Acer TravelMate C202TMi

Author's product rating:   

Speed	Slow
Look & Feel	Satisfactory
Comfort & Portability	Good
Robustness & Durability	Good
Value For Money	Good

Advantages:	Cheap, Compact, Basic Workstation
Disadvantages:	Poor spec, small screen, ME not XP .

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

INTRODUCTION

I've used Acer Travelmate T202t notbooks in conjunction with my work for several years now. They were excellent value when purchased, but have obviously now been well surpassed in terms of spec. However, hopefully this review will give you some idea of the lifespan and use of these computers, and maybe you'd be able to pick one up on the cheap (I see similar models going for £100-200 on eBay which is a bargain!).

SPECIFICATIONS

Processor: Intel Celeron 600mhz. I've never really liked the Celeron and this unfortunately is no exception. There's nothing majorly wrong here, it's just a little slow and power consumption ain't too great at all. Doesn't get too hot mind you.

Memory: 64mb RAM, not really enough for multi-tasking of any kind these days, however it runs the bundled Windows ME operating system fine and deals OK with internet and word-processing. There is also a spare slot available should you wish to upgrade, or indeed bin the existing 64mb and you have 2 spare slots allowing much greater memory.

Hard Drive: 5gb. Pretty tiny, you won't want to be saving too much on here but again, provided you're only using the machine for simple tasks like word-processing and internet, you won't fill it up too quickly.

Disk Drives: CD-Rom and Floppy Drive. The CD-Rom is noisy but reasonably quick and doesn't struggle with CD-Rs like some do. Floppy drives on laptops are getting rarer so this is a real bonus, especially considering the size of the machine.

Video/Sound: 12.1" TFT-LCD screen, ATI Rage Mobility-M graphics, on-board sound. The screen is, lets face it, pretty tiny. Although the laptop itself is a small unit, the screen could still have been 13.3" or 14.1" without changing the size of the laptop. Its performance is fine though, the ATI graphics pulling out decent performance for most of the stuff you'll want to be doing. Sound quality through the built in speakers at the base of the monitor is predictably very poor but not quite so bad through headphones.

Connectivity: Headphone socket, microphone socket, line out socket, phone line connection for the built-in 56k modem, PS/2 port for mouse/keyboard, 2x USB ports, parallel port for printer, serial port, monitor connection and 2 PCMIA card slots. Not enormous connectvity here but definitely adequate, especially useful to have 2 each of the PCMIA and USB.

Software: Minimal software is supplied; Microsoft Windows ME is the pre-loaded operating system. This is one of the least-liked Windows OSs but I don't really see any snags, is basically a slightly tuned-up '98. Little else to mention on this front, just comes with all the drivers etc. You'll need to provide your own Office/Word Processing software if you want it.

ERGONOMICS

Compared to other Acer laptops I've used, this one feels pretty solid. It's made of black plastic which is quite roughly textured, looks rather dated these days but who cares really. It is still a small unit even compared to modern units, this is probably due to the low spec and small screen but does make the laptop very nice and portable, it's not like lugging a sack of bricks around when you want to carry it. When closed, the Acer logo is in silver on the top, below 2 indicator lights which show power on/sleep status.

When open, you're presented with the small matt black screen surrounded by a large plastic border (wasted space) and the stereo speakers. There are also a variety of indicator lights at the bottom of the screen. Below this, the keyboard is a pretty standard layout, with 4 customisable hotkeys at the top. The keyboard is OK, perhaps a little cramped but doesn't feel too flimsy. The touchpad below the keyboard is excellent, large and responsive with two satisfyingly clicky main buttons and a useful scroller underneath. Volume controls and sound connections are on the left with most connections on the back. Expansion bays etc are easily accessed behind screws on the bottom. Floppy drive is on the front panel, CD on the right.

The usual power/HDD etc lamps light up when switching on, the power switch is located on the left had side and is quite peculiar, a spring-loaded slider that you push across, sorely a button on the front panel would be better?! Nevertheless, it is ergonomically pretty sound.

PERFORMANCE

System boots fairly quickly into Windows ME and due to the lack of third-party grabge already installed there is little to slow it down. Everything is pretty clean and easy to work with, however once you do start putting programs on be prepared for things to slow down a lot. It really needs carefully looking after to remain in good operating condition.

Battery performance is pretty poor. You might squeeze 2 hours out of it if you're lucky, this is disappointing given the size of screen but I suppose they are getting old now so you can't expect too much on this front. Running off the mains is no problem, and the cable doesn't get knocked out quite as easily as some machines.

In terms of program performance, its going to struggle with anything more complicated than basic office apps and internet. It isn't really intended for anything else. Video and graphics-heavy apps are a no-no as are games of any kind. It'll cope fine with word and Internet Explorer though, even with a couple of windows open.

It can be quite noisy during use, the fan is a bit whiny and the CD-Rom can be very loud but hey, what do you expect for this sort of money.

CONCLUSION

Overall, I'm impressed with longevity and continued service of these laptops. We use them for basic internet browsing and word processing with some slideshows/pictures. They handle these fine as long as they're kept clean and tidy so I would recommend this or similar for anyone wanting a basic portable workstation to compliment a more powerful PC.