Acer Timeline 1410: Best 11-inch Ultraportable

Acer’s budget-friendly ultraportable couples twice the performance of most netbooks with good battery life.

With the advent of Intel’s Ultra-Low Voltage processors, notebook makers can now offer ultraportable systems that are priced similarly to netbooks, but have markedly better performance. Case in point: the Acer Aspire 1410. Thanks to its dual-core Celeron CPU, this machine has twice as much muscle as netbooks, and comes with Windows 7 Premium (not the limiting Starter Edition) for just $399. Some netbooks offer longer battery life, but the 1410’s 6.5 hours of endurance make it a very good choice for consumers on the go.

Design

From the outside, the Acer Aspire 1410 looks the same as the Acer Aspire Timeline 1810T; in fact, at 11.2 x 8.0 x 1.2 inches and weighing 3.2 pounds, it’s the same size and weight. Our review unit had a glossy, Ruby Red lid with Acer’s metal logo impressed in the lower corner; the lid picks up fingerprints fairly easily. The same color extends to the deck, which is offset by the matte black keyboard and glossy black bezel.

Unlike the Acer Aspire One 751h netbook, the 1410’s six-cell battery does not bulge out the back. Instead, it bumps out of the bottom, tilting the 1410 at a slight downward angle towards the user.

Keyboard and Touchpad

Like most other new Acer notebooks, the 1410’s keyboard has flat, non-chamfered plastic keys that have a slightly textured feel. The layout is close to full size, and we appreciate that the right Shift key is large and in the proper place. We were typing at full speed in no time at all.

The touchpad sits flush with the deck, and it’s only demarcated by two lines on either side. At 2.6 x 1.5 inches, it’s decently sized, and a bit larger than the 751h’s 2.5 x 1.6-inch touchpad; we liked that it offered little resistance as we moved our finger across it. (Toshiba’s mini NB205 still offers the largest touchpad around, at 3.1 x 1.6 inches.) The two accompanying silver buttons proved nice and crisp, an improvement over the 751h’s single bar.

Display and Sound

Like other notebooks with 11.6-inch displays, the 1410 has a resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels. Those extra vertical pixels mean less scrolling when viewing Web pages or documents, and that you can view high-definition content in 720p.

The screen is quite bright. When we watched an episode of The Simpsons on Hulu, we enjoyed pleasant colors and good viewing angles even from oblique side views; it was as if we were watching the show on our TV. While the glossy finish limited our viewing angles to either side of the 1410, we were still able to make out the clip when we dipped the lid forward slightly.

The 1410’s speakers, located on the underside of the front lip, were fine for a small notebook, but their placement caused sound to be muffled while the notebook was in our lap; when the notebook was placed on a hard surface, such as a coffee table, music played from Slacker and was able to reflect upwards, and was more amplified.

Ports and Webcam

On the right side of the 1410 is an Ethernet port, a Kensington lock slot, two USB ports, headphone and mic, and a 5-in-1 memory card reader. On the left-hand side is a VGA port, a third USB port, and HDMI output. Underneath the front lip on the left-hand side are well-concealed switches to activate Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

The 1.3-megapixel webcam mounted above the display worked fairly well; colors, such as a dark green shirt, were reproduced adequately in a video call over Skype. Our caller also said that the image was sufficiently lighted, and that motion blur only became an issue if we waved our hand vigorously.

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Acer Aspire 8940G: Best Multimedia Notebook

A big-screen multimedia machine that packs a fast Core i7 processor, great speakers, and Blu-ray at a price that’s within reach.

If you’re looking for a high-powered multimedia notebook with all the goods, the Acer Aspire 8940G offers the best combination of performance and value we’ve seen. This 18.4-inch system delivers remarkable performance by combining a powerful Intel Core i7-720QM processor with Nvidia GeForce GTS 250M graphics. It also includes a bevy of entertainment options, including a Blu-ray drive, a rich, full HD (1920 x 1080) display, and Dolby 5.1 surround sound speakers. For $1,349, you won’t get more bang for your buck anywhere else.

Design and Ports

Measuring 17.3 x 11.6 x 1.7 inches and weighing 9.2 pounds, the all-black Aspire 8940G is a hefty desktop replacement that users won’t tote very far from their desks. Even so, it’s lighter than the 10.4-pound, 18.4-inch Toshiba Qosmio X505. The glossy lid collects a fair amount of fingerprints and smudges. This aesthetic extends to the bezel surrounding the display, as well as to the exterior edges of the system’s base. A finely textured wrist rest gives the machine a subtle elegance.

