Notebookcheck Logo

Acer TravelMate X3410 (i7, MX130, FHD) Laptop Review

Affordable underdog. In the enterprise-laptop market, avoiding Dell, Lenovo or HP is hardly possible, but Acer wants to have a piece of that lucrative market segment as well. The Acer TravelMate X3410 is made to appeal to business customers, but will it be able to win-out over the well-established competition? To find out more, read this in-depth review.

For the PC manufacturer Acer, laptops for consumers like the Acer Aspire and Acer Extensa traditionally played the more important role. Nonetheless, it cannot be said that Acer has not played its part with enterprise laptops. After all, the manufacturer possesses the long-ongoing "TravelMate" brand, which was once acquired by Acer in 1997 alongside of the PC business from Texas Instruments. So on paper, it looks like there are many parallels between the TravelMates and the ThinkPad-brand, though the ThinkPads of course always had more prestige compared with the TravelMates.

Today's review unit carries the model-name TravelMate X3410. This laptop is a 14-inch device for business customers, which was introduced by Acer at Computex 2018. For the enterprise market, 14-inches is traditionally the most common size. As a part of the "TravelMate X series", the TravelMate X3410 practically forms the spearhead of the TravelMate lineup. It competes with well-known laptop models made by other manufacturers like the Lenovo ThinkPad T480, the HP EliteBook 840 G5 and the Dell Latitude 7490

Our specific review model contains the Intel Core i7-8550U, the Nvidia GeForce MX130, 16 GB RAM, a combination of a 256 GB SSD and a 1 TB HDD as well as an FHD (1920x1080) IPS screen. With these components, it is the highest-end configuration available of the TravelMate X3410. In Germany, it costs 1,300 Euros (~$1,484). A similar model with a 512 GB SSD and no HDD costs $1,300 in the USA.

Acer TravelMate X3410-M-50DD (TravelMate X Series)
Processor
Intel Core i7-8550U 4 x 1.8 - 4 GHz, Kaby Lake Refresh
Graphics adapter
NVIDIA GeForce MX130 - 2048 MB VRAM, Core: 1189 MHz, Memory: 1253 MHz, 174D, 398.26, Optimus
Memory
16 GB 
, DDR4-2400, 1 of 2 slots free, maximal 32 GB
Display
14.00 inch 16:9, 1920 x 1080 pixel 157 PPI, N140HCA-EAC, IPS LED, glossy: no
Mainboard
Intel Kaby Lake-U + iHDCP 2.2 Premium PCH
Storage
Micron 1100 MTFDDAV256TBN, 256 GB 
, M.2 2280; additionally: WDC WD10SPZX-21Z10T0, 1 TB, 2.5 inch HDD
Soundcard
Intel Kaby Lake-U/Y PCH - High Definition Audio
Connections
4 USB 3.0 / 3.1 Gen1, 1 VGA, 1 HDMI, 1 DisplayPort, 1 Kensington Lock, Audio Connections: Combo audio, Card Reader: SD card-reader
Networking
Realtek RTL8168/8111 Gigabit-LAN (10/100/1000MBit/s), Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7265 (a/b/g/h/n = Wi-Fi 4/ac = Wi-Fi 5/), Bluetooth 4.0
Size
height x width x depth (in mm): 19.9 x 328 x 238 ( = 0.78 x 12.91 x 9.37 in)
Battery
57 Wh Lithium-Ion
Operating System
Microsoft Windows 10 Pro 64 Bit
Camera
Webcam: HD
Additional features
Speakers: Stereo, Keyboard: six-row chiclet, Keyboard Light: yes, Norton Security, Acer Collection S, Acer Configuration Manager, Acer Jumpstart, Acer Office Manager Agent, Acer Product Registration, Acer Control Center, Microsoft Office Trial, 36 Months Warranty
Weight
1.692 kg ( = 59.68 oz / 3.73 pounds), Power Supply: 315 g ( = 11.11 oz / 0.69 pounds)
Price
1099 Euro
Note: The manufacturer may use components from different suppliers including display panels, drives or memory sticks with similar specifications.

 

Case

Acer TravelMate X3410
Acer TravelMate X3410

Acer utilizes a hybrid construction with both aluminum and plastic. The lid and the palm-rest consist of a black-anodized aluminum, while the base unit and the screen bezels are made out of smooth black plastic. The complete chassis is colored in a dark gray-blackish color, with the notable exception of the silver hinge-caps and the Acer logo on the lid. All in all, the design is unobtrusive and conservative, which is fitting for a business laptop. 

In terms of quality, the Acer laptop TravelMate X3410 sits at an adequate level. The quality of material is competitive with the likes of the Lenovo ThinkPad T480, and general workmanship is good. For the case stability, the parts that are made out of aluminum are very beneficial. The palm-rest for example cannot be pushed in at any point. The lid does have some flexibility to it, but the amount of flex is reasonable. Pressure from above is not much of an issue for the LCD cover, providing a good level of protection.

The two drop-down hinges are slightly angled upward, and their caps are made out of plastic. Acer has fine-tuned the hinges so that you can open the lid with one hand, while they still hold the screen pretty tight. Sadly, their opening angle is pretty limited at 140 degrees. Other business laptops often support an opening angle of 180 degrees and a "lay flat" feature.

Of the compared business notebooks, the Acer TravelMate X3410 is one of the heavier models with a weight of 1.7 kg. Only the Lenovo ThinkPad T480 is slightly heavier at 1.8 kg. The HP EliteBook 840 G5 is much lighter at 1.5 kg, while the Lenovo ThinkPad T480s weighs only 1.3 kg.

The screen bezel of the Acer TravelMate X3410 is fairly small to the sides, while it is very wide above and below the panel. This is reflected by the overall footprint, as the TravelMate is longer than its competitors, but it is slimmer than the Lenovo ThinkPad T480 for example.

Size & weight comparison

337 mm / 13.3 inch 233 mm / 9.17 inch 20 mm / 0.787 inch 1.8 kg3.92 lbs331 mm / 13 inch 226.8 mm / 8.93 inch 18.45 mm / 0.726 inch 1.3 kg2.97 lbs331 mm / 13 inch 220.9 mm / 8.7 inch 17.9 mm / 0.705 inch 1.6 kg3.44 lbs328 mm / 12.9 inch 238 mm / 9.37 inch 19.9 mm / 0.783 inch 1.7 kg3.73 lbs326 mm / 12.8 inch 234 mm / 9.21 inch 17.9 mm / 0.705 inch 1.5 kg3.4 lbs297 mm / 11.7 inch 210 mm / 8.27 inch 1 mm / 0.03937 inch 5.7 g0.01257 lbs

Connectivity

The Acer TravelMate X3410 provides a solid mix of new and old ports. Of note is the presence of a VGA port, something most new systems dropped a long time ago. For some users in the enterprise environment, having this antiquated standard can still prove to be a major win.

The modern era is represented by the USB C port. Sadly, this connector does not support Thunderbolt, a definitive con, as the competition offers this capability. At least external monitors can be connected via USB C, thanks to the DisplayPort alternate mode. The connector also supports charging – however, if you are using it to charge the laptop, the positioning so far to the front of the device can be a bit of a hassle.

