Acer Aspire TimelineX AS1830T-3927 11.6-Inch Laptop (Black)

Here is my review on the much anticipated new notebook from Acer, the Timeline 1830T-3927. This machine is a 11.6" ultraportable notebook equipped with the new Intel processor, the core i3-330um CPU, which is maufactured especially for smaller notebooks, 3 GB RAM and a 320 GB Hard Drive running on Windows 7 Home Premium, 64 bit

This notebook just arrived from Amazon the other day and I have only been using it for a couple of days but since there are very few reviews thus far on the 1830T, I thought I'd write one.

The overall build quality of this notebook seems to be very good, it is made of very tough light weight plastic and has a black matte finish on the outside which is very sharp. The HD screen is designed for 720p viewing and seems to have a very sharp and bright display, this resolution is of course ther best you can expect on a smaller 11.6 ultraportable. I have seen many displays on 11.6 models and I believe the 1830T has the best screen that I have seen. The keyboard on the 1830T does not seem to be full size as the typing experience is comfortable but somewhat cramped. The keys have a very nice feel and good feedback but I was disaapointed to discover that the keyboard has allot of flex and seems a bit flimsy, something I did not expect on a $599 notebook.( This is why I am giving the 1830T 4 stars instead of five.)In addition, the trackpad, although comfortable seems very small. The mouse buttons are excellent.

The ports on this machine are very good with a nice selection, certainly all you will need on an ultraportable, of course there is not optical drive as Gateway is the only manufacturer I know of that is equipping an 11.6 notebook with a DVD drive.

In addition to the excellent screen, the real strength of this notebook is the new and powerful Core i3-330um CPU. ( Note that there is an even more powerful model equipped with the Core i5 but it retails on Amazon for $699,a bit much to pay for an 11.6 ultraportable in my opinion.). The Core i3 on this machine seems very fast and responsive and seems to handle just about anything you throw at it. This CPU is noticably faster than the other Intel ultra low voltage processors currently on the market and certainly much faster than earlier Acer models like the 1410. With the new Core i3 CPU, you will lose a bit in battery time but the speed more than compensates for this. I expect the 1830T-3927 to last about 5 hours on a charge.

Overall , this is one of the best, if not the best 11.6 ultraportables out there but you will have to pay a premium for it, mostly because of the new Intel processor. As I said, if not for the average keyboard, this notebook would be easily 5 stars.

Pros:

Thin, light, screen is bright and has good color, screen's high resolution makes up for its small size, processor is powerful enough for general use, doesn't get too hot, great battery life (6+ hours), great port selection, good keyboard

Cons:

Touch-pad isn't well demarcated from the wrist rest making it too easy to drift into no man's land, the screen's vertical viewing angles could be better

Overall I really like this laptop. It boots quickly and has generally snappy performance. It isn't the fastest at some processor intensive tasks like compressing audio and video, but that's to be expected for a low voltage processor. For general use like web browsing and watching videos it is perfectly adequate. I'll gladly accept some reduced performance given that this laptop doesn't get nearly as hot as other laptops I have used and it has fantastic battery life. I can get over 6 hours with the wifi on and the screen set to half brightness.

The screen looks nice, has a good resolution, and isn't too reflective. The vertical viewing angles, however, aren't the best but they are hardly prohibitive to use. Probably the most annoying thing about this laptop is the touch-pad. It's not terrible; I just wish it was easier to tell by feel when you have left the touch sensitive area. Not a deal breaker, but annoying nonetheless. Fortunately the keyboard is great. It isn't missing any important keys and is comfortable to use. I also really like the large port selection for such a small laptop. I've had larger laptops that had only two USB ports.

The thing I like most about this laptop is its portability. After owning a couple of big and bulky laptops over the years, it's fantastic to carry around this little machine. If you are looking for a solid ultra-portable laptop, you won't be disappointed with this one.

Buy Acer Aspire TimelineX AS1830T-3927 11.6-Inch Laptop (Black) Now

To me this ACER ASPIRE laptop is the perfect computer for travel. It offers a great compromise between the need to carry it around on one hand and the speed/CPU power on the other. The laptop is only slightly larger and heavier than the 10" netbooks with the Intel Atom processor. In return it offers the new core-i processor which puts it on a different planet in terms of computing power. I have been using it for a couple of days now, and I am generally very pleased with it performance.

What I like:

Small dimensions and weight make it easy to carry.

Very powerful given the size.

Sturdy built, seems solid and durable.

