Terrible Acer Aspire 5 Laptop
Only bought this Acer Aspire 5 laptop 1 year and 11 months ago . It started playing up 3 weeks ago. The network adaptor is not working. Had no prior issues, but looks like it needs repairing. Hotline tried several trouble shoots. Wouldn’t recommend Acer to anyone – not worth it.
Purchasedin November 2020at The Good Guysfor $799.
I bought this product in this July. It was for sale and was $799. For some school assignments plus general internet use, Aspire 5 is more than enough for my daily needs, very fast tho 🙂 Battery last about 6 hours, display is wide and doesn’t hurt my eyes. I did some zoom meeting with this PC, worked great!
This is actually our second Aspire 5 in our house. I bought our first Aspire 5 for my daughter almost 6 months ago. She has been very happy about it as well.
Purchasedin July 2021for $799.
The reviewer stated that an incentive was offered for this review
Massive Improvement To My Old Laptop
The Acer Aspire 5 is an upgrade to my previous laptop which ceased. Acer wasnt my first choice as I initially was going to stick along the lines of my previous brand. Like every other electronic appliance, one needs to study and seek what is suitable for their needs.Been using the Acer for a few weeks now and am impressed with my purchase. As stated, this is an upgrade to my ceased laptop. There are a few improvements here.The Acer Aspire 5 offers -*finger print activation * 3 USB Ports & 1 C & HDMI* Core i7 10th Gen* Keyboard lights up, great when working with less room lighting* 256 gb…
Purchasedat The Good Guysfor $799.
I purchased an Acer Aspire 5 for university studies. I find it is great for zoom, creating documents and working through the Moodle sites for subjects.
I have had to watch a number of online recordings and found the video quality to be clear.
The sound is also fantastic. I had a previous version Aspire and found the sound quality to be like a whisper. However this laptop provides very clear sound.
However, the finger print scanner can be fiddly and I do find I need to put the login code in frequently as it does not work.
All in all I find that it is perfectly suitable for my every day use.
Purchasedin June 2021at Acer Australiafor $1,049.
Purchasedin February 2021at Harvey Normanfor $999.
This is a terrible laptop – I will never be buying from Acer again. I bought this laptop less than a year ago and have had a range of troubles from the beginning.
Acer Aspire 5 Battery Life Best Of A Bad Bunch
Much like the plethora of ports you get on this laptop, the size of the Aspire 5 also affords good battery life.
Our battery benchmark testing got just shy of ten hours, so you wouldnt need to work about charging during a workday let along a journey to a coffee shop. Our real-world experience bore this out too, if a tad closer to shy of nine hours rather than the higher ten.
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Acer Aspire 5 Review Is It The Best Mid
Most people out there usually look for either high-end laptops or the most budget-friendly ones. However, that somehow makes them overlook some of the best available options at mid-range prices, like the Acer Aspire 5. Frankly speaking, we have been using and testing this laptop for quite a while now, and it has impressed us pretty well.
If you want to explore more about this laptop, and want to know how it actually performs, we recommend you read this article until the end.
In this review, we will be going through all the essential aspects such as build quality, connectivity options, performance, etc. Just so that you can get a decent idea of how this laptop will perform in your hands.
So, without wasting time anymore, lets take a quick glance at the key specifications of the Acer Aspire 5.
Equipment: Lan And Hdmi But No Thunderbolt
While the amount of connections is anything but ample, it is probably sufficient for most users. An external monitor can only be connected via HDMI, and there is only a single USB-C connection on the left side. We would have liked a bit more here, but at least the port remains usable, since the device is charged via a separate power connection.
The connection package is rounded by three USB-A ports, although only two of those support the faster USB 3.2 Gen 1 standard and one, only the USB 2.0 standard. In addition to WLAN, the Gigabit LAN connection is a practical feature. As in the predecessors, Acer continues to forgo any kind of storage card reader in the Aspire 5 A515.
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Acer Aspire 5 Full Review
The Acer Aspire 5 range for 2020 comprises mid-range laptops with Intel 10th-gen processors, plenty of ports, and Full HD displays.
Acers Aspire laptops have always been substance-over-style machines, designed to be good-value PCs that aren’t flashy, but reliable. Translation: you won’t have much joy playing Fortnite or editing photos on one of these , but if youre uninterested in gaming and Photoshop is of secondary importance, then an Aspire should appeal.
The particular model were reviewing is an Aspire 5 A514-52, which has an Intel Core i3-1005G1 processor, 4GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD, and a 14in Full HD display. Although note that the A514-52 and others are very similar.
Those are all entry-level specs for a Windows 10 laptop in 2020, but that doesnt mean that this is a dud for the kind of work the Acer Aspire 5 is designed for. Far from it, in fact.
If you do want more storage space and memory, there are models with bigger SSDs and more RAM available. Naturally theyll cost you a bit more, to the point where if youre prepared to spend a bit more dough, you might be better off looking at something like an Acer Swift 3, or a Lenovo Yoga Slim 7.
Acer Aspire 5 Software And Warranty
The Acer Aspire 5 comes with Windows 10 Home, which means there’s a fair amount of bloatware, including Skype, Netflix, Microsoft Solitaire collection and Spades.
