This Acer TravelMate 8100 notebook computer has at least three design faults that make an otherwise perfectly respectable machine a bit of an ergonomic dog and a real pain to live with.

acer notebook power button

1. The power button is located in a position where you are most likely to place your thumb when you pick up the machine. As a result, it is all too easy to unexpectedly and abruptly power off the machine.

acer notebook wifi button

2. WiFi and Bluetooth buttons are prominently placed at the front edge, exactly where fingers and palms of hands will apply pressure at any time during normal use. As a result, you will find your WiFi disappearing without warning, usually when you least want it to.

acer notebook air inlets

3. Air inlets on the under side of the casing get blocked if you place the Acer on a non-flat surface, such as your lap. As a result, the machine does not get the cooling it needs, the fan starts screaming at max RPM, power consumption goes up and the whole thing starts to overheat.

All of these faults give you a bad feeling about using this machine and worse, can result in lost data. I don’t have anything against Acer notebook computers; they are quite good value for money, but fundamental design mistakes should not appear in a consumer product like this, particularly when the manufacturers go through countless design iterations as new and updated models get churned out on a regular basis.

Most people will not look for or notice design faults like this, but they will notice the irritations caused by them. This reflects badly on the manufacturer, its brand and future products – all bad for business.

Make mistakes once and learn, just don’t keep on repeating them.