Acer is not a very popular name among mid or lower mid-range budget consumers. So to counter the competing notebooks like HP Stream 11 and Dell Inspiron 11 3000, Acer came up with the TravelMate TMB117-M-C14E (NX.VCGEK.017), a portable and pocket-friendly choice for consumers with moderate needs. Let’s check it out then.
Check out the latest price for the Acer TravelMate TMB117-M-C14E
Specs:
- CPU – Intel Celeron Dual-Core, 1.6 GHz
- GPU – Intel HD Graphics 400
- Memory – 4 GB DDR3
- Screen – 11.6-inch HD (1,366 x 768)
- Storage – 128 GB SSD
- OS – Windows 10 Home edition
Benefits:
- Performance – It’s equipped with an Intel Celeron processor which is a pretty common choice for the small notebooks. It includes 4 gigs of RAM and 128 GB of SSD which is quite a surprising bonus (I mean we don’t really witness a netbook with an SSD pretty often). Overall it performed pretty darn good for your everyday surfing and day-to-day needs.
- Portability – The dimensions make it ideal for working on the go. TravelMate TMB117 literally is pretty traveller friendly with only 2.23 cm (even less than an inch) of flesh even at the thickest part. And most importantly, it weighs only 1.43 kg (3.15 lbs). So it surely won’t be a pain in your neck (sorry, shoulders) when it’s the moment of sliding this 11-inch notebook in your backpack.
- Battery – A good long battery backup is one of the key needs of a good portable subnotebook. And it seriously shows some good results in that area, if not great. It conked out at around 7 and half hours while surfing the internet in medium brightness. It can even go as high as 8 hours if used for relatively low demanding stuff like word processing or typing.
Downsides:
- Display – It comes with an 11.6 inch HD TN panel. The panel is average at most. The most disheartening fact is that it’s merely an HD panel which makes the visuals pretty grainy. The next big, big negative aspect of the display is that it’s pretty dim in comparison with its competitors. At 215 nits, it can barely be used in the outdoor conditions. Also, it doesn’t support touchscreen which is another big letdown according to me.
- Price – The price tag seems a bit high for me in comparison with the competing notebooks like the HP Stream 13, Acer Aspire One Cloudbook 11 and iOTA 360. Priced at £335, it’s a much pricier option than all of these. And biggest drawback of this netbook is that it doesn’t support touchscreen which really brings down the utilisation score.
Verdict:
If you are on the hunt for a netbook then Acer TravelMate TMB117-M-C14E (NX.VCGEK.017) can be an option worthy of checking out. It’s not the cheapest alternative out there though. But the relatively larger storage and the portable design are the key factors of this netbook. So if you can spend a dime or two more then this one definitely can be a good choice.