The large base affords a wide, comfortable, island-style keyboard that offers decent feedback, and it includes white backlighting. The keyboard also has large Shift keys, a full number pad, and a responsive, vertically-aligned multimedia touch-control strip on its right side, which is highlighted by illuminated keys and a button that launches the Acer Arcade Deluxe application (for accessing movies, music, photos and more). A volume wheel, positioned below, lets you quickly adjust audio. The left side of the keyboard houses another vertical strip with touch-sensitive buttons that activate the Acer Backup Manager, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi. These new input methods are an improved take on the CineDash control scheme found on the Acer Aspire 8920G.

Located south of the keyboard is a large, multitouch touchpad (positioned just left of center) that allowed us to effortlessly whip the cursor about the 18.4-inch display. Acer also includes a button to the right of the touchpad that lets users lock/unlock it. A biometric fingerprint reader is nestled between two stiff and noisy mouse buttons.

You want ports for connecting accessories and peripherals? You got ‘em. Acer builds in a 5-in-1 memory card reader, five USB 2.0 ports, HDMI, VGA, DisplayPort, eSATA, an ExpressCard/54 slot, FireWire 400, and headphone, microphone, and S/PDIF jacks.

Display, Audio, Webcam

The glossy, full HD (1920 x 1080-pixel resolution) LED-backlit display provided plenty of real estate for comfortably reading Web pages or viewing photos. We saw colors pop when we popped our Blu-ray disc of Ghost Town into the 4X optical drive, courtesy of the 60-percent color gamut that brings out more brilliant visuals. The 16:9 display kicked backed reflections, particularly during dark scenes or when we moved left or right of center.

The Dolby-optimized Acer CineSurround sound system (with five built-in speakers and Acer’s Tuba CineBass booster) delivered stellar audio. Whether we were watching a movie or streaming James Brown tunes from Slacker, we were impressed with the loud volume and the fullness of the voices and music. Overall, we found the 8940G’s sound superior to the audio flowing from the Toshiba Qosmio X505’s Harman Kardon speakers, which packed better sound than your standard notebook speakers, but didn’t match the low- and mid-end richness of Acer’s machine.

Embedded in the bezel above the display is Acer’s high-definition Crystal Eye webcam, which proved to be one of the best we’ve used on a notebook. Friends reported stunningly life-like clarity; skin tones were true, colors rich, and images sharp. We were also pleased that we could snap JPEG photos at 320 x 240, 640 x 480, and 720p resolutions, and shoot 720p AVI video.

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ASUS UL30: Best 13-inch Ultraportable

Outfitted with a new low-voltage processor and plenty of internal storage, this ultraportable offers 10 hours of endurance and enough muscle for work and play.

The ASUS UL Series is the company’s first entry into the low-cost ultraportable notebook market, and the UL30A shows off what’s great about the line. Taking full advantage of its Intel Ultra-Low Voltage (ULV) processor, this 13.3-inch notebook combines a lightweight chassis with nearly 10 hours of battery life and solid productivity performance. You can get a faster dual-core notebook with a DVD drive for the same price, but if you want lots of endurance and a thin design, the UL30A is a winner.

Design

The UL30A, like several recent ultrathin ULV systems, is a study in minimalism. The brushed aluminum lid eschews fingerprints and exudes a quiet elegance. Inside, you won’t find a deck cluttered with multimedia controls or extraneous launch keys. There are just two small buttons: one on the left for launching Express Gate or switching between power profiles, and a power button on the right.

This system features a full-size island-style keyboard, and the black keys contrast nicely with the subtle interlinking diamond/wave pattern that fills the deck space around it. This design extends to the palmrest on the bottom, and blends almost seamlessly with the touchpad; only a slight dimpling reveals the 1.8 x 3.0-inch touchpad area.

Status lights for power, battery, hard drive access, and wireless are on the edge of the skinny front lip of the notebook, rounding out the machine’s subtle design touches.

In terms of overall dimensions and aesthetics, it’s easy to compare the UL30A to the MacBook Air. With a footprint of 12.7 x 9.2 inches, the UL30A takes up about as much space as Apple’s ultraportable; though a bit thicker at .94 inches, those extra tenths-of-an-inch allow for more ports. At 4.0 pounds, the UL30A is 0.4 pounds heavier than the Acer Aspire Timeline 3810T, another favorite ultraportable system of ours.

Keyboard and Trackpad

The keys don’t have as much spring as we’d like, but they provide decent tactile feedback, and we were able to achieve our normal typing speed right away. Touch typists may find the slightly undersized Shift key an issue, though the placement is good. We appreciated that the Home, End and Page Up/Down keys share their own column on the right with the Delete and right arrow keys, but wish the arrow buttons were smaller (to make more room for Shift). One minor drawback is that we kept accidentally hitting the Home key when reaching for Backspace, but this happened less frequently over time.

