Acer Aspire 1363WLMi

COMPANY: Acer	PRICE: £637 (£749 inc VAT)
RATING:	ISSUE: 126 DATE: Apr 05

Verdict: A notebook with the right mix of features and affordability to appeal to small businesses or anyone setting up a home office.

Intel's Centrino has stolen much of the limelight from AMD's mobile chips over the last year, and the launch of the new Sonoma platform (see p54) looks set to keep the momentum going. But AMD does have a trick or two up its sleeve, such as its low-cost Sempron processors, lined up in direct competition with Intel's Celeron M range.

Acer's Aspire 1363WLMi is the first notebook we've tested with one of these new chips onboard. Being the top-spec model from the 1360 range, it uses the fastest Mobile Sempron currently available: the 3000+. This runs at 1.8GHz and carries a modest 128KB of Level 2 cache.

There's still ample power to cope with its intended duties, though. Acer is targeting self-employed and small-business workers who need to run standard office applications during the day on a computer that's transportable - rather than fully mobile - but with enough 3D power for a spot of home entertainment in the evening.

An overall 2D benchmark result of 1.38 certainly matches this target, and it will happily crunch through any small business tasks. The widescreen 15.4in TFT helps with spreadsheets too, comprising 1,280 x 800 pixels, a resolution that makes a good compromise between onscreen real estate and readable text size. Setting it to your preferred brightness should be easy with 15 levels of adjustment, and it's built strongly enough to stand up to those times when you do take the 1363WLMi out and about. And, considering the budget price tag, the screen is well protected too - that's important to prevent it being crushed in a full notebook bag.

We weren't as impressed with the keyboard, though. It has a typical budget feel, with shallow key travel and a bouncy board underneath. Having said that, the layout and spacing of the keys themselves is fine, so there are few unwanted errors attributable to the board. Control is on the outside of the bottom row on the left, and Delete is equally handy on the top-right above the numbers. The only awkward aspect is that Home and End are Function key combinations. Unusually, the touchpad is centred on the chassis rather than under the main section of the

We were initially concerned by the fan grille directly above the keyboard, but we're pleased to say that the Aspire had heat generation under control. The fan emitted only a gentle whisper while we worked on office tasks, and although it got louder when the system was busy with 3D tests it was never overbearing.

The 64MB nVidia GeForce FX Go5200 offers some modest gaming potential too. It managed 22fps in our standard Unreal Tournament 2004 test at 1,280 x 1,024 with high-quality settings, so it should competently handle most earlier games. However, it won't cope with any of the more strenuous recent titles, dropping right down to 8fps in our standard Halo test.

Although mobility is a secondary concern for this 3.5kg notebook, good battery life is definitely a bonus. This was initially erratic in our tests, but after treating our machine to several complete charge-discharge cycles it settled down to last just over an hour with an intensive load and two-and-a-half hours while idle. It's enough for a spot of web-surfing or watching a film in bed, but you'll find yourself nervously eyeing the clock before the end credits roll.

The DVD drive is also a dual-format burner that will make data backups a simple task, and the 60GB 4,200rpm hard disk should provide ample storage for most people. There's also a total of 512MB of DDR SDRAM fitted in two sticks of 256MB PC2700 memory, and you can upgrade to a maximum of 2GB.

The 1363WLMi comes ready for wireless networking with 802.11b/g integrated as standard, and there's the fallback of a V.92 modem connection. PCMCIA expansion options are also better than many notebooks, with a Type III PC Card slot that's large enough to take two stacked Type II PC Cards.

More disappointing is the old-fashioned layout of the USB 2 ports. We can't complain about the quantity - there are four in all - but they're in a tightly packed group round the back of the chassis, and are horribly awkward to use. The two 3.5mm jacks for headphones and a microphone are also relegated here. Similarly, you'll have to fiddle about to use the S-Video, 10/100 Ethernet, D-SUB VGA and parallel connectors, with just the mini-FireWire and infrared conveniently located around the left-hand side.

These gripes about port placement are irksome, but they're not deal-breakers in this class of budget, primarily deskbound notebook - you could always add a USB hub or an extension lead for easier port access. When you consider the whole package, with the well-protected widescreen display, DVD writer and moderate graphics power, this Sempron system is impressive value for money. Home- and small-business buyers should give it serious consideration.

By ROGER KIRKWOOD

SPECIFICATIONS:
1.8GHz Mobile AMD Sempron 3000+; 512MB PC2700 DDR SDRAM; 60GB hard disk; Simply SOSW-852S DVD writer; 64MB nVidia Go5200; 15.4in 1,280 x 800 TFT; V.92 modem; 10/100 Ethernet; 802.11b/g WLAN; 4 x USB 2; FireWire; 2 x Type II PC Card slots; Type III PC Card slot; VGA; S-Video; Windows XP Home. 1yr international C&R warranty. Dimensions: 361 x 292 x 46mm (WDH). Weight: 3.52kg.