Conclusion – An affordable, well-rounded Business Notebook with some Limitations

It is obvious that the TravelMate is an entry-level offering, and we don’t just mean the price. It becomes obvious in other respects as well. The battery life is much too short under full load, RAM size is on the low side for Windows Vista, and the unit relies on an integrated graphics solution – albeit one of the faster ones in the market today.

The glossy display is not a result of low pricing, though – even higher-priced models belonging from higher classes are being shipped with such reflective displays. In the end, it comes down to a matter of taste and personal preference whether you can live with a glossy panel. If you’re not averse to them, you’ll find a very pleasant panel in the TravelMate. However, the black it offers is not dark enough for movies – and the feature should not run for more than 90 minutes anyway, because of the limited battery life.

The build quality and running noise are quite good, though. The casing proved stable and torsion-resistant, and the fan speed stays low enough never to be distracting or even annoying. Typing with the built-in keyboard is pleasant, although we would have preferred a more clearly defined action point.

Acer’s software bundle consists of a few trial versions, a disc burning application and Cyberlink’s software DVD player. On the whole, that doesn’t add a lot of value to the overall package. The Acer Empowerment Tools are a useful addition, though.

If you shop around in this price segment, you will quickly realize that this model is among the better-equipped latops available for €650 / £670. The competition only offers single-core Celerons, slower Turions, less memory and slower Intel chipset graphics. Upmarket features such as dedicated graphics, Blu-Ray or HD-DVD drives etc. are not to be found in this price bracket anyway – or will mean a huge trade-off in a different discipline.

Nonetheless, Acer’s TravelMate 5520 must necessarily represent a compromise at this price. Due to its limited battery life, it is more suited as a portable workstation that tends to stay connected to a power outlet than as a true mobile device. However, if you’re looking for a practical notebook in this price range and can live with the limitations mentioned above, you may find the TravelMate 5520 a good fit.