Most of the notebooks we've reviewed recently have dual-core processors, usually from Intel. However, Acer's affordable Aspire 5101AWLMi uses a single-core AMD processor. Single-core processors are still common in budget notebooks, and if you'll use your notebook only for tasks such as browsing the web, sending email and basic photo editing, you won't suffer from the lack of a second processing core.
This notebook has a fast 2GHz AMD Turion 64 MK-36 processor and 1GB of RAM. It scored 94 overall in Shopper's 2D benchmarks, and was particularly quick at memory-intensive tasks such as photo editing. This is a great score for a notebook at this price, but the Turion processor isn't as power-efficient as its Intel equivalent, so battery life was rather poor. The ATI Radeon Xpress 1100 graphics processor couldn't run our Call of Duty 2 test smoothly even at the lowest resolution and detail settings, but then you can't expect a gaming notebook at this price.
The Aspire 5101AWLMi comes with Windows Vista Home Premium rather than the Basic version. It includes Windows Mobility Center and Windows Media Center, which makes browsing media files easy. Windows Media Center has an excellent electronic programme guide, which you can use if you add a USB TV tuner. The 120GB hard disk is a surprise at this price and provides plenty of space for storing large media files or an extensive music library.
To enjoy photos, video files and TV at their best, you need a decent display. The Aspire 5101AWLMi's 15.4in widescreen is bright, with a high-contrast picture. Our demanding greyscale and colour wheel image tests didn't reveal any problems, so the screen is suitable for colour-sensitive work such as photo manipulation. There's a webcam above the screen and a microphone built into the chassis beside the keyboard, so you won't need to buy either to take part in video chat sessions. While the speakers sound OK for voice, you'll probably want to add some external ones when listening to music.
The keys don't give enough tactile feedback to show when you've pressed them, but they should be fine for anything but writing long documents. The touch pad is wide and accurate, and there's a four-way scroll controller between the buttons for navigating around documents and folders.
The DVD writer and memory card reader support all the common formats. There are four USB2 ports for peripherals but no FireWire, so those with older digital camcorders may not be able to connect to this notebook.
If you don't want to play games or do anything else that's too processor-intensive, this is an excellent budget notebook for use around the home.
2GHz AMD Turion 64 MK-36, 1GB RAM, 120GB hard disk, ATI Radeon Xpress 1100 graphics, DVD+/-RW +/-DL drive, 15.4in LCD widescreen, 2.7kgAuthor: Seth Barton
Acer Aspire 5101AWLMi