Acer - TravelMate 803LCi review

Acer's latest notebook in the TravelMate series, the 803LCi, features Intel's new mobile solution, known as Centrino. This isn't the name of the processor, but rather the complete platform, a combination of the CPU, the i855 chipset and the 802.11b wireless solution. If any of these three are missing then the system cannot be labeled Centrino.

The twin-spindle design of this notebook provides a good combination of weight and features, making it an suitable tool for those on the move. Powered by a 1.6GHz Pentium-M processor backed by 256MB of DDR memory, the TravelMate 803LCi certainly performs well, with the added advantage that you can play some serious games on this notebook. Because of the Centrino technology, you get decent battery life too. Carrying it shouldn't present major problems as it weighs a reasonable 2.7kg; no lightweight, but not as lardy as some.

As with most Acer notebooks, the first thing that strikes you when you open the case is the
FineTouch keyboard with its five degree curve. This is placed high enough up the panel to allow your wrists to lay flat when typing, and there is no fear of obstructing the speakers as they are built into the front panel of the notebook.

Above the keyboard are the power switch and four quick start buttons, two of which are set up for accessing the Internet and e-mail, the other two being user-programmable. In between the speakers are the indicator LEDs for power, battery condition/charge and two buttons which turn the Bluetooth and wireless functions on and off.

Along with the Centrino technology, the other thing that makes this notebook stand out is the graphics adapter. With a 64MB Mobility Radeon 9000, the graphics performance is impressive for a notebook. The Mobility Radeon 9000 is targeted at high-end mobile gaming, based around its desktop cousin, the Radeon 9000. It features most of the desktop card's capabilities, including DirectX 8 support, with the addition of power-saving circuitry. Output from this chip is displayed on the 15-inch SXGA screen.

The TravelMate 803LCi comes with a 40GB, 5,400rpm, ATA/100 hard drive and has an AcerMedia Bay solution for other drives. This bay can be used for a range of options such as DVD-RW drive, CD-RW drive, second hard drive or even a second battery. In the review model's bay was a 24x/10x/24x CD-RW and 8x DVD combo drive.

For connecting to the outside world the TravelMate 803LCi has more features than some desktop replacement systems. In addition to wireless and Bluetooth connectivity, there is an integrated LAN adapter, a V.92 modem, four USB 2.0 ports, a FireWire port, a single Type II PC Card slot and a SmartCard slot. The back panel contains the usual I/O ports; parallel, VGA and S-Video, but unfortunately no PS/2 ports. The three audio ports - microphone, headphone and line in - are mounted in one side of the chassis.

When tested with industry standard benchmarks, the benefit of Centrino and the 4,400mAh battery became apparent. The 'productivity' benchmark returned a battery life of 4hrs 50mins, rising to 5hrs 40mins under the 'reader' benchmark. Install a second battery in the Media Bay and you can add approximately 3 hours to both times.