Acer takes on HP with trio of new laptops

The Timeline X is the successor to the thin and light Timeline series

Acer has unveiled three laptops which the firm hopes will allow it to challenge HP in the global sales charts.

The firm is desperately trying to shrug off its bargain basement image with the launch of the Timeline X, the successor to the thin and light Timeline series.

Coming in 13.3in, 14in and 15.6in screen sizes, the Timeline X aims to straddle the portable and desktop replacement segments. The laptop is just 1in thick, and weighs 1.8Kg to 2.5Kg, suggesting that it is intended to be used on the go.

Acer claims to have improved the battery life by using an LED display, and hard drives with lower power draws. A £200 premium will buy a nine-cell battery offering 12 hours of Wi-Fi enabled usage, the firm said.

The Timeline X comes with CPUs spanning Intel's complete range of Core offerings, from the i3 330M all the way up to the i7 670, along with 3GB RAM as standard and hard drive capacities ranging from 250GB to 640GB.

Graphics are provided by AMD's mid-range 5470 or 5650 chipsets. The notebooks are not intended for gamers, so either chip should be more than enough, and will provide better performance than integrated offerings from Intel for anything more demanding than watching YouTube.

The laptop comes in a black brushed aluminium cover, and there are some handy design touches such as the flush mounted touchpad and a chiclet keyboard.

The Timeline X starts at £600 and will be available in May. An 11in version is set to be released in July.

Acer also released the middle-of-the-road Aspire x741 and x745 laptops, principally designed around the ability to play Blu-ray films and games, with screen sizes of 14in, 15.6in and 17.3in.

The units are powered by AMD's complete range of GPUs. Surprisingly, Intel's Core i7 is missing from the spec-sheet, and Acer has opted for the Core i3 and i5 chips.

The 17.3in model has a slightly modified chassis which can hold two hard drives, giving it a total capacity of 1.28TB. Upgradability is a surprise plus point, and all models have four DDR3 slots which should allow users to slot in 16GB of RAM. Like the Timeline X, prices start at £600 and units go on sale in May.

To round things off, Acer presented the huge and frankly garish Aspire Ethos. The model is aimed at those who want a media centre-oriented laptop with an alternative design. The result is a 18in monster which is best left on a desk.

A slightly lighter version with a 15.6in screen is also available. Acer may have been trying to woo "discerning" customers with the plastic fascias but in reality the £1,100 beast is likely to appeal to few.

Aside from the Aspire Ethos, the Timeline X represents what Acer does best, i.e. offer good value. It has just about enough in design and specification to make it more than a budget laptop but, with a good starting price, Acer should be looking to this model to help it push onwards, and possibly past rival HP.