This laptop met and exceeded all of my standards.I'm a grad student and my computer needs are admittedly pretty basic (Internet, Word/Excel, the occasional game, etc.); however, I wanted a computer with specs that weren't going to be completely obsolete in the next four years. I move around a lot and I'm constantly whipping my laptop out, so I needed something light and easily transportable. Also, seeing as how I am a grad student, I couldn't break the bank.
PROS
Battery life. The 8-9 hour figure is not an exaggeration. This is by far one of the nicest features. I go out all day without bothering to bring my power cord along. It's about 6PM as I write this; I've been on my laptop repeatedly throughout the day since 8AM, and I still have 2.5 hours of battery life to go. Love it.
Performance. With an i5 Sandy Bridge processor and 4GB of memory, the speed is definitely noticeable. I regularly have 20-30 tabs and windows open at any given time and I've never noticed a drag. I realize that that isn't saying much for those who really like to milk the performance out of their computer -so you probably want to refer to other reviewers on this factor -but as an average user I'm very satisfied with the speed. I should also note that this laptop doesn't run hot. Ever.
General design. Everything is very well laid out. The chiclet keys are great, the trackpad isn't annoyingly off to one side, the click of the mouse isn't loud (a personal pet peeve), and there are no unnecessary buttons cluttering up the keyboard. I wasn't sure about the cobalt blue at first but now I rather like it; it's toned down enough that the laptop still looks professional, if that's a concern.
Portability. I'm constantly moving from place to place throughout the day, and it's so nice to be able to pull my computer out whenever I need it. It starts up very quickly upon re-opening so I can jump back on it right away.
Price. $699 honestly feels like a steal for the quality of this laptop. I did a lot of research before buying it and I think this laptop is the best value out of all the comparable computers in its price range.
Other minor perks: The webcam resolution is surprisingly good, and there's a little programmable button on the keyboard that you can use for whatever you like.
I'll let other reviewers comment on the speakers because I'm honestly not enough of an audiophile to properly assess the quality. For the basic stuff I use them for (Grooveshark playlists, YouTube cat videos, etc.) I have no complaints.
Also, it should be noted: This laptop DOES have an optical drive. I don't believe that it's mentioned in the specs above.
CONS (read: minor annoyances)
It comes preloaded with crapware so be prepared to do a clean install of Windows 7 if you feel so inclined.
I sometimes hit the Fn button when I'm trying to hit Ctrl. They're both pretty small keys and right next to each other.
It's probably a matter of adjusting a setting, but I'll occasionally brush the trackpad in such a way that I zoom in and out of whatever window I'm working in, which is a little annoying.
Bottom line:
This is a fantastic little machine, perfect for students and people who are on the go a lot.
I just began as per the quick start instructions. I put the machine on charge, turned it on, completed initial configuration and set up. Battery was showing 73%. I wanted it to be 100% before I could actually test the battery life. While it was on charge, I got rid of most crapwares. I let Windows install all the updates. Activated and updated AV (It comes with 60 days trial of McAfee will switch to AVG soon :) ). Got rid of all Start-up programs those are not useful.
It took 12-14 sec to shut down and 30-35 sec to boot. Data transfer with USB 3.0 was amazing. It took approx 12 sec to transfer 1 GB of data from my portable hdd (3.0) to laptop hdd. At point I had 15-16 tabs opened in IE, WMP running, Canon utility programs running, MS word running at the same time and there was no lag in performance of this machine. It works at pretty good speed.
Chiclet Keyboard is good. Every key stroke is recognized. Track pad is smooth and good. Keys are set up in bit different positions than my earlier Dell and HP. But, it's not a trouble. Camera is average, but i am not bothered with it. It works fine for me on Skype :)
Heard horn liked tone from in-bulit speakers when used on Skype (But only once). Sound quality looks good otherwise. Would try it connecting to external speakers.
Screen resolution is very good. It looks bright. Core I5, 2.4GHz, 4GB RAM, 650GB hdd, 14" LED/LCD display is not a unique combination and there are many machines available in market with this combination. But, there are few things which makes this purchase worth -
1) NVIDIA with 1GB of VRAM is a plus. Haven't tried it though for gaming!
2) When it was charged to 100 %, I restarted the machine and let it run without AC power. I am using it since 5 hours now and it is still showing me 4 hours of charge left. Well, battery may will discharge faster if I pull more out of hardware (run/burn DVDs or continuously transfer data). But for an user like me, who spends most of the time on internet, looks 8-9 hours of battery life very much achievable with this machine.
3) It does not get hot. This is outstanding.
4) $699 is a steal for a machine of this quality.
This is my first Acer and I am very much satisfied with my purchase.
Buy Acer Aspire TimelineX AS4830TG-6450 14-Inch Aluminum Laptop (Cobalt Blue) Now
I love this computer super fast , long battery life, great speaker of any laptop I ever touched except of course the HP's but connected to speaker its really good especially via HDMI if you looking for a super light and thin aluminum laptop with DVD-rom of course 640GB and 3.0 USB what else can you ask for this price.:-DRead Best Reviews of Acer Aspire TimelineX AS4830TG-6450 14-Inch Aluminum Laptop (Cobalt Blue) Here
Very nice laptop with amazing performance. 4 cons but not deal breakers for the price.I was skeptical about the combination of colors but the blue and silver design of the body of the laptop are very eye catching, it looks professional and has a very solid build (The screen frame material is annoying though, see cons below).
14" screen size is just perfect with 1366 x 768 resolution, it's the same resolution as the 15.6" but in a smaller package.
