Acer TravelMate 360 User Guide

TravelMate 360 series

User’s guide

TravelMate 360 series User’s guide Original Issue: September 2001

C h a ng es ma y be ma d e pe riod ic a lly to t he info rma tio n in this p ub lic a tio n with ou t ob lig a tion to notify a ny pe rso n of suc h revision o r c ha nge s. Suc h c ha nge s will be inc o rporate d in ne w e d itio ns o f th is m a nu a l or s up p le me n ta ry do c um e nt s a n d p u blic a tio n s. Th is c o mp a n y m a ke s no representations or warranties, either expressed or implied, with respect to the contents he reo f a nd sp e c ific a lly d isc la ims the imp lie d w a rra n tie s o f m erc h a nta b ility or fitn e ss fo r a partic ular purpose.

Rec ord the m od e l numb e r, se rial numbe r, purc ha se d a te , a nd p lac e o f purc ha se informa tion in th e s p a c e p rov id ed b e low. Th e s e ria l num b e r a nd mo de l n um be r a re re c o rd ed o n th e la be l a ffixed to y our c om puter. All c orre spond enc e c onc erning your unit should inc lude the se rial number, mod e l numbe r, and p urc ha se informa tion.

No p a rt of this pub lic a tio n m a y b e re p rod uc e d , st ore d in a re trie va l s ys tem , o r tra n sm itte d, in any form or by any mea ns, elec tronic, mec hanic al, photocopy, rec ording, or otherwise, witho ut the prior written p e rmission of Ac e r Inc o rp o ra ted .

TravelMate 360 series Notebook C omputer

Mode l numbe r : _________________________________

Serial number: ___________________________________

Purcha se da te: ___________________________________

Plac e of purc ha se : ________________________________

Acer and the Acer logo are registered trademarks of Acer Inc orporated. Other company's p rod uc t n a me s or tra d e m a rks a re us e d h e re in fo r id e ntific a tio n p urp o se s o nly a nd b e lon g to the ir resp e c tive c o mp a nies.

First things first

We would like to tha nk you for ma king the Tra v e lMa te serie s o f notebook c omputers your c hoic e for your mobile c omputing ne e ds. We hop e you will be happy with your TravelMate a s muc h as we enjoyed ma king it for you.

Your guides

To he lp you use your Tra velMate, we have designed a set of guides:

First off, the Just for Starters... poster helps you ge t sta rte d with se tting up y o ur c om p uter.

Th is User’s guide introd uc es you to the m a ny wa ys your c omputer c an help you be more produc tive. This g uide p ro v id e s c le a r a n d c o nc ise in fo rm a tio n a b o u t th e c o mp u te r, so read it thoroughly.

If you ever need to print out a copy, this User’ s gu ide is a ls o available in PDF (Portable Doc ument Format). Follow these steps:

Click on Start, Programs, TravelMate.

Click on TravelMate User’s guide.

Note: Vie wing the file re qu ire s Ad ob e Ac rob a t Re ad er

ins ta lled . If A dob e A c rob at R ea d er is n ot in sta lle d o n yo ur computer, clicking on TravelMate User’s guide will run the Ac roba t Rea de r se tup progra m first. Fo llow the ins truc tio ns o n the sc re e n to c o mp le te the insta lla tio n. F or instruc tions on how to use Adobe Ac roba t Re ade r, a c c ess the Help menu.

iii

A ha ndy Hot key pocket reference c a rd is u se ful fo r q uic k glances at functional key combinations.

An Online guide is yo ur helping ha nd on-the-go , with ea sy to a c c e s s, d eta iled and linke d info rm a tion a bo ut y our computer.

To a c c e ss the online gu id e:

Click on Start, Programs, TravelMate.

Click on TravelMate Online guide.

Lastly, there may be a Read me first she et inc lud ed with your pa ckage which c ontains important reminders a nd updates. So, please read through it.

