My Love and My Pride
Written: Jan 16 '03 (Updated Jan 16 '03)
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Pros: Good sized screen, sleek look, light weight.
Cons: Came with WinMe and that system was a pain.
The Bottom Line: Get the Acer Travelmates 630s which are identical to 610s except upgraded to P4, 30/40GB and XP. I would.
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| daydrmgirl's Full Review: Acer TravelMate 610TXVi (91.41Q01.325) PC Notebook |
610 series were upgraded with pentium 4 and WinXP, and are now the 630 series.
I will deal with more of the "user" side in this review, since I am not a very "technical" person. All the specs can be found on Acer's website under the travelmate 630 series.
Once upon a time...
I got my Acer Travelmate 610TXV in May of 2001, the summer before my freshman year in college. I considered three other brands (Compaq, IBM and ASUS) at that time, but opted for Acer in the end. Compaq was out becuase the model I like (the one my dad has, Presario 2715) was very heavy, and weight was one of my number one concerns. I travel internationally at least twice a year, so my laptop has to be light. IBM was out in the end becuase I just couldn't make myself to like the design, especially that weird red tracking ball in the center of the keyboard. I wasn't sure of ASUS' service in the States so that left me with Acer. Acer has a good reputation and I had a Acer desktop before and was extremely happy with their service.
The Decision
I looked at travelmate 340 series (smaller 13.1" screen) and 610 series. I wanted my laptop to be considerably light, but has most of the features built in, since I planned to travel with my laptop once or twice a year. I also wanted a larger screen because I plan to use it for academic/internet purposes (thus I would be starring it for a long time every day). These two features contradicted each other though. 340 series was very light, but the screen is smaller, and neither the CD-ROM nor the floppy is built in. 610 series were heavier but has built-in CD/DVD-ROM/CD-RW and large 14" screen. I liked the 340 series keyboard design better too. After some thoughts and discussion with my dad, I went for 610TXV which came with DVD-ROM, and added a extra 128RAM, making the total 256RAM. The 20GB hard drive was fairly enough for my use. Between WinMe and Win2K, my dad voted for WinMe, which turned out to be quite a disaster (but this has nothing to do with the hardware). I also managed to get a
Logitech Optical Wheel Mouse w/ USB PS/2 at a reduced price. WinMe and the complimentary Office 2000 were preinstalled by the dealer for me.
Q & A
Describe everything that comes in the box with this laptop.
Beside the laptop itself, in the box were cables for connection to printer, monitor, phone, and AC adaptor. Also a piece of plastic was provided which can replace the DVD-ROM for easy, light-weight travel. A small USB floppy reader was included (I found the speed very slow, but heck, who uses floppies that often these days?). Of course there were manuals, warranties, and an Easy Card package for added security (never used it, and I deactivated it under the Acer technician's advice). Also system CD (which has many useful softwares, such as PC-Cillin, DVD player, etc.) and recovery CD for WinME.
Did the laptop work perfectly out of the box?
Yes. The dealer did the configurations and installations for me.
Does it have a fast processor but little RAM or some other weakness?
I felt mine was adequate for my use (word processing, webpage editing, web browsing). However, it sort of overheated when I used it in the kitchen (not air-conditioned) twice. Other times, it works fine and the fan's noise was barely noticeable.
How upgradeable is this laptop?
I believe after adding the 128RAM to 256RAM, it was the limit.
Ignore the specs for a moment and describe how fast the laptop feels.
It feels great. With WinXP pro since last summer, it hasn't died on me yet.
Is the laptop light and easy to travel with?
Yes. Without the DVD-ROM, it weights 2Kg. I carry all the accessories with me when I travel twice across the pacific each year. It wasn't bad at all.
My Compliments
- For lazy folks like me, the top row of buttons are awesome features. You can link those buttons (marked P1, P2, P3) to any programs in the computer. They work as shortcuts. An extra button is for e-mail (Outlook, etc.) and another for internet (IE, Netscape, etc.) I usually set P1 to MSWord, P2 to Excel and P3 to My Documents.
- The top cover is very sturdy. It is not made out of plastic as I've noticed in some other brands' laptops (i.e. my dad's presario), but some sort of hard metal. This prevents accidentally crushing your screen. The metallic color makes the laptop look very advanced, as a couple of my friends commented.
Complaints
- The sound system is adequate, but not exceptional. I got myself extra speakers (Logitech SoundMan S-4 Speakers) for listening to MP3s.
- The battery does not have a light weight cover that can replace it. This is my major complaint.
Conclusions
I love my Acer Travelmate 610TXV laptop. If I were to get a new laptop, I would go for Acer again.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 1750
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Intel Pentium III
Processor speed: 701-800
Screen Size: 14 inches
RAM: 256
Internal Storage: DVD
Hard Drive (GB): 13-20
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Epinions.com ID:
daydrmgirl
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Location: New York, NY
Reviews written: 36
Trusted by: 2 members
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