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Acer Travelmate 8003LCi Review |
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Acer Travelmate 8003LCi Review
Reviewer:
Claus Sørensen
Date:
2005-02-27
Notebook:
Acer TravelMate 8003LCi LX.T4706.104
Price:
USD 1870
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Introduction to the Acer TravelMate 8003LCi |
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The Acer TravelMate 8003LCi represents some of the best Acer can come up with right now. It is literally loaded with new technologies and features, and it is designed for the businessman who wants the latest technology and isn’t too concerned about the price. It is, of course, an Intel Centrino laptop that we are dealing with, along with a high-end ATI Radeon Mobility 9700 graphics chip, 802.11b/g WLAN and a high resolution 15” SXGA display. Among the more special features we find a DVI (!) port, Bluetooth, a smart card reader, as well as a really nice keyboard, which, according to Acer, is ergonomically designed – whatever the case, it looks quite fancy.
The 8003LCi isn’t the top model of the 8000 series, as the specifications have been pared down a bit. For instance the graphics chip has just 64 MB memory, whereas the top models are equipped with a 128 MB variant. Details such as a DVD writer and a faster processor are also available – if one is prepared to pay the extra price.
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Acer has chosen to bundle the notebook with recovery CDs for the Danish, Norwegian, and English versions of Windows. In addition, it comes with Danish manual/user guide, and a certificate for a one-year international guarantee. For those who would like use the notebook without a combo drive, Acer has included a dummy module, which weighs almost nothing. Of course, it also comes with the compulsory phone cable for a modem.
The notebook itself has been designed incredibly well, with rounded surfaces almost everywhere. Its appearance is an elegant mix of grey surfaces combined with silver buttons. As an instance of the great finish, the display locking mechanism is made of rubber. In general, one can see that attention has been paid to the design, unlike the cheaper Acer models.
Security is a high priority with the 8000 series, as Acer has installed a smart card interface, and enclosed security software, making it possible to lock the notebook. You insert the enclosed smart card in the side of the notebook, and depending on your security settings, the notebook will either check the smart card during the boot sequence or at Windows logon. More details on the smart card interface are available here:
http://www.acer.co.th/product/travelmate/SmartCard.htm
Whether or not one chooses to use this feature is of course optional.
The notebook weighs 2.99 kilos on our scale, battery and combo drive included, which is on the level of what the competitors offer. Its measurements are 33.2 cm (width) x 28.0 cm (length) and 3.6 cm (height) (width x length x height).
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| Processor |
1600 MHz Mobile Intel Pentium-M 725 (Centrino) |
| RAM |
512 MB DDR RAM |
| Harddrive |
60 GB 4200 RPM HD |
| Optical drive |
CD-RW/DVD drev |
| Graphics chip |
ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 with 64MB DDR-RAM |
| Display |
15,1" TFT SXGA skærm (1400x1050) |
| Communication |
V.90 modem, 10/100/1000 Mbit network card, Bluetooth, IEEE1394 Firewire, 802.11g wireless network card |
| Battery |
Li-Ion |
| Operating System |
Windows XP Pro DK |
| Pointing device |
Touchpad |
| Weight |
2,9 kg |
| Other |
Card reader: 4-in-1 |
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Except for the curved design, the ergonomic keyboard is, according to Acer, quite standard in terms of its keys and functionality. Among other things, there is a Windows key and a large “Enter” key to the far right, as well as “CTRL” in the bottom left corner – exactly the way yours truly would have it. In use, this is a delightful keyboard to work with – the keystroke in particular is commendable. Acer has chosen to place two hotkeys on the front to the right of the card reader. These are for turning the wireless network card and Bluetooth on and off. This is an excellent detail, which makes everyday life a bit easier on the wireless user. Other hotkeys are the four buttons at the top of the keyboard for optional applications – such as browser and email.
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1400 x 1050 is standard on all models in the 8000 series, as Acer has chosen to design the series with a 15.1” SXGA display. The display has quite a nice contrast, and its brightness can of course be adjusted too, enabling you to save some battery power. The really remarkable improvement of the 8000 series is the DVI port, which is installed by default. This makes it possible to transfer the image signal to flat-panel displays digitally, which will be common on the notebooks of the future. This initiative is a definite plus for Acer. In case anyone is wondering if Acer has abandoned the common VGA port, have no fear – it is right next to the DVI port.
