Customer Reviews

Acer Aspire Timeline AS4810TZ-4474 14-Inch Aluminum Laptop - Over 8 Hours of Battery Life

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

When I first unboxed this, it was the first thing that came to mind. This is a PC version of an Apple MacBook. The extremely thin, and a very well built, solid feel to it. Not to mention the chicklet style keyboard. It SCREAMS MAC! It would have been really nice if the keys were backlit, but oh well.

My first concern with this laptop was weather or not the 1.3 Pentium DC processor was going to get the job done running Windows 7. I am here to say that it does. In fact, it runs extremely well. All of the apps that I have pulled up, (admitedly none that would be considered 'heavy') have run with no lag, or problems what-so-ever.

The trade off for the slower, dated Pentium Dual core processor, is that you get 8 FULL hours of usage time. It comes as advertised too. Infact, I have gotten closer to 9 hours of time out of mine on a full charge.

The wireless antenna is extremely strong uses a technology called ConnectUp. Not quite sure what it is, but it rules! Have gotten a strong signal from all over my house, where my previous laptop would struggle.

The screen is a backlit LED display which is absolutely beautiful. The HDMI port is a nice add on, but I cant even imagine when I will ever hook it up to my TV, since the display on the laptop itself is so amazing.

The speakers are very good, and even get a little bit of the surround sound feel.

I would not recomend this computer to anyone that is looking for a hardcore gaming unit. Although I have not tested the processor out on a game, I would think that it would probably choke. But I am not a PC gamer, so it suits my needs just fine.

Well worth the $650 investment.

I'm a business guy. I did a some reasonably thorough research on laptops available in this power/price range and this ACER4810TZ-4474 came out the winner. I purchased it from Amazon and am very happy with it so far.

My primary use of a laptop is on business trips, and business trips involve airplanes with cramped seating. Much of my travel is from coast to coast so I want to put the time to good use. This resulted in a need for a small size and a long battery life. I have big hands so I need a full size keyboard. This combination provided the physical constraints.

I found that most all of the netbook computers had the small size and long battery life but lacked the processor power and the full sized keyboard that I needed. On the other hand, most laptops had the processor power and full sized keyboard but lacked the battery life and small size that I needed. This computer has pretty much the perfect size for me. It has a full size keyboard and long battery life with adequate processor power and small-enough size to use on an airplane.

The frame of the computer is very strong and exceptionally well made. There is no flex in it and the fit and finish is first class. I really like the design. It is very thin yet very clean and strong. The exterior of the case is a dark gray with a matte finish that does not gather any fingerprints.

The keyboard uses flat-top keys, which I was unsure how I would like. It felt a bit odd at first, but with just a little bit of use, I've come to really like the feel and function of the keyboard. The screen is excellent. Bright and clear. It wants to be viewed straight on, so good for anti-shoulder surfing, but not so good for two-person viewing.

The drive is fast and quiet. The hinges on the screen are amazingly solid. The performance of the computer so far has been excellent in every way. I've not put a timer on the battery life, but I'm absolutely certain that it will run 5 hours with typing and occasional disk access.

I was quite interested in a similar unit from ASUS, but read many complaints about the poor performance of the mouse pad on those computers. The mouse pad on this ACER unit works exceptionally well. The CD/DVD has a neat feature in that the eject button is on the top of the frame rather than hidden down on the side of the unit.

The ability to pick up WiFi signals is amazing. My Dell D600 which this unit will replace, will show 3 stations. In exactly the same place, this ACER unit will show 7 stations.

My only complaint at this point is the pre-installed McAfee and Norton and other software that I don't want to have anything to do with. I'm anticipating that it will be a challenge to remove the McAfee and Norton software. I uninstalled the trial MS Office 2007, then purchased an Office 2007 Standard Upgrade on disk and installed it without problems. This computer comes with MS Works 9, and Works 9 qualifies to be upgraded to Office 2007 Standard, which will have a free upgrade to Office 2010 when it is released. This saved over $100.

