On the afternoon of Friday, April 28, 2006, I trudged off into the Makati heat towards Electroworld Park Square 1 to finally get my laptop. So far I've had no regrets. Heck! Why should I? It's a dual core machine after all!

The Acer Travelmate 3282WXMi is a beauty to hold and behold! The brushed magnesium alloy finish gives a nice business look feel to this powerful laptop. This is a Centrino Duo laptop. According to Art Ilano (Editor-In-Chief, PC Magazine Philippines), Acer was the first to release Intel Core Duo laptops in the Philippines. Though note that they're not the first manufacturer in the world to do so. Let's take a look at the hardware specs first.

• Intel Core Duo processor 1.66GHz (667 MHz FSB, 2MB L2 cache)
• 14.1" WXGA wide TFT LCD
• ATI Mobility Radeon X1400 (256mb on-board with up to 256mb HyperMemory)
• 80GB 5400rpm SATA HDD
• DVD-Super Multi double layer (Support DVD+R Double Layer / DVD+-RW)
• 512mb DDR2 (support dual-channel) expandable to 2GB
• Bluetooth 2.0+EDR

Despite having two 32-bit cores on the processor, it is not a 64-bit machine. (But how I wish it were!) Apparently, Intel had turned off the 64-bit instructions on these processors. Make sure that there's enough airflow going underneath the unit since this thing runs really hot. I might have to buy a coolpad for this.

It doesn't come with recovery CDs. Instead, it has a hidden partition that contains the recovery information for your laptop. The first thing you should do when you get a new gadget is to read the manual. Yes, I'm one of the few geeks in the world who even bothers to read the manual. After you load MS Windows XP Home for the first time, do create the recovery CDs for your laptop. It will help save your sanity if ever you accidentally remove the hidden partition. So, on to the usage.

If you're using MS Windows XP Service Pack 2, don't be surprised if you find it acting strange. Microsoft knows about this. Seems like you have to install a hotfix and tweak the registry just to be able to correct the situation. The hotfix isn't downloadable though. (What the ---?!) You have to call their Support Desk to get the hotfix. Of course, if you want a much easier life, do get yourself a copy of Ubuntu linux! They have SMP auto-enabled on them so you can be sure you're taking advantage of the dual-core goodness of the laptop! :D

The screen is nice and clear. I have to admit, once you go wide you can't imagine how you ever put up with that old square screen. So much screen real estate! The Acer GridVista software allows you to divide your screen into two to four grids. You can assign an application to take up a particular grid and just let it stay there. Neat! That's really going to be helpful for me in the long run.

The keyboard has a slightly curved shape which makes typing for me much easier. Heck, somehow the shape allows me to type faster and hit the correct keys more often. Ergonomics, you just gotta love it!

I was able to install Ubuntu Dapper Beta right after I got the laptop. I have yet to go through the hardware test for this model and submit to the Ubuntu Laptop Testing Team. But so far all is working well! As usual, Ubuntu runs faster than MS Windows XP. Haha!

One thing though, if you're a sound-junkie, you might not like the speakers on this unit. It has this hollow metallic sound to it.

Well, that's it for now. I'll blog more about this new toy if anything else comes to mind. :)