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Acer TravelMate TMC312XCi Intel Centrino 1.73GHz PC tablet

Saturday, December 17th, 2005 | Laptop and Notebook Computer Reviews, Reviews

The Acer TravelMate TMC312XCi with Intel Centrino 1.73GHz is a good PC tablet for those looking for the functionality of both a laptop and PC tablet. It looks just like a laptop, but when you open the screen you can open it up and flip it over so that the screen side faces out. Once flipped over it can operate just like a tablet and all the functions can be accessed using a small pen on the touch sensitive display.

I really do think that the comination of a tablet and notebook like this is a perfect concept, the two technologies by themselves are expensive enough, but now they are just combined and you can get both together. There are times when you really need a notepad of sorts and there are times when you really just need to use a computer, such as when typing documents or performing operations on the computer.

Features of this Acer PC tablet include…

• 1.73GHz Pentium M Processor
• Intel Centrino Technology
• 512MB of DDR2 533 memory
• LAN, wireless LAN and modem
• NVidia GeForce Go 6200 TurboCache graphics processor
• 14.1 inch XGA screen

Something which I did some research on recently was Intel Centrino technology. I often hear things about this and their adds are everywhere, but many people are not sure about what it really is. It is simply a combination of Intel parts which Intel market together, basically as a wireless networking package. There is a certain amount of predictablility and assurance knowing what you are getting in a package that has the Centrino markings on it. It pretty much guarantees that you should have very little hassles with wireless networking in most environments.

At the price this Acer PC tablet is sold at, it is not really intended to be a cheap computer. However, you do get a lot without stepping into the realms of the exorbitant business laptops. As mentioned you can’t really go wrong with an Intel Centrino package and so that is a good start for those looking for a fairly fast computer that can handle mobile computing and wireless networking.

Other extras that come with the computer include the standard Type 2 PC card slot for those extras you might have. All networking requirements are built-in, amongst those modem, LAN, wireless LAN and bluetooth.

The CD-RW / DVD combo drive is a little of a disappointment. I always like to get the most I can, and with the price of a DVD burner being not too much more expensive I would have like to have seen that option included, just to save on one further upgrade in the future.

The nVidia GeForce GO 6200 with Turbocache will boost the performance in gaming and provide crisp quality for general graphics. Always better to have more than less and the inclusion of this good graphics card makes it that much more suitable for different activities.

It has all the usual array of ports like audio, USB 2.0 and an Infrared port. It also has Firewire which is always a welcome extra even its mostly just cause its a cool thing rather than because they are used very often, but may be if you have an external DVD drive of hard drive.

Overall I find the features of this computer pleasing. It has a good mix of parts, offering nearly all the things you could want for a price that is not cheap, but reasonable for what you get.

Pros

• Intel Centrino combo, always reliable
• Fully featured
• Convertible PC tablet

Cons

• A little on the heavy side
• CD writer instead of DVD writer

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