Ultrabooks may get all the headlines these days, but not everybody who wants a lightweight computer needs a powerful processor or the sky-high price tags associated with the Windows version of the MacBook Air. Enter Acer's new student-focused laptop. The TravelMate B113 packs just enough punch in a portable, reasonably priced package, which could make the $399 laptop mighty attractive to high schoolers and ramen-eating college attendees alike.
At just 3 lbs. of weight and 1 inch of thickness, the TravelMate B113 should easily slip into almost any backpack. Just as importantly, Acer claims the laptop's six-cell battery should last up to 7 hours on a charge, which is enough to keep you up and running through the longest of lectures.
The three available versions all sport an 11.6-inch display with a bog-standard 1366 x 768 resolution, sans touch-screen support. (The TravelMate B113 is available with both Windows 8 and Windows 7 Pro.) The Intel HD Graphics 4000 visuals won't let you play many games, but they should play HD YouTube videos without breaking a sweat. The TravelMate B113 also include a webcam and Ethernet, HDMI, VGA, and a pair of USB 2.0 ports alongside a solitary USB 3.0 connection.
Other than that, the price you pay affects the performance you get, with the baseline $399 version packing a dual-core Pentium processor, 4GB of RAM and a 320GB, 5,400RPM hard drive. Springing for the high-end $599 variant nets you a dual-core Core i3 processor and a 500GB hard drive. All models support up to 8GB of RAM if you want to add more after the fact.
The TravelMate B113 comes with a two year warranty. Check out more nitty-gritty details on Acer's TravelMate B web page.