Right: SD card-reader, combo audio, 2x USB 3.0 Type-A, charging port
Right: SD card-reader, combo audio, 2x USB 3.0 Type-A, charging port
Left: Kensington lock, RJ45 Ethernet, VGA, HDMI, USB 3.0 Type-A, USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-C
Left: Kensington lock, RJ45 Ethernet, VGA, HDMI, USB 3.0 Type-A, USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-C

SD card-reader

Acer puts in a full-size SD card-reader. In our benchmark with the Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II memory card, we identified the card reader as a very slow model. The card-reader modules used in the comparable Lenovo ThinkPads are faster by far. The MicroSD card-reader in the Dell Latitude 7490 is even much faster.

SD Card Reader
average JPG Copy Test (av. of 3 runs)
Dell Latitude 7490
  (Toshiba Exceria Pro M501 UHS-II)
137.6 MB/s +558%
Lenovo ThinkPad T480-20L6S01V00
  (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II)
77.8 MB/s +272%
Lenovo ThinkPad T480s-20L8S02E00
  (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II)
75.2 MB/s +260%
Average of class Office
  (8 - 196.8, n=50, last 2 years)
55.6 MB/s +166%
Acer TravelMate X3410-M-50DD
  (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II)
20.9 MB/s
maximum AS SSD Seq Read Test (1GB)
Dell Latitude 7490
  (Toshiba Exceria Pro M501 UHS-II)
203.2 MB/s +713%
Lenovo ThinkPad T480s-20L8S02E00
  (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II)
87.4 MB/s +250%
Lenovo ThinkPad T480-20L6S01V00
  (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II)
86.4 MB/s +246%
Average of class Office
  (26.4 - 173.2, n=44, last 2 years)
65.2 MB/s +161%
Acer TravelMate X3410-M-50DD
  (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II)
25 MB/s

Communication

To save some money, Acer uses a small trick, as the TravelMate X3410 utilizes the outdated Intel Dual-Band Wireless 7265-AC. This old Wi-Fi card still delivers a good performance in our benchmark. In everyday use, we had no problems with the Wi-Fi module either. Apart from Wi-Fi, the TravelMate also possesses an RJ45 Ethernet connection for wired Internet. The Ethernet module is made by Realtek. WWAN or LTE is not built in, and they are not even offered optionally.

The camera and the microphones deliver the typical laptop quality, which means they are rather bad. They do suffice for video-conferencing.

Networking
iperf3 transmit AX12
Average of class Office
  (280 - 1332, n=6, last 2 years)
810 MBit/s +43%
Acer TravelMate X3410-M-50DD
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7265
565 (533min - 587max) MBit/s
HP EliteBook 840 G5-3JX66EA
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8265
523 MBit/s -7%
Lenovo ThinkPad T480-20L6S01V00
Intel 8265 Tri-Band WiFi (Oak Peak) Network Adapter
520 MBit/s -8%
Lenovo ThinkPad T480s-20L8S02E00
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8265
515 MBit/s -9%
Dell Latitude 7490
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8265
513 MBit/s -9%
iperf3 receive AX12
Average of class Office
  (348 - 1690, n=6, last 2 years)
852 MBit/s +55%
Dell Latitude 7490
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8265
650 MBit/s +18%
HP EliteBook 840 G5-3JX66EA
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8265
644 MBit/s +17%
Lenovo ThinkPad T480-20L6S01V00
Intel 8265 Tri-Band WiFi (Oak Peak) Network Adapter
625 MBit/s +13%
Lenovo ThinkPad T480s-20L8S02E00
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8265
623 MBit/s +13%
Acer TravelMate X3410-M-50DD
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7265
551 (441min - 572max) MBit/s

Security

There is no smartcard-reader inside of the TravelMate X3410. At least Acer provides a Kensington-lock slot as well a fingerprint-reader. The fingerprint-scanner is hidden inside of the power button and is touch-based. In our short test, it worked flawlessly.

Accessories

There are no extra accessories except for the charger enclosed with the Acer TravelMate X3410. Optional accessories made only for the TravelMate do not exist either, like a mechanical docking station. At least Acer offers a USB C dock for the TravelMate.

Maintenance

To access the internal components, the user has to open two small service hatches. Under these service hatches, Acer places the 2.5 inch HDD, a single M.2 2280 SSD and two RAM slots. The rest of the components like the battery or the fan are hidden under the base unit. Exchanging these components constitutes a more difficult procedure.

View of the internal components of the Acer TravelMate X3410.
View of the internal components of the Acer TravelMate X3410.

Warranty

Since it is a business laptop, the TravelMate X3410 has a manufacturer warranty of three years. This is normal in this segment, though in this case, it is only bring-in service. If the service is needed, the user has to send in the device. Other business notebooks are offered with on-site service. Please see our Guarantees, Return policies and Warranties article for country-specific information.

Input devices

Keyboard

The TravelMate X3410 relies on a chiclet keyboard with six rows of keys. The flat chiclet keys are equipped with two-stage keyboard backlight (on/off) and their travel is relatively short. In total, the quality of the keyboard is certainly okay, even though the competitors have better keyboards. There is not much to criticize when it comes to the layout, though it should be noted that the navigation keys are placed to the right of the enter key. Also, the vertical arrow keys are kind of small.

Keyboard area Acer TravelMate X3410
Keyboard area Acer TravelMate X3410

Touchpad

The fairly big touchpad does not have dedicated right- and left-click-buttons. Instead, it has an integrated button-mechanism, meaning it is a ClickPad. The touchpad works well: The clicks are not too loud and the pressure point is not too soft. The surface of the touchpad consists of plastic. This solution is not as premium as the glass touchpad used in the HP EliteBook 840 G5, but the surface is smooth enough for frictionless usage. Equally good are the drivers, which are based on the Microsoft Precision touchpad standard.

Unlike the direct competitors, the Acer TravelMate X3410 does not come with a pointing stick. That is a shame, because a TrackPoint would be a welcome alternative to the touchpad.

Display

Subpixel array N140HCA-EAC
Subpixel array N140HCA-EAC
Almost no backlight bleeding (shown more pronounced here)
Almost no backlight bleeding (shown more pronounced here)

Acer offers only a single display option: A matte 14-inch FHD (1920x1080) IPS LCD. This is a good thing in a way, because Acer forgoes a cheap HD (1366x768) TN-LCD option entirely here, which is something many base models of competing business laptops are still cursed by. On the other hand, it is too bad that Acer does not offer a better higher-res display.

Unfortunately, the built-in screen has proven to be pretty dark, as we only measured an average brightness of 218 cd/m². The Lenovo ThinkPad T480 and the Dell Latitude 7490 reach around 295 cd/m² with their FHD screens, while the HP EliteBook 840 G5 even manages a brightness value of 387 cd/m². Also, Lenovo and HP offer their business laptops with higher-resolution screens as an option. All in all, Acer has the clear disadvantage in terms of screen quality.

At least there was only a minuscule amount of backlight bleeding. We measure PWM, but the frequency with 24.5 kHz was very high, which means that the PWM is not much of a problem. Less than ideal was the brightness distribution with only 72%. The panel is visibly darker in the lower corners, though fortunately the contrast between the brighter and darker parts of the panels is not too pronounced. This means that the problematic brightness distribution is not distracting in everyday usage.

