Goodbye Ferrari, Hello TravelMate 6460
Today I handed the Ferrari 1000 back.
It's weird that something I write about day in day out had such a profound effect on me that bordered on the emotional.
Weird but true. I liked it so much I'm going to buy myself one.
But today, I’m moving on to other less ‘emotionally charged’ issues. As I write, the Acer UK site displays no fewer than 29 different notebooks, ranging from simple entry level devices to full spec multimedia stations. In Italy that number is 26 while in the US, there are a staggering 41.
It’s clear that each country selects its own models depending on specific market needs and with specific users in mind, which goes some way towards explaining why Acer split its site into user groups, and just how much this has helped users identify the right model for their unique needs.
One of the groups that gets less media attention than most is “Enterprises”, and one of the reasons for this is because "Acer offers a complete range of cost-effective enterprise solutions for trouble-free integration into current network structures, delivering world-class manageability, dependable security, effortless scalability and efficient mobility”.
Hardly mainstream blog material then.
Yet despite not enjoying too much blog atention (no Ferraris here), there is still plenty of room for innovation. One of the latest to ne introduced is Acer's Trusted Platform Module or TPM for short.
Of the many problems faced by large companies, security must rank among the top five. TPM is meant to assist security through an integrated chip that stores keys, passwords and digital certificates directly on the notebook enabling strong user authentication and machine security. In other words, it offers a sure-fire way of validating the true identity of the notebook.
It's a complex issue, and one not helped by the privacy issues raised in this detailed explanation of the technology over on the Wikipedia site.
This time I have brought home a TravelMate 6460 to play around with. The specs are what you'd expect from a business machine of this calibre (2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 15.4" WSXGA display, ATI Mobility Radeon X1300, 1GB DDR2 memory, 80GB hard drive etc.) so I don’t expect to unearth anything unexpected there.
No, the reason why I have it is to find out a little more about the Acer TPM features, and test the fingerprint recognition software. That might take a while, as I first want to come to terms with the security and privacy issues discussed in the Wikipedia entry, then I have to see what, if any solutions are offered by other notebook manufacturers, and finally test drive those installed on the TravelMate 6460.
Before I go, I’d just like to mention one thing that's already captured my attention. The TravelMate 6460 is battleship grey. It’s a no mess, no frills mobile work station and boy is it efficient. Now I already know that Acer’s SignalUp technology is good but the TM6460 takes it to another level altogether. Within one minute of turning it on to charge the battery, the TM6460 had sniffed out no fewer than three wireless networks in and around my home.
No other notebook I've come across so far has had such a finely-tuned wireless nose. It's good to know that Acer delivers the very best mobile solutions right across the board.
It's weird that something I write about day in day out had such a profound effect on me that bordered on the emotional.
Weird but true. I liked it so much I'm going to buy myself one.
But today, I’m moving on to other less ‘emotionally charged’ issues. As I write, the Acer UK site displays no fewer than 29 different notebooks, ranging from simple entry level devices to full spec multimedia stations. In Italy that number is 26 while in the US, there are a staggering 41.
It’s clear that each country selects its own models depending on specific market needs and with specific users in mind, which goes some way towards explaining why Acer split its site into user groups, and just how much this has helped users identify the right model for their unique needs.
One of the groups that gets less media attention than most is “Enterprises”, and one of the reasons for this is because "Acer offers a complete range of cost-effective enterprise solutions for trouble-free integration into current network structures, delivering world-class manageability, dependable security, effortless scalability and efficient mobility”.
Hardly mainstream blog material then.
Yet despite not enjoying too much blog atention (no Ferraris here), there is still plenty of room for innovation. One of the latest to ne introduced is Acer's Trusted Platform Module or TPM for short.
Of the many problems faced by large companies, security must rank among the top five. TPM is meant to assist security through an integrated chip that stores keys, passwords and digital certificates directly on the notebook enabling strong user authentication and machine security. In other words, it offers a sure-fire way of validating the true identity of the notebook.
It's a complex issue, and one not helped by the privacy issues raised in this detailed explanation of the technology over on the Wikipedia site.This time I have brought home a TravelMate 6460 to play around with. The specs are what you'd expect from a business machine of this calibre (2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 15.4" WSXGA display, ATI Mobility Radeon X1300, 1GB DDR2 memory, 80GB hard drive etc.) so I don’t expect to unearth anything unexpected there.
No, the reason why I have it is to find out a little more about the Acer TPM features, and test the fingerprint recognition software. That might take a while, as I first want to come to terms with the security and privacy issues discussed in the Wikipedia entry, then I have to see what, if any solutions are offered by other notebook manufacturers, and finally test drive those installed on the TravelMate 6460.
Before I go, I’d just like to mention one thing that's already captured my attention. The TravelMate 6460 is battleship grey. It’s a no mess, no frills mobile work station and boy is it efficient. Now I already know that Acer’s SignalUp technology is good but the TM6460 takes it to another level altogether. Within one minute of turning it on to charge the battery, the TM6460 had sniffed out no fewer than three wireless networks in and around my home.No other notebook I've come across so far has had such a finely-tuned wireless nose. It's good to know that Acer delivers the very best mobile solutions right across the board.
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