Acer Timeline 5810tz Review! Pics Coming Soon!

Acer Timelline 5810tz Review

Introduction

*Note: All prices mentioned are in CAD*

To celebrate starting my first year of university, I decided to spoil myself and ended up buying a 15-inch Macbook Pro
from the Apple Store, for a total of $1499.00 before taxes, and 1693.97 after Ontario's sale taxes.
I really loved the form
factor of it, as I was coming from a hefty Toshiba M200 tablet, which was small and portable, but chunky and heavy.
The
on the Macbook Pro was incredible with no flex unless you really wanted to flex it that badly, and even then I don't think
think it gave way.
After around 2 weeks of receiving, I decided to return it.
The battery only last 2 hours on the "Better
Battery Life" settings, and the computer ran much hotter than other Macbook Pros I had received.
I not only loved it for
the design and the premium feel of it, but I loved taking it out of my bag, unzipping my executive premium leather notebook
sleeve and putting the laptop on my desk.
I myself believe that Apple products are starting to become a movement, with
people only buying them so that they can be associated with the brand.
That's just how I feel.

One thing I really loved about my Mac are its chatting capabilities.
I loved how crystal clear the webcam was, and how well
Skype and iChat worked, so I decided that my next laptop would have to have a webcam.

I was cruising around Costco with my parents one day, waiting to take a new photo for my passport, when I realized there
were new computers on display, so I decided to check them out.
Now Costco's laptops usually don't provide consumers with
much bang for their buck, and most of the computers on display are outdated and/or underpowered for their price points.
The newest addition to the display models was the Acer 5810TZ.
After having read about the Timeline series on these forums,
I realized the price was incredible for it.
It is usually $699.99 at Costco, but they had a MFIR for $100, dropping it to
$599.99 before taxes, which is $676.87 after taxes.
Now, if you've been paying attention to laptop prices in Canada,
and compared them to the US, you've probably realized that we're getting ripped off here in the cold North, but after
checking Microcenter's website, I realized the price was amazing! And so I have been using this laptop for a bit now, but
here are my opinions on it!

Laptop Specs:

* Windows Vista Home Premium with SP2 (Upgraded to Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit)
* Intel Pentium SU2700 CULV (1.3GHz, 800MHz FSB, 2MB cache)
* 3GB DDR3 SDRAM (1066MHz)
* 320GB 5400 rpm SATA HDD
* 15.6-inch diagonal WXGA (glossy, 1366x768)
* Intel X4500M integrated graphics
* Intel 5100AGN
* Ports and connectors: (4) USB 2.0 ports, VGA, HDMI, Card reader, 10/100/1000 Ethernet (Gigabit),
SPDIF in, stereo microphone in, 1.3 megapixel webcam
* Weight: Around 2.4 Kg (~5.3 lbs not including weight of AC adapter).
* 6-cell ~60Wh battery
* One-year standard warranty


Build and Design

From the Acer laptops I've seen and owned (for a short time) in my life time, I know that their build quality is terrible.
In fact, I've seen more physically broken Acer laptops than any other laptop brand in my life! Now the Acer I owned for a
short while had terrible flex everywhere in its chassis, and the keyboard would give in to the slightest touch.
The top
cover would also flex, not providing enough protection for the LCD.

That is nothing like this laptop.
Acer really designed this laptop well, and you can tell just by looking at this laptop!
This 15.6 inch laptop is nothing short of being beautiful.
The top lid is composed of brushed aluminum that just screams
sexy when you look at it, and it feels incredible when stroking it (sorry for any improper thoughts you may have while
reading that).
The lid DOES flex though, more towards the middle of it, where there is less support.
I have to really
press down to get it to flex though.


There is little to no flex in the actually chassis of the laptop once opened.
Acer has also decided to start manufacturing
laptops that have the "chiclet" style keyboards, which is a big plus for this laptop, since the keyboard doesn't have any
flex while typing on it.
The matte surface of the laptop is extremely easy to keep looking clean, as it does not shine
as much as other laptops, namely HP branded ones, and does not show smudges.

Screen and Speakers

The Acer 5810tz sports a 15.6 inch, 16:9 ratio LED-backlit screen, which although is not as bright as the MBP's screen,
still provides more than enough brightness to work comfortably.
The screen is of the glossy type, which means it's going to
be a lot harder to work in sunnier conditions.
For testing purposes, I sat in a lounge, with a window right behind me with
the sun shining right at the screen.
The screen's brightest setting wasn't enough to overcome the sun's distracting rays!
Truthfully, I am not an expert on describing and reviewing screens, but from what I can tell, the display is a bit more
washed out than normal CCFL backlit glossy LCDs, but this is understandle as I'd rather have a brighter screen, and a
display that won't dim out as fast as CCFL technologies.
Viewing angles are good past 90