The screen
Our sample model was equipped with a 500GB 2.5in hard drive and 4GB of DDR3 memory, run in dual-channel model. You shouldn't need to upgrade this specification, but if you do, access to the innards is nice and simple.
There's a SIM slot just behind the battery cover, for on-the-go surfing without having to use a dongle, but removing the large cover doesn't expose the WWAN card.
Sharing a common resolution of 1,366x768 across the three Timelines, the 15.6in model's pitch looks a little large. We'd urge Acer to specify a model with a 1,680x1,050 panel. The screen's of average quality; colours aren't as sharp or bright as on the HP Pavilion dv2, for example. Set it to 50 per cent brightness and it seems a touch dark and uneven. Thankfully, though, it's not one of the ultra-reflective panels that we've come to dislike.
A larger two-tone chassis means that Acer has room for a full-size keyboard, including number-pad. The keys are nice and flat and make for easy typing, but there's a significant gap between them which seems somewhat unnecessary.
The majority of functions are controlled via shortcuts on the keyboard rather than switches, and the two present on the keyboard section control power and the optical drive's ejection.
Acer's trackpad is nice and forward-looking in the sense that it supports multi-touch movements, which'll no doubt work better under Windows 7 than the supplied Vista Home Premium.
Other than the obvious sleekness of the 5810T the main draw here is the purported battery life, under ideal conditions, of some eight hours. That's some all-day usage boast from a six-cell 56WHr battery.