The Acer Aspire 5 comes with a one-year limited warranty. See how Acer fared in our annual Tech Support Showdown and Best and Worst Brands special reports.
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Acer Aspire 5 A515 Battery Life & Performance Review
The Acer Aspire 5 A515 features a 3-cell Lithium-ion battery.
On most occasions, you dont get good battery life with budget laptops. Acer Aspire 5 A515 is not an exception in this regard.
This laptop lasted for up to 6 hours on a battery life test. That is an hour short of the advertised time frame of 7 hours.
Although the Acer Aspire 5 A515 might not be very spectacular in terms of battery life, it is, however, on par with many laptops of its range.
If you are gaming or doing any other graphical intensive operation, the battery life will run down faster than if you are performing less intensive computing tasks.
The laptop scores a 7 in this review because of its short but manageable battery life.
Acer Aspire 5 Design A Step Backwards
If youve laid eyes on a sub-£600 laptop over the past five years, then youve seen something similar to the Acer Aspire 5 design. Its main differentiator is a large hinge with A S P I R E written on the inside, but the rest is best described as plain and outdated.
Dont get me wrong, I wouldnt describe it as ugly, but its far from a laptop youd ever showcase for its looks. A basic and, mostly, plastic design along with a chunky bezel, which Acer ambitiously describes as narrow, puts this laptops design far behind machines from Honor, Huawei and Asus.
One positive the chunkiness does afford is plenty of room for ports. The Aspire 5 comes with two USB-A 3.1, a USB-A 2.0, a USB-C, an Ethernet port, an HDMI and a headphone jack. Theres no Thunderbolt 3, but thats no surprise at this price point.
The Acer Aspire certainly doesnt redeem its design shortcomings when it comes to audio. The speakers are tinny and offer next to no bass, listening to music on this laptop was frankly unpleasant and, for videos, it wasnt much better.
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Acer Laptop Screen Sizes
While the different choices in Acer laptop screen sizes may not seem like a big deal, as with all laptops, the screen size defines the laptops footprint, which can make a huge difference when it comes to size and weight. Heres what to expect at the different screen sizes of Acer laptops:
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Acer laptops in the 11 range are light, and easy to toss in a purse or a bag. Theyre also not as powerful: the screen size means there isnt much room for the internals, so laptops in this size range are usually good, but not great, machines. If you need a laptop for occasional browsing or watching a movie on an airplane, Acers smallest models may be perfect for you.
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Acer laptops in the 13 range can be deceiving. Some of them feature powerful CPUs and dazzling high-resolution screens, while others are middle-tier options that are sluggish because they dont have enough RAM. If you need a good compromise between a screen big enough to work with but small enough to travel, look into Acers 13 laptops.
- Acer laptops in the 15 range feature the best internal hardware. Theyve got plenty of RAM, powerful CPUs, and high-resolution screens. While Acers biggest laptops are their fastest, theyre also their best, so if you need a machine that can handle heavy-duty tasks or you just want a laptop that isnt going to feel outdated in 18 months buy one with a 15 screen.
Overall Thoughts About The Acer Aspire 5 Laptop
Wrapping up, looking at all the features and specifications offered by this laptop, we are actually impressed, and you should too! For such an attractive price point, the competition for this kind of laptop is barely there. Comprising the latest 11th gen 2.4GHz processor, Iris Xe Graphics, and a stunningly fast WiFi 6 technology, this laptop is a perfect fit for any average user out there to provide a comfortable computing experience at all times.
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Acer Aspire 5 Pricing And Configurations
The Acer Aspire 5s base configuration starts at $399 and has an Intel Core i3-1005G1 processor, 4GB of RAM, a 128GB SSD, Intel UHD graphics and a 15.6-inch, 1080p display
Our test unit costs $549 and features an Intel Core i5-1035G1 CPU with 8GB of RAM, a 256GB PCIe NVMe SSD and Intel UHD graphics. Maxed out, the Acer Aspire 5 comes to $779 with an Intel Core i7-8565U CPU, 8GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD, an NVIDIA GeForce MX250 GPU with 2GB of vRAM, and a 15.6-inch, 1080p display.
A very cool thing about the Aspire 5 is it can be easily upgraded thanks to its design, which allows for access to the motherboard by removing the bottom of the chassis. The notebook also comes with a hard drive installation kit so customers can easily install a hard disk drive to complement the 256GB PCIe NVMe SSD.
Acer Aspire 5 A515 Design
The exterior of the Acer Aspire 5 A515 is made of silver aluminum, which makes it not only light but also shows a sleek and modern look as well. Youll note some black plastic around the edges of the display, but the keyboard and other interior surfaces largely match the silver aluminum on the exterior with backlighted keyboard.
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Acer Aspire 5 Review:
Acer Aspire 5
Bottom line: Acer’s Aspire 5 A515-56 has decent battery life and performance, as well as quality speakers and camera. Its internal hardware can be upgraded, and there are many ports for connecting accessories. However, most people should avoid the laptop because of the poor display.
