Acer TravelMate 8215WLMi review

Acer TravelMate 8215WLMi Review

Reviewed by: Paul Lester

Reviewed on: 11 December 2006

The Acer TravelMate 8215WLMi model is available in two versions, with exactly the same specifications -- bar one. Our review sample ships with a Blu-ray drive that can be used to play the latest high-definition movies. The other version ships with an ordinary DVD super-multi drive and is available for £300 less.

Design
The words 'latest' and 'high-end' aren't terms that spring to mind on first inspection of the 8215WLMi. The lid of the laptop is finished with a glossy, mottled, carbon-fibre effect that while certainly not ugly, did remind us a little of granddad's old corduroys.

When opened up you'll notice that the keyboard and control design is very basic, barring the peculiar banana-shaped key layout, which is designed to ensure a comfortable and more ergonomic typing position. Above the keyboard you'll find an Acer hotkey that acts like your own personal Superman, rushing a range of preloaded support, performance and recovery tools to the fore for instant system management.
 

The Acer's keyboard is curved slightly to provide a more ergonomic typing position

 
There are shortcut buttons for launching email and Internet applications, plus a third shortcut key for an application of your choice. Sadly, there's no dedicated multimedia controls, which is particularly strange considering Acer is encouraging users to watch Blu-ray movies on the laptop.

Along the front of the case are line-in and microphone ports along with, thankfully, an S/PDIF connection for outputting high-quality digital audio. There are also handy on/off switches for the Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, along with an infrared port and 5-in-1 card reader. Importantly, there's a DVI port for getting high-definition video to a screen that'll make the most of it.

Features
Despite a rather bland opening scene, Acer warms up for act two with some pretty nifty components. The 8215WLMi sports an Intel Core 2 Duo T7200 CPU that runs at 2GHz, along with a generous 2GB of RAM. No shirking here -- while not Intel's fastest current mobile processor, it's not far off the flagship 2.33GHz version.

Unfortunately, the graphics power isn't quite in the same league. ATI's X1600 may be perfectly suitable for most users, but if you're planning on getting the most from the latest games you'll find it somewhat lacking. Hardcore gamers are clearly not Acer's target audience with this Blu-ray machine, so we're not too surprised to see a mid-range card here.

You'll find 160GB of SATA hard drive running at a modest spin speed of 5,400rpm. This includes Acer's DASP (disc anti-shock protection) GraviSense system, which parks the drive heads to protect against damage when it senses a jolt. Give the laptop a bit of a nudge and a system tray icon shows the drive is being protected.