Acer - the world`s third largest PC manufacturer - has taken a bold decision to exclude the floppy drive from its latest "all-in-one" notebook - the Acer TravelMate 600.
Instead, the new lightweight, mid-range, high performance notebook, which comes with two spindles instead of three, has a built-in CD-RW (re-writable) drive.
"This allows Acer to provide users with an enhanced read/write storage option that`s geared to the needs of notebook users who utilise graphic-intensive files such as presentations," says Nigel Gore, notebook product manager at Acer in South Africa.
"Today, any file which incorporates a graphic - and that includes some letterheads - is often too big to save on a single 1.44Mb floppy.
"By including a CD-RW drive, rather than the conventional read-only CD drive installed as standard on other notebooks, users can save up to 640Mb of data.
"That`s the equivalent of 444 floppies. It means users can change or adapt their presentations on the fly and save to CD rather than hard disk. They can tailor their presentations - an ad campaign proposal for example - and leave a copy with the client," Gore explains.
The new TravelMate 600 series notebook features Intel Mobile Pentium III processors with SpeedStep technology, running at 650 MHz with a 100-MHz front-side bus.
With 64MB upgradable to 512MB RAM, the TravelMate 600 is geared for Windows 2000. It also sports a 12GB hard drive.
For connectivity, the TravelMate 600 series notebooks incorporate two USB ports and an optional Acer EasyPort which allows for hassle-free connection of peripherals which can remain at the office while users are on-the-move.
Another feature is its 10/100 Ethernet and 56K modem connections.
Multimedia features include a 2X AGP 3D graphics engine, ATI Rage LT video chipset, 8Mb of SDRAM, and a 13.3-inch active matrix XGA display. An optional USB camera is offered.
Share
