Acer Travelmate 8410T review

The Acer Travelmate 8410T is a fantastic ultraportable that would have blown us away just a few months ago. However, with the amount of exciting Ultrabooks on the horizon it underwhelmed us too much for a recommendation.

It weighs just 1.8 kg and comes in a fetching black brushed metal finish. Opening the lid reveals a matte 14-inch screen which doesn't reflect in direct sunlight, making it great for mobile workers.

The immediate reaction is to notice the lack of bezel, and the screen fills the lid space with no room wasted, which accommodates that 14-inch screen, while maintaining a size equivalent to most 13-inch portables.

Inside is a 1.6GHz Intel Core i5 2467 processor. While only clocking in at 1.6GHz, it still performs remarkably well, sealing an impressive score in our lab tests. It's more than capable of photo editing, multitasking demanding programs and watching high-definition videos, making this a great all-rounder.

Great battery life

The great processor performance is thanks to Intel's TurboBoost technology, which means that the Travelmate 8410T reacts to demanding tasks, and can provide surges of power to get things done. Booting was incredibly fast, with resuming from sleep and starting from cold stunningly responsive.

Battery life was extremely impressive, and our heavy tests achieved nearly five hours, which is equal to more than six hours of light use. This is as close to all-day computing as you're likely to find and great for working on the move.

TechRadar Labs

Battery Eater '05: 267 minutes
Cinebench: 7210
3DMark 2006: 3336

The rest of the specs are slightly less impressive, and it leaves the Travelmate 8410T slightly lacking in comparison to its competition. There's a 320GB hard drive, which means you'll need to invest in a portable drive to back up your pictures and media. What's more, there's only 3GB of RAM and, while the system felt responsive at all times, 4GB is merely par for the course these days.

While the brushed-metal finish does make the Acer Travelmate 8410T a real head turner, we did find it attracted marks and dirt very easily, so it's best to invest in a good case.

We were also disappointed with the keyboard, which had quite a dramatic flex in the middle. It was comfortable to type of for long periods, and accurate, but not the kind of quality we'd expect in this price range.

The Acer Travelmate is a great ultraportable laptop, which can be used all day, without breaking your back. While it's incredibly light and thin, the Acer is no match for the latest wave of Ultrabooks, including Acer's own Aspire S3.

The build isn't as thin, alluring, the processor is outmatched by the Intel Core i7 version found on most Ultrabooks, and the Acer Aspire S3 Core i5 is only £699. This sadly renders the Acer Travelmate 8410T slightly redundant, which is a shame, as three months ago it would have received a hearty recommendation.

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