Review Despite its obvious appeal, 3D hasn’t really taken off as far as computers are concerned. However, things seem to be picking up pace of late, and Acer is the latest to get in on the game with what it claims is the world’s first 3D-capable laptop.
Before delving into Acer’s wonderful world of 3D, it’s best we give you a quick overview of the Aspire 5738DZG. It’s a good looking piece of kit that’s built around a 15.6in screen and weighs in at 2.8kg. The usual array of ports are dotted around the chassis, including HDMI and four USB, while the keyboard features a low-profile design and includes a numeric keypad. Windows 7 Home Premium is the operating system of choice, and Acer’s gone for the 64-bit version.
Our review sample was powered by an Intel Core 2 Duo P7350, but it later transpired that the Aspire 5738DZG actually comes with a far less-powerful Intel Pentium Dual Core T4300 – more on this later. Memory sits at 4GB, while graphics are taken care of by an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570. Other features include 802.11n wireless, Gigabit Ethernet and a multi-format card reader. Thanks to the 500GB hard drive, there are no problems in terms of storage space.
We’ll take a closer look at the laptop’s performance in a moment, but first it’s time to get down and dirty with the 3D side of things. Nvidia’s been making plenty of 3D noise of late with its 3D Vision Kit, which retails for around £115. Read the rest of this entry »
Review Plenty of notebooks supporting Windows 7 multi-touch features have already been announced, but the Aspire 5738PG Touch is one of the earliest to actually hit the shelves. Acer has entered into the spirit of the touch revolution by implementing the technology on-screen as well as on the trackpad, but more on that later.
Acer’s Aspire 5738PG Touch: if it looks big, it’s because it is big
The model we tested was driven by an Intel Core 2 Duo P8700 processor running at 2.53GHz. It was fitted with a 500GB Hitachi hard disk, 4GB of Ram installed as two 2GB SODIMMS, an 8x DVD writer and an ATI Mobility Radeon HD4570 graphics chipset with 510MB of memory. Our immediate impression of the Aspire 5738PG out of the box was of a big and very shiny blue toy. While it is certainly no toy, its size (383x250x26mm) and weight (2.8kg) are unusual in a market currently being swamped by rinky dinky little netbooks.
The unit opens using a shiny sliding catch at the front, which we found tricky to operate, to reveal a large keyboard and an even shinier screen. The keyboard features a full 103 keys and a proper numeric keypad. The key caps are big with good, minimal action, and the wide keys are really wide indeed. Unfortunately, the essential left-hand Ctrl key is still the same size as a normal character key, its width sacrificed to make room for a non-essential Fn key. Read the rest of this entry »
Review So you want a small notebook, but you’re put off by the average netbook‘s puny graphics, relatively low res screen and limited-horsepower Atom processor. What do you do?
Acer’s Aspire Timeline 1810TZ: big name, small notebook
We think you could do a lot worse than Acer’s Aspire 1810TZ. Sony’s skinny and compact Vaio X is nice, but it’s not cheap. Acer’s alternative is a wee bit more bulky, but since it’s on sale for around £450, it’s considerably less expensive.
The 1810TZ is part of Acer’s Timeline series of long-endurance laptops, so it’s also a good long runner.
But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. The 1810TZ is a kind of netbook-plus. Its size suggests a netbook – its 285mm width is set more by the large keyboard than by the 11.6in widescreen, LED-backlit display – but it has a dual-core Pentium SU4100 processor clocked at 1.3GHz and 3GB of 800MHz DDR 2 memory. Read the rest of this entry »
Review Installing a second operating system on a PC is nothing new. Plenty of manufacturers have done so before, building a slimline Linux distro into their machines to provide a much more rapid start-up than Windows can manage: full access to the internet within seconds of pressing on power key.
Acer’s Aspire with Android: fast start for Google, slower boot to Microsoft
What sets Acer apart is its choice of secondary OS: Google’s Android, an operating system usually found in smartphones, but here pressed into service the way Asus has used SplashTop, Sony has used XMB and Dell has used Latitude On.
All of these services play second fiddle to Windows, and Acer’s Android offering is no different. Right from the outset, Android is junior partner to the Microsoft OS. Switch the machine on – it’s an Aspire One 10in D250 netbook, almost exactly like the one we reviewed here – and alongside the regular invitation to enter the Bios setup screen by pressing F2, you have the chance “to enter Windows OS” by pressing F9.
You have to be quick, though. If you’re too slow, or you keep your mitts off the keyboard, the familiar Google ‘droid appears, cheekily peering up at you from the bottom right corner of the screen. Within seconds – 18.9, to be precise – you’re facing the Android UI. Read the rest of this entry »
Review The Acer Aspire 5935 is aimed at those folk who don’t just want a laptop that’s all work and no play. In addition to packing enough grunt to chew through productivity applications, it’s also equipped to keep you happily entertained when you’ve finished working for the day.
Acer’s Aspire 5935: one 720p screen, two GPUs
The inclusion of Nvidia’s Hybid SLI technology gives you the best of both worlds when it comes to graphics. If you’re just filling out cells in a spreadsheet, you can drop down to the integrated Intel graphics and save power. Once you’ve filed your final report for the day, you can engage the Nvidia GeForce GT 130M chip instead and get down to some gaming. If you’d rather go for a less interactive form of entertainment, you can kick back and watch an HD movie on the 5935′s Blu-ray drive or pick up digital telly thanks to the built in DVB-T receiver.
The 15.6in screen stretches to a 720p friendly resolution of 1366 x 768. If you want to get the full benefit of Blu-ray’s 1080p maximum, you’ll need to hook it up to a big screen TV using the HDMI port on the side. The screen’s glossy finish ensures vivid colours, but also increases the reflectivity so you’re more likely to be distracted by things behind you. It’s certainly not the worst shiny screen we’ve seen, but it still picks up reflections of bright lights and daylight streaming through windows. Read the rest of this entry »
