Acer’s answer to the corporate executive’s prayers, the TravelMate series are typically business notebooks, and a single glance at them and their stable mates, the Aspire series, will tell you why. Industrial grade finishes, and a magnesium / aluminium alloy on the lid that is both lightweight and durable, makes the TravelMate worthy of its name. Inside, the 12.1-inch screen is crisp with good colours. You also get a good configuration—a 2.0 GHz Core 2 Duo T7300 processor and 2 GB of RAM. Acer is admittedly shy on the software bundle side of things, but all the essentials, like an office suite and firewall program have been provided. The keypad is nicely sculpted and feels good to use. However, once again the layout is a bit of an issue with keys seeming too close together for people with larger fingers. Feedback is right on the sweet spot though.

Acer’s answer to the corporate executive’s prayers, the TravelMate series are typically business notebooks, and a single glance at them and their stable mates, the Aspire series,...