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Overall Rating

Very stylish ultra-thin, highly recommned!
I have had several laptops in the past including HP, Toshiba, Compaq, IBM and Dell. I needed to buy a new one when my most recent laptop (HP w/ Intel dual core (Centrino, 1.75 GHz)), had its screw that holds the screen fell off and became un-portable. (Now I use it to hook it up to my TV using HDMI cable so that I surf internet and watch TV shows, Youtube, etc. at home.) FYI, I’m not a tech person, but I’m more of a heavy computer user, due to the nature of my work; I usually spend 9 to 10 hours a day writing on Word, crunching numbers on Excel, video conferencing over Skype, sending and receiving reports, and surfing internet for data and other stuffs. Also, I spend my spare time listening to music on Imeem, Pandora, Youtube, etc. I might play some games here and there, but I’m not a hardcore gamer. So, I need a machine that:

- is capable of handling typical business applications,
- has good enough processing power,
- comes with a 6-cell+ battery so that I can carry it around without worrying about running out of power all the time,
- sports a 13 inch screen or larger,
- weighs less than 5 pounds, and
- doesn’t cost a fortune.

The last category eliminates Apple machines. Steve Jobs said recently that he has never seen a computer that costs less than $800 and is not a “CRAP”. And, that is the reason, he said, why Apple would never build a netbook. But you know what? My wife has an Acer Aspire One since last year and loves it. It’s uber-ultra portable with long lasting batteries so that she carries it everywhere; it’s very reliable, too. Also, those Apple fanatics always love to claim that MacBooks are so superior than Windows laptops, but, at my work place, we have 24 MacBooks along with 40+ Windows machines and, the fact of matter is, those Apple machines caused far more troubles due to both hardware- and software-failures during last two years. So, I don’t give a hoot when someone tells me, “MacBooks are so much better (and, what they are really saying is: I’m better than you because I spent tons more money than you did for a basically same machine).” I’m also quite offended by those Apple ads which depict and ridicule 90%+ PC users as dumb and ignorant. I personally think it is quite the opposite: If you look at those people who love anything with Apple logo, many (not all) of them don’t know much about the product that they are using, but they just say they are better because they are Macs.

Like most of you who are reading this, I enjoy researching and buying a new computer; it’s a fun process for me. I have also been using Amazon for other product purchases and have had good experience over 4 years. So, naturally, I started my search on Amazon. I looked at pretty much everything out there and narrowed my choice down to four:

- HP Pavilion DM3-1030US
- ASUS UL30A-X5
- Toshiba Satellite T135-S1307
- Acer Aspire Timeline AS4810TZ-4508

I’m somewhat obsessed with the right feel for the computer, and that is the reason why I like to physically test them before I make a final decision. All four of them met my criteria and had generally positive reviews. So, I went to Best Buy, Office Depot and other electronic stores to test them out. I couldn’t test the exact same model for Acer, but I was able to test a similar Timeline model that was released earlier with Windows Vista. Personally, I wanted to avoid single-core machines. I tested those machines with basic preloaded programs such as Windows Media Player, WordPad, Paint, and a same Youtube video clip on Internet Explorer. So, my opinion is not based on scientific testing methods such as clock speed. Rather, it’s more of my personal observation.

First of all, I would like to say all four of them are acceptable. All of them have good screen; their keyboards are good/great for typing; they come with reasonable prices. However, first one that got cut was ASUS, because, when I tested basic softwares on the machine, it somehow felt slower than others (not scientific, just based on what I observed). The second one that got eliminated was HP DM3; I just felt that the build quality was OK, not good. Also DM3 didn’t have Home, Pg UP, Pg Dn, and End buttons on the side; it is not a deal breaker, but it is more of a convenience factor for me, since I do lots of document editing and spreadsheet work.

Toshiba Satellite was my top choice until I tested the sound quality. I liked its display and didn’t mind the sort-of-snake-skin like pattern (my wife, on the other hand, didn’t like the pattern at all, so it might turn some people off). I also liked its keyboard layout. However, I must say the speaker system on the Toshiba is atrocious at best. So, if you use earphones/headphones all the time or don’t need sound at all, I think you might like Toshiba. Those two tiny built-in speakers are basically useless; my cellphone has ten times better sound coming out of its single speaker than Toshiba’s. For me, I like to listen to music/watch video clips on my laptop, so it was a deal-breaker for me on Toshiba.

So, I decided on Acer Timeline; it met all the criteria and has a surprisingly good enough sound system for a laptop, although it is not as good as so-called “entertainment” laptops. I bought it through Amazon and have been using it for three weeks now. Some points that you might be interested in knowing:

- The LED screen is very bright and clear. It’s noticeably brighter than older laptops with LCD screen and marginally better than my HP, but it consumes less power, so it’s a big plus. The viewing angle is quite good, as well.

- The machine is thin, but doesn’t feel like it’s fragile. Overall, the build quality is solid.

- The lily-pad keyboard might take some getting used to for some people, but I like it and have no problems so far. I was a little bit concerned about the position of the touch pad - it’s located right in the middle, as opposed to between keys “F” and “J” - but it doesn’t cause trouble moving the cursor around when I type. Some other laptops I tested had hyper-sensitive touch pad in the middle of the resting pad and they drove me nuts when I tried to type something.