For more information about our products, services, and support information, please visit our web site (http:/ / globa l.a c er.c om

Basic care and tips for using your computer

Turning your computer on and off

To turn on the computer, simply slide and then release the power switc h on the left side of your Tra velMate.

To turn the power off, do any of the following:

• Use the Windows Shut Down... command C lic k o n Start, Shut Down..., and selec t Shut down; then c lic k on

OK.

• Use the power switch

Note: You c an a lso use the power switc h to perform power ma nageme nt func tions. See “Basic power ma nagement” on pa ge 28.

• Use the customized func tions for power management You can also shut down the computer by closing the display cover,

or by pressing the sleep hot key (Fn-F4). See “Basic power management” on page 28.

Note: If you c annot power off the c omputer normally, press and hold the power switc h for more than four sec onds to shut down the computer. If yo u turn o ff the c o mp uter a nd wa nt to turn it on again, wait at least two seconds before powering up.

Taking care of your computer

Your c omputer will serve you well if you take c are of it.

• Do not expose the c omputer to direc t sunlight. Do not plac e it near source s of hea t, suc h a s a radiator.

• Do not expose the c omputer to temperatures below 0ºC (32ºF) or above 50ºC (122ºF).

• Do not subjec t the computer to magnetic fields.

• Do not expose the computer to rain or moisture.

• Do not sp ill wa te r or a ny liquid on the c omp ute r.

• Do not subjec t the c omp uter to he avy shoc k a nd vibration.

• Do not expose the computer to dust and dirt.

• Neve r plac e objec ts on top of the c omp ute r to a void dama g ing the

computer.

• Do not slam the computer display when you close it.

• Never plac e the computer on uneven surfac es.

Taking care of your AC adapter

Here a re some wa ys to ta ke c are of your AC ada pter:

• Do not c onne c t the a da pter to a ny o the r de vic e.

• Do not step on the power c ord or pla ce hea vy objec ts on top of it.

C arefully route the power c ord and any c ables away from personal traffic .

• When unplugging the power cord, do not pull on the cord itself but pull on the plug .

• The tota l amp ere ra tings o f the e quip me nt plug ge d in should not exc eed the ampere rating of the c ord if you are using an extension cord. Also, the total c urrent rating of all equipment plugged into a single wall outlet should not exceed the fuse rating.

Taking care of your battery pack

Here a re some wa ys to take c are of your ba ttery pac k:

• Use only batteries of the same kind as replac ements. Turn the power off before removing or replac ing batteries.

• Do not tamper with batteries. Keep them away from children.

• D isp o s e o f u s e d b a tte rie s a c c o rd in g to lo c a l re g u la t io ns . R e c y c le if

at all possible.

Cleaning and servicing

When cleaning the computer, follow these steps:

1 Powe r off the c om pute r and re move the b a tte ry p a c k. 2 Disconnect the AC adapter. 3 Use a soft c loth moistened with water. Do not use liquid or

aerosol cleaners.

If a ny o f the follo wing oc c urs:

• The c omputer has been dropped or the body has been damaged.

• Liq uid ha s b e e n sp ille d into the prod uc t.

• The computer does not operate normally.

Plea se refer to "Troubleshooting my c omputer" on pa ge 57.

First things first iii

Your g uid es iii Basic care and tips for using your computer iv

1 Getting to know your TravelMate 1

A TravelMate tour 3

Front view 3 Left view 5 Right view 6 Rea r view 6

Bottom vie w 8 Fea tures 9 Ind ic a tors 11 Using the ke yb oa rd 13

Sp ec ia l ke ys 13 To u c h p a d 2 1

To uc h p a d b a sic s 21 Stora ge 23

Ha rd d isk 23

Ea syLink c ombo drive 23

Using softwa re 25 Audio 27

Adjusting the volume 27 Ba sic powe r ma nag eme nt 28 Moving around with your TravelMa te 29

Disc onnec ting from the desktop 29

Mov ing a round 29

Taking the c omputer home 30

Tra ve ling with the c omp ute r 32

Trav e ling in te rna tiona lly with the c o mp ute r 32 Sec uring your c omputer 34

