Acer AS5740-6025 15.6-Inch Laptop (Blue)

Full Description

5 Reviews

1. All is well with this laptop except too much noise during left click and right click. I got it at 600. Features are good. I got for what I paid.

2. This laptop has been running like a dream for me.

   I initially set out for a laptop I could use for school and some code development in a Virtual Machine environment. This laptop has easily reached that mark. I am using it for all the engineering programs I need to install on here like Matlab, Visual Studios, and Mathematica to name a few. Along with those programs, I am using other intensive programs like Photoshop CS5 and iTunes. I can run Photoshop CS5, a Chrome browser with 10-12+ tabs open, and iTunes with ease. I have not tried running a Virtual Machine with Ubuntu 10.04 x64 along with all those other programs running, but I have tried running the VM with the 10-12+ tabs open and it still runs that with ease.

   What I am overall trying to get at is that this computer can handle anything a general everyday user would want to do. It can also handle the likes of a Computer Engineer wanting to do some side code development along in a Virtual Machine along with having a great laptop for college classes that isn’t too heavy. Now obviously this laptop isn’t the lightest laptop out there. If you want a light laptop, you should get a netbook.

   Toshiba has pretty good netbooks and if you don’t really care too much about the specs of the computer,.then HP has new Mini 10s that have lots of cute colors. MSI also has great netbooks, but I digress …

   Next, I will address the graphics card for all the kids who still have lots of free time to play computer games. I have Steam installed on this computer. I was able to download and install Team Fortress 2 (which for those who do not know, is a First Person Shooter game). I was also able to run that on my laptop. It can run on basic settings with some lag. I put all the settings to their lowest level making the terrain not that pretty, but it can play with no lag on those low settings. So you can play video games on this laptop as well but certainly not at the highest graphics settings … probably not even the standard settings if your life in the game depends on not lagging. Now, on the lowest settings, this laptop can handle and will run smoothly. I have never played WoW and never plan to so I can’t tell you how those kind of MMORPGs would run on this laptop but I can imagine that they will run with ease on this laptop since I’ve seen it run on other laptops that pale in comparison to this laptop. Now that being said, this really isn’t a gaming laptop. If you want a gaming laptop with a better processor, be prepared to spend more money. I saw a laptop from Asus that had all the same specs (i5 processor 2.26 ghz, 500gig HDD, 4GB memory …) but the only difference was the processor was better for gaming and the price jumped up around 250-300 dollars. Not worth it in my mind but to each their own.

   As for battery life, for the summer session that I have been using this laptop with so far, I unplug it at about 850AM to catch the bus to class at around 9 and start my first class at 930 and that goes to 10:45. I use my laptop looking at powerpoint slides throughout the whole class. I then go straight to my next class and that goes from 11-12:15 and when that point is reached, the battery is at around 20%. I have this with the settings on power saver. So the battery life is about 3.5 hours – 4 hours. This works perfectly for my needs. Others may need more and may need less. If more is really needed, then buying an extra battery is an option or bringing your charger along is also an option. I believe they also have batteries that have even more capacity if you need that.

   I have Windows 7 x64 installed on this laptop (since that is what came with it and what I wanted anyways) and it boots with ease.

   I also love 4 USB ports that are on the laptop along with the HDMI hook up and a VGA monitor hook up. It does however lack the DVI hook up.

   One MINOR quirk that was strange to me (but I figured it was still worth mentioning) about this and I believe (but I am not entirely sure) other Acer laptops is the fact that if the sound is on and you plug in or unplug your power, the laptop makes a rather loud system beep sound. This definitely caught me off guard when I first started using the computer. This would be okay if there was a way to disable this. However, this is not the case because it is not an option anywhere. I even googled to see if it could be disabled but it cannot. The only way to make it not beep is if you mute the sound when you unplug or plug back in the power. This is obviously hardly worth complaining about compared to the amount of power and versatility I have received from purchasing this laptop.

