Acer Moves Forward in Time
by Dustin Sklavos on June 9, 2011 11:50 AM ESTAcer Moves Forward in Time
Acer's popular TimelineX line of notebooks has undergone a refresh to Sandy Bridge and brought a healthy number of upgrades to the hardware with them, including a major (and much appreciated) change to the keyboard. With models topping out at just 1.15" thick and 5.6 pounds in the case of the 15.6" model, these notebooks are made for performance in a thin-and-light form factor. So what is Acer bringing to the table today?
Their TimelineX line of thin-and-light notebooks is being released in 13.1", 14", and 15.6" models. Acer's press release is a bit cagey on details for the specific models (except to cite model numbers and weight), but there's some impressive engineering at work here. The 13.1" 3830T tips the scales at 4.12 pounds, while the 14" 4830T weighs in at 4.88 pounds and the "big daddy" 5830T remains a relatively svelte 5.6 pounds. Each of the notebooks comes equipped with an HD webcam with a 1280x1024 resolution, Intel 2nd Gen Core i3 or i5 processors, gigabit Ethernet, and 802.11b/g/n wireless networking. The 14" and 15.6" models also include integrated optical drives.
What's most appreciated (at least to me) is the change to a chiclet-style keyboard instead of the dire floating island keyboards that have plagued older Acer notebooks, but what may be most interesting to the rest of you is the inclusion of NVIDIA dedicated graphics. While we wouldn't expect the 13.1" model to sport anything other than the IGP, Acer has announced that the GeForce GT 520M and GT 540M would both be available in the new TimelineX notebooks.
Acer expects the notebooks to be available in retailers starting today with an MSRP starting at just $599.
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jmunjr - Thursday, June 9, 2011 - link
Would like to see Sandy Bridge in their 11.6" model... this thing really needs better GPU performance.Mumrik - Thursday, June 9, 2011 - link
There seems to have been a more away from 12.x inch sizes. I really don't like that. all these 13.x inch laptops are just a bit too big for comfort for me.warisz00r - Friday, June 10, 2011 - link
Are you a small person?Granted, they could have made the chassis for the 13-incher small enough to masquerade as a 12- or even 11-incher, but they would have to use a panel with very thin bezel or make compromises in the internal spec to meet the TDP threshold of the smaller chassis.
iwod - Friday, June 10, 2011 - link
This has been selling in Asia Pacific Region for quite some time. Is this only just coming out in US?hybrid2d4x4 - Friday, June 10, 2011 - link
It wouldn't surprise me. I've been traveling in SE Asia and have seen Sandy Bridge Asus U-series notebooks on sale (like the U41S) in Malaysia weeks ago, but I can't seem to find them for sale online in North America yet. I hope they make it to Canada before the end of July because I'll be needing a laptop around then and I really like the look, normal/US keyboard layout (the CDN eng/french layout is crap), hardware and battery life...Akaz1976 - Friday, June 10, 2011 - link
Did Acer confirm that there will be no discrete graphics for the 13"? or are you just assuming it?I currently own the 13" from last gen and it has a 5650. I have been able to play virtually all games on it and still enjoy lightweight+8hr battery life when needed (took this instead of my work laptop which much heavier with lesser batter life for my business trips).
Also did they also cancel the 11" version?
synaesthetic - Saturday, June 11, 2011 - link
That one was never available in America. :(I hope the LG P330 is available here (the P220 was not). God damn that thing is sexy.
infotechblog - Sunday, June 19, 2011 - link
This notebook really awesome with the Sandy Bridge. I want to have one this notebook...