Acer TravelMate P243-M Notebook

The Acer TravelMate P243-M is equipped with an Intel Core i3-2370 processor (Sandy Bridge), which comes with the integrated Intel Graphics HD 3000 GPU. 4 GB DDR3 SDRAM, a DVD RW optical drive, and a 500 GB hard drive round out the hardware. The components are housed in a 14-inch chassis made from carbon fiber and magnesium/aluminum, which is very rigid and robust. With the 6-cell lithium ion battery, our review model comes in at around 2.2 kilogram (4.85 pounds). Even though the TravelMate P243-M and the larger P253-M share the same pedigree, the two models look quite different. Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra M3 adapter

To protect the internal components, Acer chose a chassis composed of premium materials, which appears to be very robust and resilient. Even when localized pressure is applied, the chassis flexes hardly at all. Normally weak areas, like the back of the display or the area around the keyboard are stiff and exhibit hardly any give. Only the area around the Enter-key flexes minimally, since the optical drive is right underneath it. Acer Aspire M5 adapter

Visually, the model is black-on-black; the surfaces are matte, but still slightly reflective and smooth. As far as the appearance is concerned, the TravelMate P243-M looks nothing like the larger P253-M. The 14-inch display is secured to the base unit via two small hinges. Changes in the opening angle result in wobbles back and forth. The notebook weights about 2.2 kilogram (4.85 pounds) - quite acceptable for a sturdy 14-inch notebook.

Performance

The TravelMate P243-M is a reliable performer and should satisfy both private and business users. Text editing or multimedia tasks are no challenge for the notebook. The dual-core Intel Core i3-2370M (2.4 GHz) is part of the Sandy Bridge lineup and provides enough power, even though it's not a current generation processor. The Intel HD Graphics 3000 is less powerful though - especially when the tasks are graphics intensive (3D). Aside from that, the integrated GPU is sufficient for daily use.

The Core i3-2370M CPU has two cores and has a standard clock speed of 2.4 GHz. The CPU supports Hyper Threading and can tackle four threads at the same time. Unfortunately the Core i3-2370 does not support Turbo Boost technology. ACER Aspire V3 adapter

During our tests, the processor was able to maintain its clock speed of 2.4 GHz a long as the applications are CPU intensive. If the GPU is heavily utilized (stress test Prime95 and FurMark lasting several hours), the CPU frequency is decreased to 1.7 GHz. It appears that the cooling system is not able to provide enough cooling during extreme conditions. This is not a real-world scenario though - during normal use, we don't expect any throttling.

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As far as the results of the Cinebench R10 benchmark tests are concerned, the TravelMate P243-M outperforms the larger 15-inch version slightly: we measured 3903 and 8505 points for the P243-M, and 3582 and 7981 points for the P253-M. This means that the smaller model is about 9 and 6 percent faster than the larger model with its Intel Core i3-2328M CPU (2.2 GHz).

Compared with the faster Core i5 processors, the difference between the generations becomes apparent: the Core i5-2520M outperforms our review model clearly by 29 and 24 percent (5051 and 10554 points, respectively). Most of this difference can be attributed to Intel's Turbo Boost technology. ACER Aspire One E100 adapter

System Performance
The TravelMate P243-M seems quite reliable: during our review, we never encountered any issues or crashes. The one limiting factor (at least for our review unit) is the Intel Graphics HD 3000, which gets pushed to its limits fairly quickly when tasked with graphic intensive work. The P243-M scored 1818 points when we ran our test with PCMark 7 - a little bit less than what we saw with the 15-inch P253-M. This difference should not be noticeable during everyday use.

The performance of our review model is quite comparable to the HP ProBook 4530s (Intel Core i3-2350M 2.3 GHz); the P243-M outscores the AMD equipped Lenovo Thinkpad Edge E535 (AMD A8-4500M 1.9 GHz - four cores and Turbo to 2.3 GHz) slightly.

