Acer Aspire TimelineUltra M3-581TG-73514G52Makk.- $699 after $149 Cash Back

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  ZRXS12 on 26/03/2013 - 21:33

  Similar to this one http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/97369 but it was listed with a different CPU and is now expired.

  Good deal throw in a 8GB stick so you have 10GB and your set :)

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  montenague on 27/03/2013 - 00:06

  Can't argue with that price.

  Some reviews:
  http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-31632_7-57402743-237/ultrabook-…

  http://www.theverge.com/2012/3/21/2889405/acer-aspire-m3-ult…

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  gmatht on 27/03/2013 - 00:08

  It is interesting that they have chosen a ULV processor. This trades speed for power consumption; the performance of this is closer to an traditional i5 than an i7. Given that a 15.6" screen would have to draw a fair bit of power, perhaps they chose the ULV processor primarily so they can have a smaller fan and hence thinner body rather than to save power.

  • 

    [Deactivated] on 27/03/2013 - 10:43

    when you plug it into mains, I assume the CPU clocks up to the i7 speeds?
    But I agree the screen will suck most of the power, but it'll be quiet.

    • 

      dreadpiratedan on 27/03/2013 - 13:32

      +1

      If you had power saving plans that reduced CPU power to 50% (or other) when on battery, then plugging it into mains would simply allow it to use 100%. Of course some laptops can be a bit finicky, but you should be able to disable the power saving cpu (and/or gpu) restrictions.

      Set up properly, a laptop using battery without power saving restriction should be the exact same performance as plugged in.

    • 

      gmatht on 27/03/2013 - 14:33

      I understand that the ULV can only ramp up to draw 17 watts while normal mobile i7s can ramp up to draw 35 watts. So while the ULV may be able to use more power to get better performance, a normal i7 can draw even more power to get even better performance. Also, it used to be the case that most i7s were quad core and this is only dual core.

      • 

        ZRXS12 on 27/03/2013 - 15:39

        You're completely missing the point of the 3517U and it's use in this laptop.
        This unit is designed to target the Ultrabook sector.
        If you want a QM processor go a Acer V3.
        That's why Acer have so many models, they have almost every configuration you could need.

        Also there's more powerful i7's than the 35w i7's.
        And i7 M processor is also a dual core.

      • 

        gmatht on 27/03/2013 - 22:59

        I don't see how "this unit is designed to target the Ultrabook sector" contradicts my speculation that "they chose the ULV processor primarily so they can have a smaller fan and hence thinner body". I did +1 this deal; it is a decent laptop. Modern ULV processors are still pretty fast, fast enough that one could choose them for purely ergonomic reasons. Additionally the GPU means that this makes a decent gaming machine (much better than a i7 QM without a discrete GPU).

        I was here just responding to point out that it is not trivial to boost a ULV to "normal
        i7 speeds. Indeed, the i7 moniker doesn't tell you that much about CPU performance. The quad-core i5-3470 has almost twice the pass-mark score of this 3517U. (At 77W the 3470 would be a poor choice for a laptop, of-course)