Responsive keyboard with very large keys.

What I do NOT like:

The mouse touchpad. It has a rather rough and sticky surface which makes it rather challenging to use. This compounds the problem that the touchpad is quite small. I would have preferred to have the keyboard downsized to generate more space for the mouse.

The HOME and END keys can only be reached through the FN key. Not a big deal, but I happen to use them quite frequently, and there would obviously been enough space for two extra keys (and a larger tochpad).

I cannot help closing with a bit of a rant: I absolutely HATE WIDESCREENS. I would certainly not have bought this computer if there had been a suitable alternative with a 4:3 ratio screen, even for a considerably higher price. Unless the computer is used exclusively for watching movies, a widescreen of this size has only disadvantages. When browsing the web or editing documents, it makes me feel like standing in a room with a ceiling 4 inches below my height (this last point is not included in my ranking as all competing models would have the same problem).

Read Best Reviews of Acer Aspire TimelineX AS1830T-3927 11.6-Inch Laptop (Black) Here

Well, i had a Toshiba Mini NB205 that was an excellent netbook, very portable, resistent and had a beautiful appearance, I really liked this computer the internet and word worked razoably nice in this PC, but sometimes the internet conexion was a little too slow for me, and another sites, like and that are very heavy sites, were extremly slow to download and that irritated me a lot. So, I decided to change for a new netbook, and when I discover this ACER ASPIRE 1830T with the new intel core i3 inside I got crazy. And now I am really happy with this little PC!!!

Pros: the 11.6 inch lcd screen is a lot better than the 10.1 inch ones, it makes lot more easier to see the internet or work with the Office. Using for long periods the 10.1 inch screen is very tiring for the eyes, and the 11.6 is the perfect size for a ultraportable notebook.

The computer is very fast, you can see any page in the internet with no problem. And the Windons 7 64 bits works like a breeze, it's sensational.

The built quality is very good, it really is a superior computer very beautiful and resistent.

The keyboard is very good, the letters have a really nice size and you can type on this for hours and hours. I really loved the full size left SHIFT button, what is extremelly annoing in others netbooks. The keyboard don't have problem of flex, maybe just a little bit but that's will not be notice or be a problem when typing. The Toshiba Mini NB205, that is one of the best netbook in the market has a lot more flex than this one that almost don't have flex at all.

The duration of battery is fantastic and even more for a i3 processor. I thought that just the processors n450 could have the capacity of lasting so much. Fortunatly I was wrong, and I discover that this machine can last longer than 6 hours of solid internet conexion.

The computer is very very thin, and light, and the best thing is that the battery don't come out of the machine, it just stay where it should be, with any part out from behind or down the netbook like the N205 da toshiba.

Cons: it could come with a minimum of 128 MB of dedicated Video Ram, But that's not a big deal because I will not play games in this little computer.

Another problem is that this don't come with 4 GB of RAM, it could be included because this computer is expensive, but the 3 GB works more than perferctly for me.

Well, finally I highly recommend this computer for ANYBODY, who wants portability, fast internet conexion, and long battery life.

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Pros: This is a nice notebook (not a netbook). Well built, but light. Fast enough for everyday use and light gaming. The 11.6" screen is bright and crisp. It will run 1080P flash without any problems. Keyboard is great, and has nice feel. Great battery life. Windows 7 Home Premium a definite plus over lesser models that come with Windows 7 Starter installed. Swapping out the wi-fi card, memory and hard drive is easy via the bottom panel.

Cons: Acer puts these really crappy Broadcom 802.11n Single band 2.4GHz Wi-Fi cards in their portables. I had a spare antenna lying around, so I upgraded the Wi-Fi card to an Intel 6300 PCI Express Half Mini Card. If you don't want to mess with adding a additional antenna, an Intel 6100 or 5100 (which only need two antennas rather than three) should work fine. Swapping out the Wi-Fi card is easy (if you can swap out memory, you can swap out the Wi-Fi card), and very much worth the additional $30 cost.

The Alps Touchpad is also a bit difficult to get used to. It was much better after I played with the settings.

Other: Mine came with 3GB of mismatched memory. 1-1GB 1066MHz Samsung memory module, and 1-2GB 1333MHz Elpida memory module. The combination works fine, but seems odd. Notebook does not come with Bluetooth.

Overall, I'm very happy with my purchase. I would have given it 5 stars if it wasn't for the crappy Broadcom Wi-Fi card. I'll probably upgrade the memory and drop an SSD in it in the near future to make it really fly.