The slight friction on the touchpad allowed for precise movement while also marking the usable area. We appreciate that the pad is flush with the palm rest area, but it was too easy for our finger to accidentally glide right off into no man’s land. The touchpad also supports the two-finger scroll multitouch gesture, but this took a few hours to get used to since we instinctively want to use right-side scrolling. Though we prefer two distinct buttons for left and right clicks, the single mouse button is long enough that we never accidentally clicked the wrong side. It is, however, a bit stiff.

Display and Audio

The bright 13.3-inch display offers rich colors and deep blacks, though the 1366 x 768-pixel screen is a bit too glossy. While watching an episode of Torchwood: Children of Earth under flourescent lights, we could see our reflection during the darker scenes; this issue isn’t as pronounced in low light. Despite the glossiness, horizontal and vertical viewing angles on the UL30A are quite good. Three people can sit and watch video comfortably without encountering color distortion.

When streaming video from Hulu, we noticed a lack of sharpness in both standard and high-definition videos. The opening scene from Legend of the Seeker, a fast-paced action sequence, played smoothly after it buffered, but lacked the crispness we’re used to with 720p video. Downloaded clips, however, didn’t have the same issue; The Discoverers (from the Windows WMV HD Content Showcase) looked sharp, and played back entirely stutter-free.

Given the UL30A’s size and price, we didn’t expect stellar speaker performance. It produced enough sound on 50 percent volume to fill a small room, and on 100 percent we could still hear tracks clearly over noise from an air conditioner. The distinct bass line from Superchick’s “One Girl Revolution” was barely audible, even with the Realtek HD Audio Manager’s equalizer setting on Bass. But Jill Sobule’s rock/folk-flavored “Nothing to Prove” sounded good on the default settings.

Ports and Webcam

On the left side of the UL30, HDMI and VGA connections join one USB port, while Ethernet, headphone, mic, two USB ports, and a 5-in-1 card reader fill out the right side. There’s no integrated optical drive, which isn’t surprising on a system less than an inch thick. Unless you burn a lot of discs, it’s easy to live without an internal drive with the advent of ubiquitous software and media downloads.

The 0.3-megapixel webcam naturally doesn’t deliver great video. When chatting with a friend on Skype, she noted a lack of sharpness and washed out colors. However, the video didn’t stutter, and audio came though clearly. The webcam management software, LifeFrame, will not only record video and take pictures, but also adds fun accessories, filters, and frames to both still and moving images.

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Gateway NV: Best Budget Notebook

This budget 15.6-inch notebook looks great, performs well, and comes with convenient backup software.

Given that budget mainstream notebooks are now competing with low-cost netbooks for your hard-earned dollar, it’s no surprise that Gateway’s NV5807u rings in at just $599. What is surprising is the level of style and performance that you get for that price. This configuration (there are eight others to choose from in the NV line) has more aesthetic appeal than other budget notebooks we’ve tested recently, and, thanks to an Intel Core 2 Duo processor and 4GB of RAM, holds its own in everyday tasks.

Design

Ever since Gateway rebranded itself as a more fashionable notebook manufacturer, the company has been on a roll in churning out good-looking budget notebooks, and the NV series is no exception. The Midnight Blue lid (a shade of teal, to our eyes), with its subtle waffle pattern, might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s certainly more interesting than basic black (the NV is also available in Coffee Brown, Cherry Red, and Nightsky Black). Bonus: the fine pattern helps disguise fingerprints.

Other design flourishes include a metal hinge with the power button built into the side (like Sony VAIOs), glossy upper panel, and LED lights and touch-sensitive controls that glow red. At 5.6 pounds, this notebook 0.2 pounds lighter than the 5.8-pound Dell Inspiron 15, although the dimensions are almost the same. (The NV is 0.1 inch wider, but its wedge shape is between 1 and 1.5 inches thick, whereas the Inspiron 15 is 1.5 inches thick.)

The touch-senstive controls responded to even the lightest tap. While there are volume controls and a mute button, there are no buttons for controlling multimedia playback. However, there are buttons for PowerSave Solution (Gateway’s own power management software), MyBackup (more on that later), disabling the trackpad, and enabling or disabling Wi-Fi.

When you tap PowerSave, you automatically enter PowerSave mode (energy-saving modes are usually at odds with maximum performance, but allow for longer battery life); double tapping the icon makes the on-screen dialog box disappear, and the computer revert to its default power mode.

