Acer Laptop

If you're in the market for Acer laptops, you may want consider the 1714 SMI. In the spirit of its predecessor, the 1705 SCI, this machine tips the scales at more than 7.0 kg. It's actually kind of a hybrid of a laptop and a desktop, since it comes with so many extra features, such as a 3.6 GHz Intel Pentium IV processor, a 120 GB hard drive, and eight separate USB 2.0 ports.

Other bells and whistles on this Acer laptop include a 1.0 GB channel memory card, two FireWire ports, a standard Windows XP OS, and 52x CD-RW optical drives. The most impressive feature of the faster 1714 SMI laptop is the Sound Blaster Audigy II sound card. Whether you're playing online team games with friends in Asia or watching DVDs, this Sound Blaster card will bring you to the heart of the action--just be sure not to play too loudly on airplane trips, or you may incur the wrath of the passengers and crew.

The 1705 SCI laptop comes standard with a DVD-ROM/CD-RW drive. It definitely makes sense to upgrade your machine to a faster DVD writer. An advantage that the 1714 SMI has over the 1705 SCI is that this computer eschews the inconvenient and, frankly, completely unnecessary floppy drives of the older model.

You can get a complete extended warranty for the Acer 1714 SMI. At least in some markets, this warranty costs less than the warranty for the 1705 SCI. With a complete menu of ports, including a parallel port, two serial ports, and two PS/2 ports, this Acer laptop is a solid investment. The Acer company is also well regarded for their customer service, so you can expect timely help when you need it.