Question:
Acer 1662WLMi review
I recieved my Acer 1662WLMi 2 days ago( purchased from Newegg ), and after getting it configured, I'll give you my review.
Pentium 4 3.0 ghz- I'm an AMD overclocker by heart, but this P4 is very fast- and hot! Lotsa heat coming out the exhaust port under load. In the future, when prices drop and the warranty is up, I can see myself installing a P4 3.4ghz or higher.
Display - absolutely great, very bright & clear, no dead pixels-
Keyboard - very nice, just a bit of flex & the keys are not loud-
Touchpad- works vey good, especially like the scroll keys-
Battery Life - 1-1.3 hours- not great, but I'm planning on doing little on battery power anyway-
Hard drive- quiet - Comes installed with 2 partitions, each formatted to FAT32- converted both partitions to NTFS-
Here is how I did it - http://aumha.org/win5/a/ntfscvt.htm
Memory- I opened up the memory access and found the memory to be pc2700 CL 2.5 ddr- the chips are Samsung, though I can't read what the modules say on them due to stickers-
Combo DVD/CD Burner Drive - burns cd's at 16X, plays DVD moves great and reads DVD data fine. I have not yet burned any DVD's yet. Using Nero 6.
Software - other than the Acer utilities that come installed, the only app I have used is Power DVD- I ended up installing the full oem version I already had. I also did not use the Norton 2004- have another program I use.
Windows XP Pro - worked fine- installed the XP Service Pack 2 (SP-2) - windows update saw no hardware updates available.
Adapter- big, works well
Documentation- very good manual
9700 64mb Graphics - I installed the Omega 4.8 drivers right away, as they are optimized for ATI hardware and gaming. They include the Powerplay options for laptops. Also included is Radlinker, which allows you to set the core & memory speeds for any applications. The default settings are 391.50 core, 202.50 memory. I used Radlinker to overclock to 418 core, 243 memory for Doom 3 & Unreal Tournament 2003- no artifacts, still testing various clocks. Am going to take this very slowly because I am not sure how well the 9700 card is cooled.
Doom 3 - Using the trdemo2, score 35 fps, 2nd round. Plays Great!
UT2K3 - yet to bench- plays great!
3dMark 2001 - 8000 3d marks stock, yet to try overclocked.
Wireless - have not used yet-
Modem - have not used yet-
10/100 Ethernet - works great in a small network I created with my desktop's ethernet card-
USB- works great with my Logitech Optical Mouse.
Firewire - have not used yet-
I am using a Utility called SpeedSwitchXP that allows you to select your power use from the sys tray - works very well. You can check it out here - http://www.diefer.de/speedswitchxp/
Overall, for my first laptop, I am very impressed. Acer has built one fine machine, with overall great build quality and features. My only wants for this laptop are 1 gb PC3200 memory and a 60 gb 7200 rpm / 8mb cache Hard Drive.
I'll update this thread with more results when I can.
Answer:
I continue to be impresed with Acer's products. Glad to see they have another happy customer.
Editor in Chief http://www.bargainPDA.com and http://www.SPOTstop.com
Answer:
Hondo2: Good initial review. I'm glad you are satisfied with the performance and purchase so far. I purchased mine on Monday but do not expect it until the end of the week. I am anxious to test it out. Thanks for the utility tip.
Answer:
Ok, have a few benchies-
P4 @ Max performance-
all apps off-
3dMark 2001SE -
Stock - core @ 391.5 Mem @ 202.5 - 8162 3dMarks
o/c'd - core @ 418.5 Mem @ 243.0 - 9430 3dMarks
a rather nice improvement I'd say.
This 9700 has basically the same core as my ATI 9600 Pro AIW (aftermarket vga silencer rev 3 cooling)that is in my desktop - it is stable overclocked @ 466.71/370.29 - I think this 9700 has a lot of headroom for overclocking, the main limitation will be it's cooling ability. 10,000 3dMarks should be attainable.
We shall see....
Answer:
More 3d2001SE Testing-
again,
default 3dmark settings
all apps closed
P4 Max Power
Battery Removed
435 core, 249 memory, 10,004 3dMarks
so this higher overclock decreased the benchmark
I removed the battery this time (100% charge) - do you know if this will effect my score?
I'll have to run it with it installed.
Acer Aspire 1662 WLMi
P4 3.0 Ghz
ATI 9700 Mobility o/c to 436/246
10,372 3d2001SE Marks
Answer:
well I failed to note these 3DMark2001SE results -
426 core / 246 mem - 10,372 3dMarks- best so far
Acer Aspire 1662 WLMi
P4 3.0 Ghz
ATI 9700 Mobility o/c to 436/246
10,372 3d2001SE Marks
Answer:
hi, could you check on which test in 3dmark2001 and 2003, fan starts to spin faster and louder (on stock settings)?. My machine is very hot and it happens in tests no.2 (2001) and no.1(2003). I got VPU recovery error once and I don't know why, maybe video card is overheating:?
Answer:
if you are going into vpu recover, I'd suspect your drivers - what drivers are you using? I'm using Omega 4.8 Catalyst drivers. I'd recommend that you uninstall you ati drivers, reboot, then install the Omega 4.8s.
You can get them here - http://www.omegadrivers.net/
As far as the fan goes, mine cycles on & off quite a bit during 3dMark 2001 or gaming. That is normal. And yeah, quite a bit of heat comes out the exhaust port.
Acer Aspire 1662 WLMi
P4 3.0 Ghz
ATI 9700 Mobility o/c to 436/246
10,372 3d2001SE Marks
Answer:
I have got the same drivers. I don't overclock it. It's strange that when I test it on 3dmark2001 sometimes I score 9750 (like today), and sometimes I have only 8000 points, just like you. Try to test it on 3dmark2003, I score 2750 (it's preety nice w/o oc).
Answer:
Hondo2: When you converted from FAT32 to NTFS did you keep the original partitions ACER and ACERDATA? I would prefer to have only one partition but don't know if it causes any problem with any special data ACER may may loaded on the laptop if I change to one partition. Thanks for any help you can give.