Acer Aspire Timeline 3810TZ-4880 Review

Acer's new Timeline series of laptops, including the 13-inch Aspire 3810T, aims to combine the thin, sexy designs of more expensive laptops with cost-saving, low-power processors. But that's a direction many PC makers are moving in, thanks to budget-friendly CPUs such as the AMD Neo and Intel CULV family, so Acer needed a bigger hook, such as the Timeline's claims of all-day, 8-hour computing.
We generally take such claims with a grain of salt, as they usually require a fairly rigid set of preconditions: Wi-Fi turned off, screen brightness turned way down, and so on. However, the $ ... Expand full review

Acer's new Timeline series of laptops, including the 13-inch Aspire 3810T, aims to combine the thin, sexy designs of more expensive laptops with cost-saving, low-power processors. But that's a direction many PC makers are moving in, thanks to budget-friendly CPUs such as the AMD Neo and Intel CULV family, so Acer needed a bigger hook, such as the Timeline's claims of all-day, 8-hour computing.

'We generally take such claims with a grain of salt, as they usually require a fairly rigid set of preconditions: Wi-Fi turned off, screen brightness turned way down, and so on. However, the $899 Aspire Timeline 3810T managed to impress us with its 5-plus-hour battery life in our much more rigid testing regimen (and it would probably get closer to 8 hours under casual use). Add in the decent industrial design, light weight, and reasonable (at least compared with other slim 12- and 13-inch laptops) performance, and it all adds up to a compelling 13-inch alternative.
Note that Apple's basic 13-inch MacBook offers similar battery life for only $100 more, plus includes an optical drive, but that system weighs more and has less RAM and a smaller hard drive, making for an interesting tossup between the two.

Price as reviewed	$899
Processor	1.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU U9400
Memory	4GB, 1066MHz DDR2
Hard drive	500GB 5,400rpm
Chipset	Intel GS45
Graphics	Intel GMA 4500MHD (integrated)
Operating System	Windows Vista Premium (64-bit)
Dimensions	12.7 inches wide x 8.9 inches deep
Height	1.1 inches
Screen size (diagonal)	13.3 inches
System weight / Weight with AC adapter	3.7/4.5 pounds
Category	Thin and light

While perhaps not as striking at the MSI X340, another recent inexpensive, thin, 13-inch computer, the Timeline's gray metal lid and overall sturdy construction give it a more professional feel. It's slightly lighter than Dell's upscale 13-inch Adamo, and the backlit LED screen helps keep it fairly thin (but not in the same category as the MacBook Air or Adamo).

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The good: Slim, attractive design; excellent battery life; reasonably priced.
The bad: No optical drive; clunky single mouse button.
The bottom line: The 13-inch Aspire Timeline 3810T largely lives up to its lofty battery claims, while keeping the chassis slim and the price down.