Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra M5 review: an Ultrabook with discrete graphics (and an optical drive)

The PC industry might have 100-some-odd Ultrabooks up its sleeve, but fortunately for restless tech reviewers like yours truly, they're not all cast from the same mold. As the year wears on, we'll see prices dip as low as $700, and a few will be offered with discrete graphics -- a nice respite from games handicapped at 30 fps. And, in some rare cases, you'll find machines that manage to achieve both. Enter the Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra M5 series, a pair of 14- and 15-inch laptops that start at $680, and, for an added premium, can be had with NVIDIA Kepler graphics. What's more, the 14-inch model we tested has a DVD burner, making it as much a full-fledged laptop as an Intel-approved Ultrabook. Accordingly, then, we'll be comparing it not just to other low-priced ultraportables, but to some budget mainstream notebooks on offer this back-to-school season. So how does it stack up? Let's see.

Gallery: Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra M5 review (14-inch)

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Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra M5 review: an Ultrabook with discrete graphics (and an optical drive) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Aug 2012 11:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.