Acer TravelMate 290LCi

Not only are they starting to outsell their desktop counterparts, but notebook computers are increasingly becoming comparable in terms of specification.

To cater for the design-conscious, manufacturers are also creating these compact powerhouses with a strong focus on style. The Acer TravelMate 290LCi fits this bill well - it looks good and its weight of 2.8kg means that it is sufficiently portable.

It uses an Intel Pentium-M 1.3GHz processor and 512Mb of memory, which is good enough to run Windows applications adequately - as our system performance tests showed. The 30Gb hard disk is standard fare for notebooks around the £1,000 price tag but if you're a keen digital photo or audio fan, you could be struggling for space before too long.

While system performance was good, the TravelMate's graphics capability fell at the first hurdle, thanks to the measly 16Mb-worth of on-board graphics. So while the Acer performs well in Windows, gamers will want to steer clear of it.

The TravelMate is built with Centrino technology, which means it has integrated Wi-Fi that can be used to connect to hotspots or other wireless networks. This is great for regular travellers who want easy access to the internet. If you don't need it, a handy switch on the side of the notebook will disable Wi-Fi.

Centrino notebooks also offer excellent battery life and the TravelMate is no exception. On a full charge, the battery lasted for just over five hours. This is outstanding for a notebook and certainly one of the best we've seen. Those needing a portable computer solution should certainly have no complaints.

In terms of design, the trendy silver-grey casing looks good and feels solid. Opening the lid reveals a comfortable keyboard layout and plenty of room to rest your hands. The trackpad is also easy to use.

The 15in screen produces a clear, sharp image at its native resolution of 1024 x 768 and performs well when using the DVD/CD-RW combination drive to watch DVD movies. It's a shame there's no recordable DVD drive but because Centrino technology is still expensive, certain compromises have been made to keep the notebook at a reasonable price. The built-in speakers do a good job and the headphone socket is useful if you want your privacy.

The usual array of ports is situated around the case and external peripherals can be attached to three USB 2 ports and a mini-FireWire port. There's also a PC Card slot for further expansion. Like many new notebooks, the TravelMate doesn't have any PS/2 ports, so external mice and keyboards will have to be connected via USB.

All in all, the TravelMate 290LCi epitomises notebook portability. Although battery life is dependent on the severity of the task in hand - for example, watching a DVD movie will drain power more quickly than writing a text document - it demonstrates how Centrino technology can be used to increase the time a notebook can stay away from the mains.

The only downfall is its poor graphics performance, but for just over £1,000 it's a steal. It comes with Windows XP Home and software includes Norton Anti-Virus, Adobe Acrobat and PowerDVD.

Acer also includes a two-year warranty and an additional one-year travel warranty.

Contact: Acer 0870 900 2237
www.acer.co.uk