Core 2 Duo T7100 Processor 1.8GHz, 1GB RAM

The Acer TravelMate 6291 and 6292 shift away from the Taiwan maker's usual consumer offerings into the business world (though at the time of this review, the TravelMate 6291 had been discontinued). It does not compete in the same category as machines like the Lenovo ThinkPad X61s and HP Compaq 2510p. Nor does it pretend to. With a starting price of S$1,898 for the lower-end configuration, it does battle with larger business workhorses like the Lenovo 3000 N200 and Fujitsu LifeBook A6030 for the junior executive or student. Despite a few minor issues, the TravelMate 6292 offers one of the best values for a thin-and-light laptop in its price range.

Design of the Acer TravelMate 6292 Notebook PC

Its rather boxy design coupled with a matt black paint job won't win it any aesthetic awards, but corporate users may appreciate that this laptop does not stand out too much in the corporate environment. Though the top cover is molded from magnesium alloy, the bottom of the system is based on plastic which probably contributed to its rather thick (for a 12.1-inch portable) 34.5mm body and 2.1kg weight. Fortunately, it takes up only slightly more desk space than a standard A4-sized sheet of paper.

Instead of placing its dedicated buttons above the keyboard, Acer has decided it will put these on the right instead. Though we expected this decision may result in unintentional shortcut launches, in practice that rarely happened. The five keys activate the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth radios as well as the Internet browser and email applications. The fifth button can be mapped to your favorite program.

We like the fact that the port placement is well thought-out, with only the VGA and S-video outputs located on the back. The commonly used USB, FireWire and optical drive grace the flanks, while the audio jacks are found on the front. The latter layout prevents cord tangles when you try to listen to music while furiously typing out your proposal or thesis.

Features of the Acer TravelMate 6292 Notebook PC

Like the larger Lenovo 3000 N200, this TravelMate sports a Webcam above its display. It also has a fingerprint biometric sensor which does away with easy-to-hack passwords in favor of your digits. The ability to log into the system and map passwords to your phalange is a major plus for the absent-minded. After all, you can forget your password but it is a rare feat indeed to misplace a finger. We do lament that the TravelMate 6292 does not incorporate a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) security chip under that hood. This means the security codes are stored on the harddisk instead of the more secure TPM hardware. Hence, we do not recommend keeping exceptionally sensitive data like clinical records or upward evaluations of your boss on this machine. Like most corporate systems, the harddisk is shock-mounted to prevent data corruption in the event of a drop.

Though it may not be a data Alcatraz, this Acer offers a nice range of ports and expansion options for a thin-and-light portable under S$2,000 (US$1,315.96). Three USB and a single mini-FireWire ports should be sufficient to handle most peripherals, though if you are one of those with a shocking number of USB devices, you may appreciate the Fujitsu LifeBook A6030 instead with a whopping five of these inputs. There is also a memory card reader for the SD/MMC, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro and xD-Picture Card formats. We were not too surprised to find that Acer has stuck with the older Type II PC Card slot instead of the newer ExpressCard standard, a good decision considering there are not many addons based on the latter format as yet.

The TravelMate 6292 can handle all current Wi-Fi standards (802.11a/b/g/n) and offers Bluetooth connectivity as well. It has a Gigabit Ethernet port for fast wired access and a modem is also included in the mix. Though some may wonder why the latter still exists in notebooks, considering that dial-up Internet users have dwindled significantly, traveling business users may still need it for receiving faxes or when traveling to third-world nations with low broadband penetration.

The 12.1-inch widescreen display is of the transflective variety, which has excellent performance indoors, but results in distracting reflections under bright conditions. The underlying display drive is an Intel Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) X3100 chip which takes system memory for video rendering. Though in the past such integrated graphics cards performed poorly when it came to games, a recent driver upgrade has made the Intel GMA X3100 a competent option for the casual gamer while still offering power savings and reduced thermal signature over discrete chipsets. VGA and S-video outputs are located on the rear for hooking up to external display systems.

Like most notebook speakers, do not expect stellar sound quality. Fortunately, there are two headphone jacks, one of which is S/PDIF-compliant which allows you to stream digital signals directly to your favorite audio setup.

The TravelMate is easy to work on, thanks to the full-sized keyboard which is comfortable to type on. A touchpad located below allows for cursor control and provides reasonable tactile feedback. The Super Multi DVD drive is able to handle almost all current optical formats save for the newer Blu-ray and HD-DVD standards.

Performance And Battery Life of the Acer TravelMate 6292 Notebook PC

Our review unit held a Core 2 Duo T7500 1.86GHz processor, 1GB RAM and 160GB of storage space. However, Acer has changed the retail configuration and now offers two versions. The S$1,898 (US$1,248.06) model comes with a 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo chip, while the pricier S$2,298 (US$1,511.92) doubles the memory to 2GB and runs at 2.2GHz. The latter also runs on the Windows Vista Business operating system instead of the former's Home Premium Edition, hence missing out on the Media Center interface in exchange for improved security and backup features.

Despite our unit's slower chip, using productivity applications like Microsoft Office, Adobe PhotoShop, etc., were quite responsive on the Windows Vista Home Premium platform. This is certainly not a gaming machine so stay away from the newer first person shooter titles. Fortunately, fans of massively multiplayer online role-playing games and less demanding strategy titles will find the TravelMate a competent performer.

In our demanding DVD playback battery test, the TravelMate 6292 gave up after 2 hours 10 minutes of continuously looping the Rocky movie with the wireless radio turned off and screen set at medium brightness. Considering the strain of constantly spinning the disc and reading it using the laser sensor, we expected this Acer to last much longer if we had tried to transcribe the entire movie on Microsoft Word, or just playback the soundtrack instead.

After-Sales Service And Support for the Acer TravelMate 6292 Notebook PC

This notebook comes with an international one-year warranty from Acer. Recognizing that mobile computing has become a key activity for executives, the Taiwan company promises to fix any hardware issued within 2 hours, or it will deliver the unit to your preferred location free. Extended warranty can be purchased from the service center, with packages ranging from S$249 (US$163.99) to S$397 (US$261.01) depending on the degree of coverage and service required. For DIY troubleshooting, a toll-free telephone helpdesk is available for assistance. Acer support Web site offers downloads of updated drivers as well as an email for notebook issues. In the event that further technical assistance is required, the machine can be brought to any Acer service center worldwide for diagnosis.