersome, but the only advantage I can see about owning a desktop is that I can potentially upgrade and tinker with it. We'll see... I just sold my A7m266-D with 512mb DDR for £102, so I only have to find another £1K

Touchpad's aren't THAT bad, but it does get kinda annoying after a while, better tag along a nice trackball just in case.

[Marshmallowman]

hehe...what about a mac mini

or some lttle sff box and 17" LCD, more bang for buck and upgradable...you can get dual opteron sff boxes if really want , probably the same price as a laptop

[jms]

I dont think its noisy at all. Have no complaint about it other than the HD could be a bit faster, and it gets a little hot.

You can read some reviews of the 3200 and 3400( the only difference with the 3400 is the faster CPU in the latter and the port replicator out) here:

3200 review 1

3200 review 2

3200 review 3

3400 review 1

3400 review 2

I am also using the mouse that comes with it, never liked the laptop touchpads. Yes! The mouse is also Ferrari red with logo! (pictures in 3400 review 2)

And why would you turn the vroooom sound off?

[Fat Tone]

From looking at 3400 review 2, if hasn't changed externally at all from my 3000, so watch out for the panel under the DVD.
Also note that although very handy, the built-in card reader doesn't take type II CF cards - very annoying for me as that is what the Dimage A2 uses.

[Paddy]

Hmmm... I'm I need it to take SD cards (which if nothint else, my printer will). I've managed to get the price down to £1100....

[jms]

From the spec:

5-in-1 card reader, supporting MultiMediaCard (MMC), Secure Digital (SD), SmartMediaâ„¢, Memory Stick and Memory Stick PRO


Unfortunately it does not take my CF cards. Saving space I guess.