June 27th, 2009Acer Aspire Timeline 4810T – full review
We’ve had Acer’s Aspire Timeline 4810T for over a week now, and have had a proper opportunity to get to grips with it. One of its most impressive features is the portability on offer, with skinny dimensions that help it to slip easily into bags.
The 14-inch screen is ideally suited to movie playback, mainly because of the 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio, but also because of the crisp image quality and faithful colour reproduction. The glossy Super-TFT coating can prove problematic in the brightest of conditions, however.
Graphics are handled by an integrated Intel GMA 4500M GPU, providing moderate power for tasks such as photo editing or web browsing. You’ll be able to carry out light video editing, but look elsewhere if you need to carry out more demanding graphics tasks.
In a bid to position the brand at the desirable end of the laptop market, you’ll find aluminium used in the construction – such as the lid – and a thin, commuter-friendly chassis. From the outside, it’s a smart and quality laptop, although the grey plastics used inside are slightly more conservative.
The keyboard features an unusual layout, with flat keys raised high above the main board. It feels incredibly well made, with no sign of flex or unwanted movement, but it’s not at all practical. The completely flat typing surface means it’s difficult to distinguish between the keys when touch-typing, so mistakes are a common occurrence even for experienced typists.
Due to the thin chassis – which measures 31mm at its thickest point – Acer has opted to use Intel’s SU9400 low voltage Core 2 Duo processor in order to keep things cool. It runs at 1.4GHz, but with 3072MB of DDR3 memory in place we found performance was surprisingly lively, with little lag during day to day use. The low powered components have the biggest affect when it comes to power consumption, however, where we saw a battery life of an amazing 484 minutes – making this one of the most practical and portable laptops you can buy.
You’ll find a full complement of features included, including a neatly integrated DVD rewriter. It can be opened by a button on the top of the chassis, which is another nice touch. Ports comprise three USB ports for adding peripherals, and an HDMI port for high-definition displays. You’ll also find an analogue VGA port for older screens and projectors.
If you’re in the market for a semi-portable business machine, then the Timeline 4810T is definitely worth a look. It may be more functional than desirable, but the amazing battery life and good all-round usability make it a solid choice for corporate users.
