Acer TravelMate 8481T-6873: Remarkable Road Warrior
by Dustin Sklavos on December 11, 2011 2:22 AM EST- Posted in
- Laptops
- Intel
- Toshiba
- TravelMate
Battery Life
Where Acer's TravelMate 8481T really excels is in its running time off the mains. Acer gets good mileage out of that substantial 8-cell battery and makes the extra bump pay off.
While the relative battery life isn't the greatest, it's certainly more than enough. Remember that the TravelMate is boasting a larger screen and faster processor than the Toshiba Z830. There's probably still work that could be done here to improve battery life (and Sony makes a convincing argument for the Vaio SB in places), but it won't disappoint.
Heat
Acer's TravelMate 8481T also runs reasonably cool and quiet to boot; even under load the fan's inobtrusive, and at idle the notebook is almost totally silent. The only problem with the fan is the same problem notebooks this small and thin often have: whine. Under load I can see the pitch bothering somebody, but it's no worse than Toshiba's Portege Z830 was and I'm not sure what kind of magic anyone buying a notebook this small is really expecting.
Thankfully it runs pretty frosty, as we've come to expect from Intel's low voltage Sandy Bridge chips. The left palm rest warms up a bit, but that's honestly the worst I've seen from the TravelMate and it's very mild compared to some of the other notebooks we've tested.
Display
Unfortunately Acer cheaped out in one other place. While I'm not apt to be quite as critical of poor displays on notebooks that are clearly designed to be portable word processors (the screen on my Lenovo ThinkPad X100e is absolutely horrible), I still really wish manufacturers would at least try to produce a notebook screen in quantity that doesn't completely suck.
Truthfully I'm not sure what's going on with the Delta-E of the TravelMate 8481T's panel, but whatever it is, it isn't good, and when the screen loads the calibration there's a very noticeable color shift. White and black levels are also some of the worst we've seen, and contrast is absolutely terrible.
Viewing angles really aren't big winners either, and for this one there's not much in the way of a sweet spot. Like I said before, it's fine for word processing and some internet browsing, but lousy for anything color sensitive. You may be better off buying a ThinkPad X220 with the IPS panel before going with the TravelMate 8481T if color is important to you.
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hp79 - Sunday, December 11, 2011 - link
All Acer laptops sucks because the keyboard. They flex a lot and feels so cheap, it should only be for those $200 netbooks. The keys feel like you can lift them off. It even feels like disposable one-time-use stuff.tzirf203 - Sunday, December 11, 2011 - link
I disagree with this ideology that less expensive laptops, notebooks, net-books should get a cheap, flexible keyboard. You are talking about pennies to give the keyboard some structure & integrity so that it will last the lifespan of the unit. Producing cheap garbage like this, is the reason so many landfills are full of computers; among other electronics because a small inexpensive component on them stops working, which inherently prevents the unit from functioning so we just toss them in the trash and purchase a new one. Simply put its a waste of resources and precious metals, and the only thing it drives is the monetary system and financial goals of large corporations.Malih - Sunday, December 11, 2011 - link
it's hard to pull a good chiclet keyboard, I've compared MBP's keyboard compared to other chiclet, looks the same, but feels different, MBP is more comfortable especially for someone who types a lot.snuuggles - Sunday, December 11, 2011 - link
agreed. The MBA and UX31 keyboard look similar. But the Apple keyboard is at least functional, while the UX31 keyboard is simply... not.fic2 - Monday, December 12, 2011 - link
I agree. I own two Acer laptops and I am pretty sure I will never buy another one. I hate the keyboards. Normally I am a touch typist - except when I am using either laptop. I have to actually look at the keys. My fingers slide all over the flat keys.earthrace57 - Sunday, December 11, 2011 - link
Hey, I have a small little Dell Insperon 1545, and the keyboard is great for me, there is flex, but I don't type hard, and the keys feel full, like they fill up each and every slot, personally, if I could, I'd lift up this keyboard and put it on any other laptop, but sadly I can'tretrospooty - Sunday, December 11, 2011 - link
When will the madness end?snuuggles - Sunday, December 11, 2011 - link
Yeah, bad enough on is a 13", now they shove them into larger formats? It amazing these companies think they can compete with apple when they simply refuse to match the most fundamental specs. Idiots.legoman666 - Sunday, December 11, 2011 - link
I got tired of waiting for a 13-15" $400-600 laptop with decent resolution and bought a used 15.4" Thinkpad off eBay that has a 1920x1200 screen. I love it. Honestly, the only thing I care about in a laptop are the parts I interact with; the screen, keyboard, and touchpad. I don't care if it's super fast, I'm not going to play games on it, I don't really care a whole lot about battery life as long as it lasts 2+ hours, I don't care about hard drive space, external video outputs or any other shit. I just want to browse the internet and type, dammit.ScottHavens - Sunday, December 11, 2011 - link
I stopped reading the article halfway down the first page, when I saw it was 14" and that screen resolution. That kills any interest I have.