aspire_3810The Timeline Series of Acer introduces us to its thin and light ultra-portable notebooks with long lasting battery and decent performance. And unlike other slim profile notebooks it doesn’t make a hole in your pocket with their ultra-high price tag. The 13.3 inch 3810T is really a value priced notebook for those who have to carry their notebook a lot more than many others. But does this laptop have any serious deal breaker? We have made a review to find the answer. Have a go.

Performance

The system comes with a standard configuration of 1.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo U9400 CPU, 4GB RAM and a 500GB 5,400 rpm HDD. Though the double core processor provides enough processing capability at the same time the slow clock speed feels somewhat laggy if compared to other computers of its class. However, the HDD speed was well above the average speed of laptops of its class. The Windows Vista Home Premium 64 bit version took about 1 minute time to boot on which is standard. However, the graphics was very weak and you should not buy it if you want to play any standard 3D game in it.

Design

On the outside the casing is made of matte plastic that is not prone to finger prints. It weighs a meager 3.6 pounds which is light enough to carry the whole day. It is also very thin at less than 1 inch. It goes without an optical drive to achieve that slim profile. While it won’t win any prizes for its design or thinness but still the design looks current for the keys’ finish and island style layout. The aluminum chassis would be good for providing some strength to this notebook.

Display

The 13.3 inch display is nice and bright with decent 1366 X 768 pixels resolution. The glossy display had nice horizontal viewing angles but it has some wash out problems in low vertical viewing angles.
acer_aspire_timeline_notebook_pc_03

Keyboard and Touchpad

The keyboard is average with nice silent operation while typing on it. The touchpad size is very good but we did not like the volume rocker style single key layout of the touchpad buttons. Also the buttons were too much stiff for comfortable operation.

Ports

It has all the necessary ports in its sides. There are 3 USB ports, an HDMI and VGA Output, an Ethernet Jack, a headphone and mic port, a Kensington lock slot. There is also a 5 in 1 memory card reader. There are no ports at the back or front.

Sound

The volume level produced by the laptop was disappointing. We didn’t mind the lack of bass and tinny sound quality for a budget ultraportable like this but the weak speakers were hardly audible in noisy situation even in the max volume.
acer_aspire_timeline_notebook

WebCam

The webcam is one of the best webcams available in notebooks. It has a nice 720p resolution with lots of details and smoothness in its video. The still photos were also of nice quality.

Battery

The battery life of this laptop is extremely good. With six cell battery it should manage to run about 8 hours on normal load and expect it to run at least five hours on most heavy workload such as continuous video download over WiFi while watching a movie with full screen brightness.

Price

Currently you can find the Acer Aspire 3810 Timeline at less than $700 with standard configuration which is very attractive for any budget minded customer.
aspire-timeline-3810t-small

Pros

  • Affordable price for an ultraportable laptop
  • Excellent webcam
  • Great Battery Life
  • Fast HDD
  • Bright Display

Cons

  • No optical drive
  • Stiff touchpad button
  • Speakers not very loud
  • Noisy cooling Fan

aspire_3810t

Conclusion

The only deal breaker of this laptop may be the lack of a CD/DVD Drive. If you don’t need that drive and want a lightweight laptop to carry around, you can’t find one better than this with a lesser price tag than this. If you have to work in some places where you can’t connect your laptop to a power outlet for a long time, this is the right choice with its impressive battery life.