Acer TimelineU M5-481T-6642 14-Inch Ultrabook (Gun Metal Gray)

Pros.

Sleek, pretty, and thin.

4lbs, very light compared to older laptops but kinda heavy when in my backpack, I'm looking for a new backpack designed for laptops now.

Runs COOL. I've used the laptop in bed, on top of my blanket, and it did not get hot and fans did not kick in at all.

Make sure you calibrate the battery when you first get it,

(Drain out the battery until it turns off, charge it while its off until the blue light comes on telling you its full, and charge it an extra 10 mins after that.)

Battery life is awesome, I just charged it, shows I have 8 hours and 47 minutes left.

The laptop was exactly what I needed, also best bang for your book laptop.

Cons.

Track-pad is weird, I have to click a little left from the middle for my left click, the left corner will not register but the right corner will register for right click.

Back-lit keys bleed a lot, unlike my old dell XPS 16.

Not so easy plugging in the power in the back, you have to use some force and I'm afraid to bend the pin.

So far, this laptop is everything I'd hoped.

Pros:

Great battery life

Very cool on bottom of unit. Not uncomfortable at all like some other/previous laptops I've used.

Backlit keyboards.

LOUD speakers.

Good display brightness.

I have changed out the ram and hard drive with an 8GB ram chip and a 256GB crucial M4 SSD. Now it's up to 10GB of ram (2GB must already be on the motherboard). The SSD is just stupid fast...restarts are around 20 sec. total. Definitely a necessary upgrade (speed and no HDD clicking noises). Taking it apart was quite a task. There are some ribbon cables that need to be paid extra attention to when taking it apart. I recommend a very competent computer/IT person doing it.

Finish is very simple and elegant. Computer will be easy to clean and doesn't show fingerprints very much.

The only thing I wish is that they made this model (Ultra M5) in a 13.3" model with no DVD player. If you want the best battery life, go with this version over the one with the discrete graphics card.

Buy Acer TimelineU M5-481T-6642 14-Inch Ultrabook (Gun Metal Gray) Now

I did a lot of research in making the decision to purchase this Acer Timeline U, and I have no regrets. I was looking for: 1) affordability, 2) weight, 3) battery life, 4) processor and 5) sleek design. This laptop met all these aspects. I love my first laptop and carry it around the house. (LOL). I did exactly as others suggested and Acer's manual and that is to charge up the laptop and drain the battery all the way down for 3 times to get the maximum battery life. The advertisement is 8 hours, but I've gotten between 6.5-7.0 hours. Not bad, and I'm happy for that. Once I get over the excitement of having a laptop, I will use it for watching movies on long airplane flights and editing photos on the road. It has a lot of memory. My only complaint is the mouse pad which I'm sure is user error. I am still getting accustomed to a tracking pad, as I've always used a mouse. The tracking pad is sensitive, so I bought a wireless mouse (Logitech Wireless Mouse M305 (Floral Spiral) (910-002465)) that works great right out of the box. I traveled with the laptop last week and it performed perfectly. So, I give the Acer 5 stars.

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I want to express that I'm not a computer expert just a casual user looking for a sturdy, good performing laptop that's portable. The TimelineU gave me everything I wanted and I'm so happy I bought it. There are a few small things that could have been different or better.

Appearance: When I ordered this, the laptop turned out to be brushed nickle, not black as advertised, but I actually don't mind it. The color, or perhaps the material, does get dirty easily. I enjoy the chiclet keys, and the screen is very bright. The touchpad takes some getting used to and is sometimes overly sensitive. The left-right 'mouse' buttons are hard to find and you have to hit just the right spot for it to register otherwise you might just be hitting the touchpad. Also be aware there is no side scroll on the touchpad to go up and down on a page, you have to use the up-down arrows. I think I might go back to using an external mouse. I thought I wouldn't like the USB and charge ports in the back, but it's better than taking space up on the sides I have a small desk where I need every inch of side space. The 14in screen is excellent not too big, not too small, and the weight is comparable to a Mac Pro.

Performance: Compared to my old laptop (I hadn't bought one in four years), this laptop is faster by far. It only takes eight seconds to start up and five to shut down. I'm glad I chose the stronger core ( Intel Gen 3 i5) over the extended RAM that others have RAM can always be upgraded later if I need it. I haven't tried any PC games on it yet, but I didn't by this laptop for gaming just casual web surfing and writing. When unplugged, the laptop will automatically dim to low, but that function can be manually switched off. As for the battery power, if it's unplugged and you're just surfing the web, the battery life is more like 4hrs, not 8. This is still better than older, heavier laptops, but don't be fooled by the advertisement.

Overall, the TimelineU M5-481T-6642 is extremely efficient, portable and aesthetically pleasing for the everyday user. If you don't mind cleaning it often and can get used to the touchpad (using a traditional mouse if a fine alternative), I highly recommend this laptop.

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Had it for almost a week now and I'm loving it. Everything that professional reviews have said I've found true. Great battery life, awesome graphics (for a non-gamer), sound quality great. I feel like I got the quality of a Mac in a PC and at a PC price. It has also been traveling great. Substantial frame for an ultra book!

I'd definitely recommend this to anyone who's looking for a smaller lighter lower priced PC.