Time for a change
Acer's ultra-portable TimelineX series has received a significant refresh, gaining both redesigned thinner, lighter chassis and upgraded components. The 13.3in 3830T, 14in 4830T and 15.6in 5830T all get a snazzy-looking two-tone aluminium outer shell measuring "about an inch thick" and sport the latest Intel 'Sandy Bridge' CPUs; a selection get dedicated NVIDIA graphics.
The 3830T and 4830T come with 2.5GHz Intel Core i5-2410M CPUs, while the 5830T has a lesser 2.1GHz Core i3-2310M processor. All three systems have 4GB of 1,066MHz DDR3 RAM, and 1,366 x 768 pixel displays; low even for the 13.3in model, but decidedly sub-par for the larger systems - an HDMI output at least gives the option to connect to a higher resolution display if required, though.
The 13.3in TimelineX lacks an optical drive, but benefits from NVIDIA GeForce GT 540M graphics; the base-spec 14.1in and 15.6in systems are stuck with Intel integrated graphics chips, but get both DVD drives and numeric pads. All of the TimelineX notebooks are fitted with 6-cell batteries, which Acer claims will provide "up to" eight hours of battery life and 1,280 x 1,024 pixel 'HD' webcams.
US pricing starts at $799 for the 3830T, $600 for the 4830T and $599 for the 5830T, with upgraded components pushing the cost up. No UK release has been confirmed as yet, but as the original TimelineX series made its way over here, we'd expect these new models to do the same in due course.
