Acer Aspire Timeline 3810TZ review
in Laptops
Verdict
Perfoming an almost perfect balancing act, the Aspire 3810TZ is a preternaturally accomplished ultraportable at a bargain price.
Review Date: 8 Mar 2010
Reviewed By: Sasha Muller
Price when reviewed: £404 (£475 inc VAT)
Features & Design
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Value for Money
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Performance
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| Details | |
|---|---|
| Part Code | LX.PE602.045 |
| Review Date | 8 Mar 2010 |
| Price ex VAT | £404 |
| Price inc VAT | £475 |
| Overall rating |
|
| Features & Design |
|
| Value for Money |
|
| Performance |
|
| Warranty | |
|---|---|
| Warranty | 1yr collect and return |
| Physical specifications | |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 322 x 228 x 29mm (WDH) |
| Weight | 1.600kg |
| Travelling weight | 2.0kg |
| Processor and memory | |
|---|---|
| Processor | Intel Pentium SU4100 |
| Motherboard chipset | Intel GS45 |
| RAM capacity | 4.00GB |
| Memory type | DDR3 |
| SODIMM sockets free | 0 |
| SODIMM sockets total | 2 |
| Screen and video | |
|---|---|
| Screen size | 13.3in |
| Resolution screen horizontal | 1,366 |
| Resolution screen vertical | 768 |
| Resolution | 1366 x 768 |
| Graphics chipset | Intel GMA 4500M |
| Graphics card RAM | 64MB |
| VGA (D-SUB) outputs | 1 |
| HDMI outputs | 1 |
| S-Video outputs | 0 |
| DVI-I outputs | 0 |
| DVI-D outputs | 0 |
| DisplayPort outputs | 0 |
| Drives | |
|---|---|
| Capacity | 250GB |
| Hard disk usable capacity | 233GB |
| Spindle speed | 5,400RPM |
| Internal disk interface | SATA/300 |
| Hard disk | Seagate ST9250315AS |
| Optical disc technology | n/a |
| Optical drive | None |
| Battery capacity | 5,600mAh |
| Replacement battery price inc VAT | £0 |
| Networking | |
|---|---|
| Wired adapter speed | 1,000Mbits/sec |
| 802.11a support |
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| 802.11b support |
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| 802.11g support |
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| 802.11 draft-n support |
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| Integrated 3G adapter |
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| Bluetooth support |
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| Other Features | |
|---|---|
| Wireless hardware on/off switch |
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| Wireless key-combination switch |
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| Modem |
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| ExpressCard34 slots | 0 |
| ExpressCard54 slots | 0 |
| PC Card slots | 0 |
| USB ports (downstream) | 3 |
| PS/2 mouse port |
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| 9-pin serial ports | 0 |
| Parallel ports | 0 |
| Optical S/PDIF audio output ports | 1 |
| Electrical S/PDIF audio ports | 0 |
| 3.5mm audio jacks | 2 |
| SD card reader |
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| Memory Stick reader |
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| MMC (multimedia card) reader |
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| Smart Media reader |
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| Compact Flash reader |
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| xD-card reader |
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| Pointing device type | Touchpad |
| Audio chipset | Realtek HD Audio |
| Speaker location | Above keyboard |
| Hardware volume control? |
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| Integrated microphone? |
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| Integrated webcam? |
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| Camera megapixel rating | 0.3mp |
| TPM |
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| Fingerprint reader |
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| Smartcard reader |
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| Carry case |
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| Operating system and software | |
|---|---|
| Operating system | Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit |
| OS family | Windows 7 |
| Recovery method | Recovery partition, burn own recovery discs |
| Battery and performance tests | |
|---|---|
| Battery life, light use | 8hr 44min |
| Battery life, heavy use | 4hr 9min |
| Overall application benchmark score | 0.67 |
| Office application benchmark score | 0.68 |
| 2D graphics application benchmark score | 0.78 |
| Encoding application benchmark score | 0.60 |
| Multitasking application benchmark score | 0.61 |
| 3D performance (crysis) low settings | 5fps |
| 3D performance setting | Low |
From around the web
Swallowed a dictionary
lol - preternaturally.
How long have you been waiting to use that work?
By Steve_Adey on 9 Mar 2010 ![]()
Doh!
I meant word!
By Steve_Adey on 9 Mar 2010 ![]()
He's lucky...
I'm still looking for a decent excuse to use chthonic or cyclopean. Blame Lovecraft.
By nichomach0 on 9 Mar 2010 ![]()
An opportunity missed...
... to use Paradigm Shift.
(poem © 2010)
By JohnGray7581 on 9 Mar 2010 ![]()
wrong thread
If you hop over to the iPad thread, you could describe it as a cyclopean iPhone.
By Steve_Adey on 9 Mar 2010 ![]()
So excited by preternatural
that I forgot to point out that 'complimented' should have been 'complemented' in the second-to-last paragraph.
A star falls from heaven...
By JohnGray7581 on 9 Mar 2010 ![]()
An opportunity missed...
... to use Paradigm Shift.
(poem © 2010)
By JohnGray7581 on 9 Mar 2010 ![]()
Paradigm Shift
Is that a Scottish game bird?
By stokegabriel on 10 Mar 2010 ![]()
hi
this is very good i want one
By casperando on 14 Apr 2010 ![]()
hi
this is very good i want one
By casperando on 14 Apr 2010 ![]()
Backup
Under OS/System it states Recovery method:Recovery partition, burn own recovery discs
I thought there was no optical drive - so am I right in thinking if you want to back up your £475 laptop you first need to additionally buy a USB DVD/CD writer?
I was interested in this laptop but if the above is true I'll go for one which has the optical drive included.
By Simeon on 1 May 2010 ![]()
Dodgy trackpad
Just bought one of these on the basis of the review for my wife. On the whole, its a well put together machine. Unfortunately though, our trackpad refused to work properly in the out of the box Windows 7 install... no gestures, no tap to click, and the left mouse button didnt work. On the advice of Acer tech support, I did a factory reset which made no difference, and neither did downloading the latest synaptics drivers.
Strangely though, i've just tried the ALPS driver, which lets allows both buttons to work, but no multi-touch features.
I'm now unclear whether this a hardware or software problem.
Unfortunately, I think this laptop will pass the wife's approval... will be a pain if we have to send it back.
Keith
By mckeithyb on 14 May 2010 ![]()
Doh!
I meant.. "will not pass the wife's approval".
Perhaps the keyboard is dodgy as well ;-)
By mckeithyb on 14 May 2010 ![]()
Comparison
Better than the Asus-ul20a then ??
By moocifer on 22 May 2010 ![]()
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