Acer Aspire TimelineX AS4830TG Review

Posted by Edo Suseno Saturday, November 5, 2011 0 komentar



As thin and light laptops go, Acer's Aspire TimelineX series hits the right spots with its slim design, solid build quality and affordable prices. Unsurprisingly, Acer has sold plenty of these laptops, even if they cost slightly more than its standard Aspire offerings. The latest generation sees Acer making some minor aesthetic tweaks, along with updating the internals with Intel's Sandy Bridge Core-i processors. 

Upside

The TimelineX notebooks go from black to blue in the latest iteration. It's a two-tone design, with the palmrest decked in blue while the rest of the interior remains silver. The aluminum lid however is in the same shade of blue and it will likely attract more glances than the typical silver or black-clad laptop.

The 14-inch 4830TG comes with a standard 1,366 x 768-pixel, glossy display that's surprisingly powered by Nvidia's GeForce GT 540M graphics chip. This is a more powerful chip than the entry level discrete or worst, integrated graphics offered by many of Acer's competitors.

As a result, the 4830TG can play a fair number of the latest games without compromising on visual quality. The downside is that despite supporting Nvidia's switchable graphics technology, it will still consume slightly more power than an integrated graphics solution. If maximizing battery life is your sole objective, Acer also offers the 4830T, which only comes with Intel's integrated graphics.

Downside

Keeping with the trend, this laptop comes with a chiclet keyboard. If it's anything like the 13.3-inch version reviewed here, we expect the keys to be mushy. The arrow keys in particular are quite small, though thankfully, weren't as small as the ones we saw on the Acer Aspire S3. The touchpad, however, is a bit too cramped for our fingers.

A much touted feature on this laptop is its support for Dolby Home Theater audio. Unfortunately, with no subwoofer, these speakers would, at best, be only slightly better than average for its segment; it won't make the grade for anyone who's serious about their audio. The "Professionally Tuned" label on the machine seems a bit exaggerated.

Outlook

On its Web site, Acer lists the Core i7 2620M version of the TimelineX AS4830TG at S$1,798, but from our experience, the company usually sells its laptops at a significantly lower street price. Given its above-average graphics and slim chassis, it should make your shortlist for a competent and affordable 14-inch laptop.

General
    ProcessorCore i7
    Motherboard chipsetIntel HM55
    Processor number2620M
    Processor speed2.7GHz

Connectivity
    Ports2 x USB 2.0; VGA; HDMI; RJ45
    Wireless LAN802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n
    Ethernet10/100/1000

Display
    Graphics hardwareNvidia GeForce GT 540M
    Amt of video RAM1GB
    Screen resolution (max)1,366 x 768
    Diagonal screen size14 inch

Memory/Storage
    Card ReaderSD, MMC, MS, MS Pro
    Amt of RAM4096 MB
    Hard drive750 GB

Power Supply
    Battery type(s) included6-cell Lithium-ion

Software
    Operating systemWin 7 Home Premium

Warranty
    WarrantyOne-year limited warranty

Chassis
    Weight w/battery2.17 kg
    Dimensions239 x 337 x 29.9 mm
 

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