One last thing... the widescreen format works much better on airplanes where the seat in front limits the ability of the screen to fully open. All widescreen laptops work better than their older, more rectangular screen laptops. But, all widescreens are not equal. Some hinge the bottom of the screen at the top surface of the base. This makes the top of the screen be higher than a similar sized screen on a laptop that places the hinge lower down on the back face of the base. Placed side-by-side with most of its competitors, the top of the screen of this ACER, when open, is not as high above the surface of the table as that of most of its competitors. This means that on an cramped airplane, my odds of being able to fully open the screen are significantly improved.

I've been through Best Buy several times since this purchase and each time I've come away very happy I found this computer. In fact, I would have paid an extra $100 to $200 to get it, as compared to what else is available to meet my needs. I bought it here at Amazon. Fast free shipping and exceptionally well packaged. The ACER box is a fortress.

Have only used about 3 weeks and so far no problems. Extremely easy to set up/run right out of the box. No problems with WIFI connection or deletion of unneeded programs. Use mainly for internet access around house and outside and has been great for that. Have not put battery to 8hr test since I usually plug in to electical outlet. Overall, extremely happy with purchase "so far".

This was the best laptop I've ever owned. Unfortunately I ruined mine by spilling coffee on it, oops! It's very similar to a Mac Book, yet less than half the price. I needed a laptop that was very portable, so size, weight and battery life were a big issue. This little Acer is perfect in every way if that's what you need. It is very elegant looking, has plenty of power for most any task the average customer will do, very light and obviously has terrific battery life. I know for a fact it would hold a charge for at least 7 hours while using the internet, playing music, ect. I was a bit skeptical at first, but was very pleased once I put it to the test. Hands down, this is a very tidy laptop, and I wish I could have bought another. I can't find it anywhere though. I ended up getting a Dell Inspiron. It is also a 14 inch. It has an i3 processor, but I can't even tell the difference between it and the Acer's ultra low voltage dual-core Pentium. It just eats up more battery. Also, the Acer had an HDMI port, my new Dell does not, and it's a newer system. I would go with Acer any day over Dell. I feel they've come a long way, and now make a terrific product.

I recently purchased this laptop for my wife for mother's day. I choose this model because it fit three specific requirements: (1) at least a 14" screen; (2) less than 5 pounds; (3) at least 4 GIGs of RAM. There weren't that many options available, and the Acer was well priced with reasonable reviews. And Acer appears to currently be ranked as the worlds 2nd largest brand, so I'm guessing they produce some decent computers.

The Bad

The first laptop I received froze within 30 minutes of use, requiring a hard reboot with the power key. I hoped this was a fluke, but in three days, it required 4 hard reboots. So, I ordered a replacement.

The second laptop developed a screen problem 5 minutes into the Windows 7 setup wizard; the left 10% of the screen displayed hundreds of vertical lines. I called Acer, and after a few minutes of diagnostics, they told me it was a hardware problem, and to send it in to be fixed (ie, send it back).

The Good

After failing to find a phone number for support on the Acer support site, I decided to call the "technical specifications and warranty information" phone number on their contact page. I was talking with a friendly phone technician in under 30 seconds.

I can also say that while we were waiting for the replacement to arrive, my wife used the first one for several days, and liked it (accept that it crashed at least once a day).

I've purchased upwards of 50 computers over the years, and this is the first time I've ever had two fail on arrival. In trying to select something to replace the Acer, I came across a report on laptop failures by squaretrade that showed the average 3 year failure rate of mid-range laptops to be over 20%, with Acer not the best, but not the worst either. In the end, I've decided to purchase the ASUS UL80Vt- A2 14-Inch Thin and Light Laptop (Silver) instead and hope we have better luck. I'm also planning to purchase an extended warranty;)

I purchased this laptop because of small size and battery life of 8 hr. So far, I have been very happy with this product. I purchased it over a month ago, so haven't had a lot of experience with it. With that said, I would purchase another Acer Aspire.

Bonnie