211
cd/m²
233
cd/m²
227
cd/m²
218
cd/m²
255
cd/m²
224
cd/m²
186
cd/m²
228
cd/m²
184
cd/m²
Distribution of brightness
N140HCA-EAC tested with X-Rite i1Pro 2
Maximum: 255 cd/m² (Nits) Average: 218.4 cd/m² Minimum: 20.1 cd/m²
Brightness Distribution: 72 %
Center on Battery: 255 cd/m²
Contrast: 3188:1 (Black: 0.08 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 5.01 | 0.5-29.43 Ø5, calibrated: 4.06
ΔE Greyscale 3 | 0.57-98 Ø5.3
63% sRGB (Argyll 1.6.3 3D)
40% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 1.6.3 3D)
43.37% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
63% sRGB (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
41.96% Display P3 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
Gamma: 2.26
Acer TravelMate X3410-M-50DD
N140HCA-EAC, , 1920x1080, 14.00
Lenovo ThinkPad T480-20L6S01V00
Lenovo LP140WF6-SPB7, , 1920x1080, 14.00
HP EliteBook 840 G5-3JX66EA
AUO3B3D, , 1920x1080, 14.00
Dell Latitude 7490
AUO503D (D04YD_B140HAN), , 1920x1080, 14.00
Display
-6%
41%
57%
Display P3 Coverage
41.96
39.24
-6%
60.2
43%
66.6
59%
sRGB Coverage
63
58.8
-7%
88.2
40%
96.8
54%
AdobeRGB 1998 Coverage
43.37
40.56
-6%
61.3
41%
67.9
57%
Response Times
16%
-3%
-3%
Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% *
42 ?(22, 20)
35.6 ?(17.6, 18)
15%
42.4 ?(19.6, 22.8)
-1%
41.6 ?(22, 19.6)
1%
Response Time Black / White *
30 ?(17, 13)
24.8 ?(13.2, 11.6)
17%
31.6 ?(18, 13.6)
-5%
32 ?(16.4, 15.6)
-7%
PWM Frequency
24500 ?(20)
Screen
-26%
-5%
-11%
Brightness middle
255
307
20%
414
62%
308.6
21%
Brightness
218
295
35%
387
78%
294
35%
Brightness Distribution
72
90
25%
87
21%
89
24%
Black Level *
0.08
0.25
-213%
0.25
-213%
0.23
-188%
Contrast
3188
1228
-61%
1656
-48%
1342
-58%
Colorchecker dE 2000 *
5.01
5.7
-14%
5.5
-10%
6.07
-21%
Colorchecker dE 2000 max. *
17.44
21.3
-22%
9.9
43%
10.58
39%
Colorchecker dE 2000 calibrated *
4.06
4.7
-16%
2.3
43%
1.67
59%
Greyscale dE 2000 *
3
3.7
-23%
6.4
-113%
7.3
-143%
Gamma
2.26 97%
2.11 104%
2.31 95%
2.061 107%
CCT
6185 105%
7353 88%
7811 83%
7269 89%
Color Space (Percent of AdobeRGB 1998)
40
37.4
-6%
56.9
42%
62
55%
Color Space (Percent of sRGB)
63
58.7
-7%
88.1
40%
97
54%
Total Average (Program / Settings)
-5% / -17%
11% / 4%
14% / 3%

* ... smaller is better

Colors
Colors
Saturation
Saturation
Grayscale
Grayscale
Colors (calibrated)
Colors (calibrated)
Saturation (calibrated)
Saturation (calibrated)
Grayscale (calibrated)
Grayscale (calibrated)

Even without calibration, the screen does not show a visible tint. With calibration, the image quality can only be improved in some very small ways. As always, the ICC profile we created is available to download for free. The contrast of the panel was surprisingly good, thanks to the very low black value of 0.08 cd/m². A contrast value of 3188:1 is something that most high-end laptops do not manage. This results in a deep black and saturated colors.

However, the high contrast cannot hide the fact that the overall quality of the panel is quite low. This becomes clear by looking at the numbers we measured in terms of color gamut. The sRGB coverage of 63% is typical for a very cheap IPS screen. Serious photo-editing is not possible, as the colors are displayed saturated but still incorrect. In this regard, the Dell Latitude 7490 and the HP EliteBook 840 G5 are much better.

sRGB: 63%
sRGB: 63%
AdobeRGB: 40%
AdobeRGB: 40%
Outdoors (cloudy)
Outdoors (cloudy)

Despite the display being matte, the screen is not really usable outdoors. With a brightness value of just 218 cd/m², the LCD even has problems when the sky is cloudy. The TravelMate is not entirely unusable outside of the house, but using it outside is not comfortable at all. The sun has to be avoided at all costs.

Display Response Times

Display response times show how fast the screen is able to change from one color to the next. Slow response times can lead to afterimages and can cause moving objects to appear blurry (ghosting). Gamers of fast-paced 3D titles should pay special attention to fast response times.
       Response Time Black to White
30 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined↗ 17 ms rise
↘ 13 ms fall
The screen shows slow response rates in our tests and will be unsatisfactory for gamers.
In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.1 (minimum) to 240 (maximum) ms. » 77 % of all devices are better.
This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (21.6 ms).
       Response Time 50% Grey to 80% Grey
42 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined↗ 22 ms rise
↘ 20 ms fall
The screen shows slow response rates in our tests and will be unsatisfactory for gamers.
In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.2 (minimum) to 636 (maximum) ms. » 63 % of all devices are better.
This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (33.9 ms).

Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)

To dim the screen, some notebooks will simply cycle the backlight on and off in rapid succession - a method called Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) . This cycling frequency should ideally be undetectable to the human eye. If said frequency is too low, users with sensitive eyes may experience strain or headaches or even notice the flickering altogether.
Screen flickering / PWM detected 24500 Hz ≤ 20 % brightness setting

The display backlight flickers at 24500 Hz (worst case, e.g., utilizing PWM) Flickering detected at a brightness setting of 20 % and below. There should be no flickering or PWM above this brightness setting.

The frequency of 24500 Hz is quite high, so most users sensitive to PWM should not notice any flickering.

In comparison: 53 % of all tested devices do not use PWM to dim the display. If PWM was detected, an average of 18110 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 3846000) Hz was measured.

Typical for IPS displays, the colors do not invert, even when the viewing-angle is extreme. There is one small caveat though, as the panel does show the IPS glow effect. This phenomenon often happens on cheaper IPS screens.

Viewing angles N140HCA-EAC
Viewing angles N140HCA-EAC

Performance

For the German market, Acer provides six different models of the Acer TravelMate X3410. The price range they cover stretches from 830 Euros (~$947) to 1,300 Euros (~$1,484). Nearly all models utilize the Intel Core i5-8250U as their processor, only our reviewed high-end model uses the Core i7-8550U. Two models are equipped with 16 GB DDR4-2400 RAM (two slots, one free with our review unit, max. 32 GB), the others have 8 GB RAM ex factory. Also, two models include the Nvidia GeForce MX130, the other configurations rely on the Intel UHD Graphics 620. The last important difference between the models is the storage: The SSD either had a capacity of 256 GB or 512 GB, while the most-expensive model supplements the SSD with a 1 TB HDD.

