Acer TravelMate 8481T-6873: Remarkable Road Warrior
by Dustin Sklavos on December 11, 2011 2:22 AM EST- Posted in
- Laptops
- Intel
- Toshiba
- TravelMate
Application and Futuremark Performance
If you're not a maniac like me and you can live with the keyboard, you're going to find there's a lot to love about the Acer TravelMate 8481T under the hood. The SSD isn't the absolute fastest, but it's still going to be an improvement over a mechanical hard drive. What does bother me is that the TravelMate clearly has space for both a mechanical drive and an SSD, but it doesn't sport both. That feels like the way things ought to go in the future, but the lack of uptake in the marketplace continues to surprise me.
Performance is alright and the AData SSD provides a notable boost in the Storage score over the other notebooks, but it's pretty clear that it's hanging out in the bargain basement, slower than even the rudimentary SSD in the Toshiba Portege system.
PCMark Vantage is kind to the TravelMate, but this is also a good place to point out how fast the SSD isn't: the Dell XPS 14z's faster processor is enough to put it ahead of the TravelMate (as well as Toshiba's Portege Z830), despite having to deal with mechanical storage. Normally the SSD-equipped notebooks stack up neatly at the top of the chart, but that just isn't the case here.
Our application tests tell a different story. These tests are great because they focus pretty much entirely on the processor performance, and here we can see that while Intel's low voltage processors are certainly fast, they still can't compete with the lower end of their mainstream notebook chips. Still, they pretty handily beat AMD's best and brightest mobile chip, and offer reasonable enough performance on their own. The TravelMate 8481T can definitely be used for processor intensive work in a pinch, though you'll see later that it's not going to be ideal for Photoshop or other color-sensitive work.
It's no surprise to see Intel's integrated graphics pile up at the bottom of the 3DMark charts. These notebooks just aren't adequate for mobile gaming beyond older games like Unreal Tournament 2004. To satisfy my own personal curiosity, though, I went ahead and downloaded Magic: the Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012 to see how it would run on Intel's IGP. If you're a total nerd like I am, you'll be pleased to note that Intel's HD 3000 graphics are actually good enough to handle this game at native resolution (low settings) fairly smoothly. Good to know!
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fic2 - Monday, December 12, 2011 - link
+100! A laptop over $1000 and it has such crappy resolution. My 6 years old Dell that I bought for $650 has better resolution.vision33r - Sunday, December 11, 2011 - link
I have owned about 3 Acer laptops in different years and they've retained the same econo and budget quality to garner their budget badge.The last one I've owned had a nice GPU but once I started typing on it I realized what the mushy floating on an island description meant.
It was one of the worst keyboards for a full size 15" laptop.
The display was nothing to write home about either, it was glossy and contrast is poor.
If Acer is serious about competing with Apple and start charging Apple prices. Don't think consumers are dumb, there's a reason Apple Macbooks are selling double digits %.
You can also run Windows on Macs these days so how can Acer screw up so badly and still want to charge Apple prices.
futurepastnow - Sunday, December 11, 2011 - link
You are a spammer. Stop spamming.JarredWalton - Sunday, December 11, 2011 - link
I think your comment got relocated, but I deleted the offending comment. Thanks!rdamiani - Sunday, December 11, 2011 - link
A 14" 768p screen is too low resolution to be useful with the enormous ribbon bars Microsoft has inflicted on the current versions of everything. It's like looking at your work through a keyhole.ymrtech - Sunday, December 11, 2011 - link
please please PLEASE try and get an ASUS u36SD in for review.it is basically the same as this but from ASUS!
it has it's pros and cons aswell but it has the same price and ASUS quality!
it even has a dedicated nvidia 520M.
i get a good 8-10hours of usage (notes/homework)
6-8 hours of firefox web browsing
4-6 hours of youtube
and about 4-5 hours of HD video playback!
at 800-1200$ (depends on model) and considering it weights 3.74lbs with the battery
this laptop needs some publicity!
DanNeely - Sunday, December 11, 2011 - link
I took a look at the notebook on Asus's website and they prominantly had this text displayed: "ASUS U36 the first 19mm thin laptop with Intel standard voltage CPU in the world" and was briefly dumbfounded.While going with the cheapest CPU available makes sense at the $800 price point, for $1200 not offering a ULV version that either is cooler and longer running; or that shifted the TDP to the GPU. Looking at the numbes in the wikipedia you you could get as high as a GT555M with at most needing a very slight GPU underclock/undervolt. This'd get you to a mid level gaming laptop while still having ultra-portable weight and battery life values when on the go.
fic2 - Monday, December 12, 2011 - link
If you already have one and love it why do you need it reviewed? Needing validation of your opinions?Anonymous Blowhard - Monday, December 12, 2011 - link
"These notebooks just aren't adequate for mobile gaming beyond older games like Unreal Tournament 2004."Skyrim on an i5/HD3000, 1366x768 Low.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJuBfrDa8lo&t=1...
Sure, it runs at "console quality" but it *runs.*
andrewrocks - Monday, December 12, 2011 - link
The new Sony Z is $2k... But its 2.5 pounds, ssd, has great battery life and is very thin! 1080p is also an option on 13" screen!On paper these computers are stunning! Please review one AT, I'm curious if they can walk the walk.