Acer’s TravelMate P6 is a 13.3in-screen
business laptop that offers decent performance and outstanding battery life.
The P6 looks simple yet sleek. It’s mostly
plastic construction is afforded a touch of class with a brushed-metal lid. The
battery sticks out at the rear to angle the keyboard in a comfortable typing
position.
Acer
TravelMate P6
At just over 1.9kg, the Acer is easily
luggable. And despite the P6’s compact dimensions, its keyboard is of a decent
size – only the Enter key has been squashed into place.
The slightly small trackpad supports
two-finger scrolling and pinch-zooming; two buttons and a fingerprint scaaner
are found below.
A fast Intel Core i7-3520M dual-core
processor runs at 2.9GHz (3.1GHz with Turbo Boost), and is paired with a
generous 8GB OF 1,333MHz DDR3 RAM. Windows 7 Professional 64bit is preinstalled
on a 500GB hard disk. This combination produced a useful 145 points in WorldBench
6.
Acer isn’t appealing to gamers with the P6,
although games will be playable at moderate detail levels. Graphics are the
sole responsibility of the Intel HD 4000 chip integrated to the CPU, which
produced 31fps in Fear (Maximum detail). It also managed 77fps in Crysis
(1024x768, DirectX9, Low detail).
The 13.3in LCCD screen is a highlight. It
has a resolution of 1366x768 pixels, with a tighter pixel density than the 15in
panels that are popular in the consumer market. It can’t match the quality of the
13in MacBook Air, though, which crams in 1440x900 pixels.
You
get VGA, HDMI, gigabit Ethernet, three USB 3.0, headphone-out, mic-in and an
SD/MS card reader. There’s also an ExpressCard slot and an eSATA port, which
doubles as USB 2.0.
Unlike that portable, however, and in
common with most laptops that are designed for work use, Acer’s P6 has a matt
anti-glare finish. This means reflections won’t be as great a problem as they
are with glossy screens. On the down side, matt screens suffer low maximum brightness
and poor viewing angles, which is a shame for business users who need to show
colleagues what they’re up to onscreen.
A
Empty 2,5" HDD-Bay
Connectivity options are typical for a
business machine. You get VGA, HDMI, gigabit Ethernet, three USB 3.0,
headphone-out, mic-in and an SD/MS card reader. There’s also an ExpressCard
slot and an eSATA port, which doubles as USB 2.0.
A member of Acer’s TravelMate family, the
P6 is designed to go along for the ride wherever work takes you. Battery life
is important, and the Acer doesn’t disappoint.
The TravelMate P6 comes with a large 88Wh
battery, which lasted an incredible 759 minutes (12 hours 39 minutes) in
MobileMark 2007.
Unfortunately, the model supplied to us for
review doesn’t appear to exist in the UK. The closet alternative we could find
costs $1273.5 and lacks the Core i7 CPU, 8GB of RAM and large battery.
Verdict
If you’re looking for a business laptop
with the stamina to be your travel companion, the Acer TravelMate P6 is a good
fit. It’s compact, durable and runs fast. Perhaps more importantly, it offers
amazing battery life.
System requirements
2.9GHz Intel Core i7-3520M (3.6GHz Turbo)
dual-core; Windows 7 Professional 64bit; 8GB 1,333MHz DDR3 RAM; 500GB SATA
3Gbps hard drive; 13.3in (1366x768) LCD; Intel HD 4000 graphics; 802.11a/b/g/n;
gigabit Ethernet; Bluetooth 4.0; 3x USB 3.0; 1x eSATA; HDMI; VGA; ExpressCard
34; Kensington lock slot; SD/MS slot; fingerprint scanner; HD webcam; 87Wh
lithium-ion removable battery; 324x245x24.7mm; 1.94kg
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Details
·
Price: $1273.5
·
Contact: acer.com
Verdict: 4/5
·
Build: 4/5
·
Features: 4.5/5
·
Performance: 4/5
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