HWiNFO
HWiNFO
CPU-Z
CPU-Z
CPU-Z Caches
CPU-Z Caches
CPU-Z Mainboard
CPU-Z Mainboard
CPU-Z Memory
CPU-Z Memory
CPU-Z SPD
CPU-Z SPD
GPU-Z Intel UHD Graphics 620
GPU-Z Intel UHD Graphics 620
LatencyMon
LatencyMon

Processor

The Intel Core i7-8550U is a quad-core CPU of the 8th generation of Core i CPUs. Its four cores can consume up to 15 watt, as this CPU is an ultra-low voltage processor of the Intel U series. The highest possible turbo clock rate goes up to 4 GHz, while the base-clock sits at 1.8 GHz. Our CPU benchmark table enables comparisons with other processors.  

Naturally, the information on the clock rates is just of theoretical nature. The real-world performance highly depends on the cooling system of the reviewed device. In the case of the Acer TravelMate X3410, the processor can consume 44 W for 28 seconds. When doing so, its clock rates reach 3.8 GHz. Afterwards, the power consumption is limited to 15 W, which limits the clock rates to 2.3 GHz as well. That is the reason why the TravelMate can perform best in the very first iteration of the Cinebench R15 loop test.

03570105140175210245280315350385420455490525560595630Tooltip
Acer TravelMate X3410-M-50DD Intel Core i7-8550U, Intel Core i7-8550U: Ø501 (497-532)
Lenovo ThinkPad T480-20L6S01V00 Intel Core i7-8550U, Intel Core i7-8550U: Ø628 (624.25-657.27)
Dell Latitude 7490 Intel Core i5-8350U, Intel Core i5-8350U: Ø531 (519.92-595.49)
HP EliteBook 840 G5-3JX61EA Intel Core i7-8550U, Intel Core i7-8550U: Ø526 (517.01-554.05)

Altogether, the Acer notebook TravelMate X3410 performs slightly worse than the competitors. Especially the Lenovo ThinkPad T480 is much faster, but the Dell Latitude 7490 and the HP EliteBook 840 G5 eke out more performance out of their processors too.

There was no limitation of the CPU performance when the device was running on battery.

Cinebench R15
CPU Single 64Bit
Average of class Office
  (82.6 - 284, n=118, last 2 years)
215 Points +29%
Lenovo ThinkPad T480s-20L8S02E00
Intel Core i7-8550U
170 Points +2%
HP EliteBook 840 G5-3JX61EA
Intel Core i7-8550U
167 Points 0%
Acer TravelMate X3410-M-50DD
Intel Core i7-8550U
167 Points
Lenovo ThinkPad T480-20L6S01V00
Intel Core i7-8550U
161 Points -4%
Average Intel Core i7-8550U
  (108 - 172, n=76)
159.6 Points -4%
Dell Latitude 7490
Intel Core i5-8350U
153 Points -8%
CPU Multi 64Bit
Average of class Office
  (160.8 - 2642, n=120, last 2 years)
1380 Points +156%
Lenovo ThinkPad T480s-20L8S02E00
Intel Core i7-8550U
723 Points +34%
Lenovo ThinkPad T480-20L6S01V00
Intel Core i7-8550U
657 Points +22%
Average Intel Core i7-8550U
  (301 - 761, n=78)
576 Points +7%
Dell Latitude 7490
Intel Core i5-8350U
569 Points +5%
HP EliteBook 840 G5-3JX61EA
Intel Core i7-8550U
554 Points +3%
Acer TravelMate X3410-M-50DD
Intel Core i7-8550U
540 Points
Cinebench R15 OpenGL 64Bit
71 fps
Cinebench R15 Ref. Match 64Bit
99.6 %
Cinebench R15 CPU Multi 64Bit
540 Points
Cinebench R15 CPU Single 64Bit
167 Points
Help

System performance

There is nothing to criticize about the system performance in everyday use, thanks to the quad-core processor, SSD and plenty of RAM. The benchmark scores in the PCMark tests reinforce this subjective feeling.

