14 DAY TRIAL // Almost one month after being launched in Europe, Acer has brought its 14 and 15-inch TravelMate Timeline business laptops with Sandy Bridge processors in North America, where they are already available for purchase with prices starting at $799.99.
Users going for one of the four laptops introduced by Acer have the option of choosing between several second-generation Core i5 and Core i7 processors, which can be paired with as much as 8GB of DDR3 system memory as well as with an optional Nvidia-built discrete graphics card.
This replaces the on-die Intel HD 3000 GPU when graphics intensive tasks are being run by dynamically switching between the two cores thanks to Nvidia's Optimus technology.
As far as storage is concerned, the four TravelMate laptops can be equipped with a standard HDD delivering up to 750GB worth of storage space, which can be seconded by an additional 128GB SSD unit to boost their performance (Acer hasn't stated is Smart Response is supported or not).
The rest of the notebook configuration includes 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Gigabit Ethernet connectivity, one USB 3.0 port, HDMI and VGA video outputs, a fingerprint reader, a TPM module, as well as support for Intel's Wireless Display technology.
All of these are housed inside a magnesium-aluminum enclosure designed to uniformly distribute all external forces and withstand extreme pressure, which is paired with metal alloy display hinges and a so called DASP (Disk Anti-Shock Protection) suspension mechanism for the HDD.
Depending on the model chosen, the TravelMate notebooks sport either a 14-inch or a 15.6-inch display built by LG, which features a frameless design and 1366x768 resolution.
The 8x73 series laptops are also compatible with the ProDock docking station which increases the number of I/O connections available and can be configured to feature 3G connectivity.
Pricing for the TravelMate Timeline 8573, 8473, 6595 and 6495 has been set at $799.99, $999.99, $1049.99 and $999.99, respectively. (via TCMagazine)