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Acer TravelMate C310 TMC214XCi Intel Centrino 2.0GHz Tablet PC

Saturday, November 19th, 2005 | Laptop and Notebook Computer Reviews, Reviews

The TravelMate C310 is a very powerful laptop from Acer. It provides all the functionality of a laptop, but the screen can be flipped over to convert it into a tablet. The laptop comes with an Intel Centrino 2.0GHz, which is very fast and combined with 1GB or RAM gives many desktops a run for their money.

Here are some of the features…

• Convertible from laptop to tablet
• 14.1 inch screen
• Intel Centrino Pentium M 2.0GHz processor
• 1GB or DDR2 RAM
• Dual Layer DVD±RW
• nVidia GeForce Go 6200 TurboCache Graphics chip

The best feature about this notebook is it’s ability to flip its monitor and convert into a tablet PC. It’s really useful for taking notes at meetings and such.

It’s not light, weighing in at around 6 pounds and more when adding a power adapter, it is very heavy. For use as a tablet PC, this is not ideal. It’s too heavy to hold in your hand and take notes.

The keyboard is full-sized make it easy to type with. There are also buttons for turning the bluetooth and wireless LAN on and off, so you can save power when not using those features.

As reported at cnet.com the monitor can be very dull, making it hard to see what’s on the screen when it is used outside, even in the shade. The screen is bright enough, but not enough for conditions with heavy lighting.

The laptop comes with a digitizer pen, which is used to write on the monitor’s surface. One notable bad point of the monitor is its microphone. As a tablet is designed for meetings, the use of a microphone is often required to record things. Unfortunately for this otherwise great performer, the microphone barely picks up anything at all, which is a terrible disappointment.

The array of other extras include VGA, S-Video, Firewire, 3 USB 2.0 ports, headphone and microphone jacks, 4-in-1 card reader and a PCI card slot. It comes with modem, bluetooth, LAN, and wireless LAN.

Battery life is good, in the 3 hour range.

The real strength of this computer is its power. It outperforms many other laptops in the same price range. Its 2.0GHz processor and 1GB or fast RAM certainly help it there. It has it’s quirks, but overall gives great performance.

Pros

• Fast
• Convenience of table and laptop
• Good graphics
• DVD burner

Cons

• Heavy
• Screen hard to view with lights
• Terrible microphone

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