Acer launched this year, the Aspire Timeline series comprised of three thin & light notebooks that are touted to have an 8 hour battery life and priced competitively. Three models make the series, the 15, 14, and 13 inch, with a 1368 x 766 screen resolution; and they are referred to as the 5810T, 4810T, and 3810T, respectively. Priced at about $600 for the 5810T and about $900 for the 13 inch model, the chassis design of the series has a clean minimalist feel to it and Acer managed to keep the 6-cell battery flush within the system. No large ugly bulge sticking out behind which has become quite common with netbooks and ultraportables with high-capacity batteries.
Under the hood you will find Intel’s low power version of their Core 2 Duo processors; RAM capacity of up to 4 GB that can be bumped to double that on a 64-bit OS; the Intel integrated graphics card 4500 MHD; hard drive capacity from 160 GB to 500 GB, including an option for an 80 SSD; and Wi-FI and Bluetooth comes standard, with an option for 3G connectvity. The Timeline series also offer a wealth of ports and features like three USB 2.0 slot (4 on the 15 inch model), HDMI, VGA port, microphone and headphones, webcam, a 5-in-1 card reader, and a full-sized keyboard. The series also features a built-in optical drive, except for the 13 inch model. The OS is Vista Home Premium, with a free upgrade to Microsoft’s upcoming OS Windows 7.
A recently-announced model, the 1810T will be available for pre-order by mid-August. The 1810T will have an 11.6 inch screen and will be Acer’s replacement for the underpowered Aspire One 751h. It is reported to sell for about $700 for the basic configuration and $850 for a 3G antennae-equipped model.
Most reviews praised the series for its looks and less than an inch thick profile, long battery life, but were not happy with the performance of its processor.