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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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.