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Following the launch of the Microsoft Media Centre initiative and the subsequent opening up of the technology to a wider source base, it was only a matter of time before the aspect of mobility entered the picture. One example of this is the Acer Aspire 5510 series of notebooks. Released under the tag line of "Entertainment in Movement", the Aspire 5510 has been designed to bring the delights of entertainment to private and professional users who spend time on the move.

I have been looking at the Aspire 5514WLMi model which is based on the Intel Pentium M 760 processor running at 2.0GHz with 2MB L2 cache and 533MHz FSB. This model comes with Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition. Other models in the series have a slower processor or, in one case, Microsoft Windows XP Media Centre Edition.

Opening the silver case, reveals a 15.4 inch WXGA CrystalBrite TFT display powered by an ATI Mobility Radeon X700 chipset with 256MB of DDR VRAM. The screen has a 16:10 viewing ratio with a response time of 16ms displaying 16.7 million colours and has support for simultaneous multi-window viewing via the supplied Acer GridVista software. While delivering excellent graphics, the screen is susceptible to fingerprint marks and does show reflections in certain lighting conditions.

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Rather than adopt the slightly curved keyboard seen in some other of its notebooks, Acer has gone for a standard, rectangular keyboard layout mounted above the ample wrist rests and a touchpad with an integral 4-way scroll button. There are four easy launch buttons for your browser, email client, Acer E-manager software and a user-definable task. A front mounted USB port, audio sockets and LED indicators for Bluetooth and WLAN are supported by two additional USB ports; PC Card Type II slot; card reader for SD/MMC/MS/MS Pro formats; modem and Ethernet jack sockets; 1394 port; S-video/TV out; and RF input port for a digital and analogue TV aerial decorate the right and rear of the unit. A slot loading DVD-Dual double-layer burner can be found on the left side.

For those who opt not to go with Microsoft Windows XP Media Centre Edition software, Acer includes its Arcade 2.0 product. This software application brings together the ability to watch DVDs; create and manage your own videos; organise and view photographs; create play lists and listen to digital music; plus watch, record and schedule television programmes.

The Aspire 5510 has a built-in analogue/digital television receiver card with EPG (Electronic Programme Guide) capabilities. You can use either the supplied portable aerial unit that can clip on to the frame of the notebook or a roof-based aerial. When using the portable aerial only 14 channels were detected and some of these were not identified correctly. However switching to a rooftop aerial increased the number of channels found to 34 with each one correctly identified. Schedules can be set with EPG provided by NexTView although only 29 channels seemed to be covered by this service. Acer has included a remote unit for controlling your multimedia activities.

With its emphasis on entertainment and its power demands, battery life takes on even greater significance than normal. The Aspire 5510 series comes with a 65W Li-ion batter pack supported by Acer's power management software. Acer claims up to 3.5 hour battery life when using the ATI graphics. Unfortunately my tests failed to approach this figure when playing audio and watching DVD movies. The system went into automatic shut-down after 2 hours 31 minutes of MP3 music. DVD playback stopped after 2 hours 11 minutes. Recharge time, when the notebook was not in use, took 2.5 hours. If you are intending using this notebook on long distant travel then perhaps you should consider an optional additional battery pack.

The Aspire 5510 measures 363 x 279 x 33.9mm (W x D x H) and weighs 3.08Kg. The model on review comes with 1024MB of DDR2 memory and a 100GB hard drive. Priced at around £999, this is a well-specified unit that would benefit from greater battery life. I will be sorry when it has to go back to Acer.