PCMark 10
Score
Average of class Office
  (2325 - 7157, n=105, last 2 years)
5312 Points +49%
Lenovo ThinkPad T480s-20L8S02E00
GeForce MX150, i5-8550U, Samsung SSD PM981 MZVLB512HAJQ
3960 Points +11%
HP EliteBook 840 G5-3JX61EA
UHD Graphics 620, i5-8550U, Toshiba KXG50ZNV1T02
3906 Points +10%
Lenovo ThinkPad T480-20L6S01V00
GeForce MX150, i5-8550U, Samsung SSD PM981 MZVLB512HAJQ
3686 Points +3%
Acer TravelMate X3410-M-50DD
GeForce MX130, i5-8550U, Micron 1100 MTFDDAV256TBN
3565 Points
Dell Latitude 7490
UHD Graphics 620, i5-8350U, Toshiba KSG60ZMV256G
3564 Points 0%
Average Intel Core i7-8550U, NVIDIA GeForce MX130
  (2801 - 3565, n=3)
3068 Points -14%
HP EliteBook 840 G5-3JX66EA
UHD Graphics 620, i5-8250U, Toshiba XG5 KXG50ZNV256G
2429 Points -32%
Essentials
Average of class Office
  (5095 - 20841, n=105, last 2 years)
9781 Points +33%
HP EliteBook 840 G5-3JX61EA
UHD Graphics 620, i5-8550U, Toshiba KXG50ZNV1T02
8236 Points +12%
Lenovo ThinkPad T480s-20L8S02E00
GeForce MX150, i5-8550U, Samsung SSD PM981 MZVLB512HAJQ
8045 Points +9%
Dell Latitude 7490
UHD Graphics 620, i5-8350U, Toshiba KSG60ZMV256G
7376 Points 0%
Acer TravelMate X3410-M-50DD
GeForce MX130, i5-8550U, Micron 1100 MTFDDAV256TBN
7368 Points
HP EliteBook 840 G5-3JX66EA
UHD Graphics 620, i5-8250U, Toshiba XG5 KXG50ZNV256G
7139 Points -3%
Lenovo ThinkPad T480-20L6S01V00
GeForce MX150, i5-8550U, Samsung SSD PM981 MZVLB512HAJQ
6423 Points -13%
Average Intel Core i7-8550U, NVIDIA GeForce MX130
  (5150 - 7368, n=3)
5920 Points -20%
Productivity
Average of class Office
  (3041 - 10198, n=105, last 2 years)
7439 Points +37%
Lenovo ThinkPad T480s-20L8S02E00
GeForce MX150, i5-8550U, Samsung SSD PM981 MZVLB512HAJQ
6825 Points +26%
HP EliteBook 840 G5-3JX61EA
UHD Graphics 620, i5-8550U, Toshiba KXG50ZNV1T02
6651 Points +22%
Lenovo ThinkPad T480-20L6S01V00
GeForce MX150, i5-8550U, Samsung SSD PM981 MZVLB512HAJQ
6500 Points +20%
HP EliteBook 840 G5-3JX66EA
UHD Graphics 620, i5-8250U, Toshiba XG5 KXG50ZNV256G
5844 Points +7%
Dell Latitude 7490
UHD Graphics 620, i5-8350U, Toshiba KSG60ZMV256G
5721 Points +5%
Acer TravelMate X3410-M-50DD
GeForce MX130, i5-8550U, Micron 1100 MTFDDAV256TBN
5437 Points
Average Intel Core i7-8550U, NVIDIA GeForce MX130
  (4308 - 5437, n=3)
4930 Points -9%
Digital Content Creation
Average of class Office
  (1912 - 9056, n=105, last 2 years)
5732 Points +87%
Lenovo ThinkPad T480-20L6S01V00
GeForce MX150, i5-8550U, Samsung SSD PM981 MZVLB512HAJQ
3258 Points +6%
Lenovo ThinkPad T480s-20L8S02E00
GeForce MX150, i5-8550U, Samsung SSD PM981 MZVLB512HAJQ
3071 Points 0%
Acer TravelMate X3410-M-50DD
GeForce MX130, i5-8550U, Micron 1100 MTFDDAV256TBN
3071 Points
HP EliteBook 840 G5-3JX61EA
UHD Graphics 620, i5-8550U, Toshiba KXG50ZNV1T02
2954 Points -4%
Dell Latitude 7490
UHD Graphics 620, i5-8350U, Toshiba KSG60ZMV256G
2911 Points -5%
HP EliteBook 840 G5-3JX66EA
UHD Graphics 620, i5-8250U, Toshiba XG5 KXG50ZNV256G
2807 Points -9%
Average Intel Core i7-8550U, NVIDIA GeForce MX130
  (2345 - 3071, n=3)
2702 Points -12%
PCMark 8
Home Score Accelerated v2
Average of class Office
  (2304 - 4830, n=12, last 2 years)
4261 Points +19%
HP EliteBook 840 G5-3JX61EA
UHD Graphics 620, i5-8550U, Toshiba KXG50ZNV1T02
3966 Points +11%
Dell Latitude 7490
UHD Graphics 620, i5-8350U, Toshiba KSG60ZMV256G
3723 Points +4%
Lenovo ThinkPad T480-20L6S01V00
GeForce MX150, i5-8550U, Samsung SSD PM981 MZVLB512HAJQ
3675 Points +3%
HP EliteBook 840 G5-3JX66EA
UHD Graphics 620, i5-8250U, Toshiba XG5 KXG50ZNV256G
3652 Points +2%
Average Intel Core i7-8550U, NVIDIA GeForce MX130
  (3381 - 3704, n=4)
3582 Points 0%
Acer TravelMate X3410-M-50DD
GeForce MX130, i5-8550U, Micron 1100 MTFDDAV256TBN
3578 Points
Lenovo ThinkPad T480s-20L8S02E00
GeForce MX150, i5-8550U, Samsung SSD PM981 MZVLB512HAJQ
3540 Points -1%
Work Score Accelerated v2
Acer TravelMate X3410-M-50DD
GeForce MX130, i5-8550U, Micron 1100 MTFDDAV256TBN
5030 Points
Lenovo ThinkPad T480-20L6S01V00
GeForce MX150, i5-8550U, Samsung SSD PM981 MZVLB512HAJQ
5025 Points 0%
HP EliteBook 840 G5-3JX61EA
UHD Graphics 620, i5-8550U, Toshiba KXG50ZNV1T02
5004 Points -1%
Lenovo ThinkPad T480s-20L8S02E00
GeForce MX150, i5-8550U, Samsung SSD PM981 MZVLB512HAJQ
4909 Points -2%
Dell Latitude 7490
UHD Graphics 620, i5-8350U, Toshiba KSG60ZMV256G
4906 Points -2%
HP EliteBook 840 G5-3JX66EA
UHD Graphics 620, i5-8250U, Toshiba XG5 KXG50ZNV256G
4832 Points -4%
Average Intel Core i7-8550U, NVIDIA GeForce MX130
  (4327 - 5030, n=3)
4723 Points -6%
Average of class Office
  (1854 - 5610, n=12, last 2 years)
3746 Points -26%
PCMark 8 Home Score Accelerated v2
3578 points
PCMark 8 Work Score Accelerated v2
5030 points
PCMark 10 Score
3565 points
Help

Storage

The Acer TravelMate X3410 comes with two storage media ex factory: The main storage is provided by the 2280 M.2 SSD with a capacity of 256 GB. This SSD is supplemented by a 1 TB 2.5 inch HDD. A similar configuration is only possible with the Lenovo ThinkPad T480, while the Dell Latitude 7490 and the HP EliteBook 840 G5 rely on a single M.2 SSD.

The high flexibility and storage capacity of the TravelMate stands in sharp contrast to the slowness of its main SSD, which is made by Micron. Unfortunately, Acer relies on a SATA III SSD, which is clearly slower than a modern PCIe NVMe SSD.

Acer TravelMate X3410-M-50DD
Micron 1100 MTFDDAV256TBN
Lenovo ThinkPad T480-20L6S01V00
Samsung SSD PM981 MZVLB512HAJQ
Dell Latitude 7490
Toshiba KSG60ZMV256G
HP EliteBook 840 G5-3JX61EA
Toshiba KXG50ZNV1T02
Average Micron 1100 MTFDDAV256TBN
 
CrystalDiskMark 5.2 / 6
140%
-5%
161%
1%
Write 4K
85.4
153.1
79%
79.4
-7%
96.1
13%
82.2 ?(64.9 - 112.6, n=19)
-4%
Read 4K
26.4
48.3
83%
27.37
4%
31.12
18%
24.7 ?(8.02 - 29.7, n=19)
-6%
Write Seq
402.5
866
115%
343.9
-15%
919
128%
376 ?(196.3 - 432, n=19)
-7%
Read Seq
461.2
904
96%
472.7
2%
2089
353%
465 ?(414 - 494, n=19)
1%
Write 4K Q32T1
175.8
424.6
142%
206
17%
425.6
142%
215 ?(111.2 - 268, n=19)
22%
Read 4K Q32T1
228.8
403.2
76%
188.3
-18%
275.3
20%
228 ?(129.8 - 248, n=19)
0%
Write Seq Q32T1
442.9
1725
289%
343.3
-22%
958
116%
458 ?(431 - 510, n=19)
3%
Read Seq Q32T1
522
1780
241%
533
2%
3118
497%
525 ?(508 - 533, n=19)
1%
Write 4K Q8T8
309
307 ?(305 - 309, n=2)
-1%
Read 4K Q8T8
247.1
247 ?(247 - 248, n=2)
0%
Micron 1100 MTFDDAV256TBN
Sequential Read: 483.5 MB/s
Sequential Write: 470.8 MB/s
512K Read: 339.7 MB/s
512K Write: 373.3 MB/s
4K Read: 28.96 MB/s
4K Write: 96.9 MB/s
4K QD32 Read: 246.8 MB/s
4K QD32 Write: 257.6 MB/s

GPU

Nvidia GeForce MX130
Nvidia GeForce MX130

The Nvidia GeForce MX130 is an entry-level graphics processor. Its technical basis is Nvidia Maxwell, as Nvidia just renamed the old Nvidia GeForce 940MX to create the MX130. Comparisons with other GPUs are possible with our GPU benchmark list.