Using a computer security lock 34

Using the Sma rtC ard 34

Using p a ssword s 41

Contents

2 Customizing your computer 45

Exp a nding through options 47

C onne c tivity op tions 47

Upgrade options 51

Notebook Manager 52

La unc h Ma na ge r 53

BIO S Utility 55

viii

3 Troubleshooting your computer 57

Frequently-asked questions 59 Troubleshooting tips 63 Error messa ges 64 Requesting servic e 66

Inte rna tiona l Tra ve ler’s Warranty (ITW) 66 Before you c a ll 66

Appendix A Specifications 69

Appendix B Notices 75

Index 83

1 Getting to know your

TravelMate

Your TravelMate c omputer c ombines highperformance, ve rsa tility, power mana gement fe a ture s a nd multime d ia c a pa bilitie s with a unique style and ergonomic design. Work with unma tc he d p rod uc tivity a nd reliability with your new power c omputing partner.

A TravelMate tour

Afte r se tting u p yo ur c om p ute r a s illustra te d in the Just for Starters... poster, let us show you a round your new TravelMate

computer.

Front view

# Item Description

1 Disp la y sc re e n Also c a lled LC D ( liq uid -c rysta l disp la y) ,

displays c omputer output.

2 Sta tus ind ic a tors LEDs ( light-e mitting diod es) tha t turn o n a nd

off to show the status of the computer and its functions and c ompone nts.

3 La unc h keys Buttons for la unching freque ntly used

programs. See “La unc h Keys” on pa g e 18 for m o re d eta ils.

4 Touchpad Touch-sensitive pointing devic e whic h

functions like a c omp uter mouse.

# Item Description

1 G etting to know yo ur Tra v e lMa te

5Click buttons (left,

center and right)

6Speaker/

Headphone-out ja c k

7 Lin e - in ja c k A c c e p t s a u d io lin e - in d e v ic e s ( e .g . , a u d i o C D

8 Infra re d port Interfac es with Infra red d e vic e s (e.g.,

9 Mic ropho ne Inputs sound s a nd v oic e s into yo ur c o mpute r.

10 Pa lmrest C omfortable support a rea for your hands

11 Keyb o a rd Inp uts da ta into yo ur c om p ute r.

12 Spe a ker Outputs sound.

The left a nd right b uttons func tion like the left a nd right m ouse b uttons; the c e nte r button serves as a scroll up/down button.

C onnec ts to a udio line-out devic es (e .g., speakers, headphones).

player, stereo walkman).

infra re d printe r, IR- a wa re c o mp ute rs).

when you use the c omputer.

Left view

# Item Description

1EasyLink combo

drive connector

2 IEEE 1394 port C onnec ts to IEEE 1394 device s.

3 Powe r switc h Turns on the c omputer powe r.

4 PC C ard eject

button

5 PC Ca rd slot Ac c e p ts to one Type II 16-bit PC C ard or 32-

6SmartCard eject

button

7 SmartCard slot Slot for SmartCard interface with pre-boot

8Video capture kit

slot

C onnec ts to a n EasyLink c ombo d rive .

Ejec ts PC C ard from the c ard slot.

bit CardBus PC Card.

Ejec ts the SmartC ard from the slot.

a uthe ntic a tion syste m .

Ac c e pts the v id e o c a pture kit op tion o n the le ft sid e of the c om p ute r.

Right view

# Item Description

1 G etting to know yo ur Tra v e lMa te

1Video capture kit

slot

2 Ba tte ry ba y House s the c omp ute r's b a ttery p ac k.

3 Sec urity keylock Connects to a Kensington-compatible

Ac cepts the video c apture kit option on the right side of the c om p ute r.

computer security lock.

Rear view

# Item Description

1 PS/ 2 port C onnec ts to PS/ 2-c ompa tible devic e (e .g.,

2 USB ports (two) C onnec t to a ny Unive rsal Serial Bus devic es

PS/2 keyboard/mouse/keypad).

