Acer TravelMate 4650
The TravelMate 4650 gives home and small-office users all the speed, the battery life, and the features they need at a very low price.
The midsize Acer TravelMate 4650 comes in two preconfigured editions that differ in only one respect: the TravelMate 4652LMi carries a 1.73GHz Pentium M 745 processor, while the TravelMate 4654LMi houses a 2GHz PM 760. Otherwise, the systems share the same components, such as a 15-inch screen with a low 1,024x768 native resolution; 1GB of fast 533MHz memory; an Intel 915GM chipset that borrows a maximum 128MB of main memory for VRAM; a huge 100GB hard drive rotating at a decent 5,400rpm; a single-layer DVD burner; and an Intel Pro/Wireless 802.11b/g wireless card. The suggested retail price for our TravelMate 4650 test unit is a remarkable $1,149, though most online resellers seem to have priced it at more than $1,200. Still, that's a pretty good deal, considering the 4650's thorough feature set, fast performance, and long battery life. Our only major gripe is that Acer fails to fulfill its claim of 24/7 phone support for this series. Get the details in our full review of the TravelMate 4650.