TV-out (S-Video) is of course standard on a high-end notebook like this, and it is controlled via the built-in ATI driver.
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Acer has chosen to install 4 USB 2.0 ports on the left side, which leaves plenty of connection options for camera, printer and other plug & play units. It is marvellous to have that many connections, but it is somewhat annoying that all 4 of them are on the left side. Usability would have been improved if they had been spread out a bit - two in the front and two in the back, for instance. But considering the extra connections for smart card, port replicator and DVI, this would make the inside of the notebook even more cramped. Because of the many connections, the printer port has been left out, which only a few would complain about anyway, as USB and network printers reign supreme nowadays.
4 x USB 2.0
1 x Infrared (FIR)
1 x VGA for external monitor
1 x 32 bit type II PCMIA Card Bus slot
1 x S-video out (NTSC/PAL)
1 x IEEE 1394 port
1 x RJ-11 jack
1 x RJ-45 jack
1 x Smart Card slot
1 x speaker/ headphone/ line-out jack
1 x microphone/ line-in jack
1 x DC-in jack for AC adapter
1 x DVI - Digital port
1 x 4-in-1 card reader
1 x 100-pin port replicator connector
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The noise level is incredibly low – actually, it is the lowest among the notebooks we have tested so far. This must be indicative of a superior cooling solution from Acer. The Asus M6NE is, in our experience, the only notebook that has roughly the same noise level. The hard disk drive is quite silent too, but this is difficult to vouch for, as Acer will not guarantee if you get a 4200 or 5400 revolutions disk and which brand. The test notebook contains a Toshiba MK6025GAS 4200 RPM disk. Apparently, they use whatever is at hand…
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Acer has chosen to bundle the notebook with their Notebook Manager application, in which battery management, security regarding the smart card interface, boot sequence and other things may be adjusted. In addition, the software bundle includes Norton Antivirus 2004, Cyberlink PowerDVD, as well as NTI and DVD-Maker, of which you can read more here:
http://www.ntius.com/default.asp
The accompanying software bundle is as could be expected from a brand name manufacturer such as Acer – nothing more, nothing less. It contains the compulsory drivers, as well a recovery CD, plus extra applications such as antivirus and DVD software.
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Acer offers only a one-year guarantee on their top model, which must be considered to be quite poor. In this respect they could learn from their competitors, who offer at least 2 years – and several offer 3 years of guarantee on high-end models – IBM, for instance. The battery comes with a 6- months guarantee. Acer offers hotline support on both hardware and software – 12 months on hardware and 6 months on software. In case service is required, the notebook is picked up by UPS and transported to Germany, where almost all Acer notebooks are serviced. You will have your notebook back one or two weeks later, which is quite OK.
All in all, Acer offers average service and support. A 1-year guarantee on a top model is simply too inadequate, but a nice hotline, which offers support on both hardware and software, as well as the fact that your notebook is collected at your home in case of defects, help to obtain an “Approved” grade in the overall assessment.
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Even though there are just 64 MB of memory on the Radeon 9700 chip, the difference between this and the 128 MB variant is next to nothing with our test suite. This proves that you don’t have to ignore the notebook of your dreams merely because it doesn’t have as much RAM as you would desire!
The battery longevity is really magnificent. The Acer 8003LCi sets a new record among the notebooks we have tested in Mobilemark 2002, as it reached a result of 304 minutes, which is simply unheard of! In addition, its performance rating of 174 is quite sensible, which suggests that we are really dealing with a great notebook in terms of battery performance – and isn’t that why most people buy a Centrino these days?
A Sysmark 2004 score of 138 is quite good – actually it is the highest score we have achieved so far. The performance of this notebook is rather impressive, considering that is equipped with just a 4200 RPM disk.
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Pictures of the Acer Travelmate 8003LCi |
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Yours truly is really impressed with this notebook, which is impressive in every respect. When combining fantastic battery longevity, a low noise level, high performance in games as well as office applications, superior grade cabinet finish as well as a great keyboard – well, then you have yourself a winner! Add to that the smart card interface with security functions, DVI port and a quite reasonable price tag compared to the competitors – well, then it is really in a class of its own. The only downside is the poor factory guarantee of only 1 year, whereas most competitors offer 2-3 years of guarantee on their models.
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Long battery longevity, impressive performance in games and office applications, great keyboard and finish, extra features, and a reasonable price.
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Poor factory guarantee.
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