Acer TravelMate C202TMi review

The C202TMi is well specified too. A slim slot-loading dual-layer DVD drive sits in the left of the chassis along with network and modem connectors, plus a memory-card reader able to cope with SD/MMC and Memory Stick. A single PC Card slot sits partly beneath the optical drive, but its placing means there's limited height and so it will accept only Type I or II cards, not Type III. There are three USB 2 ports plus mini-FireWire on the right-hand side, with the only missing options being legacy parallel and serial ports. Easy to miss, nestling at the front of the chassis, are two software-controlled buttons to activate the integrated Bluetooth and/or wireless 802.11b/g adaptor. It seems a strange place to put them until you put the C202TMi on your lap, where they fall right under the fingers.

Our review model was fitted with a 2GHz Pentium M and 512MB of RAM; the production C202TMi will have a slightly slower 1.7GHz processor fitted and an 80GB hard disk (the review unit sported 60GB), while the C204TMi will include a 2GHz Pentium M, 1GB of RAM and a 100GB hard disk. The review sample returned an overall application benchmark score of 0.61; expect a drop of up to 10 per cent with the 1.7GHz part. Nonetheless, it will cope with almost anything, and the GeForce Go 6200 with 64MB of local memory should see it through to Windows Vista's full Aeroglass GUI experience.

We like the C202TMi. It's an unusual design that works well, feels sturdy and won't have you looking like a loon as you battle with a swivel-hinge-fold tablet in public. The sheer value factor of HP Compaq's tc4200 means it can't knock that machine off its perch, but it's a worthy machine to shortlist if you're after a convertible tablet and your budget isn't limited.

Author: David Fearon