Acer Aspire TimelineX 4820TG-6847

How much power can a 4.6-pound notebook really offer? More than you might think. Thanks to a second-generation Intel Core i5 CPU and AMD Radeon HD graphics, the Acer Aspire TimelineX AS4820TG-6847 ($729) outperforms most of the competition and looks good doing it. Perks such as Dolby Surround Sound really sweeten the deal, too. Read on to find out how this thin-and-light speedster compares to the competition.

Design

Understated but elegant. That's how we'd describe the chassis of the TimelineX AS4820TG. The lid has a black brushed aluminum finish, while the palm rest has a lighter brushed metal treatment. Glossy black plastic surrounds the display and keyboard, which adds a nice accent but picks up fingerprints.
Above the keyboard on the left side of the deck is a grooved circular power button, next to which are LED activity lights. Two speakers separated by a Dolby Home Theater Virtual Surround Sound label sit in the center, and two thin black buttons--one to launch the Power Smart Manager and an eject button for the tray-loading DVD drive--are on the right side of the deck.

Heat

After playing a Hulu video at full screen for 15 minutes, the TimelineX AS4820TG stayed well below the threshold of what we consider uncomfortable. The touchpad and keypad (between the G and H keys) both checked in at 89 degrees, and the bottom registered a far-from-threatening 83 degrees.

Keyboard and Touchpad

The AS4820TG's FineTip keyboard felt comfortable to the touch. The tactile response wasn't as sharp as we'd prefer, but we had no problem writing this review and a few e-mails. The Ctrl and Alt buttons on both sides are the same size as the letter keys, which resulted a few errors while touch typing. While it wasn't exactly a trampoline, the keyboard had a bit more flex than we'd like, too.

It would be nice to see dedicated keys for adjusting brightness and volume; those controls are alternate keys on the arrow buttons to the right, but the function key is on the far left. That made changing the volume a two-handed process.
The 3.5 x 1.9-inch surface of the touchpad was smooth and accurate; it was easy to execute multitouch gestures such as two-finger scrolling, pinch-to-zoom, and rotating pictures. We prefer individual mouse buttons, but the single bar on the AS4820TG was large enough so we never clicked the wrong side by accident.

Display and Sound

The widescreen 14-inch LED backlit display on the AS4820TG has a standard resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels. Despite its glossy finish, we didn't notice many reflections during an episode of Spartacus: Gods of the Arena streamed on Netflix. Though the display tilts back a wide 165 degrees, viewing angles dimmed at 20 or 30 degrees from center. Colors were faded, too. Even after adjusting the screen for gamma, contrast, and brightness, colors remained flat, from Hulu to YouTube. Though characters looked pale, facial expressions and scenery detail were crisp.

Augmenting the stereo speakers on the 4820TG is Dolby Home Theater technology. Dolby's Audio Enhancer solution added much-needed density to the standard audio output. Vocal and guitar highs in Queens of the Stone Ages' "3's & 7's" offered much more kick with the feature activated. Surround Sound creates the illusion of 5.1 surround sound, so long as you set the volume above 50 percent. Speaking of volume, at about 85 percent, the AS4280TG's speakers got so loud that a friend could easily make out our tunes from the next room.

Ports and Webcam

The AS4820TG offers four USB ports: Three are on the right side and one is on the left. The remaining ports, all of which are on the left, include a headphone and microphone jack, Ethernet, HDMI, and VGA. A tray-loading DVD drive is on the right side along with a power port. Last but not least is the 5-in-1 memory card slot, located on the left side of the front lip.


The 1.3-megapixel high-definition webcam on this notebook captures 1280 x 1024 still shots and 640 x 480-pixel, 30 fps video. Footage looked rich in detail and well lit. Acer includes Acer Crystal Eye WebCam software for manipulating camera settings such as brightness, contrast, hue, and saturation, as well as camera-specific controls including zoom, exposure, aperture, and focus. You won't find such entertainment-focused features as animated filters or masks.

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