In CNET Labs' benchmark tests, the TravelMate 4654LMi took full advantage of its components. It ran 25 percent faster than the $1,579 HP Compaq Presario V4000, which has a slower 4,200rpm hard drive, and 26 percent faster than the $1,370 Gateway M360X, which has a slower 1.7GHz Pentium M 735 processor, just 512MB RAM, and a 4,200rpm hard drive. Though the speed difference might not be obvious when conducting such basic tasks as e-mail and word processing, multitaskers and people who like working with lots of windows open will probably benefit from the TravelMate's additional performance.
The TravelMate 4654LMi also proved a winner in our Labs' battery-drain tests: its battery lasted for a long 4 hours, 1 minute. Both the Presario V4000 and the M360X held out for about three hours.
We can live with the TravelMate 4650's average one-year warranty, which includes mail-in or carry-in service. But we're disappointed with the company's failure to fulfill its 24/7 phone-support claim. Acer claims that tech-support calls placed outside of "live" hours (Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. and weekends from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. CT) will be returned within the hour. But we called and left a message at 3 p.m. PT on a Sunday, and a tech rep never returned our call. Worse, you can't turn to convenient electronic support features, such as real-time tech-support chats, since Acer doesn't offer them.
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
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BAPCo MobileMark2002 performance rating |
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
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BAPCo MobileMark2002 Battery Life Minutes |
Find out more about how we test Windows notebooks.
System configurations:
Acer TravelMate 4654LMi
Windows XP Pro; 2GHz Intel Pentium M 760; 1GB DDR2 PC4300 SDRAM 533MHz; Intel 915GM/GMS 910GML Express 128MB; Seagate ST9100822A 100GB 5,400rpm
Compaq Presario V4000
http://reviews.cnet.com/HP_Compaq_Presario_V4000/4505-3121_7-31394071.html]
Windows XP Pro; 2GHz Intel Pentium M 760; 1GB DDR2 PC2700 SDRAM 333MHz; Intel 915GM Graphics Media Accelerator 128MB; Toshiba MK8025GAS 80GB 4,200rpm
Gateway M360X
Windows XP Home; 1.7GHz Intel Pentium M 735; 512MB PC2700 DDR SDRAM 333MHz; Intel 82852/82855 GM/GME 64MB; Hitachi Travelstar 4K40 40GB 4,200rpm
