Shopping for an ultrabook is eerily similar to shopping for any other notebook, which raises concerns about the long-term marketing potential of ultrabooks as a special sub-classification of premium laptops -- a subject worth exploring, but we'll move on before your eyes glaze over.Acer's new TimelineU makes its own compromises. Our review unit touts a full-size backlit keyboard, 500GB of storage, a GeForce GT 640M LE GPU, an optical drive, an eight-hour battery life and an attractive $830 price tag.
The TimelineU M5's brushed aluminum surface maintains a professional appearance. Looking at the machine from the front or either side reveals clean lines and minimalistic styling. This is at least partly because virtually all of the system's I/O ports are located on the back instead of the sides.
Rear-mounted USB, HDMI and Ethernet ports make for a neater presentation, but I found it difficult to use those connectors without flipping the M5 over and this was particularly annoying because its L-shaped power connector liked to grab the edge of my desk mid-rotation, often disconnecting it.As noted in the spec list, the left side has an optical drive, while the right side carries a multi-card reader and an audio jack. For whatever reason, Acer has placed the M5's power button on its front edge instead of underneath its display. Besides causing brief confusion, this hasn't been an issue.
Although the M5's keys are a little small and mushy for my taste, they are well spaced and easy to type on (I spent 15 minutes running typing tests and I had no trouble achieving my usual WPM). Acer also did a decent job ensuring each key is evenly backlit -- it's not uncommon for larger keys to have dim spots.
The multitouch trackpad is very slightly recessed, it's large, it reads gestures well and it has a nice coating. I have no issues with the touchpad itself but it's situated a little too far to the left for me. My palm measures four inches wide and there's only about three inches of surface beside the touchpad.
