There is a typo in your article. The mSATA drive is 256GB not 256MB. Fix it!

Hi everybody,

does anyone have an idea how to exchange the keyboard? I've gotten a German one and need Swiss German.
Thanks in advance

This was by far the best review I have read on this particular product, which I finally ordered (Best Buy marketplace).  My comments do not add more in the way of professional evaluation, but are instead offered to supplement Bernie's excellent review from the perspective of a "tech-savvy" customer who has owned a few laptops in his time and has used this one for a few days.

The first thing that impressed me about this system right out of the box was the exceptional build quality - from the graphite exterior which feels more like metal than plastic to the touch, to the perfectly-calibrated metal hinges.  The next thing on the impression scale is it's sheer simplicity.  There is nothing loud about this laptop - it's flat graphite color and simple lines may not provide extension of individual expression (unless one is similarly staid), but certainly suggest an understated elegance.

The keyboard seems to have been an issue in the review.  In my opinion, the keyboard, frankly, is just fine.  While the key travel is short, it is uniform, even and definite.  Each of these letters I am typing in this review offer a solid - yet perhaps ever-so-slightly soft - click-like feedback.  In that sense, hitting a key is a "binary" experience; there is nothing vague or disappointing in my typing experience.  The rigid structure of the laptop means there is absolutely no yield or flex to the keyboard deck itself.  A fledgling touch-typist, I like that the touch pad is completely out of the way of my wrists, and so no errant input from Synaptics muddies my work (as would so often happen with my VAIO).  I also like the tactile nubs on the home keys (F and J) - I've used other keyboards where I could barely feel them.

The screen certainly seems bright enough - in fact it is so bright and sharp that I am fine with all icons set to small.  Some users have increased the desktop size to 125%, but with my reasonably decent (corrected) vision, I find 100%/small is perfect.

A note about lid flex - and this is not a controlled study, of course - but if I hold the base of the laptop firm on a table, and push at either corner of the screen from 30 degrees open to fully open (about 160 degrees) and back, there seems almost negligible distortion of the screen frame, and no disruption or distortion of the image on the screen.  Closing the lid, there is a point-of-no-return at about 20-30 degrees at which the lid gently snaps closed.  Movement is smooth and there is just the right amount of tension.  That speaks not only to the rigidity of the frame, but to the hinges, which seems solid and well-calibrated.

I understand that Bernie and NotebookCheck have a wealth of comparative perspectives that I simply do not have.  But having owned a Dell Latitude, and IBM T40 ThinkPad, and most recently (and regretfully) a VAIO EB-series 15.4" notebook, I can definitely state that this is by far the best one of the bunch in terms of quality, snap and speed, and form factor.

My 256 SSD drive holds, in addition to Windows 7 Pro, a full Microsoft Home and Business Office Suite, a creative suite by Adobe including Photoshop, LightRoom, Encore and Premiere, and various other smaller programs that I have installed.  That fills the SSD to only 68.3 GB, leaving an additional 140 GB available - and more should I decide to delete the recovery partition.  There is a bay that allows for another drive, and I am aware of one owner who has already added another SSD.  Using Revo Uninstaller, I purged from the system all pre-installed McAfee and Norton software, EverNote (I have MS OneNote), NewsExpresso, and Windows Live.    That said, bloatware was really minimal.  I have installed ESET (Nod 32) antivirus, and most of my important data files are either on a NAS at home or in the cloud.  I will be adding a scheme to Retrospect (my backup program) to add the Travelmate to my nightly backups for those few data files that stay on the system (local projects, music and pictures, Outlook pst files).  I also use a Microsoft bluetooth mouse (5000) and sometimes use a Logitech K810 bluetooth keyboard (a hold-over from my VAIO, in which the chicklet keyboard WAS vague and generally unpleasant).  Bluetooth connections to these peripherals are seamless and keep my USB ports available, but I had to visit the bluetooth radio in Device Manager and disable the option for power management.

The Acer Travelmate P645 has managed to tick all my boxes: Windows 7 Professional, FHD screen, back-lit keyboard, Bluetooth, at least three USB ports and an HDMI-out, a quality dedicated graphics card, Haswell processor, 8 GB expandable dual-channel RAM, and compact 14" form factor.  I did not expect many of those details to exceed expectations - especially at this price (2 GB on the graphics card, all USB ports meeting 3.0 standards, 256 vs 128 GB drive, etc).  And I certainly did not have a solid state drive on my list, expecting that my price point would preclude that option.  But having experienced SSD over the past few days, suspect I'll never go back to HDD again.

