Acer 1410 Impressions

So my Acer 1410 came in the mail 2 days ago from JR.com and I've been playing around with it for the past few days. Here are my impressions so far.

It is a compact notebook with the following specs:

- Intel Core 2 Solo SU3500 1.4 ghz

- 11.6" HD LED screen

- 2 GB DDR2 memory

- 250 GB HDD

- Intel GMA 4500MHD graphics

- 6 cell 4400 mAh battery

- 3 lbs flat

I picked up the Acer 1410 after shopping around in Taiwan with the intention of buying a small netbook. However, when I was in Taiwan I discovered that there were 11.6" netbooks such as the Acer 751h and other offerings from Dell, etc. Unfortunately all the 11.6" netbooks were paired with Intel Z520 processors, which are supposedly slower than the typical Intel Atom N270/N280 offerings. The 10" netbook market was the biggest in Taiwan and there weren't too many adopters of the 11.6" offerings as of yet, but I expect them to be the next best thing within a year. I found out that there was an Acer model with a Core 2 Solo coming out to the U.S. so I held off buying a netbook in Taiwan, which were actually quite expensive there anyways (usually $100 more than the U.S. price, which is a lot considering netbooks costing $400 on average in the states).

The Acer 1410 isn't actually considered a netbook, but rather a traditional notebook, but I went with it anyways for the bigger and higher resolution screen and discrete graphics that were capable of playing HD video through hardware acceleration (which is something none of the Intel Atom variations can do). It also comes with fairly reasonable battery life (supposedly 6 hours). While note quite as astonishing as the 10 hour claims from Asus netbooks (such as the 1005HA), I am willing to give up some battery life for a snappier system capable of playing HD video.

So far the 1410 has been good to me and the build quality seems great. I don't feel like it is going to fall apart in my hands or the keys on the keyboard are going to snap off. Though it is shipped with Vista, it also comes with a free upgrade to Windows 7 Home Premium, which is a nice touch. From what I have read Windows 7 should run a lot faster than the bloated Windows Vista.

Here are some more pics and some of the pro/cons I have noted:

Pros:

- Good keyboard size (practically the same size as a standard keyboard)

- Gorgeous 11.6" screen with 1,366x768 resolution

- Snappy performance with the Core 2 Solo on most applications

- Able to watch HD video with hardware acceleration

- Draft N WiFi with gigabit ethernet

- More than enough space (250 GB)

- HDMI video out for the big screen :)

Cons:

- U.S. version getting a 4400 mAh versus the 5600 mAh version in Europe

- Single core isn't too great at multi-tasking

- No bluetooth (though I probably won't need it)

With that said, for $449 ($380-ish for me after rebate) shipped, the Acer 1410 is a nice machine for my portable needs. I don't like to carry my 15.4" Macbook Pro everywhere since it is pretty heavy, so that is where the 1410 comes in.

Chili House Restaurant, Ximendi, Metro Mall, Nova, Shabu Shabu - Day 3 of Taiwan Trip

The day started off with lunch at Chili House Restaurant. As the name suggests they specialize in spicy foods. My aunt thought it'd be interesting to try out since it was one of her favorite restaurants. To those who wish to go there, you HAVE to make reservations in order to be seated in a reasonable amount of time. Some of the dishes I tried included: breaded pork rib with sweet potatoe, spicy wontons, duck egg fried tofu, sour pork with sesame seed bun, and an coconut jello dessert (that was on the house). I have to say that this was definitely an interesting place to eat. Food was good as well as the atmosphere. I'd highly recommend it.

Next stop was Ximendi with my friends. According to my aunt this is a shopping area for "younger" people and she was right. When we got off the MRT stop, we were greeted with a pool of youngsters out shopping. I most of the stuff was clothing of all types and I'm sure it was a treat for the ladies. Not as much food or street vendors here since most aren't allowed to be there. Still a cool place and there are even multi-level malls within some of the buildings. Some are hard to spot since they blended in so well with the other buildings. An interesting store we found was Daiso Japan, which specialized in selling Japanese stuff. Apparently Taiwanese people really love Japanese stuff and this store is everything Japan. Also, everything is $39 NT, which makes it a hair over a dollar.

We tried the Metro Mall next to Taipei Main Station. For those who do not know what a metro mall is, it is basically a mall underground where the MRT stations are. There was a variety of different shops around from food to office supplies to various clothing stores. There was also an arcade towards the middle which was kinda cool. Overall not a bad place to spend some time, though I definitely would not spend a whole day here. Got a lot of walking done though :)

When we got out of the Metro Mall, we then hit up the Nova store next to Taipei Main Station. Apparently it is a big retail chain that specializes in computer and related hardware. There were literally floors of vendors selling mostly computer related stuff with a good mix of general electronics. However, what I learned is that Nova tends to be slightly overpriced because it is a retail chain. Guang Hua, which I will visit later, apparently sells the same electronics at a cheaper price.

To wrap up the day I ate shabu shabu with my friends. We tried a small joint that I can't even recall the name to. However since the place was not that tasty it isn't a great loss.

As always, check out my Flickr album for more pics.