Acer only includes a single module of 4 GB RAM - the system therefore loses a bit of power since it doesn't operate in dual-channel mode. One advantage: those wanting to upgrade to 8 GB of RAM, only need to buy a single 4 GB module.

Gaming Performance
Those interested in using the Acer TravelMate P243-M even for occasional gaming shouldn't expect too much: the combination of Core i3 2370M CPU and Intel HD Graphics 3000 is no powerhouse. The power of the integrated GPU (and no 3D accelerator) is just not sufficient for satisfying gaming performance. If you would like to know which games are playable, please take a look here. The successor to the HD 3000, the HD Graphics 4000 (integrated into all Ivy Bridge processors), is decidedly better and allows the user to play less demanding games at lower settings.

Temperature
The temperatures are well controlled: even under heavy load, they remain under 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit). The underside also stays cool - the warmest area was around the fan exhaust (39.1 degrees Celsius / 102.38 degrees Fahrenheit). We were also pretty happy with the results during idle. While the chassis stays cool, the Core-i3 CPU has some heat related issues: we recorded 80 degrees Celsius (176 degrees Fahrenheit) during our stress test with Prime95 and FurMark. The result is CPU throttling do 1.7 GHz. This only happens when both the CPU and GPU are at their limits - not a scenario normally encountered during every-day use.

Speakers
The speaker system provides clear sound, regardless if the user is playing movies or listening to mp3s. The speakers are certainly sufficient for mobile entertainment - for better quality it pays to use headphones instead. If the notebook is used as a stationary entertainment center, it's better to connect it to an external speaker system, since the integrated speakers don't provide high-impact bass or the high volume needed for a riveting action film.

Power Consumption
During idle, the TravelMate P243-M uses about 10.8 watts with some peaks up to 11.7 watts. This means that the system actually consumes more power than the 15-inch P253-M, which uses an average of 9.6 watts. Under load, the differences become more apparent: the P253-M consumes 24.3 to 43.8 watts - our review model consumes 42.8 to 50.9 watts. We attribute the increase in power consumption to the processor Core i3 2370M - the P253-M uses the Intel Core i3-2328M instead. The ThinkPad Edge E330 (also Core i3-2370M) needs 37.4 to 49.8 watts under load, which is a very comparable result. The power adapter delivers 65 watts and is adequately sized. Samsung P210-Pro P8400 Padou adapter Lenovo G560 AC Adapter/Charger

Battery Life
Notebook manufactures frequently exaggerate battery life. In this case, although Acer claims a battery life of 3.5 hours (according to their homepage), we were actually able to achieve better results. We recorded a maximum battery life of 410 minutes (6 hours 50 minutes) during our BatteryEater test - a respectable result. The P243-M lasted a very good 252 minutes (4 hours 12 minutes) during the more relevant WLAN test. Under full load, with the display brightness turned up all the way and all wireless modules active, the system needed to be recharged after 94 minutes. During our DVD playback test, the system lasted a very good 226 minutes (3 hours 46 minutes).

Non-glare display with a resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels, Core i3 2370M with 2.4 GHz, Intel HD Graphics 3000, 4 GB RAM, and a 500 GB hard drive - these are the basic specs of the Acer TravelMate P243-M-32374G50Makk. The chassis of the 14-inch notebook is made from carbon fiber and Mg/AI and is quite rigid and sturdy. The weight of 2.2 kilograms (4.85 pounds) including the 6 cell battery is also quite acceptable. The display is the really low point, as the brightness is not sufficient - especially during mobile use: we recorded a mediocre 130 cd/m² while the notebook was running on battery power. It's next to impossible to use the P243-M in direct sunlight. We do like the overall performance, which should be sufficient for normal users. We can recommend the system for text editing, web surfing, and entertainment (music and movies). For gaming we would recommend a system with a dedicated graphics card instead - like the more expensive HP ProBook 4740s (699 Euro / ~$930), which features the AMD Radeon HD 7650M. Our review sample of the TravelMate P243-M retails for around 550 Euro (~$730) and comes with a warranty of 24 months.