(e.g., USB mouse, USB ca mera).

# Item Description

3 Expansion port C onnec ts to I/O replic ator or EasyPort

expa nsion de vic e s.

4 Modem jac k C onnec ts to a phone line.

5 Network jac k C onnec ts to a n Ethernet 10/ 100-b a sed

network.

6External display

port

7 Power jack Connects to an AC adapter.

C onnec ts to a display de vic e (e.g., external monitor, LC D projec tor) and displays up to 64K colors at 1280x1024 resolution.

1 G etting to know yo ur Tra v e lMa te

Bottom view

# Item Description

1 Battery bay Houses the computer's battery pac k.

2 Hard disk bay Houses the computer's hard disk (secured

by a screw).

3Hard disk anti-shock

protec tion

4 Ba ttery re lea se la tc h Unla tc he s the ba ttery to re m o v e the

5Personal

ide ntific a tion slot

6Memory

compartment

Disk Anti-Shoc k Protec tion (DASP) protec ts your hard disk aga inst ac c id e nta l shoc k and vibration.

battery pac k.

Insert a business c ard or similar-sized ide ntific ation c a rd to p erso na lize your computer.

Houses the c omputer's main memory.

Features

Be low is a brie f summ a ry o f the c om p ute r’s many fea ture s:

Performance

• Mob ile Intel® Pentium® III Proc essor-M with 512 KB level 2 c ac he fea turing the new Enha nc ed Intel® SpeedStep™ tec hnology

• Memory e xpa ndable up to 1024 MB or 1 GB and supports PC 133 Mhz bus spe ed

• External EasyLink™ combo drive (floppy and CD-ROM/ DVD- ROM/DVD-RW drive)

• High-c apa c ity, Enha nc ed-IDE hard disk

• Li-ion main battery pack

• Powe r m ana geme nt system with AC PI (Adva nc e d C onfigura tio n

Power Interfac e)

• Sma rt C a rd inte rfa c e with p re-bo o t a uthe ntic a tion syste m for added security.

Display

• 13 . 3"Thin-Film Tra nsisto r ( TFT) liq uid -c rysta l d isp la y ( LC D ) displaying 24-bit true-c olor at 1024x768 eXtended G ra phic s Arra y (XGA) resolution

• 8 MB Video DRAM with DVMT (Dynamic Video Memory Te c h n o l o g y ™) up to 32 MB

• 3D capabilities

• Simultaneous LCD and CRT display support

• Supports other output display devic es suc h as LC D projec tion

panels for large-audience presentations

• "Au tom a tic LC D dim " fe a ture tha t a utom a tic a lly d e c id es the be st settings for your display a nd c onserves power

• Dual display capability

Multimedia

• 16-bit high-fidelity AC ’97 PCI stereo audio with wavetable synthesizer

• Built-in spe a ker a nd mic rop hone

• High-speed optic al (C D-ROM, DVD-ROM or DVD-RW) drive

• USB video c apture kit option

1 G etting to know yo ur Tra v e lMa te

Connectivity

• High-speed fax/data modem port

• Fast infra red wireless c ommunica tion

• USB (Un iv e rsa l Se ria l Bus ) p o rts

• Ethernet/ Fa st Ethernet port

• IEEE 1394 port

• Optiona l 802.11b wireless LAN

• Optional USB Bluetooth dongle solution

Human-centric design and ergonomics

• Sleek, smooth a nd stylish design

• Full-sized keyboard

• Ergonomic a lly-c entered touc hpa d pointing devic e

• Inte rne t sc roll key

Expansion

• Type II Ca rdBus PC C ard (formerly PC MC IA) slot with ZV (zoomed video) port support

• Upgradeable memory

• Ea sy P o rt p ort re plic a to r

Indicators

The c omputer ha s seve n ea sy-to-rea d status ic ons be low the display sc ree n.

