Acer Aspire 5500 series (Pentium M Processor 740 1.73GHz, 512MB RAM)

Acer has undoubtedly been a choice for users who want good features in an affordable package. With the Aspire 5502WXMi, Acer takes it one step further by delivering a notebook that can actually challenge desktop replacements in terms of graphical power. The thin-and-light sports excellent connectivity options and has a good build. That said, we'd probably have given this laptop our coveted Editors' Choice award if not for its rather poor battery life.

	The Acer Aspire 5502WXMi comes with a 14.1-inch CrystalBrite screen.

Design
The new Aspire 5502WXMi takes on Acer's successful Folio design that has been incorporated throughout the Taiwanese manufacturer's range of notebooks. Just like the equally new TravelMate 3212WXCi, you get a 14.1-inch WXGA screen with a resolution of 1,280 x 800, but utilizing Acer's CrystalBrite technology which enhances image quality. The thin-and-light is slightly thicker than last year's TravelMate 3201XCi at 335 x 240 x 34.1mm. As such, it's also heavier at 2.51kg (with the 6-cell battery).

The keyboard provides great response and enough space for your fingers to maneuver around. However, the multimedia keys on the right side for DVD/CD playback should have been dedicated as opposed to being made to use the Function key in tandem. Like others in the Folio range, there's a four-directional scroll between the sturdy mouse buttons which we kinda liked. Lining the front edge are the usual Bluetooth and Wi-Fi buttons glowing blue and orange which bear the distinct mark of an Acer. The handy quick launch keys which lie above the buttons activate your email app, browser, Acer's eManager panel and (self-explanatory) launch manager. Ports-wise, most of the expansion options are cluttered on the left side.

	Woah. That's a slot-loading optical drive for you.

Features
The Aspire is powered by the midrange Pentium M processor 740 (1.73GHz), 512MB (2 x 256MB) of fast DDR2 RAM and a fair 60GB hard disk. For its price, the Acer surprisingly incorporates the ATI Mobility Radeon X700 with 64MB of dedicated VRAM which is probably one of the more important reasons anyone would select the 5502WXMi--an affordable notebook with a good graphics engine. Another reason is the inclusion of a DVD±RW drive with DVD+R dual-layer support. More conveniently--it has a slot-loading design.

Connectivity isn't a problem with this Acer. With three USB 2.0 ports, FireWire, S-video out, VGA-out and a 5-in-1 card reader with SD/MMC/MS/MS PRO/xD support, we aren't complaining. Networking is a blast with 802.11b/g wireless LAN, Gigabit Ethernet, 56K modem, Bluetooth and even infrared. If we really had to gripe, it would be the lack of an ExpressCard slot and 802.11a surfing, but seriously these are pretty minor details.

	The eKey allows you to adjust your settings in a user-friendly interface.

Once again, Acer includes the eKey which launches an user-friendly interface to customize your notebook as you please. You can adjust power managment, presention, recovery and general settings. In addition, there's the new eNetManagement app which manages your connection to the Net. This will overide the default Windows wireless manager when used.

Performance And Battery Life
We ran our standard benchmark software, MobileMark 2002, to determine the performance and battery life of the unit. We were pleased to find that the Acer hit a score of 216, certainly holding its own with its peers running on a 1.73GHz processor and even beating the Toshiba Portege S100 with a 2.0GHz chip (214 score) in the process.

3D rendering is the Acer's forte or did we already mention that? With a superb score of 5,333, this simply blasts away all the other notebooks which have attempted to stake a claim on being the best gaming thin-and-light. Powered by the high-end ATI Mobility Radeon X700, the Aspire 5502WXMi is without a doubt the choice for gamers and, better yet, at an affordable price! On the other hand, we haven't tried the Acer TravelMate 4102WLMi(D) yet now, have we?

At 189 minutes (just a tad over 3 hours), the Acer marginally outdid the BenQ Joybook S72, but even so this pales in comparison to the Samsung X50. To put things in perspective, the Samsung actually has a larger 15.4-inch screen which would sap more battery life and yet it could still last 49 minutes longer than the Acer.

Click here to view full comparison

Service And Support
A standard one-year limited local and international (carry-in) warranty is provided by Acer, which falls rather short of others that provide three years of service. However, within that time period, they have a 2-hour express service where the repair is done in 2 hours, else the notebook will be mailed back to you.

Along with Windows XP Home Edition, the Aspire comes with CyberLink's PowerProducer Gold, NTI Backup NOW! 4 and NTI CD & DVD-Maker 7. The Backup NOW application gives a touch of user-friendliness in backing up your files. As for CD & DVD-Maker, the useful part would be JewelCase Maker which allows you to design CD/DVD sleeves as well as the disc itself. Acer's proprietary GridVista is one useful application which allocates each window to a portion of the screen while Acer Arcade provides a media center-like interface to play DVDs and CDs.