Acer 4830T-6499 review: Acer 4830T-6499

The new 11.6-inch MacBook Air isn't the only contender for the high-end ultraportable crown. The $899 Acer Aspire TimelineX 1830T-68U118 looks like a Netbook from the outside, but inside, its specs are utterly upscale. An Intel Core i7-680UM dual-core ULV processor, 500GB hard drive, and 4GB of DDR3 RAM match what we've seen in midrange full-size laptops.

8.0

Acer 4830T-6499

The Good

Excellent specs for its size; good battery life; compact, lightweight.

The Bad

No dedicated graphics; plastic body looks and feels cheap; keyboard and touch pad are substandard.

The Bottom Line

Acer's high-end and extremely portable 11.6-inch TimelineX 1830T-68U118 offers a great combination of processor power and features that match what you'd find on a full-size laptop.

However, at $899, the real question is whether you're considering the 1830T-68U118 as a complete laptop or merely a portable tool in your computer arsenal. If the former, you may consider a thin 13-incher such as the Asus U35Jc-A1 instead. If the latter, you might look at a cheaper dual-core premium Netbook, for example the Gateway LT3201u, and save a few hundred dollars.

However, unlike the better-designed but limited MacBook Air, which lacks HDMI and SD card ports, this Acer will at least offer everything you'd expect in a laptop, only on a smaller scale.