The Power and Sleep status ic ons are visible even when you c lose the display c over so you c an see the status of the c omputer while the c over is c lose d.

Icon Function Description

Wireless C ommunica tion

Power Lights when the c omputer is on.

Sleep Lights when the computer enters Sleep mode.

Me d ia Ac tivity Lights whe n the flopp y d rive , ha rd d isk or

Battery Charge Lights when the battery is being charged.

C aps Loc k Lights when C aps Loc k is ac tivated .

Lights when the Wireless LAN capabilities are enabled.

Ea syLink C omb o drive is a c tive.

Icon Function Description

Num Loc k Lights whe n Num Loc k is ac tiva ted .

1 G etting to know yo ur Tra v e lMa te

Using the keyboard

The keyboard ha s full-sized keys and an embedded keypad, separa te c ursor keys, two Windows keys a nd twelve func tion keys.

Special keys

Lock keys

The keyboa rd ha s three loc k keys whic h you c an tog gle on a nd off.

Lock key Description

Caps Lock When C aps Lock is on, all alphabetic charac ters typed are in

upp e rc ase.

Num Loc k (Fn-F11)

Sc roll Loc k (Fn-F12)

When Num Lock is on, the embedded keypad is in numeric mode. The keys func tion as a c alc ulator (c omplete with the a rithme tic op era tors +, -, *, and / ). Use this m o d e whe n yo u need to do a lot of numeric data entry. A be tter solution would be to connect an external keypad.

When Scroll Lock is on, the sc reen moves one line up or down when you press the up or down arrow keys respec tively. Sc ro ll Loc k d oe s not w o rk with so m e a pp lic a tio ns.

Note: To a c c e ss the Num Lo c k a n d Sc ro ll Lo c k func tio ns , h old the Fn key down while pressing the F11 and F12 keys respectively.

1 G etting to know yo ur Tra v e lMa te

Embedded numeric keypad

The embedded numeric keypad functions like a desktop numeric ke y pa d . It is ind ic a te d b y sm a ll c ha ra c te rs lo c a te d on the up p er rig ht c orner of the keyc a ps. To simplify the keyb oard lege nd, c ursor-c ontrol ke y sym bols a re not p rinted on the ke ys.

Desired access Num lock on Num lock off

Number keys on embedded keypad

C ursor-c ontrol keys on embedded ke ypa d

Ma in ke y bo ard ke ys Ho ld Fn while typ ing lette rs

Note: If an external keyboa rd or keypa d is c onnec ted to the c om p uter, the Num Lo c k fe a ture a utom a tic ally shifts from the inte rna l ke yboa rd to the exte rna l ke y b oa rd or ke y p ad.

Type numb e rs in a norma l ma nner.

Ho ld Shift while usin g c ursor-c ontrol keys.

on embedded keypad.

Ho ld Fn wh ile using c ursor-c ontrol keys.

Type the lette rs in a norma l ma nner.

Windows keys

The keyb oa rd ha s two keys tha t perform Windows-spe c ific func tions.

Key Description

Windows log o ke y

Application key Opens a context menu (same as a right-click).

Sta rt b utton. C omb ina tions with this ke y p erform shortc ut functions. Below are a few examples:

+ Tab (Activates next taskbar button)

+ E (Explores My C omputer)

+ F (Finds Doc ument)

+ M ( Minim ize s All)

Shift + á + M (Undoe s Minimize All)

+ R (Displays the Run... dialog box)

Hot keys

The c o mpute r e mp loy s hot keys or key c om binations to a c c e ss most of the computer’s c ontrols like sc reen brig htness, volume output and the BIO S Utility.

To a c tiva te hot ke y s, pre ss a nd hold the Fn key before pressing the other key in the hot key c ombination.

1 G etting to know yo ur Tra v e lMa te

Hot key Icon Function Description

Fn-F1 Ho t Ke y He lp Disp la ys he lp o n ho t ke y s.

