SCORE
PRICE £619 (£743 inc VAT) from box.co.uk
If we were forced to summarise the Acer TravelMate P4 P414-51 in This isn't a laptop that will bring an admiring glance from passers-by, nor one that will ever sit at the top of the performance charts, but if you're after a business laptop for an aggressive price then it deserves to be at the top of your shortlist.
In part that's due to the solidity of the laptop. Other machines at this price often feel thrown together, but the TravelMate P4 exudes reassuring sturdiness. That's despite the fact only the lid is made from metal, with the rest of the chassis fashioned from rigid plastic, and its dark blue livery gives it a professional look. Windows 10 Pro comes as part of the package - we were offered an upgrade to Windows 11 Pro within a week of use - and our only criticism is that Acer doesn't upgrade its warranty to two years as standard.
This story is from the April 2022 edition of PC Pro.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the April 2022 edition of PC Pro.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Robobutlers may never happen, but robot care workers are on their way
Do you hate loading the dishwasher enough to pay someone to do it remotely? Nicole Kobie wonders about the weird future of home robots
Technical debt
Cutting corners now means more work down the road - but Steve Cassidy asks whether that's always a bad thing
Zyxel ZyWALL ATP500
Zyxel delivers tough gateway security and advanced threat protection at a very appealing price
CREATIVE WORKSTATIONS
Intel and AMD both offer compelling CPU choices for workstations, giving us ten machines with the widest variety of specifications we've seen for years
ANDROID PHONES FROM £219
As this roundup of four affordable contenders shows, there's no need to spend a fortune on a phone
Amazon Echo Pop
If you want a compact Alexa smart speaker, the Pop is now the cheapest choice - but what does it really add?
Getac X600
A powerful alternative to the Panasonic Toughbook 40, with the bonus of optional Nvidia graphics
Amazon Fire Max 11
With its 2K screen and sleek design, this is Amazon's best tablet yet-but FireOS remains a hindrance
Google Pixel Fold
The Pixel Fold delivers with a thin and durable design, a wide front display, smart software and great cameras
Welcome to the Fediverse
Have commercial social networks had their day? Darien Graham-Smith looks at the free, community-run apps that could usurp Twitter, Reddit and the Meta empire