The GeForce delivers almost twice as much GPU performance as recent integrated solutions from Intel, like the Intel UHD Graphics 620. That is why the Acer TravelMate has the advantage here compared with the competitor from Dell; but the Lenovo ThinkPad T480 is equipped with the Nvidia GeForce MX150. This Pascal-based chip was nearly 44% faster than the GeForce MX130 in the 3DMark FireStrike test.

The GPU performance is not reduced when the power adapter was disconnected. 

3DMark 11 - 1280x720 Performance GPU
Average of class Office
  (1474 - 12230, n=115, last 2 years)
5878 Points +84%
Lenovo ThinkPad T480-20L6S01V00
NVIDIA GeForce MX150, Intel Core i7-8550U
4300 Points +34%
Lenovo ThinkPad T480s-20L8S02E00
NVIDIA GeForce MX150, Intel Core i7-8550U
3551 Points +11%
Acer TravelMate X3410-M-50DD
NVIDIA GeForce MX130, Intel Core i7-8550U
3203 Points
Average NVIDIA GeForce MX130
  (2476 - 3203, n=14)
2872 Points -10%
HP EliteBook 840 G5-3JX61EA
Intel UHD Graphics 620, Intel Core i7-8550U
1849 Points -42%
Dell Latitude 7490
Intel UHD Graphics 620, Intel Core i5-8350U
1648 Points -49%
3DMark
1280x720 Cloud Gate Standard Graphics
Average of class Office
  (5681 - 58068, n=98, last 2 years)
23871 Points +60%
Lenovo ThinkPad T480-20L6S01V00
NVIDIA GeForce MX150, Intel Core i7-8550U
21893 Points +47%
Lenovo ThinkPad T480s-20L8S02E00
NVIDIA GeForce MX150, Intel Core i7-8550U
17743 Points +19%
Acer TravelMate X3410-M-50DD
NVIDIA GeForce MX130, Intel Core i7-8550U
14880 Points
Average NVIDIA GeForce MX130
  (12166 - 14880, n=13)
13617 Points -8%
HP EliteBook 840 G5-3JX61EA
Intel UHD Graphics 620, Intel Core i7-8550U
10331 Points -31%
Dell Latitude 7490
Intel UHD Graphics 620, Intel Core i5-8350U
7943 Points -47%
1920x1080 Fire Strike Graphics
Average of class Office
  (712 - 8815, n=117, last 2 years)
4072 Points +63%
Lenovo ThinkPad T480-20L6S01V00
NVIDIA GeForce MX150, Intel Core i7-8550U
3585 Points +44%
Lenovo ThinkPad T480s-20L8S02E00
NVIDIA GeForce MX150, Intel Core i7-8550U
2807 Points +13%
Acer TravelMate X3410-M-50DD
NVIDIA GeForce MX130, Intel Core i7-8550U
2495 Points
Average NVIDIA GeForce MX130
  (2149 - 2495, n=13)
2350 Points -6%
HP EliteBook 840 G5-3JX61EA
Intel UHD Graphics 620, Intel Core i7-8550U
1336 Points -46%
Dell Latitude 7490
Intel UHD Graphics 620, Intel Core i5-8350U
1001 Points -60%
3DMark 11 Performance
3377 points
3DMark Cloud Gate Standard Score
8821 points
3DMark Fire Strike Score
2231 points
Help

Gaming performance

Admittedly, the Nvidia GeForce MX130 brings a definitive plus in terms of performance compared with Intel processors, but it is still simply not fast enough for a great number of modern games. Even when a game does run smoothly, it will most likely do so only in drastically reduced resolution and very low graphics details.

BioShock Infinite - 1366x768 Medium Preset
Acer TravelMate X3410-M-50DD
Intel Core i7-8550U, NVIDIA GeForce MX130
80.2 fps
Average NVIDIA GeForce MX130
  (57.3 - 84.5, n=10)
72.9 fps -9%
Dell Latitude 7490
Intel Core i5-8350U, Intel UHD Graphics 620
35 fps -56%
HP EliteBook 840 G5-3JX66EA
Intel Core i5-8250U, Intel UHD Graphics 620
26 fps -68%
low med. high ultra
BioShock Infinite (2013) 138.1 80.2 68.8 24.86
The Witcher 3 (2015) 47.3 28.2 15.3
Civilization VI (2016) 69.7 36.7 15.8

Emissions

Noise

The Acer TravelMate X3410 can be characterized as a pretty quiet laptop. When idling, the fan is always turned off. Under load, it runs comparably quiet as well. Because we did not use the HDD in our review, it generated no additional noise. If the HDD is used, there will be constant, quiet noise.

We did not hear any hissing or other electronic noises when using the TravelMate.

Noise Level

Idle
30.2 / 30.2 / 30.2 dB(A)
Load
36.8 / 36.8 dB(A)
  red to green bar
 
 
30 dB
silent
40 dB(A)
audible
50 dB(A)
loud
 
min: dark, med: mid, max: light   Audix TM1, Arta (15 cm distance)   environment noise: 30.2 dB(A)
dB(A) 0102030405060708090Deep BassMiddle BassHigh BassLower RangeMidsHigher MidsLower HighsMid HighsUpper HighsSuper Highs203939.237.239253837.736383132.832.131.232.84030.73028.530.75031.431.832.231.46329.730.328.729.78027.727.128.627.710027.526.627.527.512527.527.325.127.516027.325.925.527.32002524.923.6252502525.3232531524.224.522.124.240024.224.62124.250025.325.120.225.363025.124.22025.180024.924.918.724.9100026.626.417.926.612502626.11826160027.727.917.327.7200028.728.917.328.7250025.225.117.325.2315022.922.617.222.9400021.121.31721.1500020.520.51720.5630019.419.417.119.4800018.518.117.118.51000018.117.717.318.11250017.817.517.317.81600018.117.817.518.1SPL36.836.830.236.8N2.32.31.22.3median 25median 24.9median 17.9median 25Delta3.63.11.93.631.531.131.134.128.93229.334.830.833.331.131.727.129.331.129.226.925.929.728.524.8262626.326.125.626.625.725.625.825.725.624.524.123.924.324.224.223.825.923.622.922.624.721.622.322.424.1212120.422.819.920.918.921.120.421.518.121.920.82317.72320.922.316.722.220.923.216.722.521.323.416.123.521.823.415.722.62123.415.922.521.225.515.923.421.928.215.927.219.32316.322.618.321.316.620.518.12116.920.217.718.517.218.217.718.217.217.918.419.417.317.718.519.517.417.532.535.62934.91.72.21.22.2median 20.9median 22.9median 17.2median 22.61.71.41.91.8hearing rangehide median Fan NoiseAcer TravelMate X3410-M-50DDLenovo ThinkPad T480-20L6S01V00

Temperatures

Stress test (Prime95 + FurMark)
Stress test (Prime95 + FurMark)

Acer keeps the surface temperatures under 50 °C. Granted, a temperature of 48.4 °C can be a bit uncomfortable to touch as well, though luckily, this hotspot is located at a rarely touched place above the keyboard. The palm-rest always stays cool. For use on the lap, the temperatures of 45 °C can be unpleasant when used for longer periods of time.

