Acer Notebook &
Laptop Reviews
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Design
Acer has opted for rounded edges on its new TravelMate 2483WXMi, and while
it’s not an ugly as a result, it doesn’t make the laptop stand
out either. Ergonomically, however, the TravelMate is very good. All of
its wireless controls and connections are easily accessible, with a single
USB port conveniently located on the side, while there are two other USB
ports at the back beside the Ethernet port.
With usability in mind, the track pad is
large and easy to use and it includes an additional navigation button between
the standard left and right buttons.
Features
The TravelMate has all the basic features you would hope for: the processor
is a 1.7Ghz Celeron Mobile, and there is a standard 512MB of RAM which is
shared with the video card. Its 80GB HD drive also features shock protection,
which parks the hard drive whenever it detects sudden acceleration -- minimising
damage in the event of a fall, and is a nice feature to have.
Another welcome inclusion at this price is
the Dual layer DVD-RW drive, which will let you burn DVDs on the go. In
addition, the laptop has two RAM slots and only one is occupied, so upgrading
RAM is as simple as adding the extra memory module.
The Acer boasts a good range of accessories
including a memory card reader (x-D, SD, Multimedia Cards, Sony Memory Stick
and Memory Stick Pro), a PC card slot for extra connectivity and three USB
ports. You also have the option of connecting the TravelMate to an external
VGA monitor, projector or to a TV via its built in s-video port.
There is a microphone built in for VoIP,
which is great, but the speakers do need improvement. They are not really
loud enough unless the room is quiet, but headphone and microphone jacks
are available if you would prefer to connect a headset.
Networking includes a 10/100 Ethernet port,
a dial up modem and 802.11g wireless. There is a switch to activate Bluetooth,
but the module is not installed.
Performance
CNET.com.au uses Battery Eater to test battery performance and the Acer
TravelMate manages a respectable one hour and thirty nine minutes before
shutting down. This was achieved while performing a sizable amount of processing
but with wireless switched off. You can expect slightly less time with wireless
networking enabled.
In other performance testing, the TravelMate
2483WXMi performs poorly, scoring only 1274 in our PCMark 2005 test. PCMark
is graphics intensive so the low score is no surprise. High end graphics
laptops score between 2500 and 4000 but it’s important to remember
that this machine costs less than $1000 so you shouldn’t expect more
from it.
Review provided by www.cnet.com.au
Design
Acer's Aspire 3683WXMi is the company's budget entry into the Vista space.
At the time of writing, it's fair to argue that most people shifting to
Vista will do so as a result of buying new hardware, and in the case of
the 3683WXMi, it makes a certain amount of financial sense. At just over
$1000 (and Acer, at the time of writing, was offering a cashback to bring
it below the crucial thousand dollar psychological mark), with Windows Vista
Basic -- which retails in a full-box version for $385 -- the Acer Aspire
3683WXMi might seem like exceptionally good value. Note, however, that the
copy of Vista Basic that comes with the Acer Aspire 3683WXMi is an OEM version;
they're unlikely to sell you the system barebones for six hundred notes.
Speaking of barebones, the Acer Aspire 3683WXMi
is a barebones system in a visual sense; if we wanted to describe the notebook
quickly, we'd say it looks like an Acer. Exactly like many other Acer laptops
in fact, which means you're getting a solid design that's not the snazziest
on the block, but equally doesn't look like it fell out of 1992.
Features
There's always a price to pay for being at the price-cutting edge, and in
the case of the Acer Aspire 3683WXMi, it's in the internal componentry.
The processor in the 3683WXMi is a meagre Celeron M 430 1.73GHz, backed
up with a measly 512MB of RAM and a 60GB hard drive. Graphics are supplied
via the Intel Media Accelerator 950, which will gobble up to 224MB of your
memory if you give it a chance. That fits the bill well enough for a Home
Basic system -- and to be honest, we'd be a bit frightened to see whether
it could handle some of the heavier tasks available to users of Home Premium
or Ultimate Vista.
One feature that's becoming more prevalent
in notebooks as a whole -- but still not terribly common in lower-end machines
-- pops up unexpectedly on the 3683WXMi in the form of a integrated webcam,
or as Acer puts it, the OrbiCam. We're still not convinced that OrbiCam
doesn't sound like something that you'd stick on the Terminator, but it's
a pleasant enough inclusion nonetheless.
Performance
At the time of writing, very few benchmarks operate in a satisfactory fashion
on the Vista platform, but in the case of the 3683WXMi we noticed something
significant without running a single benchmark -- the 3683WXMi struggles
with Vista.
Specifically, we saw a lot of spinning wheels
and twiddled our thumbs a lot of the time while waiting for the 3683WXMi
to process requests. We did manage to get PCMark 05 to run -- it gave us
a score of 1555 PCMarks, which is in line with our expectations given the
low end nature of the components in the 3683WXMi.
One factor we can bring up are Vista's own
inbuilt Windows Experience Index. Predictably, given the components, the
3683WXMi scored in an average fashion at best across most sectors:
The Aspire 3683WXMi houses a 6-cell Lithium
Ion battery. Given that the processor in the 3683WXMi isn't a low-voltage
part, this isn't a long-haul travelling system - but that's par for the
course at this particular price point.
Ultimately, the 3683WXMi is a low-spec system
at a low-spec price. We weren't particularly thrilled with its overall performance
-- and it's a sterling argument that systems of this specification may in
fact run better under Windows XP than Vista -- but if you're after an entry
level machine and you're strapped for cash it's certainly worthy of basic
consideration.
Review provided by www.cnet.com.au |