   So let me wrap this up by saying that this laptop was a great investment for me and allows me to do everything from development to school work to some gaming all in a one mobile powerhouse. I got this laptop for a great discount of $600.00 and I consider that practically a steal on my part. This laptop is easily worth its cost and blows away competitor prices like HP having a laptop with the same specs for around $1,000.00. So go for it with this laptop. You won’t be disappointed.

3. I was a bit skeptical about this laptop, mostly because of the price. It’s easily $100+ less than any other laptop with a core i5 processor. I figured something had to be compromised in order to meet the low price. However, this laptop is the real deal. It has a nice sturdy case with a flush keyboard that I really like. The screen is bright and the resolution is crisp and vivid. I replaced the Windows 7 Home Premium with Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit and it runs like a champ.

   My only complaint is that the track pad is a bit difficult to use at first, but for me, it’s due to the fact that it is offset because of the full number pad on the keyboard. I’ve slowly been getting used to it.

   In regards to some of the complaints made, I can see where people are coming from, but you have to take some things into perspective.

   -It runs hot: Of course it runs a bit hot; it’s got a core i5 processor. Despite this fact, I haven’t personally found it to get too hot at all. As long as you don’t obstruct the cooling vents you’ll be fine.

   -The glossy blue top is a fingerprint magnet: This is true, but it’s nothing a damp cloth can’t take care of. If you’re worried about the cosmetic appearance of your laptop I would suggest buying a Mac or one of the many other colored laptops available on the market.

   -Shorter battery life: When you’re using a quad-core processor, the battery life is not going to be as good as a netbook. This is basic computing knowledge. If you want to make the battery life longer, Windows 7 has many options to help you do that. I can get 3 1/2 hours if I dim the screen and just surf the web. Given the size of this laptop, I’m really surprised anybody would be using for longer than 3 hours while not on AC power.

   -Can’t play all the latest games: That’s because this isn’t a gaming laptop. If you want a gaming laptop, you will need to look for a machine with much better specs than this, and thus, pay a higher price.

4. La Acer Aspire 5740-6025 es una laptop de Gran tamaño, es de 383 mm de largo y 250 mm de ancho. El procesador un Core i5 430M el cual responde muy bien. Tiene gran potencia y la maquina es muy veloz. Con los 4GB de RAM DDR3, se puede tener muchas aplicaciones ejecutándose sin que el rendimiento de la portátil se vea comprometido. En cuanto al sonido puedo decir que es la primera de mis laptops (esta es la tercera) que tiene un buen sonido integrado, suena bastante bien. En cuanto a la pantalla puedo decir que esperaba más, porque desde ciertos ángulos se ve que los colores se oscurecen y no estoy refiriéndome a ángulos muy abiertos sino a ángulos de 45 grados, pero esto solo lo aprecio cuando se trata de un video. Cuando no es video esta situación casi no se nota. Realmente creo que la pantalla puede ser mejor o es que yo estoy pidiendo demasiado.
   Me gusta el teclado numérico, pero puedo acotar que el teclado es muy sensible pues en ocasiones cuando escribo me repite las letras. Pensó que pude ser si las golpeo mucho. Pero otras veces pienso que es un problema del teclado.
   También puedo acotar que luego de tres días de tener la Acer AS5740-6025, trate de conectarla a internet vía WIFI, y mi sorpresa fue que no se conectaba, busque mucha información por internet y nada resolvía la situación. Así que decidí revisar la laptop más a fondo y mi sorpresa fue que al quitar la tapa del disco duro queda al descubierto la tarjeta de red inalámbrica y los cables de la antena estaban desconectados. Los conecte y la wifi funciona perfecto.

5. Love this computer! No problems to report. I like that it has the number keypad included, the screen is sharp and crisp, and I like that it is FAST. The only thing I would change is the “flat” keys – I prefer more “cupped” keys to help my fingers find the keys better. But that is very minor in the overall scheme of things. I highly recommend.