In the stress test with Prime95 and FurMark, the TravelMate X3410 is not completely overwhelmed, but the heat generated is definitely challenging for the cooling system. To keep the surface temperatures low, Acer limits the CPU and GPU temperatures to roughly 85 °C. In the case of the CPU, this means that the CPU can only run for two minutes with a clock rate of 2.3 GHz, afterwards the clock rate goes down to 1.8 GHz. The consumption fluctuates between 15, 11.5 and 13 W. The clock rate of the dGPU is not influenced that much: It decreases from 1162 MHz to 1124 MHz.

The throttling in the stress test does not have a significant impact on everyday use, as the 3DMark11 benchmark run directly after the stress test resulted in a normal score.

Max. Load
 38.7 °C
102 F
48.4 °C
119 F
47.1 °C
117 F
 
 36.1 °C
97 F
42.5 °C
109 F
34.1 °C
93 F
 
 25.5 °C
78 F
26.2 °C
79 F
27.7 °C
82 F
 
Maximum: 48.4 °C = 119 F
Average: 36.3 °C = 97 F
45 °C
113 F
44.4 °C
112 F
33.4 °C
92 F
28.7 °C
84 F
36.6 °C
98 F
32.6 °C
91 F
26.5 °C
80 F
25.3 °C
78 F
25.7 °C
78 F
Maximum: 45 °C = 113 F
Average: 33.1 °C = 92 F
Power Supply (max.)  55.6 °C = 132 F | Room Temperature 22.6 °C = 73 F | FIRT 550-Pocket
(±) The average temperature for the upper side under maximal load is 36.3 °C / 97 F, compared to the average of 29.5 °C / 85 F for the devices in the class Office.
(-) The maximum temperature on the upper side is 48.4 °C / 119 F, compared to the average of 34.2 °C / 94 F, ranging from 21.2 to 62.5 °C for the class Office.
(±) The bottom heats up to a maximum of 45 °C / 113 F, compared to the average of 36.7 °C / 98 F
(+) In idle usage, the average temperature for the upper side is 25.8 °C / 78 F, compared to the device average of 29.5 °C / 85 F.
(+) The palmrests and touchpad are cooler than skin temperature with a maximum of 27.7 °C / 81.9 F and are therefore cool to the touch.
(±) The average temperature of the palmrest area of similar devices was 27.7 °C / 81.9 F (0 °C / 0 F).
Idle (keyboard area)
Idle (keyboard area)
Idle (bottom)
Idle (bottom)
Load (keyboard area)
Load (keyboard area)
Load (bottom)
Load (bottom)

Speakers

The speakers of the Acer TravelMate X3410 are typical laptop speakers. This means that they are neither very loud, nor do they produce high-fidelity sound. Depth and bass is missing almost completely. One example device with better speakers is the HP EliteBook 840 G5.

As an alternative to the speakers, we recommend the combo-audio port, which works flawlessly.

dB(A) 0102030405060708090Deep BassMiddle BassHigh BassLower RangeMidsHigher MidsLower HighsMid HighsUpper HighsSuper Highs2038.337.238.32537.23637.23134.531.234.54034.628.534.65036.232.236.26336.728.736.7803628.63610036.727.536.712537.725.137.716039.325.539.320042.323.642.325045234531552.422.152.440054.22154.250055.620.255.663059.82059.88006518.765100059.817.959.8125057.41857.4160055.117.355.1200052.117.352.1250053.917.353.9315050.917.250.9400052.11752.1500052.31752.363005117.151800054.717.154.71000050.417.350.41250047.917.347.91600046.917.546.9SPL68.630.268.6N21.81.221.8median 52.1median 17.9median 52.1Delta4.11.94.130.131.329.430.330.229.929.331.431.632.5262725.526.626.729.525.529.624.438.622.848.922.351.719.656.918.563.717.665.717.167.216.266.616.371.115.973.715.472.715.572.415.572.715.872.516.175.616.67916.877.417.271.317.471.817.467.217.35628.885.81.264.1median 17.2median 67.21.98.5hearing rangehide median Pink NoiseAcer TravelMate X3410-M-50DDHP EliteBook 840 G5-3JX66EA
Frequency diagram (checkboxes can be checked and unchecked to compare devices)
Acer TravelMate X3410-M-50DD audio analysis

(-) | not very loud speakers (65 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(±) | reduced bass - on average 10% lower than median
(±) | linearity of bass is average (8% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(±) | higher mids - on average 5.3% higher than median
(±) | linearity of mids is average (9.3% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(+) | balanced highs - only 1.2% away from median
(+) | highs are linear (6.5% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(±) | linearity of overall sound is average (19.5% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 34% of all tested devices in this class were better, 7% similar, 59% worse
» The best had a delta of 7%, average was 22%, worst was 53%
Compared to all devices tested
» 43% of all tested devices were better, 7% similar, 50% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 25%, worst was 134%

HP EliteBook 840 G5-3JX66EA audio analysis

(+) | speakers can play relatively loud (85.8 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(-) | nearly no bass - on average 24.7% lower than median
(±) | linearity of bass is average (10.1% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(+) | balanced mids - only 3.3% away from median
(+) | mids are linear (4.9% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(±) | higher highs - on average 7.1% higher than median
(+) | highs are linear (4.3% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(±) | linearity of overall sound is average (20.6% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 41% of all tested devices in this class were better, 11% similar, 49% worse
» The best had a delta of 7%, average was 22%, worst was 53%
Compared to all devices tested
» 49% of all tested devices were better, 8% similar, 42% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 25%, worst was 134%

Energy management

Power consumption

The power consumption of the Acer laptop TravelMate is not very high but also not very low. For example, the Dell Latitude 7490 consumes less and all other competitors have a lower minimal idle power consumption, but the Lenovo ThinkPad T480 and the HP EliteBook 840 G5 consume more when it comes to average idle consumption.

The maximum power consumption reaches 67 W. This could be problematic, considering the machine uses a 65 W charger, but this is only a short-term spike in power consumption. The average consumption of energy under load of 56 W is not a problem for the charger.

