Acer Aspire Timeline AS1810TZ-4174 Laptop Review
December 29th, 2009
Acer Aspire Timeline AS1810TZ-4174 11.6-Inch Blue Laptop Review from Joe Pennant. Laptop power in a netbook, Laptop power in a netbook form factor. A secondary machine that runs like a primary.
Pros:
- Size, small yet usefully large
- Pretty
- Sturdy build
- Long battery life under almost all conditions.
- glossy screen, but not annoyingly so (like the Mac glossy screens).
- Well specced out.
- Excellent value, even at the price point.
Cons:
- It gets smudged very very quickly.
- Price premium is above many larger laptops.
- You HAVE to upgrade to maximum RAM to get the best out of it.
A barrista at Starbux put it best when she saw it: “Yummy!”. And really, it is a yummy machine. Useful with its large keyboard and screen, the right amount of ports, realistically long battery life under almost all conditions, and yet smooth and powerful with the ability to run even power and memory hungry applications without fuss and muss.
Very yummy.
Because I do a lot of traveling and photograph events, I have long craved a netbook so that I wouldnt have to constantly lug a large bag and heavy computer. A MacBook Air was far too expensive, almost too large, with not enough ports and designed to be just a secondary machine. A netbook with even a 10″ screen was really too small in the screen and keyboard. So when I saw the Acer AspireOne 751h with its 11.6″ screen yet slim form factor, I decided that was what I was gonna get, particularly as it was on sale at most places for under $300. Yet, I hesitated to buy as the reviewers kept harping that the Atom processor was slow. So, I waited and researched and saw that the AS1410 had more power, but by that time I wanted my cake and to eat it too. Finally, the 1810TZ with its Dual Core and 64bit Windows 7 became available but cost $250 more than I had originally budgeted. Come decision time, the pros far outweighed the cons. It was just too perfect to pass up.
To complete things, I ordered a 4G WiMax USB modem and service from [...], which made it a great portable machine, allowing you to avoid searching for WiFi hotspots. This effectively transforms the machine to a “everywhere” computer. (If you travel a fair amount around the US, I highly recommend getting 3G+4GWimax service if it is available in your area or when it does. That effectively gives you wireless broadband connectivity around the country.)
I like that I can now slip it into my bag, and I am often surprised just how small it is when I pull it out with one hand. The screen by default is very bright, yet will often run for far longer than 8 hours (sometimes over 12), and it is not even on the power saving settings. (Of course, using USB devices will drag down battery life, but it is still very good). The screen area allows you to see almost everything, although you may want to slim down your browser area. The glossiness isnt too highly reflective like that of the Mac laptops, you dont need a matte cover. The AC adapter’s brick is tiny and light, making it near painless to carry with you. The glossy screen and shell smudges very quickly, so a microfiber cloth always on hand will keep it looking smart.
Although it has the power of a primary machine, and can be used as such, it is really a machine to be used in tandem with a larger primary machine. Portability is its reason for being, so I would not recommend it as an only machine.
To give a measure of how impressive this machine is: If an apple logo was slapped on it would sell like hotcakes as The Next Big Thing. But for the price of a MacBook Air, you can get 3 1810TZ’s . 
Now, my pet peeve with the Acer 1810TZ – and why I only gave 4 stars, not 5. It runs best with 4gigs of RAM. Out of the box, like other manufacturers, Acer sells the 1810TZ with 3Gb of RAM. So to upgrade it to the maximum, you have to buy a 2Gb stick and dispose of the 1Gb. The reason Acer sells it with this odd number, is that with a 64bit OS, both memory slots needs to be filled, but because the onboard video shares the system memory and uses a little over 1Gb of RAM at max, they could not just sell it with just 2gb’s of RAM. With 3gigs installed the video performance, particularly when running video full screen, stutters frequently. Although not at all slow, Windows 7 64bit isnt as fast as you might expect. With 4gigs of RAM installed, the speed is near perfect and video is very smooth. That extra 1 gig makes such a difference.
It would only cost Acer an extra 5-10 dollars to max out the RAM, and for them to hold back is just wrong. So when purchasing, order a 2Gb DDR2 SoDIMM to go along with it.
All in all though, the Acer 1810TZ is a great little machine, well engineered, sturdy, powerful and pretty, and except for the RAM issue, it doesnt leave you wanting for more.
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(Edit after a month of ownership)
This machine still rocks, all of the above still applies. However a few other things -
- You will need an external DVD drive, you cannot get past it.
All your installation DVD’s are on the hard drive, and unless you turn off the notifications, it will nag you to make backups of your restore DVD’s. And what will you need to run those DVD’s? Precisely.
By the way, if you do buy an external DVD – TEST THEM with your machine. You want one that out of the box that
A) will be recognized and installed automatically (Drive #1 – a major name brand)
B) reads blank DVD’s automatically and without freezing. (Drive #2- a off brand which was touted as fully compatible with Acers.)
I went through 3 before I finally found one (a Asus SDR-08D1S-U) that works as advertised. Good thing I bought it locally rather than online, or I wouldve been a highly irate camper.
- Finding a good sleeve for the 11.6 form factor machine isnt easy.
Theyre all either too small or too large. Best ones are those built to hold a 12 inch machine, with enough room for the AC adapter and slim external DVD burner.
My point being, you may end up spending a bit more on this machine a bit after you buy it.
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Still, a great machine that garners looks wherever you go.
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Tags: 64bit Windows, Acer Aspire, Atom, Barrista, Battery Life, Decision Time, Dual Core, Fuss, Hungry Applications, Keyboard, Laptop Power, Laptop Review, Laptops, Maximum Ram, Memory, Pennant, Photograph, Ports, Reviewers, Screens
