Consumers believe Acer laptops provide full-featured and affordable laptops. The Acer Aspire and Ferrari lines are also sleek and stylish. Enjoy your Blu-ray discs with the Acer Aspire 8920's 18-inch screen, amped-up sound system and built-in, audio-visual control pad with a touch-scroll wheel control similar to that of the iPod.

For laptops, Acer models fall into the following categories:

1. Ultra portable laptops are the smallest and lightest, weighing less than four pounds, so Acer's Ferrari 1100 and TravelMate 6292 each weigh a few ounces too much to qualify for this category.

2. Thin and light laptops, such as the Acer TravelMate laptop series and the Ferrari 1100, weigh from four to six pounds, have a display of 12 to 14 inches and generally offer more power than ultra portables.

3. Mid-size or mainstream laptops, like the most of the Acer Aspire series and the Ferrari 5000, weigh from six to eight pounds and have a screen from 14 to 15.4 inches.

4. Desktop replacements, including the Aspire 8920 with its 18.4-inch screen, have the most power but are also the heaviest at over seven pounds.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Find the pros and cons for Acer laptops by reading Acer laptop reviews

The best place to learn about Acer computer models is the Acer official website. Learn about the various categories of laptops and whether Acer intends them for business or personal use. Get an independent opinion from a source not related to Acer for an unbiased opinion.

I recommend: Click on the names of models in four different categories to learn about the various models of Acer notebook computers at Acer Inc. Get an independent opinion about Acer laptops at NotebookReview.com from TechTarget, where they have a long list of reviews of current laptops and older products as well.

Buy Acer laptops from online vendors

Online vendors often offer competitive prices, free shipping, extended warranties, tech support and additional features all at your fingertips. Suppliers carry popular models like the Acer Ferrari laptop that offers business owners a compact sports-car style, 4 GB of RAM, fingerprint reader, slot-loading DVD burner and built-in webcam, all packed into a laptop weighing just over four pounds. Look for deals on features you can enjoy like the long battery life of the Acer TravelMate series, small, portable business computers.

I recommend: Choose from a number of Acer laptops at Micro Electronics, Inc., where they have many options for technical support including remote support and online resources. Circuit City guarantees you the lowest prices on Acer laptops.

Upgrade your computer or extend its performance with Acer laptop accessories

Replace a damaged LCD screen with a new one. Add extra ports for USB, parallel and serial devices, a second VGA monitor, a microphone, keyboard or mouse with a port replicator. You can also attach an external floppy drive to your laptop.

I recommend: Purchase an Acer laptop battery or AC adapter at Super Warehouse, where they have free shipping on large orders. Priority Electronics, Inc. will ship orders of laptop accessories on the same day you order if you place your order before 11 a.m.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Small ultra portable laptops sacrifice powerful features for their small size and portability. Determine whether performance or portability is more important to you when choosing what size laptop to purchase.
• •  Laptops in the desktop replacement category are usually large, heavy machines. An exception to this is the Acer TravelMate laptop 6292 series which weighs just over four pounds and has a 12-inch screen. The ezDock II optional docking stations makes this fall into the desk replacement category.