The Acer TravelMate 803LCi is packed with impressive features, like the ATI Mobility Radeon 9000 graphics chipset and the new Intel Centrino platform, which pays off with more than 5 hours of battery life. Unfortunately, its wireless range was the weakest of the mainstream notebooks, and it's a little on the heavy side, at 5.7 pounds.

The Acer unit is one of two that includes a 15-inch SXGA LCD (the Gateway 450XL is the other), a nice ergonomic keyboard, four USB 2.0 ports, FireWire and Bluetooth capability, and—for security purposes—a SmartCard reader. Two front external controls with corresponding LEDs indicate Bluetooth and wireless operation, which we applaud, but because of their location they are very easy to turn on or off accidentally.

We were blown away by the 803LCi's Business Winstone 2002 score of 31.9—the best of the group. In fact, this unit's score was 53 percent faster than the 20.9 scored by the WinBook X4, which has a traditional 2.4 GHz P4-M processor. Unfortunately, the TravelMate's score on our wireless performance test was underwhelming: It maintained a signal only up to 110 feet, where two other units achieved at least 200 feet.

This system is ideal if you're staying within close confines, but its wireless ability may leave you feeling short-changed.

Technical Support
Warranty, 3 years (parts and labor). No on-site service available. Toll-free technical support, 24/7 for 3 years.