- As other people have pointed out, its keyboard attracts smudges, but I don’t mind it. (I’m a guy, after all. But, if you’re obsessed with maintaining your keyboard/computer spotless, it could be annoying.)

- I also debated between 13-inch screen and 14-inch screen models. At the end, I like having more real estate on my screen, plus the 14 inch comes with a DVD/CD-Rom drive. Having the DVD/CD Rom drive is still useful for me since I have older programs in CD-Roms. I know I could use an external DVD drive, but both models come with similar overall size and weights and it just is more convenient to have it built-in for now.

- Battery life is good, but not 8+ hours. I don’t like minimizing screen brightness, so I reduce the brightness by three levels when it’s not plugged in; it’s still very bright for normal use. I also have several programs running including wireless connection enabled, and I’m getting about 4 and ½ hours of battery time.

- Yes, there are usual crapwares pre-installed, but you can delete them easily, so it’s not much of an issue.

- I say Windows 7, compared to Vista, is better, although I do have a couple of issues. First of all, I can’t make WinAmp to play MP4 and HD FLV video files; somehow I can’t get the usual codecs to work on WinAmp. I don’t like using Windows Media Player (WMP) 12 either; I think WMP 10 or 11 is actually better than WMP 12, but Microsoft doesn’t allow users to roll back to previous version of WMP. Key annoyance is that it doesn’t remember the previous video size setting; so I find myself resizing the video screen more often than I like to. So, I’m using Media Player Classic for the time being. Also, FireFox has no new tab button (next to existing tabs) on display. If any of you know how to get around these problems, please let me know; it will be much appreciated.

To sum it all up, I like this laptop and recommend it if you are not a hardcore gamer, don’t want to give away your hard-earned money to Steve Jobs to ridicule millions of rational computer users, need a laptop with good battery life, and like having an ultra-thin light-weight machine. Happy computing!
Update1, Dec. 4, 2009

- I found out how to fix WMP video size problem thanks to a posting by someone, somewhere on the web: (1) Open WMP and play any one of your .mp3 file. (2) While it’s playing, resize the video window to your liking. (3) Close WMP and open any video file and it will open it in previously resized video window.

- Another positive: I’m backing up some of my DVD collections and I find the process to be reasonably fast. Now, my kids are trying to get their hands on this machine all the time when I’m not using it for work, since they can watch movies anywhere, anytime, and the resolution is great. Plus long battery life helps, too; regular DVD movies look almost like BluRay/HD movies. I might have to buy another one. Oh, well.

Overall Rating

Great value, and great balance of performance and portability!
I ordered the Acer Timeline 4810TZ-4508 to replace my two-year old Lenovo Thinkpad T61, and I love it!

Getting started was very easy. It only took me about two hours to register Windows 7 Home Premium, upgrade to Windows 7 Professional (through the Anytime Upgrade feature), create factory default backup discs, remove some bloatware, and install some of my favorite programs. After reading some of the reviews of the older models, I was worried about the prospect of flashing the BIOS or updating the VGA/LAN drivers, but my computer has worked fine without those updates. I suspect that Acer may have fixed those problems for this model, since it’s a new release with Windows 7.

Although the processor is ostensibly slower than the Intel Core 2 Duo processor in my T61, I had to underclock the T61 because it tended to overheat and shut down. With this Timeline, I’m able to run the processor at full speed without any heating or cooling problems. The computer is surprisingly zippy. I found that I was able to listen to music, convert tracks on iTunes, surf the web, and install programs all at the same time, without any noticeable lag in performance. Full screen streaming video on [...] and [...] also looked fantastic, without any jerkiness or skipping. (In fact, video playback was better than on my Thinkpad which, notwitstanding the faster processor, had less RAM and a slower video card.) The screen is very bright, and even at the dimmest setting, I was surprised with how much clearer it was than my old Thinkpad. It is a glossy screen, however, which means that it looks great indoors but is very difficult to use outdoors. I have found the glare a bit distracting, but not a deal-breaker. I don’t play computer games, so I can’t say anything about its performance in that regard.

Of course, one of the main reasons I purchased the Timeline was for portability, and it really doesn’t disappoint. The laptop is noticeably thinner and lighter than my T61 - I think the total weight is about 4 lbs. and it’s just over an inch thick. Acer wasn’t kidding about the battery life: I spent 4.5 hours today at Starbucks surfing the web, listening to music, and using Microsoft Word with the screen at medium brightness, and still had 45% battery by the end. I am sure that I could get about 8-9 hours of total battery life, if I minimized all the settings. After fighting for power outlets and worrying about tripping over power cords with my Thinkpad, this is a refreshing change.

Coming from using the T61’s fantastic keyboard, I was kind of nervous about this chiclet-style design, but I easily got used to it. The keys give a lot of tactile feedback, and they are well-enough spaced that you don’t hint the wrong keys. The touchpad, however, is a bit difficult to use, and I’m still getting used to the stiffness of the touchpad button.

Overall, this is a fantastic computer, and a great value at the price. I think if you are considering the different 14 inch models, the 4810TZ-4508 has some advantages over the cheaper/older models: more RAM, faster processor, 64-bit Windows 7 Home Premium, and newer drivers.