Power Consumption
Off / Standbydarklight 0.45 / 0.7 Watt
Idledarkmidlight 4.6 / 6.5 / 8.5 Watt
Load midlight 56 / 67 Watt
 color bar
Key: min: dark, med: mid, max: light        Metrahit Energy
Currently we use the Metrahit Energy, a professional single phase power quality and energy measurement digital multimeter, for our measurements. Find out more about it here. All of our test methods can be found here.
Acer TravelMate X3410-M-50DD
i5-8550U, GeForce MX130, Micron 1100 MTFDDAV256TBN, IPS LED, 1920x1080, 14.00
Lenovo ThinkPad T480-20L6S01V00
i5-8550U, GeForce MX150, Samsung SSD PM981 MZVLB512HAJQ, IPS, 1920x1080, 14.00
Dell Latitude 7490
i5-8350U, UHD Graphics 620, Toshiba KSG60ZMV256G, IPS, 1920x1080, 14.00
HP EliteBook 840 G5-3JX61EA
i5-8550U, UHD Graphics 620, Toshiba KXG50ZNV1T02, IPS, 1920x1080, 14.00
Average NVIDIA GeForce MX130
 
Average of class Office
 
Power Consumption
-3%
38%
9%
-2%
6%
Idle Minimum *
4.6
3.6
22%
2
57%
3.8
17%
4.54 ?(3.12 - 7.5, n=13)
1%
4.27 ?(2.2 - 9.4, n=107, last 2 years)
7%
Idle Average *
6.5
7.1
-9%
4.7
28%
8.3
-28%
6.98 ?(5.3 - 9.7, n=13)
-7%
7.32 ?(3.8 - 20.6, n=107, last 2 years)
-13%
Idle Maximum *
8.5
9.5
-12%
5.7
33%
10.7
-26%
9.08 ?(7 - 13, n=13)
-7%
9.1 ?(4.8 - 23.9, n=107, last 2 years)
-7%
Load Average *
56
63.9
-14%
38.4
31%
35.5
37%
54.1 ?(34 - 74.3, n=13)
3%
40.4 ?(8.7 - 75.2, n=106, last 2 years)
28%
Load Maximum *
67
67.3
-0%
38.9
42%
37
45%
66.4 ?(40.5 - 106.6, n=13)
1%
57.4 ?(11.1 - 101.4, n=107, last 2 years)
14%
Witcher 3 ultra *
53.9

* ... smaller is better

Battery

Charging time: 160 minutes
Charging time: 160 minutes

There is some confusion when it comes to the capacity of the battery: According to the manufacturer, the battery has a capacity of 52.5 W. But our test sample has a 57 Wh battery. We are not sure if this is a mistake in Acer's spec-sheet or just a lucky mistake with our review unit.

Whatever size the battery should have, our sample of the Acer TravelMate X3410 delivers a convincing battery life. The TravelMate ran for nearly 11 hours in our Wi-Fi test. Only the Lenovo ThinkPad T480 with the expanded battery outperformed the TravelMate in this regard.

Battery Runtime
Idle (without WLAN, min brightness)
17h 21min
WiFi Websurfing (Edge)
10h 51min
Big Buck Bunny H.264 1080p
11h 35min
Load (maximum brightness)
2h 11min
Acer TravelMate X3410-M-50DD
i5-8550U, GeForce MX130, 57 Wh
Lenovo ThinkPad T480-20L6S01V00
i5-8550U, GeForce MX150, 72 Wh
Dell Latitude 7490
i5-8350U, UHD Graphics 620, 60 Wh
HP EliteBook 840 G5-3JX61EA
i5-8550U, UHD Graphics 620, 50 Wh
Average of class Office
 
Battery Runtime
24%
-16%
-32%
4%
Reader / Idle
1041
1671
61%
1414 ?(527 - 2359, n=23, last 2 years)
36%
H.264
695
638
-8%
691 ?(348 - 1112, n=40, last 2 years)
-1%
WiFi v1.3
651
794
22%
548
-16%
444
-32%
589 ?(272 - 1137, n=107, last 2 years)
-10%
Load
131
159
21%
117 ?(56 - 209, n=65, last 2 years)
-11%

Verdict

Pros

+ stable aluminum & plastic chassis
+ comfortable keyboard & touchpad
+ VGA port for older peripherals
+ very good battery life
+ operates quietly most of the time
+ 1 TB HDD + 256 GB SSD
+ affordable pricing

Cons

- low LCD brightness & bad color gamut
- no better display option available
- very slow SD card reader
- obsolete SATA III SSD
- GeForce MX130 is much slower than GeForce MX150
- missing business features (TrackPoint/LTE/smartcard-reader)
- USB C lacks Thunderbolt & is badly positioned
Reviewed: Acer TravelMate X3410. Test sample provided by Acer.
Reviewed: Acer TravelMate X3410. Test sample provided by Acer.

Acer fields the TravelMate X3410 as an underdog in the race for market share against the "Big Three": Lenovo, Dell and HP. This is a difficult battle for the TravelMate, in which it performs admirably nonetheless.

We do like the case, for example, which is made out of a stable mix of aluminum and plastic. At the same time, the keyboard and touchpad are also to our liking, even though the keyboards of the competitors are better. When it comes to the ports, the TravelMate satisfies users with legacy peripherals with a VGA port, something that no competitor offers anymore. The battery life of the TravelMate is as convincing as the quiet operation-mode and the high flexibility that is offered by the additional 1 TB HDD. Another advantage of the TravelMate is the lower base-price compared with the competitors.

This lower pricing however does have its repercussions. One of these negative consequences is the display, which delivers a very high contrast ratio, while being very dark and offering a very limited color gamut at the same time. Unfortunately, Acer does not offer better screens even as an option. That Acer puts in a full-size SD card-reader is good, but sadly, it is a very slow card-reader. The SSD is also slow, because Acer uses an obsolete SATA III SSD. Equally outdated is the technology used in the GPU: The Nvidia GeForce MX130 outperforms the Intel iGPUs, but the Nvidia GeForce MX150 is still a lot faster. A smartcard-reader, LTE or a pointing-stick are not offered at all – too bad, as these features are common in the enterprise market. Also, the USB C port lacks the Thunderbolt standard and is placed too far to the front for the charging feature.

Acer's TravelMate X3410 can compete mainly because of its lower pricing and can be a good choice as a workhorse.

Compared with the competition, the Acer laptop is still overall not as complete of a package. Granted, the Latitude 7490 and the EliteBook 840 G5 are not as flexible in terms of storage, but both have much better screens and more business features. They are also lighter. Meanwhile, the standard screen of the Lenovo ThinkPad T480 is not much better than the TravelMate LCD, but at least Lenovo offers a better screen as an option. Also, the T480 is all-around faster with the Nvidia GeForce MX150 and its better CPU performance.

For the TravelMate, the lower pricing remains its most important advantage. That is why the TravelMate gets a recommendation. If the business features are not needed, and the display quality is not very important, and the SD card-reader is not really needed, then the Acer TravelMate X3410 can be a very good workhorse. When it comes to the final score, it just misses out on a "very good".

Acer TravelMate X3410-M-50DD - 10/29/2019 v7
Benjamin Herzig

Chassis
83 / 98 → 85%
Keyboard
84%
Pointing Device
87%
Connectivity
63 / 80 → 79%
Weight
67 / 20-75 → 85%
Battery
88%
Display
81%
Games Performance
70 / 78 → 90%
Application Performance
79 / 95 → 83%
Temperature
90%
Noise
96%
Audio
40%
Camera
38 / 85 → 44%
Average
74%
84%
Office - Weighted Average

Pricecompare

static version load dynamic
Loading Comments
Comment on this article
Please share our article, every link counts!
> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > Reviews > Acer TravelMate X3410 (i7, MX130, FHD) Laptop Review
Benjamin Herzig, 2019-01- 3 (Update: 2019-02-23)