page-3 | Acer AS5810 Timeline - Newest technology and superb battery life in stunning design | Laptops

Acer AS5810 Timeline - Newest technology and superb battery life in stunning design - Physical aspects

Tuesday, 25 August 2009 15:18 Allan Hansen

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Article Index
Acer AS5810 Timeline - Newest technology and superb battery life in stunning design
Package contents
Physical aspects
Physical aspects continued
Benchmark
Benchmark continued
Conclusion
All Pages

Page 3 of 7

Physical aspects

First impression

With a 15.6 inch display and an extra thin lid, this is one sleek laptop. The Timeline series is a composition of elegant features, such as the design. While not terribly original, it works incredibly well on this product and can appeal to most everybody.

This model is not just characterized by the design, though. The Timeline series is a great line of computers in many other ways.

First of all, the products comprising the series sport some great battery lives; all should reach up to 8 hours on standby, and over 5 hours on normal use.
The notebooks are optimized to reduce weight, and are to this end partially made of brushed aluminum, which has the nice side effect of looking great and providing you with that quality feel. An ultra thin design – though not the thinnest to date – makes these notebooks light and stylish.

With the mentality design should be practical as well as aesthetic, Acer has ensured the laptop does not get too hot to sit with. This has been accomplished by what they call “Laminar Wall Jet technology”, which is supposedly better for the environment, the battery life, and the heat. Not bad at all.

The guys at Acer have taken a page from the Mac-folk and made a multitouch touchpad. This allows you to navigate websites with certain gestures, sparing your wrists the strain a mouse can cause. A fine feature.

Combined with some of the newest technologies like HDMI and improved audio in their laptops, Acer create a series which includes a lot of great features at a reasonable price. We will soon see if these features deliver, and if the product is as unique as it sounds. Regardless which conclusion we may reach, it sounds they are moving in the right direction if nothing else.

On to the product – grey and black are the prevailing colours on this laptop. That means it does not draw too much attention, but rather remains humble, which is preferable at times.

A large, blue diode at the front prides the laptop, somewhat against the rest of the design. They could have made it smaller and more discreet if you ask me. Besides that the material is exquisite, brushed aluminium with a smooth look that does not suffer from fingerprints and other smudges. Acer seems to prefer a very stylistic, glossy surface these days, which is also the case here. The Acer logo is printed in silver on the lid but is otherwise fairly discreet, letting the product speak for itself.

The keyboard has a nice size and consists of some glossier keys. There is a strategically placed eject button for the optical drive – always nice to have – but otherwise the keys are very streamlined and minimalistic.

At first glance it seems a very sleek product containing the newest technology, of great size, boasting a long battery life (or so the advertisement goes), and a cooling solution that allows you to sit with it without burning your thighs.

The lid

The lid is very thin; in fact the whole laptop is less than 1 inch thick, an attribute featuring prominently in Acer’s marketing. It is easy to close and while the hinges on this particular model are made of plastic, they seem of decent quality. The lid slides behind the notebook when you open it and on top of it we have the Acer logo as always. The inside of the lid features an integrated microphone and webcam.

The front

Acer put the card reader at the front, and while I am unsure as to whether that is the best location, it is nice to see someone finally using the front for something.

The rear

The lid slides behind the rear when you open it, so nothing of interest here.

The bottom

At the bottom there is little beyond the battery and lids to RAM and such. We leave that alone.