A final point - and this pertains to the overall score.  I respect Bernie's perspectives, and frankly think his formulaic approach is the best I've seen on the net.  But I still disagree that this is an "81%" product.  Even with the negatives acknowledged - and perhaps we may disagree on the keyboard - the 81% score seems to reflect a disconnect from what is a solid, well-designed product that is an unusually good value.  I feel unqualified to suggest a score, since the parameters that determine that score are so precisely defined here.  But looking back at school, an 81% is barely a B, and most would call it a B-.  If I were to grade this system, I would add at least ten percentage points and place this comfortably in "A" territory.

In all, it's not as "pretty" as my VAIO was.  But it seems more refined, mature and elegant - and the solid steel hinges offer a stylistic accent against the graphite black.  At the local coffee shop, the stylish and colorful laptops will get noticed - and this one will probably be overlooked and dismissed.  Perhaps similarly in the marketplace, only the more discriminating shoppers will notice this one among the louder choices.  I almost missed it myself.  Yet underneath its quiet exterior is the heart of a true performer.  To be had at this price is simply one of the best deals out there.  I passed up many opportunities that would have had me pay far more for much less.

Clearly the overall score here is way too low. I'm no Acer fan, but this reads more like an 84

Hi Kelvin,

Let me address a few of your concerns:

Quote from: Kelvin on January 13, 2014, 18:54:26
1)... if you dont like Acer dont test the machine.

2)... in this review he give 78% to acer? how much you will give Dell when they keep cook my palm with 40c.

3)...connectivity 71% how much u expect the built in wifi can go?

4)... i would give this Notebook 95% at least .

1)  We are not brand-biased and evaluate a machine based on its merits. Keep in mind that we are not comparing the TP645 to a consumer notebook - it's a business machine and judged as such.
2)  Most scores (including the temperature score) are processed with an algorithm - see:  http://www.notebookcheck.net/Our-Test-Criteria.15394.0.html
3) The connectivity score has nothing to do with wireless reception, but rather with the ports and port selection. A notebook with an additional USB port and DisplayPort in additon to HDMI would therefore score higher.
4) As mentioned in 2), most of the scores are automatically calculated using the test results and measurements.

be fair to Acer . if you dont like Acer dont test the machine. i using V5 473PG . i think the design will be the same with this. temparature even in gaming palm rest wouldn't getting hot . in this review he give 78% to acer? how much you will give Dell when they keep cook my palm with 40c. connectivity 71% how much u expect the built in wifi can go? keyboard 60% ? my dont even have backlit i will give 90% only the Dell keyboard i feel more soft . to me i think the writer prefer hard keyboard. he dont like the soft touch.
i would give this Notebook 95% at least . 8 hour battery life , 1.5kg , 14" , gaming graphic , no heat issue at palm rest , backlit keyboard . only thing is the design have to more sharp

Quote from: Zoro on January 12, 2014, 21:07:05
Impression? 0%?

Thanks for pointing that out - this has been corrected.

Bernie

Ultimately, there is no completely objective way to rate a keyboard. Typing speed and error rate are not the only factors (but of course very important). Judging by consumer Ultrabook standards, yes, this is a good keyboard and many users will be perfectly happy with it. Others will not like the completely flat keys (contoured keys help guide the fingers to the center of the key), the very shallow travel, or the fact that there is only one backlight level.
As far as the heat is concerned: we simulate a worst-case scenario with 100 % CPU and GPU utilization (to check for throttling / overheating) for extended periods of time - we want to make sure there is some margin of safety built in (think hot summer months).

Thanks,

Bernie

I have this notebook for 2 weeks now. I am a student and have to type a lot with the keyboard and have no issues here. Previously I had a Dell notebook from their business line and the keyboard of the acer is much better! I don't get why the keyboard should get only 60% if there are no issues to write fast (as written in the review) and the "feeling" (whatever this means) is not as good as the thinkpad keyboard.

Additionally so fare i have no heating problems, the notebook stays for the most stuff completely cool, but so far I didn't use the GPU very much. Maybe that's the reason, but for a business laptop that's okay.

Impression? 0%?

I haven't seen ANY laptop, getting 60% for the keyboard. Isn't it a bit TOO low?