I rarely review products but figured this may be helpful to some. For starters, some background context: I am in my mid-20s and have long since finished uni. I am not a gamer. I primarily use my laptop(s)/tablets for streaming shows/movies; occasionally working from home; and crafting/design editing. I used to go through every iteration of a MacBook but, while nice, soon found myself not really utilizing all of its features & could no longer justify its price-point (especially since I do still have an iPhone).
This laptop is a STEAL for ~$300. I did my research and honestly, like a majority of the other reviews here said, the Acer Aspire 5 blows every other product in its price bracket out of the water. That said, I went into this fully knowing I wanted an inexpensive laptop and that, because of that constraint, whatever I ended up purchasing would most likely have some limitations. If you purchased this and are disappointed about the specs in correlation to it being ~$300.... I really don't know what to tell you other than that you definitely were looking in the wrong place.
I solely bought this computer because I recently got a CRICUT Explore Air 2 and needed something compatible with it (Chromebooks won't work and my MacBook is so old it can barely handle the newest OS); however, I already know now that this is going to become my main laptop and I will get a lot of use from it outside of just crafting.
THE IMPORTANT STUFF:
1.) This is a solidly-built laptop. Very sturdy, very lightweight. Perfect for on-the-go. It IS aluminum though the whole way around, so I recommend buying a case or sleeve to avoid scratching.
2.) The screen resolution and sound quality is surprising very good, crisp, and clean - while I think perhaps it could be a tad bit brighter, that's just me being nit-picky. I would still recommend using external speakers if you want to retain the quality of sound at its loudest setting, especially if what you listen to is bass-heavy.
3.) Turning off Windows S-Mode was absolutely painless - it's literally just going to the website that's taped on the outside of the box and clicking one or two buttons.
4.) Like other reviewers recommended, I did purchase another 8GB of RAM and installed it myself (I googled YouTube videos on how to do this for this specific laptop model; there are plenty of them, just take it slow and you'll be fine). I opted to leave IN the 4GB stick that was already there, thus giving myself a total of 12GB RAM. The difference in speed is HUGE and, like I said, I'm not using this for *too* much other than everyday use. Spend that little bit of extra money if you can, I promise it's worth it! I can't speak to anything as to whether it would hold-up with gaming, but definitely for a solid several hours of streaming content, crafting, and/or having multiple tabs & apps open simultaneously.
5.) The track-pad is VERY sensitive. Not so much so that I would take off a star, but enough to notice. I recommend purchasing a wireless mouse if you plan on doing more intricate work to eliminate any annoyance or mistakes. I bought one (a Logitech one, $10) and so far it's definitely made designing and editing much easier.
It's been awhile since I've had a PC but it's nice to know that a lot of its shortcomings (such as memory space & speed) can easily be fixed and modified to your preference. Again, at the end of the day, this is NOT a heavyweight laptop, both literally and figuratively speaking, but that's okay because it's not meant to be! Overall, I would highly recommend this computer to anyone who is looking for an everyday laptop that is both budget-friendly without sacrificing too much of its quality.
| Standing screen display size | 15.6 Inches |
|---|---|
| Screen Resolution | 1920 x 1080 pixels |
| Max Screen Resolution | 1920 x 1080 |
| Processor | 3.52 GHz ryzen_3_3200u |
| RAM | 4 GB DDR4 |
| Memory Speed | 3.5 GHz |
| Hard Drive | 128 GB SSD |
| Graphics Coprocessor | AMD Radeon Vega 3 |
| Chipset Brand | AMD |
| Card Description | Integrated |
| Graphics Card Ram Size | 4 GB |
| Wireless Type | 802.11ac |
| Number of USB 2.0 Ports | 2 |
| Number of USB 3.0 Ports | 1 |
| Average Battery Life (in hours) | 7.5 Hours |
