The Acer TravelMate B (TMB115-MP-C23C) ($379.99 as tested) is a budget ultraportable laptop aimed at both business and consumer users. Powered by a quad-core Intel Celeron processor and weighing less than three pounds, it’s a highly portable companion. It’s a good choice if you don’t want to spend a lot of money, but you still need a traditional Windows laptop with some forward-looking features, like a touch screen.

Design and Features
The TravelMate B comes in a compact polycarbonate chassis measuring 0.83 by 11.5 by 8.5 inches (HWD) and weighing a light 2.89 pounds. It’s easy to hold, and if you use it on a airline seat in coach you shouldn’t have to worry if the passenger in front of you recline their seats. The 11.6-inch screen has a 1,366-by-768-resolution LCD screen that has good, but not great, image quality, which is par for this price range. The viewing angles are a bit narrow. It’s similar in size to budget competitors like the Acer Aspire E3-111-C1BW( at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) and HP Stream 11 (11-d020nr)($349.00 at Amazon)(Opens in a new window). Unlike its more colorful competition, the TravelMate B sticks to a black-matte finish on all surfaces.

This ultraportable is a smidge pricier than other budget laptops, but that’s because it comes with a 10-point touch screen, a rarity among sub-$500 systems. The screen responds quickly to touch inputs, as does the wide, one-piece touchpad. The chiclet-style keyboard is comfortable and responsive. The keys have a rougher texture, which helps prevent your fingers from sliding off.

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Connectivity is good, with an Ethernet port, an HDMI port, an SD card slot, two USB 2.0 ports, and one USB 3.0 port. Acer includes an HDMI-to-VGA adapter, in case you need to hook up to an older monitor. The ports, as well as the power adapter jack, are almost all on the back of the chassis, so you’ll have to reach around the screen to connect your peripherals. That’s somewhat inconvenient if you tend to plug and unplug a lot of devices to your system. The speakers put out an adequate amount of volume, enough for watching TV shows in a small room. The 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi can connect to both 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks, and the system has Bluetooth 4.0 for wireless connectivity.

The 4GB of memory and 500GB, 5,400rpm hard drive are more memory and storage than you’ll find on the current Editors’ Choice budget ultraportable, the HP Stream 13 (13-c020nr)($329.95 at Amazon)(Opens in a new window), though the latter is $150 less expensive. The 4GB of memory is enough for minimal multitasking, and 500GB is a lot of storage for local files like videos and photos. There are a few added programs, including Booking.com, Dropbox, Evernote, Flipbook, Foxit PhantomPDF, Pokki Start Menu, and Skype. Budget about a half-hour to an hour to delete the ones you don’t use. The system comes with a 2-year warranty, which is twice as long as its rivals.

Performance
With a quad-core Intel Celeron N2940 processor and integrated Intel HD graphics, the TravelMate B’s performance on our benchmark tests lands it in the middle of the pack. It scored 1,640 points on the PCMark 8 Work Conventional test, and got average scores on the Handbrake (6 hours 24 minutes) and Adobe Photoshop CS6 (14:09) tests. That’s still faster overall than rivals, like the HP Pavilion 10z and the Dell Inspiron 15 Non-Touch (3531)($589.00 at Amazon)(Opens in a new window). Given its low, single-digit scores on all four of our gaming tests, this is obviously not the ultraportable to get for gaming. Stick to Angry Birds and the like on this system.

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Battery life is a high point. The TravelMate B proved an apt travel companion, lasting 7 hours 32 minutes on our battery rundown test. That’s a couple of hours better than the Acer E3-111-C1BW and Toshiba Satellite Radius 11 (L15W-B1302) ($345.99 at eBay)(Opens in a new window). The champs in this space are still the HP Stream 11 and HP Stream 13, which both lasted more than 9 hours.

Overall, the Acer TravelMate B (TMB115-MP-C23C) is a strong option for users who want a full, touch-enabled Windows 8.1 laptop for less than $400. It has good battery life, solid performance for the category, and is easy to take with you anywhere. Keep the TravelMate B on your short list if you’re willing to spend a bit more money for the touch screen and more memory. However, for $150 less you can get a larger (non-touch) screen, slightly quicker day-to-day performance, and 1.5 hours more battery life with our Editors’ Choice budget ultraportable laptops, the HP Stream 13 (13-c020nr).