With all of the noise Intel and some of the OEMs are making about
ultrabooks, it's easy to forget that as PC users we've already enjoyed
thin-and-light and ultraportable notebooks for a while now. Were they
sliver-thin? No, but the magical three pound point is something we've
always been able to find. Netbooks, for better or worse, only made
portability that much more accessible and affordable. With that in mind,
we have on hand Acer's TravelMate 8481T, a notebook that measures under
an inch thick (without the battery) and sports an SSD and matte screen.
If you were in the market for an ultraportable, this one may be worth
your attention.
Our review model is the TravelMate 8481T-6873, and will henceforth just
be referred to as the already difficult-to-remember "TravelMate 8481T."
If you look for it on Acer's website you'll have a hard time finding
it; it's technically a "TravelMate TimelineX" unit, which just reminds
me of how convoluted their lineup was years ago when I was shopping for
my old Athlon 64-powered Gateway. You're not going to find this model
readily available on NewEgg but if you're interested a trip through
Google Shopping will track it down.
First things first: while Acer lists the height of the TravelMate 8481T at a slender 0.9", that doesn't include the fact that the battery bulges out of the back and inclines the notebook; take that into account and you're looking at about an inch and a half. That's still not bad, and you'll see later that the massive battery pays big dividends.
There's a lot to like about this configuration, but one thing is becoming abundantly clear: optical drives are most definitely on their way out. These smaller notebooks are dispensing with them entirely, and while Dell might be proud that they managed to squeeze one into their XPS 14z, most vendors seem to be content to just ditch them altogether and honestly I'm not sure I really disagree at this point. The added bulk isn't missed, and with external, USB-powered drives so inexpensive it's hard to justify building one into a notebook anymore unless that notebook was already going to be pretty big to begin with.
In terms of specs and other features, the TravelMate looks very similar to an ultrabook: it has a ULV CPU and an SSD in the model we're reviewing (though a less expensive variant uses an HDD instead). The only thing keeping this out of the ultrabook category is the size of the battery and the resulting thickness. Let's dig a little deeper and see how it fares.
| Acer TravelMate TimelineX 8481T-6873 Specifications | |
| Processor |
Intel Core i7-2637M (2x1.7GHz + HTT, Turbo to 2.8GHz, 32nm, 4MB L3, 17W) |
| Chipset | Intel UM67 |
| Memory | 1x4GB Kingston DDR3-1333 (Max 2x4GB) |
| Graphics |
Intel HD 3000 Graphics (12 EUs, up to 1.2GHz) |
| Display |
14" LED Matte 16:9 768p LG LP140WH6-TJB1 |
| Hard Drive(s) | 128GB SanDisk SATA 3Gbps SSD (onboard) |
| Optical Drive | - |
| Networking |
Broadcom NetXtreme Gigabit Ethernet Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6205 802.11a/b/g/n Bluetooth 2.1 |
| Audio |
Realtek ALC269 HD Audio Stereo speakers Mic and headphone jacks |
| Battery | 8-Cell, 14.8V, 87Wh |
| Front Side | SD/MMC card reader |
| Right Side |
2x USB 2.0 Exhaust vent Kensington lock AC adaptor |
| Left Side |
Ethernet jack VGA Exhaust vent HDMI eSATA/USB 2.0 USB 3.0 Mic and headphone jacks |
| Back Side | Battery |
| Operating System | Windows 7 Professional 64-bit SP1 |
| Dimensions | 12.9" x 9.4" x 0.9" (WxDxH) (without battery) |
| Weight | 4 lbs |
| Extras |
1.3MP webcam SD card reader SSD USB 3.0 |
| Warranty | 1-year international warranty |
| Pricing |
MSRP $1349 Available online starting at $1202 |
First things first: while Acer lists the height of the TravelMate 8481T at a slender 0.9", that doesn't include the fact that the battery bulges out of the back and inclines the notebook; take that into account and you're looking at about an inch and a half. That's still not bad, and you'll see later that the massive battery pays big dividends.
There's a lot to like about this configuration, but one thing is becoming abundantly clear: optical drives are most definitely on their way out. These smaller notebooks are dispensing with them entirely, and while Dell might be proud that they managed to squeeze one into their XPS 14z, most vendors seem to be content to just ditch them altogether and honestly I'm not sure I really disagree at this point. The added bulk isn't missed, and with external, USB-powered drives so inexpensive it's hard to justify building one into a notebook anymore unless that notebook was already going to be pretty big to begin with.
In terms of specs and other features, the TravelMate looks very similar to an ultrabook: it has a ULV CPU and an SSD in the model we're reviewing (though a less expensive variant uses an HDD instead). The only thing keeping this out of the ultrabook category is the size of the battery and the resulting thickness. Let's dig a little deeper and see how it fares.
Everything But the Keyboard
When I unboxed the Acer TravelMate 8481T I was actually pretty impressed. Acer's notebooks admittedly tend to err more towards the bargain basement set, and build quality and design have often suffered for it. Even the TimelineX 3830TG initially seems interesting and even like quite a bargain, right up until you realize how much the hardware has to throttle performance due to Acer cramming too much in a small space.
So imagine my surprise at discovering a sleek ultraportable with an almost entirely brushed aluminum shell. It's frankly both incredibly attractive and incredibly sturdy, and there are only two giveaways that it's an Acer notebook: the discreet silver logo on the cover (along with their "Signal Up" logo), and the keyboard forged from the hottest fires of hell itself, damned to endlessly roam the earth bringing woe and misery to typists everywhere. But we'll get to the keyboard soon enough.
