A Good above Average entry level Laptop PC

Now that I've been using this Laptop PC for more than a 2 weeks I would give it a 3.5 out of 5 ratings. Here are my findings and opinion about it-



Its a good starter / entry level Laptop that was sent well packed by Amazon. One can rightly term this LPC as "BIG BROTHER OF LITTLE NET-BOOK".



BUILD - It showcases a well-build body made up of tough Plastic with a contoured dotted touch which makes it non-glossy and fingerprint resistant. Extended numeric key-pad is an added advantage though I feel that the keybaord would accumulate dirt very fast and would mis-operate. Missing are the LED indicators for Number / Caps lock key which a "kind-of-a" is compensated by an OSD (On Screen Display) indicators which informs the user about the current state of these Keys the moment these keys are pressed but still LED indicators would surely be the first preference for many.



PROCESSOR - AMD V 120 single core with 2.2 Ghz clockspeed and 512 KB L2 cache is not a "Fast Enough" Processor compared to today's technology and customer demands but it well complements a Laptop thats priced below $400 (NOT $479.99). There heven't been any heating issues so far with the processor after prolonged usages ranging up to 5:00 Hrs of operation with Internet Media player PDF and MS Paint Skype/Yahoo chat running in parallel.



LCD - This came to me as the most surprising feature This laptop features a wide 15.6" LED-backlit LCD that is really very crisp clear and bright . Another thing that impressed me a lot is the steadyness/stiffness of its LCD BEZEL unlike Dell LPC's it really holds to its place to what ever angle you may want to set.



ADD-ONs (WEBCAM/MIC/CARD READER/HDMI) - The LPC has an average performing integrated Webcam on the LCD bezel. You may not find it impressive on the very first use but some tweaks and change in settings (Pixel resolution Brightness Contrast etc) will make it a bit better. In-built MIC really scores over the webcam with its good reception and quality of voice either recorded on-board or when transmitted onto the other side (when used with Skype / Yahoo voice chat). It also has a Multi-in-1 card reader along with a HDMI port something that makes it unique in its class.



O/S ISNTALLATION - The LPC came pre-installed with Windows-7 Home Premium and it was really very easy to configure (or should I say Finalize) the installation though it took the system about 15-20 mins to get fully functional.



WIRELESS INTERNET - The wireless internet access was satisfactory as I couldn't find any edge over my old Dell D600 LPC with Intel Pro 2915 Wireless Mini card.



OTHERS - This system comes with 3GB DDR3 RAMout of which hardly 2 GB is available for you to run your Apps. The HDD capacity is claimed to be 250GB but available/visible Lot is only 218GB. The sound quality of the inbuilt speakers is good.





To sum up Acer Aspire AS5251-1805 seems to be a good above average entry level Laptop PC with an attractive price tag that most can avail.



Thanks for reading...More detail ...

Great features for the price.

The triple core 1.8ghz Phenom II is a strong and economical processor choice for a desktop replacement-type laptop. This computer regularly gets 3.5 hours on the battery with only the screen brightness turned down a bit. I really enjoy this.



The video card is listed as an ATI Radeon 4250 which it is but the M880 chipset for it gives it power way beyond the Radeon 4250's power in itself. When I checked the GPU benchmarks the M880 chipset Radeon 4250 was consistently ranked middle of the pack above such GPUs as the ATI Radeon HD 5145.



This computer is nice and portable and the size is perfect for carrying with me. The screen isn't small to where it creates any issues with seeing for me; I'm actually enjoying the fact that it is shorter and I can cradle it in my lap perfectly and totally comfortably.



The keyboard is not one with a full NumPad but that doesn't bother me much. The keys don't have a loose sensation at all which I really enjoy. I am still getting used to the location of a few of my keys especially the backspace but I'll certainly get used to it soon enough. The trackpad isn't bad; you can tweak it however you like. One major issue I noticed right away is that the Webcam drivers were so out of date that the webcam wouldn't work when I first got the computer. I tried to update it and was told that this was already the newest available driver but it still didn't work. I ended up taking it off altogether and restarting the computer and it works just fine now. Just a word of warning for those who are looking at this one: The webcam may take a second of fiddling with to get it set up correctly. IT is nothing too bad and there are guides all over the internet explaining how to do this.



Other minor gripes the touchpad can be seems a bit insensitive at times even with it turned up almost all the way... The two finger scrolling also isn't as intuitive as it was with my last ASUS. I also have to press the power button to get it out of sleep... All minor gripes that I will come to terms with soon after which I will be completely satisfied with my purchace. ;)



These are my impressions after a few days with this computer... Great specs and performance for the money! I'll be sure to update this review if anything else comes to mind.



EDIT- I want to add that the sound quality that comes out of these speakers is not too bad. Look in the Control Panel for a utility called SmartAudio. It controls all the sound output for the computer and will give you much greater control over your desired sound. You can go into the SmartAudio settings and have it appear in the System Tray if you're going to be listening to a lot of music! I'm not claiming that the speakers are perfect; you're still going to need good external speakers or headphones if you want an excellent and LOUD audio experience. Basically these are good for stock speakers mainly because of the SmartAudio software (found in Control Panel)...More detail ...