Fn-F2 Setup Accesses the computer’s

c onfig u ra tion utility .

Fn-F3 Powe r

Management Sc heme Toggle

Fn-F4 Sleep Puts the computer in Sleep

Fn-F5 Disp la y To g gle Switc h e s d isp la y outp ut

Fn-F6 Sc reen Blank Turns the display sc re en

Switc hes the power management sc heme used by the computer (func tion available if supported by operating system).

See “Ba sic power management” on pa ge 28.

mode. See “Ba sic power

management” on pa ge 28.

between the display screen, externa l mo nitor (if c onne c te d) a nd b o th the display screen and external monitor.

ba c klight off to sa ve p owe r. Press any key to return.

Hot key Icon Function Description

Fn-F7 Touc hpa d Togg le Turns the interna l touc hp a d

on and off.

Fn-F8 Speaker Toggle Turns the speakers on and off.

Fn-↑ Volume up Inc rea se s the sp e a ker volume .

Fn-↓ Volume down Dec re a ses the spea ker

volume.

Fn-→ Brightness up Inc rea ses the sc reen

brightness.

Fn-

←

Alt GrEuro

Brightness down Dec reases the sc re e n

brightness.

Euro Type s the Euro symb ol

(available on some models).

The Euro symbol

If your keyboa rd layout is set to United Sta tes-Internationa l or United Kingdom or if you have a keyboa rd with a Europe an layout, you c an type the Euro symbol on your keyboa rd.

Note for US keyboard users: The keyboard layout is set when you first se t up Wind o ws. Fo r the Euro sy m b ol to work, the keyb o a rd la yout ha s to be se t to Unite d Sta tes-Inte rna tiona l.

To v e ri fy th e ke y b o a r d ty p e :

1 Click on Start, Settings, Control Panel. 2 Doub le -c lic k o n Keyboard. 3 Click on the Language ta b .

1 G etting to know yo ur Tra v e lMa te

4 Verify tha t the keyboa rd layout used for "En English (United

States)" is set to United States-International. If not, select and click on Properties; then se lec t United States-

International and click on OK.

5 C lic k o n OK.

To type the Euro sy mbo l:

1 Loc ate the Euro symbol on your keyboard. 2 Open a text editor or word proc essor. 3 Hold Alt Gr a nd press the Euro symbol.

Some fonts and software do not support the Euro symbol. Please re fe r to h ttp :/ / www.m ic ro so ft.c o m/ ty po gra p hy / fa q / fa q12 .htm fo r mo re info rm a tion.

Launch Keys

Located at the top of the keyboard are five buttons. These buttons are c alled la unch keys. They are designated as P1, P2, P3, mail button a nd Web browser button.

Note: To the left of these five launc h keys is the wireless c om m unic ation b utto n. For more informa tion o n this fea ture, ple a se re fe r to the wireless c ommunic a tion ma nua l.

Launch key Default application

P1 User-programma ble

P2 User-programma ble

P3 Multim ed ia a pp lic a tio n

Ma il Em a il ap plic a tio n. The LED o f the ma il butto n will

fla sh when the use r has inc oming ema il

Web browser Internet browser applic ation

Email checking function

When you first start up your system, a Ma il C hec king dialog box will be displayed. In this dialog box, you have the option to launc h the progra m a t sta rtup or not, set the time for mail c hec king, etc . If you already ha ve an email ac c ount, you c an fill in the Mail Properties in the dialog box.



The Mail Server is the server name where you get your email, for example: JohnSmith@hotmail.com, the Mail Server is hotmail.com.

Aside from the email checking function, there is a mail button that is used to la unc h the email applic ation. It is loc ated a bove the keyboard

1 G etting to know yo ur Tra v e lMa te

right below the LCD. The LED of the mail button will flash when the user has rec eived an inc oming ema il.

You c an a lso ac c ess the Mail C hec king dialog box by c lic king on

Start, Programs, Launch Manager, then c lic k on E-Mail checking setting.

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