Acer Aspire AS4830T-6682 Notebook Intel Core i3 2370M(2.40GHz) 14" 4GB Memory DDR3 1066 500GB HDD 5400rpm DVD Super Multi Intel HD Graphics 3000

Pros: fairly light for a system with an ODD
Fairly slim for a non-ultrabook
500GB HDD
Excellent battery life (6+ hours "normal use")
Excellent video processing in powerdirector-10 platinum with QuickSync.
Touch-pad with a dedicated "scroll-wheel" function.

Cons: Quite a few pieces of bloat-ware in the software mix. Nothing that a little time and research can't resolve.
The lid seems to collect finger smudges pretty easily.
Upgrading the battery to a higher capacity seems to be out of the question.

Other Thoughts: This system was purchased as a Christmas gift for my daughter - an upgrade from an acer Netbook (Atom N270). Removing most of the bloatware was easy, and she may remove more yet.
My decision to get this particular system was also the touch-pad with dedicated "scroll-wheel" area. This makes scrolling through web pages very "mouse like" without having to click-scroll the side bar.

Pros: Speedy i3 CPU and quiet cooling fan.

Good speakers and sound for a laptop.

I like the keyboard layout, especially the isolated arrow keys.

I like the deep-blue case because it's a nice departure from the too-common black and silver cases.

Cons: HDMI and VGA ports are too close. I had to saw off the thumbscrew flange on a VGA cable to use both ports at the same time.

Other Thoughts: I hope that slightly-concave key surfaces come back into fashion someday.

Pros: - Price, better now then when I bought it on sale for $400 before they discontinued the 320GB HDD model.
- Performance, decent battery life (6+hr), Core i3 [2C/4T] CPU, the Intel graphics is decent enough for web surfing and videos.
- SATA 6Gb/s

Cons: - The only real con was that the entire TimelineX Series suffered from a battery detection issue in Windows 8, but it was resolved with a BIOS update that was officially released last week, but was leaked shortly after the release of Windows 8.
- I would avoid the latest touchpad drivers listed on their site (Synaptic for this model).

Other Thoughts: - Upgraded the memory with CMSO8GX3M2A1333C9 8GB [2x4GB] DDR3 1333 memory.
- Upgraded the HDD with a OCZ Agility 3 120GB SSD [FW: 2.22][SATA 6Gb/s: 505 MB/s Write, 522 MB/s Read with ATTO].

Pros: I'm writing this 5-egg review based on the current price of 350 clams. I own the AS4830TG-6808 which is identical save for two improvements: i5 processor and discrete graphics (NVIDIA GeForce GT 540M). This model with the i3 and built in 3000 graphics will be more than sufficient for most users who want to surf the web, watch movies, etc. With the brushed aluminum look it is better looking than other value laptops. It has HDMI output, USB 3.0, Wireless N, Gigabit Ethernet, a 6 cell battery, and a decent display.

Cons: With the proper expectations, I see no cons. You will need to spend significantly more money on a laptop if you expect to play the latest games or do video production, etc. Most laptops will suffer from a drop (it's not a "Toughbook"). Be careful and it will serve you well (see my other thoughts)

Other Thoughts: My AS4830TG did take a fall from a table... the right hinge took the brunt of it, and the chrome disk covering the hinge screw was bent. I removed it (double-stick tape), and reapplied—it’s barely noticeable, and the hinge works fine. Upgrades: I upgraded to 16GB RAM, replaced the HDD with a Samsung SSD, and replaced the DVD drive with a 1TB HDD (in a carrier I got off an auction site).

Pros: Has good performance for a Intel I3.

Cons: I do not recommend purchasing this notebook. The laptop is very frail. The one I received is very warped from top of touch pad all the way to led screen. It even had scratch on back of Led screen. It shipped this way, for the box it was housed in was in perfect condition. This laptop is made out of very thin cheap materials. It has super thin metal and plastic. If you take the back cover off to add more memory, or hard drive replacement you can see how insanely thin the plastic really is. If you press on laptop anywhere you can see it flex. Also Led screen is very thin and weak. If one was to purchase this laptop and leave on a desk and never move it, it would probably be ok. But a laptop it is meant to be mobile. If you put this in a backpack or take it place to place it will probably be broken in no time. When a notebook has too much flexing the motherboard will fail. Even the DVD Rom drive is very cheap and frail including the toy ribbon cable that connects the drive. This unit new out of the box already has several creases in the cable. If you open and close the drive very much the ribbon cable will fail. The hard drive Sata cable is very, very thin so if you put in a new hard drive you will need to be careful not to kink the cable. I work as a tech and have worked on thousands of computers, and have never seen a notebook this frail. I purchased this unit because the specs were good for the price, but did not expect a notebook to be made out of such extremely cheap materials. As a side note, the performance of notebook is good, but only until it breaks. Also the picture quality of Led screen is poor, it is very grainy.

Other Thoughts: Only purchase if you never plan on moving it off your desk.

Pros: If you're a college student like me, this laptop is the right choice. I was looking for something strictly for work and light browsing and this one suited me the best. It appeared to have the best specs and features out of the laptops around the price (got it for $400).

Some pros: Chiclet keys, surprisingly great speakers, LONG battery life of ~8 hrs (what sold me), USB 3.0 slot, lots of HD space, cool design.

I highly recommend this laptop if you're simply looking to get work done.

Cons: The scroll on the touchpad did not work, but was easily fixed by installing the drivers from the Acer website. It was odd that the scroll worked fine when I first used the laptop, then suddenly stopped. Guess it isn't truly a con, but take it as you will.

Other Thoughts: +1 for Acer.