If you're looking for a state-of-the-art, executive-travel notebook, you can't do much better than Acer's TravelMate 602 TER. Though the $2,799 602 TER's performance lagged slightly behind that of other 650-MHz Pentium III notebooks we've tested, and the unit carries only a one-year warranty, its battery life and features are outstanding.
Rugged and Loaded
With its protective magnesium-alloy cover, the Acer's rugged 1.5-by-11.8-by-9.5-inch case houses a bevy of high-performance components, including a 650-MHz Pentium III processor; 128MB of SDRAM; a 12GB hard drive; a 4X/4X/20X CD-RW drive; and an ATI Rage Mobility-M1 graphics chip with 8MB of SGRAM. The notebook's 13.3-inch, 1,024-by-768-pixel resolution, active-matrix color screen is as sharp and vibrant as they come, and the entire package, including AC adapter, weighs in at a svelte 5.4 pounds.

Acer dipped its toes in the legacy-free pool with the 602 TER, forsaking an internal floppy drive in favor of a 4X/4X/20X CD-RW drive. That's fine if CD-RW drives pervade your environment. But if your sneakernet still isn't floppy-free, a USB floppy drive is available for an additional $99. Acer includes Adaptec's Easy CD Creator to handle CD mastering and DirectCD for CD-RW packet-writing chores.

The majority of the 602 TER's ports are located on the back of the machine, except the audio-in, -out, and headphones jacks, which are mounted on the front. At the rear, you'll find slots for the infrared (IR) port, two USB ports, 56k modem and 10/100BaseT Ethernet ports, an external VGA connector, a port replicator bus, and an AC jack. The left side of the machine is home to a single Type II PC Card slot and a hard drive bay, while the right side is occupied by the CD-RW drive and the removable battery.

Nimble and Durable, With a Nice Touch
The 602 TER scored a very respectable 101 on SysMark's applications-based tests, thoug
h that's a few points below what we've seen previously from 650-MHz PIII notebooks. The mild performance hit is probably due to the incredible 17 nonsystem programs running in the background, which include a virus checker, a hot-swap monitor, and others. Regardless, the 602 TER outshone the competition in SysMark's battery test, lasting an impressive 285 minutes on a single charge of its lithium-ion battery.

The 602 TER's full-sized, long-stroke keys and standard keyboard layout make touch-typing a snap. And sweaty palms aren't a worry because the notebook runs cool, even during prolonged usage. However, we were split on the rocker-switch scrolling device found below the touchpad. If you like wheeled mice, you might appreciate it. Others might find it simply gets in the way of the touchpad buttons.

One reason for the 602 TER's low estimated street price is that Acer provides only a one-year warranty--three years is the norm for high-end notebooks, such as the NEC Versa SXi. Acer also furnishes toll-free, 24/7 phone support, but the 602 TER's lucid documentation should obviate the need for most support calls.