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As one of the world’s top five branded PC vendors, it is worthwhile keeping abreast of the latest developments and product announcements to emanate from Acer. As a result, with note pad in hand, I ventured across the centre of London to find out about some new products from the company. LCD monitors and notebooks were the major items on the menu of Acer’s product announcements.

As a starter we were introduced to the new TravelMate 3000 series. Based on the new Intel “Sonoma” platform, which delivers faster speed and increased battery performance, the TravelMate 3000 series immediately catches the eye due to its compact size – less than an A4 sheet of paper although thicker and heavier. Still at 32.5mm thick (when closed) and weighing less than 1.5kg, there is hardly room to complain. This eminently portable notebook, with its 12.1" WXGA colour TFT LCD screen, will have a battery life of up to 4.5 hours.

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Available in 3002 and 3004 versions, using the M700 processor at 1.7Gh or 2.0Gh respectively accessing DDR memory, these units have a hard disk of up to 100GB but no internal optical drive. However you do get an external DVD-CDRW or DVD-Dual Double Layer burner plus a 4-in-1 card reader supporting MMC, SD, Memory Stick and Memory Stick Plus. There is a full selection of LAN, WLAN, PAN connections plus an integrated V92 modem, fast 10/199/1000 Ethernet card, Bluetooth and Wifi 802.11b/g. Pricing has been set at £1099 for the 3002 and £1399 for the higher spec 3004 model.

Moving on to the next course, we were introduced to the TravelMate 4650 series. Positioned as a mainstream productivity solution, the 4650 series makes use of the Intel Pentium M processor with a 533MHz FSB (Front Side Bus). Memory is either 512 or 1024MB DDR II scalable up to 2GB while the hard drive is either 60 or 100GB. The 15" SXGA screen supports a resolution of 1400x1050 with 16.7 million colours. Graphics will be handled either by the Intel 915GM integrated 3D PCI-Express chipset or NVIDIA GeForce depending upon the model chosen.

All models in this series will feature a hot-swappable AcerMedia Bay. This has a 6-in-1 card reader and either a DVD/CD-RW or DVD-Dual Double Layer burner. A full range of connectivity options are provided including infrared, Bluetooth, 4 USB ports, Firewire, 10/100/100 fast Ethernet and Wifi 802.11b/g. By attaching a second battery you can increase available power life from 4/5.5, depending upon graphics chipset, up to 8.5 hours. The pricing of the standard model is £759 while the enhanced version with dedicated graphics and increased hard disk size is £849.

After whetting our appetites with the new notebooks, Acer then presented its new Prestige line of LCD monitors. This new line is aimed at executives and hi-tech home users.  Highly distinctive with its polished black bezel, the Prestige will be available in 17", 19" and 20" sizes and promises a performance to match its appearance.

The 17" AL1732wm has a display size of 338 x 270mm with a resolution of 1280 x 1024 and a maximum refresh rate of 75Hz. With a display size of 376 x 301mm, the AL1932wm supports a resolution of 1280 x 1024 with a maximum refresh rate of 76Hz. Completing the series is the 20" AL2032wm model. The 432 x 270mm display size gives a resolution of 1680 x 1050 with a maximum refresh rate or 75Hz. With wide viewing angles and a high contrast ratio, these monitors come with integrated speakers plus digital and S-video connections. Pricing starts at £499.

Finally Acer produced its latest digital camera which is expected to appear shortly. This is an 8 mega pixel model. It is Pictbridge compatible and supports USB 2.0. The camera will be supplied with a 64MB memory card and leather case. The price has been set at £249.

Full reviews of all these products will appear in the near future. So watch this space.

http://www.acer.co.uk/acereuro/page4.do?dau22.oid=8960&UserCtxParam=0&GroupCtxParam=0&dctx1=17&ctx1=UK&crc=4262377040