Acer Aspire TimelineX AS1830T-68U118

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A powerful mini laptop launched by Acer last year is this Aspire TimelineX AS1830T-68U118 which manages to offer everything that you would expect from a full-size laptop but only on a smaller scale. The exterior this model is quite similar to what you will notice in other similarly-sized premium netbook. It comes with a black plastic around the inner keyboard deck and upper screen, along with a black crosshatch-patterned plastic on the black lid.

When it came out, this model carried a retail price of $899 which offered an Intel Core i7-680UM processor running at 1.46 GHz and 4GB of DDR3 memory clocked at 1,066 MHz. For storage it has a spacious 500GB hard drive rotating at 5,400 rpm while the graphics power is provided by the integrated Intel GMA HD with shared system memory.

Acer Aspire TimelineX AS1830T-68U118 (Source: static.bhphotovideo.com)

Acer Aspire TimelineX AS1830T-68U118 (Source: static.bhphotovideo.com)

The netbook measures 11.2 x 8 x 1.0 – 1.1 inches and it tips the scales at 3 pounds (0.4 pounds more if we add the AC adapter).The 6-cell lithium-ion battery has been tucked above the keyboard and between the hinges of the screen, thus reducing the bottom bulk. The bundled AC adapter is considerably more compact in comparison to what you’ll find on other laptops, looking pretty much like a cell phone charger which makes it a lot easier to carry in a small bag.

It adopts a large edge-to-edge keyboard that has wide keys that are not raised which makes them quite difficult to locate by touch. Just about the same ergonomic issues you will encounter with the touchpad located below which unfortunately is too narrow to use with large hands. The good news is that it offers support for multi touch gestures and has two small, discrete buttons located below.

On the top left is a round blue LED-lit power button, while on the top right are a bunch of LED lights indicating various functions, like HDD activity. On the left front edge of the system there are a few more LEDs that show battery charging status and Wi-Fi activity. You will be controlling the volume and brightness of the screen via a combo of the Fn and arrow keys.

Acer Aspire TimelineX AS1830T-68U118 (Source: static.bhphotovideo.com)

Acer Aspire TimelineX AS1830T-68U118 (Source: static.bhphotovideo.com)

Speaking of the screen, we’re dealing with an 11.6-inch LED-backlit, glossy display that has a native resolution of 1,366 x 768 pixels. This dual hinged screen can be opened up to 180 degrees but at an extreme tilt the viewing angles will degrade. The clarity and brightness of this display are above average, but the colors look less sharp in comparison with other similar models from this segment.

That 6-cell battery is going to last for approximately 4h and 40min during a demanding video playback test, a good performance in this segment.