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 ...

Near perfect thin and light laptop

I had been excited about the ULxxVT series from Asus since they were first announced a couple months ago. I originally purchased the UL80VT back when it was released in October but ultimately returned it due to a very noticeable dead pixel right in the middle of the screen. This was probably for the best as a week with the UL80VT made me realize it was bigger then I needed and I didn't really have much use for the optical drive.



Due to my brief ownership of the UL80VT I knew certain things to expect with the UL30VT but I have to say the UL30VT has exceeded my expectations. While I never felt the build quality was bad on the UL80VT it's much better on the smaller UL30VT. Clearly due to the smaller frame everything is quite a bit more solid as there is almost no chasis flex at all. The keyboard is okay. Everything is well spaced although the small right shift key is a bit annoying. Honestly the only thing about the keyboard that isn't great is that it's a bit on the noisy side as its very clackity when you type. I know a lot of people don't like the dimpled ASUS touchpads but honestly I don't think it's that bad and it has tons of multi-functions that really make it a joy to use. The single button touchpad button isn't as firm as on the UL80VT so its a bit easier to press for those who don't just use tapping. The screen is also in my opinion much better then the UL80VT in regards to contrast which I felt was subpar on the the larger model. Viewing angles still aren't great but they aren't on most laptops these days. The hard drive is a bit noisy but it's not really that noticeable.



I know a lot will be made of battery life on these UL models and it should be pointed out that this comes with the 10 hour battery not the 12 hour one Amazon lists. Even still its a 63whr 4400mah 8 cell battery that I have easily been able to get 7 hours of wifi web surfing and there still being life left (sorry I haven't had it long enough to do a full battery test yet). So while it would have been nice to get the larger 84whr battery I don't think I will have had too many instances where I will even need it. Also just to correct another incorrect part of the Amazon listing the UL30VT weighs 3.92lbs according to my precision scale with the battery installed. Still plenty light for me but I don't know how they got 3.7lbs that is listed here. The UL80VT also has the wrong weight listed in it's listing as it weighed 4.8lbs when I weighed that back in October.



Overall I am very happy I waited for the UL30VT the idea of creating an overclocked low voltage system is a genius concept that ASUS has executed very well here. The end result gives the user performance equivalent to a regular full voltage Core 2 Duo while still providing great battery life. There is truly nothing else on the market like the VT series laptops and for $799 you get a lot. Sure the larger battery or longer warranty of the A series UL models (this is an X model) would be nice but it would then cost more and lets be honest it still has better battery life then most systems on the market and almost all consumer laptops only come with a one year warranty to begin with! Given the price I can't recommend this system enough sure there are a few things that could be improved but for me it's exactly what I needed in a laptop at hundreds less then I was originally expecting to pay.More detail ...

Fantastic

This laptop worked perfectly right out of the box! I had absolutely no problems setting this machine up or in getting it to connect to my network. It does everything that it was advertised as being able to do. Even the built in webcam works great. If there is even a single negative it's that it comes with a lot of superfluous HP software. Other than that I am incredibly pleased with this laptop.More detail ...

Actually 5470-6378

Picked up nearly the same model at Costco for $599 after discount. Only difference is a 320GB drive instead of the 500GB drive. Seems like fairly solid construction. Keyboard is quiet. Track pad is a tad sensitive but I've adjusted how I use the pad with my fingers. There is a button to shut the pad off should you decide to use a mouse. Processor is fast and as advertised fires up to 2.5GHz+ when doing processor intensive things. Did run a few low graphics intensive games and it did a fairly admirable job though definitely not on high settings. Wireless-n has been solid. No mute button on the console which is something I like but not a big deal. Screen is bright - brighter than expected - though does have a low viewing angle from the top - and the screen doesn't tilt as far back as my old Dell laptop did. So you really have to be pretty square in front of it. I'm not a huge fan of the outer blue plastic but hey I don't look at the back of the screen when I'm using it. The matte finish on the touchpad and handrest is smart (not like the HP's which show fingerprints VERY easily). Overall great value. Time will tell on durability (I'm hoping for 1.5-2yrs).More detail ...

Excellent Computer for an Excellent Price

I've owned my computer for almost a week now and I'm absolutely loving it. For the money I almost bought an Hp with a T6600 processor and 320GB hard drive etc etc. I bought this for the same price as the other hp and got MORE memory and a better processor. Why wouldn't you want an upgrade of 180 GB hard drive for free? If your a student and like to have lots of music videos and play light gaming and still have tons of room for your homework and projects this is a great computer.



I also love how its 14" monitor so I can take it anywhere and fit it into any bag. It has a very sleek and glossy exterior. A little bit of work to keep clean but that's no reason not to buy a computer. The speakers are great for a laptop. I was actually surprised how clear sounds and music was. As with most HP laptops you get the lightscribe burner which is great but it also comes with a disc replacement thing so if you don't care to use a disc drive you can remove it and save some weight. But really it doesn't weigh that much.



The only downfall I have with this computer is the slightly low battery life. I think a little bit of that might be my fault cause I just plugged in and played rather than letting the battery charge fully first before I started playing with it.



Great laptop for the price.More detail ...

One of the best under $700 notebooks

Just received my Asus UL30A-X5 yesterday. After much review and a try-out with an Acer 1410 I decided that I wanted a full-sized chiclet/island keyboard and the larger screen. I'm already quite pleased with my decision. At the <$700 price point this is an excellent notebook.



Pros

- Keyboard. A pleasure to type on.

- Touchpad. It drags at first but once you get some finger oil on it and change the pointer speed it's one of the best that I've used. Very smooth two finger scroller. Support for customized two and three finger click.

- Screen. Bright and easy to read at 30 degree angles.

- Battery life. Yes it will do over 10 hours.

- Weight/size. 1 inch thin and very light.

- Body. Love the brushed black metal look on the case.

- Asus facial recognition login. Didn't think that I would care but it's nice to have the computer log in without touch when I'm sitting in front of it.

- Asus FastBoot (not the BIOS fast boot). This lets you configure which programs load during startup and which load after. Speeds up the boot quite a bit.

- Decent speakers. Not ear-destroying but suitable for the size. Much better than most netbooks.



Cons

- Placement of touchpad. It still registers my palm as I'm typing even at the extreme setting. Downloaded the new touchpad driver but that didn't fix. Still looking for a solution. This is by far the most frustrating problem. UPDATE: The TouchFreeze utility seems to almost fix the issue.

- Case still shows fingerprints.

- Web cam is low res and has difficulty in low light (haven't tried different drivers yet).



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