Keyboard and Trackpad

The NV’s keys are flat, but close together; it’s a cross between an island keyboard, with separated keys, and a classic one with closely grouped, cushy ones. Even with a full number pad on the right hand side, the keys were still large enough for us to type comfortably, making very few typos (the keys’ textured finish made it easy to get a grip, too). On our first try, we scored 88 words per minute on the Ten Thumbs Typing Tutor Test (www.tenthumbstypingtutor.com), which is also our high score with our desktop machine.

At 1.8 inches, the touchpad could be taller, but at least its 3.4-inch width feels roomy. As far as touchpads go, the NV’s feels smooth and doesn’t offer too much friction. On the other hand, although its mirrored design is appealing, we found the touch bar uncomfortable; it’s a single button, and the strip is too narrow. It took us a while to get used to pressing the far edges of the bar to get better tactile feedback.

Display and Sound

In a side-by-side comparison, the NV’s 15.6-inch display looked brighter than the Inspiron 15’s, although the latter had deeper contrast (for example, blacker blacks). In a similar vein, when we watched an episode of Heroes on DVD, some of the colors looked a bit off, especially skin tones, which appeared oversaturated.

When we played the same Saturday Night Live Hulu clip on both computers, however, the viewing angles were comparable, which is to say that the glossy finish on both displays made it difficult—but not impossible—to make out the picture from the sides and with the lid pushed forward.

The NV’s speakers delivered predictably tinny sound quality when we listened to Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight” and Coldplay’s “Clocks.” The volume, cranked to its maximum settings, was more than loud enough for movie watching, and we ended up scaling it back to around the medium setting.

Ports and Webcam

The NV has a strong selection of ports: in addition to four USB ports, VGA output, an Ethernet jack, and headphone and mic ports, the NV has HDMI output, a feature other budget notebooks lack. In addition, this machine has a 5-in-1 memory card reader.

The VGA webcam provides good brightness, color, and detail, but the accompanying software is skimpy: once you record photos or videos, it saves them to your My Documents folder. Most other webcam consoles have a strip of thumbnails that allow you to easily review recent captures you’ve taken.

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Apple 13-inch MacBook Pro: Best All-Purpose Notebook

Apple’s latest thin-and-light notebook features strong graphics performance, a stunning display, and more than 6 hours of battery life.

If you think the latest changes to Apple’s MacBook line aren’t exciting, you’re not paying close enough attention. The 13-inch model is now part of the MacBook Pro line, and, like its larger-screened siblings (like the 15-inch model), now has a more colorful display, and—at long last—an SD Card slot. Moreover, this 13-inch stunner lasts more than 6 hours on a charge. The price for the entry-level Mac is now just $1,199, a $100 price drop from the 13-inch unibody MacBook. We wish Apple included more hard drive space for the money (160GB is netbook territory) but overall our Editors’ Choice–winning thin-and-light just got sweeter.

Design

At first glance, the 13-inch MacBook Pro looks identical to last season’s revamped MacBook line. And that’s mostly true: the aluminum chassis, black island keyboard, large multitouch trackpad, and thin, rounded lid will all look familiar. Even its weight (4.4 pounds) and dimensions (12.8 x 8.9 x 1.0 inches) remain the same, making this notebook easy to carry.

Like its predecessor, the 13-inch MacBook Pro is made from a single, seamless piece of aluminum, which means it’s more durable than most other notebooks in this price range. The only difference is that the battery is now non-removable (more on that later).

Keyboard and Touchpad

As always, the island keyboard has a soft finish, and makes little sound when you type. While the keyboard on, say, the 17-inch MacBook Pro might be too large (and too recessed) for some hands, the 13-inch’s keyboard is comfortably placed. It’s also backlit with an ambient light sensor, which comes in handy for low-light environments.

The touchpad remains one giant button that doubles as the touchpad and the touch button. It’s not the smoothest we’ve ever tested, but the friction is still slight enough that it shouldn’t be a problem. In the past, we’ve found the button to be a bit stiff, with a slight learning curve to match. By now, Apple’s gotten the design right: we were able to effortlessly press down on the button without thinking about the fact that there’s no dedicated touch button (nevermind two).

The multitouch gestures work smoothly. By pushing four fingers toward the top of the touchpad, we were able to fling windows up toward the top of the screen, exposing a clean desktop. When we used two fingers to zoom in and out of pages in Safari 4 (fresh out of beta, and a new, Cover Flow-tastic addition to the Leopard OS), the onscreen response was very quick, and only slightly jerky.

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