Acer 1825PTZ

I was getting ready to be sent away on business and decided my Libretto w105 would not cut it, as I had a class I needed to work on while on the road. As the Lenovo X220t had not been released yet and because even if it had I wouldn't be able to get it on time I decided to get the Acer 1825PTZ. This model is not directly available in the states. Instead it sold under Gateway. The specs are:

Intel U4100 (dual core @ 1.3Ghz)
4 Gigs of RAM
250 GB Hdd
built in web cam
Bluetooth 2.1
capacitive touch screen
8+ hour battery life
11.4" screen (putting it in the ultra portable category*)

That covers most of the big features. Based solely on the specs this is a fine laptop. Capable of handling most normally computing task, and even have a little bit of brawn for a bit more. If this was my sole criteria for a laptop I would end here and just say it's a great laptop.

However this laptop cost about $850. My first complaint is build quality. Now don't take this wrong, it's not falling apart, but there is not much solid about it. Aesthetically it looks nice, but the keyboard, as trendy looking as it does leave much to want. The shift key in particular requires a pretty precise depression to work at all times. The enxt complaint is the screen hinge. There is VERY little resistance on it. When you convert it to tablet mode, it does not sit still. Gravity moves it to and fro by a quarter inch. This is too horrible, but is not a good thing for a screen that should be stationary regardless of it's orientation. The next complaint is the screen. It is made out of plastic and flexes very easily. Initially I thought the screen was resistive because of this. For a capacitive screen which is not reliant on pressure, anything less than glass is unacceptable.

So in a nutshell, for those who are not that concerned about built quality and wont a decent tablet pc, I would suggest this. It runs windows 7 premium x64, and is pretty spec packed. I just can't get over the my few complaints. To each there own.

Soon I'll have a review of the X220T. After a nightmare getting it ordered it should be here within the next 4 weeks.