Performance is excellent, very very fast. Laptop came with 4gb (2gb x 2gb) of ram, it was very fast but still upgraded it to 6gb (2gb x 4gb) for even faster multitasking. Don't really need 8gb.
Windows Experience Scores: Processor: 7.0, Memory (6GB RAM): 7.4, Graphics: 5.9, Game graphics: 6.7, Primary hard disk: 5.8
The NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 540M with 1GB DDR3 VRAM graphics card did an excellent job for a laptop and a big difference if your going heavy on video usage like playing mid-high graphics games. Played Starcraft II and WOW it was awesome no hiccups, video was flawless and very clear at ultra performance. Make sure you purchase an external cooling system though cause like all laptops it will really heat up when playing games (I got the Cooler Master NotePal U1 Notebook Cooler with 1 Fan R9-NBC-8PAK-GP. It's small, fits nicely underneath and does an excellent job keeping it cool! It also inclines the laptop for easier typing and places screen higher so you don't have to hunch your back and look down).
Laptop fans are on the quiet side and don't really heat up unless your playing games, running power hungry programs or seriously multitasking. I would still purchase the extra cooling noted above.
Battery ran for 5 hours working on normal day to day stuff on integrated graphics, highest screen brightness and @ 2.40GHz full power no turbo boost.
640 GB @ 5400 RPM hard drive, space and speed are more than enough. Would not upgrade to 7200 RPM because of prior bad experience, it will make accessing info faster but this laptop is fast enough! I stay away from faster drives anyway, after a few months they get annoyingly noisy and heat up to the point that it literally burns your laptop. So leave it as is! Never tried solid state drives though, so I can't really say anything about those.
8X DVD-Super Multi Double-Layer Drive is all I need, no Blu-ray is ok for me.
Speakers are of pretty good quality for a laptop. Like it says, it's professionally tuned not very loud but you get a well balanced sound. The speakers are not at the back top like it seems, they are placed at the front bottom part of the laptop...not an issue really.
HDMI is priceless for connecting to TV or a bigger screen, always a must have in any laptop now a days.
3 usbs are enough for a portable to move around.
Bluetooth is a nice extra but I don't really use it.
Chiclet keyboard is extremely comfortable to type on. Not had any problem with keys.
Cons
Screen quality looks good but not as neat and bright when compared to my Sony laptop. If you're not picky then you won't even notice it. I gave it 4 stars because of this minor issue for me but may be a big issue for others.
Why or why do they keep using the smudge magnet reflective material for the screen frame, I just don't get it. Nice and shiny but put your fingers on it and it looks dirty.
A little heavy for the size.
Battery is built-in so you won't be able to remove it easily. Not a problem really but if you ever spill liquid on it you won't be able to rapidly cut all power so no circuits get fried. Battery power is cut though when you remove the back lid to add extra memory.
It was a very good purchase @ $699. Exceeded my expectations! I did my research and nothing comes close to this price performance wise. So, if you don't want to spend much on an excellent 14" laptop with great looks and the cons won't be a problem for you then this is the one. Enjoy!
*Updated on 12/02/2011 Added a few things...some more pros and 1 con. I've had it for like a month now and I'm extremely happy with this little monster. Fastest laptop I have ever had!
Want Acer Aspire TimelineX AS4830TG-6450 14-Inch Aluminum Laptop (Cobalt Blue) Discount?
I discovered the CostCo version (4830T-6841) of this PC on the way to Bestbuy and ended up buying it, despite its lack of a separate number pad, after quick comparison shopping at Bestbuy. It was listed for $599 and came with all the specs above, but with 6G RAM, no Bluetooth, and *no crapware*! After I finished initial setup, there was precisely 1 icon on my desktop, the Recycle Bin. But it also included Office Starter (Word & Excel) and MS Signature security. The latter was new to me, but far preferable to Norton or McAfee trial versions, not least because it promised no annual renewal requirements.Both the keyboard and the trackpad feel solid and big enough for my hands. I solved the number pad problem at BestBuy by getting a $65 Logitech solar-powered wireless keyboard (with num pad) that will work with either my laptop or my netbook (an Acer AspireOne 722 with a spongy keyboard and jumpy trackpad), as will my earlier-bought Logitech mouse. So I can leave one tiny USB unifying receiver plugged into each PC that works for both input devices. But they will only work if one or the other PC is asleep or out of wireless range. (Otherwise they get confused about which control tower they're talking to.)
During setup, I kept marveling at how little heat the new processor generated. When I finally turned the PC off after 8 hours of constant usage, it was only as hot as my little Acer netbook gets after 1 hour of minimal activity. The speed was less of a surprise because I was replacing a 4-year-old HP dv4 laptop with a 32-bit processor.
After the battery was fully charged, I unplugged it and got exactly 4 full hours of very heavy I/O usage from it: (1) downloading and installing files from the web and across our local wireless network; (2) copying massive files from my Seagate external HDD (which took 15 min to load all my photos on the USB 3.0 port, after taking about 2 hours to copy them off the old HP with its USB 2.0 ports); and (3) all the while playing music CDs at full volume (sharp, but not very loud, and not very bassy on the new PC) and keeping the screen fully lit. The next day, I got about 8-9 hours of battery life, leaving it unplugged on my desktop and using it intermittently throughout the day in more typical fashion, allowing it to sleep from time to time.
The most annoying feature for me is the placement of all the connectors in the front half off the base (to make room for the vent on the left and optical drive on the right), where any USB 2.0 device on the right side risks getting repeatedly bumped by my mouse hand. And the wires from any video, HDMI, and USB 3.0 devices on the left leave little room for reference materials or coffee cups close by.
0 comments:
Post a Comment