Works Ok With A Couple Of Glitches
I only really use this for surfing the internet, running a CAD type drawing program and storing my photos.There are some issues-Going to sleep excessively and not waking properly. The only way we found to fix it was to stop it going to sleep altogether. Has been blamed on Windows 10.The plug in mouse stops working- unplug and replug is an easy fix.Not sure if it’s the drawing program or the laptop, but actions can be slow and glitchy at times when there is a fair bit of detail on the screen.It’s probably normal, but when I have lots of web…
Purchasedin February 2018at JB Hi-Fi Retail Storesfor $847.
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Acer Aspire : Keyboard And Touchpad
The Aspire 5’s chiclet keyboard is full-size, complete with a number pad on the right side for meticulous data entry. I found the keyboard comfortable for typing enough that I wrote this entire review on the laptop. That said, because of this laptop’s massive build, small hands may feel more comfortable multitasking while docked with their favorite keyboard and mouse.
Acer attempts to strive for sleekness by making the trackpad the same aluminum finish as the chassis. Your palm will have a hard time differentiating between the spaces, however. More than once, I managed to bump it and navigate away from the app I was using. You’ll want to turn off the multitouch gestures on the trackpad, anyway, as the touch-and-drag mechanism can be too fussy to use confidently. After turning that off, the trackpad became much more manageable, and I found its responsiveness to be on par with some of my favorite Chromebooks. There is also a Function key to turn off the trackpad when you’re in serious writing sessions.
Acer Aspire : What I Like
The Aspire 5 has slimmed down a lot since the last time I saw it, coming in with dimensions and weight that aren’t out of the ordinary for a 15-inch device. The lid’s aluminum construction is pleasantly rigid, but unfortunately the same can’t be said for the rest of the body’s plastic build. There’s a fair amount of flex when twisted, with creaking and popping to go along with it. This isn’t really out of the ordinary for a lot of budget devices just know you won’t be getting the same rigidity as from something with a magnesium or aluminum body. You can find the Aspire 5 in Silver or Charcoal Black color finishes. I have the latter, which does a decent job of hiding fingerprints and smudges.
The Aspire 5 has enough ports to set up a workstation without adding a dock.
Port selection is generous, and you should manage fine if you’re looking to set up a workstation without one of the best laptop docking stations. The left side includes two USB-A 3.2 , USB-C 3.2 , HDMI 2.0, dropjaw RJ45 Ethernet, and a proprietary Acer charging hookup. USB-C charging is preferred, but not a huge deal at this price. The right side of the PC has a single USB-A 2.0 port, 3.5mm audio jack, and a Kensington lock slot for some added security if you’re using the laptop in an office. A fingerprint reader is available on some of the pricier models, but nothing here.
I ran a bunch of benchmarks to see just how well the Aspire 5 measures up against other laptops we’ve recently tested.
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Acer Aspire 5 A515 Review: My Initial Thoughts
Everyone loves a cheap laptop that can deliver at least enough performance for its value. The Acer Aspire 5 A515 is one cheap laptop that many have claimed they cant get enough of.
This laptop is not the most exciting you will come across. It doesnt have the latest mind-blowing hardware nor a luxurious build.
However, it fits almost perfectly for a good budget purchase. Its 15.6-inch display and dual-core AMD Ryzen processor makes it worthy of consideration.
Acer Aspire : Verdict
If you’re looking for an affordable laptop to stay docked all the time, you’re getting a good deal with the Aspire 5. The capable, middle-of-the-line Core i5 and integrated graphics can handle the work you need to get done. And while the trackpad takes some getting used to, the comfortable full-size keyboard makes writing this many words a breeze.
Parents looking for a laptop for their kid will be disappointed by the battery life on the Aspire 5, however, especially with today’s new way of remote-learning-wherever-it’s-comfortable. That’s something to consider along with the Aspire 5’s attractive price tag. As this Acer Aspire 5 review has shown, there are caveats to consider, and without the nice-to-haves like a touchscreen display and a memory card reader, it’s a laptop that’s hard to want to invest in.
Florence Ion has worked for Ars Technica, PC World, and Android Central, before freelancing for several tech publications, including Tom’s Guide. She’s currently a staff writer at Gizmodo, and you can watch her as the host of All About Android on the This Week in Tech network.
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Acer Aspire 5 A515 Processor Performance Review
Acer equipped the Aspire 5 A515 with a dual-core AMD Ryzen 3 3200U processor. The processor has a base frequency of 2.60 GHz but can clock to a maximum frequency of 3.50 GHz.
A dual-core CPU works just fine for most daily computing tasks. Hence, the Acer Aspire 5 A515 works well with daily computing tasks.
Moreover, Acer Aspire 5 A515 is capable of handling regular document editing, web browsing, emailing and video streaming on YouTube. It provides acceptable performance for most computing needs except for highly demanding tasks.
It also comes with full Windows 10, unlike many budget laptops that come with Windows 10 in S mode. Therefore, Acer Aspire 5 A515 offers the flexibility to carry out operations without the limitations of Windows 10 in S mode.
The Acer Aspire 5 A515 scores an 8 in this CPU review because it is fast enough for a laptop of its range.