Review: ACER TRAVELMATE 8215WLMi

Introduction

Acer is known for having some of the best laptops ever created, this is one of them. This machine is the smallest machine in the 8210 series with a Core 2 Duo-processor T7200 on 2 GHz, 1 GB ram, 120 GB hard disk and a lot more goodies. The latest things Acer came up with this year were a rotate able webcam and a Bluetooth headset. This machine is ready for Vista Premium, which we used when we tested this machine. We can tell you right away that we did this test with no problems.

Specs
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo T7200, 2 GHz, 4 MB L2-Cache
Chipset: Intel 945PM
Memory: 1024 MB (DDR2-533, to moduler)
Hard disk: 120 GB 5400 RPM 2,5" S-ATA (TOSHIBA MK1234GSX )
Graphic: ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 256 MB (up to 512 MB with Hypermemory)
Screen: 15,4" WSXGA+ (1680x1050) Samsung LTN154P1-L02
Battery: 84 Wh
Network: 10/100/1000 Mbps Intel and Intel 802.11a/b/g
Sound card: Realtek (High Definition Audio)
Connection facilities: 4x USB 2.0, D-Sub. DVI, S-Video-connection, 56k analog modem, network, Headphones connection, Microphone, PCCard, ExpressCard, memory card reader (MMC, MS, MS-Pro, SD and xD), IR, Portreplikator, FireWire (1394a, 4 pins), Rotate able webcam (1,3 megapixles) and Kensington-lock
Optical units: DVD-burner MATSHITA DVD-RAM UJ-850S
Dimensions: 36,8 x 26,8 x 3 cm
Weight: 3 kg
Price: From 3000 USD

Design
The case is quite solid but the screen top feels a little bit weak. This laptop is also quite much bigger then they actually had to make it, just look at all the space above the screen. They keyboard on this laptop is pretty normal, the only unusual thing is that the “><” button is placed on the opposite side compared to the normal. The mouse pad is okay and got a nice size, and the mouse buttons are big and comfortable to use. In general this machine looks good and you can see its quality before you even open it up.

Performance
Even though Acer uses the same graphic cards as the models from Asus and LG, the performance of this computer is better because of the CPU and memory are clocked higher. On Doom 3 with high details , got 84,3 FPS and on PCMark05 we got 2874 score. This Acer machine is the first one with Core 2 Duo T7x00-processor. The battery lasted 3 hours and 21 minutes, something which is normal for this class.

Pros
+ Very many connection facilities
+ High resolution screen
+ Generally a fast computer

Cons
- Expensive
- Little bit big

Value For Money

Our Rating