Battery Talk

There are two ways to squeeze extra Toshiba PA3191U-4BRS battery life out of a computer. You can reduce power consumption, and you can use a ridiculously high capacity battery. It looks like come December, Acer Aspire Timeline users will have the option of taking both approaches.

The Acer Timeline series includes a number of thin and light laptops with screens ranging in size from 11.6 inches to 15.6 inches of Toshiba PA3284U-1BRS. They all use Intel CULV (Consumer Ultra Low Voltage) processors, which offer better-than Atom performance while consuming less power than other Intel or AMD laptop processors.

The Timeline laptops currently ship with 6 cell Toshiba PA3331U-1BRS which can provide between 4 and 8 hours of battery life. But at a recent event in Germany, Acer announced plans to release a 9 cell PA3356U-1BRS battery in December. NewGadget.de reports that it should provide up to 12 hours of run time for some Aspire Timeline models.

There’s no word on pricing, and it’s not clear whether the PA3384U-1BRS will come standard with some Timeline computers or if it will be available as an optional accessory. On the one hand, it will certainly add some weight to these thin and light notebooks. On the other hand, a 12 hour battery would be pretty awesome.

The article via netbooknews.de 

It may seem like only yesterday (or a couple of months ago) that Acer was rolling out its very first Timeline Acer laptops battery to much fanfare, but it’s now already turned things around and kicked out a whole new addition to the line-up: the 8000 series. Apparently aimed at both business users and average folk, this one will be available in 13.3-, 14- and 15.6-inch variations, and pack the usual Core 2 Duo or Core 2 Solo ULV processors, 4GB or 8GB of RAM, a 160GB or 500GB hard drive (or even an 80GB Intel X25-M SSD, for those looking to go all out), and either some basic Intel GMA 4500MHD graphics or a ATI’s 4330 dedicated GPU — not to mention some bonuses like a multitouch trackpad and optional 3G (at a later date, it seems). No word on pricing or availability just yet, but it seems safe to bet that at least the entry-level models will be sub-$1000, if the current Timelines are any indication. I wonder if its battery power as BTP-44A3, BTP-58A1, BTP-59A1, BTP-60A1

Well, that didn’t take long. Less than a day after Acer announced the new Timeline 8000 series, the 14-inch AS4810T-8480 has popped up on an Office Depot shelf for $699. It’s not bad for the money — you’re getting a 1.4GHz Core Solo SU3500, 4GB of RAM, a 320GB disk, and eight hours of battery life — but we’d wait to buy until next week, when our tipster says it’ll be on sale for $549. Anyone planning to pick one up with discount laptop battery?