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Yes I’m a Mac-man at heart and I’m not going to give up my MacBook and Mac Pro anytime soon (unless there are new models from Apple, of course) but I do try to keep up with what’s happening in the PC world. Hopefully in a day or so I get to use the Dell Adamo and yesterday I got the Acer Aspire 3810T, one of the models in the brand new Timeline series from Acer. It’s main selling point is a battery life of 8-9 hours on one charge, thin and light design, all at an affordable price. I can tell you that their claims of battery life are about right and the speed is okay to comfortably run Windows Vista and the typical applications for most users. It runs very quiet and surprisingly cool. You can very comfortably keep it in your lap, same can’t be said for all notebooks. The 3810T is going to go into my computer backpack and will be a companion to my MacBook for the near future at least.

There are three models, 13.3, 14, or 15-inch display (I have the 13-inch version). Here are the specs:

• Processor and chipset: Intel® Centrino® 2 / Centrino® processor technology, Intel® Core™2 Duo ultra low voltage processor SU9400, Mobile Intel® GS45 Express Chipset, Intel® Wireless WiFi Link 5100 (dual-band quad-mode 802.11a/b/g/Draft-N) Wi-Fi CERTIFIED® network connection, Intel® Wireless WiFi Link 5150 Wi-Fi®/WiMAX™ dual-mode module
• Operating system: Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium
• Memory: Dual-channel DDR3 SDRAM support, Up to 4 GB of DDR3 1066 MHz memory, upgradeable to 8 GB using two soDIMM modules (requires 64 bit Operating System)
• HDD: hard disk drive up to 320GB
• Storage: 160/250/320/500 GB or larger hard disk drive or 80 GB SSD drive, 5-in-1 card reader, supporting Secure Digital™ (SD) Card, MultiMediaCard (MMC), Memory Stick™ (MS), Memory Stick PRO™ (MS PRO), xD-Picture Card™ (xD)
• Optical Media driver: N/A
• Display: 13.3″ HD 1366 x 768 pixel resolution, high-brightness (200-nit) Acer CineCrystal™ LED-backlit TFT LCD, 16:9 aspect ratio
• Graphics: Mobile Intel® GS45 Express Chipset with integrated 3D graphics, featuring Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD (Intel® GMA 4500MHD) with up to 1759 MB of Intel® Dynamic Video Memory Technology 5.0 (64 MB of dedicated video memory, Microsoft® DirectX® 10
• Audio: Optimized 2nd Generation Dolby Sound Room® audio enhancement, featuring Dolby® Headphone, Dolby® Natural Bass and Dolby® Sound Space Expander, S/PDIF (Sony/Philips Digital Interface) support for digital speakers, MS-Sound compatible, built-in microphone
• Communication: Acer Video Conference: Integrated Acer Crystal Eye webcam supporting
  enhanced Acer PrimaLite™ technology; WLAN: Intel Wireless WiFi Link 5100 (dual-band quad-mode 802.11a/b/g/Draft-N) Wi-Fi CERTIFIED network connection, featuring MIMO technology, supporting Acer SignalUp with Nplify wireless technology or; Wi-Fi®/WiMAX™* Intel® Wireless WiFi Link 5150 Wi-Fi®/WiMAX™ dual-mode module, supporting Acer SignalUp™ with Nplify™ wireless technology * depending on network availability; WWAN GTM382E module: UMTS/HSPA at 900 MHz/2100 MHz and quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE (850/900/1800/1900 MHz) upgradeable to 7.2 Mbps HSDPA and 5.7 Mbps HSUPA (for 3G models); WPAN: Bluetooth 2.0+EDR (Enhanced Data Rate); LAN: Gigabit Ethernet, Wake-on-LAN ready
• I/O ports: 5-in-1 card reader (SD™, MMC, MS, MS PRO, xD), Three (Four on AS5810T) USB 2.0 ports, HDMI™ port with HDCP support, External display (VGA) port, Headphone/speaker/line-out jack with S/PDIF support, Microphone-in jack
• Security: BIOS user, supervisor, HDD passwords, Kensington lock slot
• Power: ACPI 3.0 CPU power management standard: supports Standby and Hibernation power-saving modes, 62.16 W 5600 mAh 6-cell Li-ion battery pack: Acer PowerSmart 3-pin 65 W AC adapter, ENERGY STAR® 5.0
• Special keys and controls: 103-/104-/107-key keyboard, with inverted “T” cursor layout (model 5810T) - 86-/87-/91-key keyboard,, with inverted “T” cursor layout (model 3810T & 4810T), Multi-gesture touchpad pointing device supporting: Circular-motion scrolling, Pinch-action zoom, Page flip; 10 function keys, four cursor keys, two Windows® keys, hotkey controls, independent standard numeric keypad (only on AS5810T) , international language support Acer PowerSmart key, Easy-launch keys: Acer Backup, Communication®, touchpad lock, Media control keys (printed on keyboard): play/pause, stop, previous, next
• Dimensions and weight: 322 (W) x 228 (D) x 23.4/28.9 (H) mm - 1.6 kg ( 3.5 lbs.) with 6-cell battery pack
• Price: AED2799