The Acer TravelMate 290LMi is a desktop replacement notebook that you can actually take with you. At 6.3 pounds, it ties with the IBM ThinkPad R40 as the lightest system we reviewed. The system also boasts outstanding battery life, thanks in part to its Pentium M processor.

Aimed more at business-oriented consumers, not gamers or graphic artists, the TravelMate did well on Business Winstone yet was below average on Multimedia Content Creation Winstone and 3DMark03. The TravelMate sports a DVD-RW drive, which is a handy feature, though we think a multiformat DVD burner is ideal—seen here only on the Toshiba system. The TravelMate's main drawback mobility-wise is its weak wireless performance; for your multimedia needs look to systems from HP and Toshiba.

MULTIMEDIA

Music:
The bundled NTI CD & DVD Maker lets you create audio, data, and photo CDs along with DVDs, but to activate features that support burning CDs from MP3 and WMA files you have to visit NTI's Web site. The speaker sound is a bit dull and muddy.

Photos:
You might want to splurge for a dedicated graphics-editing program like Adobe Photoshop Elements, since the TravelMate comes bundled with only Microsoft Paint.

Video:
There is an S-video TV-out interface on the back of the unit, as well as a FireWire port, which every notebook here has. The DVD-RW drive makes up for the smallish 40GB hard drive, which offers limited space for storing raw video.

Gaming:
The TravelMate's integrated graphics chip wasn't made to support an intense gaming habit, and its subpar scores on our gaming tests prove this. The 15-inch XGA screen isn't exactly a gamer's dream, either.

PERFORMANCE

SUPPORT

The standard warranty on parts and labor is one year. On-site service is not available. Toll-free technical support is 24/7.