Acer Aspire V5-171-6867

So, here's the situation: we travel up to you at a coffee emporium and put an 11-inch laptop on the table. It's compact. It looks similar to a Netbook. we discuss it you it has a Core i5 processor, a 500GB hard drive, 6GB of RAM. Then we discuss it you it's $550. You're interested, right? At that price, why wouldn't you be? (Acer moreover says the Aspire V5 will primarily be existing for $500 by a limited-time Facebook promotion.)

The Acer Aspire V5-171-6867 is a "Wait until we discuss it you the price" laptop. we call it that because, until that cost floats past your ears, the V5 is only other unappealing small cosmetic gadget, a laptop that seems at initial to be mislaid in a time diverge from the days of Netbooks and before iPads. Our expectations for what a unstable device can look similar to have changed, the club has been lifted -- but, pristine opening and cost are areas where a P.C. similar to the Acer can still shine.

Remember the Acer Aspire Timeline X 1830T ? This is the inheritor to that 11-inch laptop, an ultraportable that compared exceedingly approvingly at the time to Apple's 11-inch MacBook Air . This new Aspire V5 has the same appeal; after all, it shares the specs of full-blown 13-inch ultrabook. The hard-drive space matches what you'd see on a periodic mainstream computer. Yes, there's an Ethernet jack; yes, there are HDMI and USB 3.0 ports. You're getting a no-compromise appurtenance beneath the hood, at more than $100 (maybe $200) reduction than any homogeneous ultrabook costs. Compared with the 11-inch MacBook Air at $999, the Acer Aspire V5-171-6867 literally expenses half as much.

There are drawbacks, of course. The set of keys feels restrained since a slight palm rest; the hold desk pad is small; the incomparable 500GB hard disk isn't a swift solid-state drive (although, compared with the trifling 64GB of space on the entry-level MacBook Air, you're getting a king's release of space), and the inner speakers are terrible. The greatest disappointment might be battery life: the Aspire V5-171-6867 lasted only 3 hours and 49 mins in the video playback test, whilst the Timeline X 1830T we reviewed two years ago -- the V5's prototype in suggestion -- ran for more than an hour longer.

However, if you wish a power ultraportable that gives you all the opening you're seeking for from a mainstream laptop at a fragment of the size and price, the Acer Aspire V5 is unbeatable. You only have to live with a lot of palm cramping and maybe a few squinting. Many people might simply pick to possibly go with an iPad or a incomparable ultrabook instead.

There aren't many Windows Personal Computer makers exploring 11-inch ultrabook-quality ultraportables at the moment, for whatever reason. This isn't the initial time that Acer's delved in to 11-inch laptops: the Acer Aspire One was a likewise sized device with a Netbook-level AMD processor, and a near-equivalent to the Acer Aspire V5 from a couple of years ago, again, is the Timeline X 1830T, a laptop we treasured at the time for its performance.

The lead gray cosmetic body recalls 11-inch AMD-powered bill machines and Netbooks more than sleeker, better-designed ultrabooks. Standard matte-black cosmetic underneath, a grille vent on the left side of the base, and a somewhat prominent back where the separable four-cell battery is trustworthy all feel similar to pattern throwbacks. This laptop won't spin many heads; in fact, it looks similar to a appurtenance that got fished up from 2009.

This Acer Aspire V5 is thick for an ultraportable, 1.1 inches at its thickest spot. You observe the disparity when you hold it in your hand. Its weight, at 3 pounds, matches what you'd find in a 13-inch ultrabook more than a supersmall 11-inch ultraportable. That said, this Acer slides orderly in to even a small bag, nonetheless the minuscule bit of updated bulk and weight may be felt when carrying it around for a while. Even the enclosed AC horse is small, a small three-pronged wall wart.

There's no technical complaint with this Acer's lifted chiclet keyboard: far-reaching keys, great key travel, and accurately proportioned keys are all what I'd look for, in addition to the edge-to-edge set of keys creates the many of the Acer's slight dimensions. (It's not backlit, though, that is frustrating.) My complaint came from the keyboard's positioning, that affects the existing wrist-rest space and touch-pad size. Instead of the MacBook Air approach, that pushes the set of keys correct up to the manifestation to offer as sufficient touch-pad and wrist-rest space as possible, this Acer's set of keys floats in the center (probably since the considerable hinge/battery receiving up space in the rear), creation for a restrained front end. This happened in formerly 11-inch Acers, and the outcome is mostly the same: typing feels reduction comfortable, and access to the clickpad becomes more difficult.

The multitouch Synaptics clickpad is obviously truly great for such a small, bill laptop, and it's an alleviation on formerly Acer ultraportables. we only found it hard to lift off two-finger gestures since the paltry aspect area. This laptop screams to be related to a Bluetooth rodent or even an outmost set of keys for desktop use.

If you went forward and did that, this Acer could be appealing choice as a home computer: increase a guard and tuck the Acer divided in a corner, and you have a plain home appurtenance for a in accord with price. The cost of the Aspire V5-171-6867 is shut to those of bill desktops. It's not scarcely as versatile, but it's smaller. Still, what it would unequivocally be utilitarian for is travel. Just be forewarned that the set of keys feels restrained since the palm rest.

One small item that helps in slight spaces is that this Acer's shade may be collapsed back scarcely 180 degrees, that may be willing to help when lap-typing in a minuscule space, such as a train seat. The 11-inch shiny manifestation has a 1,366x768-pixel resolution, typical for screens up to 13 inches (and even bigger than that). Text and video look entertaining and nothing feels crowded. This shade doesn't offer great observation angles, even though -- seeking off-axis turns the shade in to a mushy, glare-filled affair. The shade high quality is great enough for bland unstable use, and videos looked excellent as well.

The speakers are other story: they're terrible. Stereo speakers located on the Aspire's underbelly push out weak, tinny sound, roughly as if there were an AM air wave commissioned there. Maximum volume is exceedingly soft, even in a still room. An iPad orator sounds better. Wear headphones.

An enclosed 1.3-megapixel camera offers a great Web-chat-ready experience, mainly for this system's size.

This is as great a place as any to discuss preinstalled trialware: Acer includes it without shame, and pop-ups will displease you. In a bill Windows laptop, this normally comes with the territory.