Acer TravelMate 8104WLMi

Like other recent Acer models, the latest TravelMate, the 8104WLMi, has a stylish corporate folio appearance.

This unit also has the excellent application performance (324 in SYSMark 2001 plus 91 in PC World Bench 5), long battery life (96 minutes in our gruelling battery tests) and low weight (3kg).

The 8006LMi uses Intel's Centrino technology. Acer includes 1GB of DDR2 SDRAM and 128MB ATI Mobility Radeon X700 graphics. Its 15.4" screen has a maximum resolution of 1680 x 1050 in wide-aspect.

The 81040WLMi also includes a sizeable 80GB hard disk (with under-chassis shock protection), modular (hot swappable) multiformat DVD writer and flexible networking options with built-in 56Kbps modem, Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11bg Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Activation and status buttons are located on the front fascia for Bluetooth and certified 802.11bg wireless networking. Acer also claims that its SignalUp antenna technology improves connection reliability.

Ports include VGA-out and DVI connections for external monitors, in addition to S-Video TV-out, FireWire and four USB 2.0 slots. There's also a multiformat card reader (including xD-Picture Card), S/PDIF audio-output, FireWire and an Acer SmartCard slot. You can also purchase an optional EasyPort Replicator III dock.

The 8104WLMi's warranty is three years as standard--you return it to base if anything goes wrong, and if you live in a capital city, you're guaranteed a fix within two hours.