Acer's more industrial-style design is a welcome change of pace on the TravelMate 8481T, with plastics seldom employed and the only gloss being the silver screen hinges and the logo on the lid. Acer has produced a notebook that's attractive and functional, and it feels remarkably sturdy to boot. The body doesn't bend or flex, and there's even a 2.5" drive bay (although in our review unit it's unoccupied and lacks the proper connectors due to the onboard SSD). Some people may not like the way the battery bulges out of the bottom, but that kind of design has honestly never bothered me that much (I prefer the incline it creates for the keyboard) and as I said before, it pays off elsewhere.
Unfortunately, despite having produced an attractive and understated notebook, and even managing to produce an excellent touchpad with discrete buttons instead of a single rocker, Acer has gone and fouled things up by using their old "floating island" style keyboard. It's been a long time since I've had an opportunity to rant about this design, but know that my hatred for it runs deep. The flat, mushy keys absolutely ruin the user experience, and it's worlds away from the improved chiclet-style keyboard you'll find on modern Acer consumer notebooks. Even without the flex commonly seen on their consumer models, the keys feel cheap and they can easily pop off; travel is limited and the flat tops don't give a clear delineation between the keys. While Acer's keyboard layout is excellent, typing on it is a joyless experience and for me it actually sinks the entire thing (though to be fair I'm very particular about keyboards).
This is the first Acer notebook I've had in for testing where I felt like I wouldn't mind owning it...and then I tried typing on it. There isn't enough hyperbole in the world to adequately describe my contempt for this keyboard design. Some people might not be as demanding, but those same people probably don't write lengthy articles on a regular basis. If you're a student doing term papers, it's difficult to imagine this being a comfortable keyboard; you can use it if you have to, but try a Dell Latitude, ThinkPad, or even a MacBook Pro and I defy you to come away thinking this is better in any way.
That's a shame, too, because as I said, this is otherwise a pretty ideal little road warrior of a notebook and would be perfect for users like me who need something thin and light to write on, take notes, and so on. This should be excellent for business users and word processors, but what good is it if it's irritating to type on? If you don't want to use your notebook, you'll do anything you can to make sure you don't have to. I'm not personally an Apple fan, but they understand one vital tenet of design: user experience is everything, and if nobody wants to actually use your product they aren't going to buy it.
What's really weird is that so many of Acer's products are built to hit the lowest price point possible, and so we can sort of shrug and say, "Yeah, but at least it's inexpensive." The TravelMate is an upscale laptop in every other way, but it keeps with the tried and false keyboard style. When you're building a business-class laptop and improving the chassis and overall build quality, how does the keyboard get left out? Okay, enough about the keyboard; let's see how the TravelMate 8481T otherwise performs.
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!
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.
Conclusion: A Good Start, But Needs Improvement
I will say the Acer TravelMate 8481T-6873 is a surprisingly good little system. It should be; it's geared more towards professional users. Acer has done a good job with the majority of the fit and finish of the 8481T; the black brushed aluminum, solid body, and healthy battery life make it a notebook that most people would probably be happy to use on the go, and there's plenty of power under the hood, too.
Unfortunately, specs don't make everything, and I wish Acer hadn't cheaped out in certain places while keeping the business-class pricetag. I can forgive a crappy screen on an ultraportable because I'd be more apt to use it for just writing on the go, taking notes and playing the odd game of Magic. A better screen would be good, but there's no real need for high contrast and amazing colors for office applications. The SSD is slow by SSD standards, but the user experience is still snappier than any mechanical drive-based system I've tested.
But that keyboard just murders it. I've ranted and complained about this Acer keyboard here so many times I feel like I'd surprise some of the readers if I didn't go off on a tear about it, but the fact is that a keyboard is pretty much the whole reason you'd buy a laptop instead of a tablet at this point, and this keyboard sucks mightily. It's a chore to use, I find my typing is less accurate on it, and it's the kind of thing I would go out of my way to avoid.
Acer is transitioning towards a far superior chiclet-style keyboard on their consumer lines (though why the Enter and backslash keys touch is beyond me), and I could forgive the 8481T's other flaws easily enough if that was the keyboard I was working with here. Hopefully we'll see the TravelMate line move to a new style keyboard with the next refresh.
As an end consumer you're going to have to decide whether or not these are compromises you're willing to make. Acer's $1349 MSRP is frankly a bit outrageous, but you can find the system for at least $100 less if you shop around. Unfortunately, the entry-level Toshiba Portege Z830 is lighter, has a slightly faster SSD at the same capacity, and is way cheaper, and under those circumstances I'd easily go for the Toshiba. ASUS and Acer also have ultrabooks that are thinner and lighter while still offering decent build quality, and we'll have reviews of those shortly; the keyboard change along might be worth the switch. As a final option, Lenovo offers the X220 at or below the TravelMate's price range, and that notebook offers a vastly superior keyboard and processor. And all of this is before even bringing the Sony Vaio SB into the equation.
If you can find the TravelMate 8481T-6873 at a lower price and you're willing to put up with the keyboard, I could probably recommend it. It's certainly far from the worst ultraportable I've tested and it's a sterling reminder that ultrabooks aren't the only option available to PC users. But if you're as picky as I am when it comes to typing, you may want to look elsewhere.
source:www.anandtech.com
