Acer as a brand of laptops and computers might not be a star performer, comparing it to the bigwigs – Apple, HP, Dell and Samsung. It is better known for its budget systems. But, Acer’s Aspire V Nitro lineup was a real surprise. It delivers more than expected in terms of quality, looks, performance and price.
Should I say Acer’s finally taking the competition head on?
So, let’s quickly glance at the features.
1. Processor –
It is powered by an Intel Core i7 4720HQ quad-core processor with a base clock of 2.5GHz. To put it straight, it is as good as a desktop class i7 2600k packed in a sleek laptop case. It can easily double up as a work and gaming station.
2. Graphics –
Speaking about gaming and graphics, there is Nividia GeForce GTX 960M. It doesn’t revolutionize gaming, but offers stunning visuals and impressive speed. What I liked about it is that games do not lag on high to very high settings. I have only played Kerbal Space Program and Tropico 5 on this notebook but it provides great graphics and plays fluently.
3. Design –
The Acer Aspire Nitro V has been designed to stand out with its soft-touch, matt black finish, and the curved metal hinge. The screen is large at 17.3 Full HD IPS display. Its slim fit and lightweight body makes it a compact system easy to carry around. Nonetheless, it has a solid, sturdy feel.
4. Sound –
The sound quality deserves praise. It has a great set of 4 built-in speakers and Dolby Digital Plus Home Theatre to give you the best entertainment experience. It does lack some bass, but that’s not a major glitch.
5. Keyboard and Trackpad –
The keyboard with its soft touch material is a pleasure to type on. It is a full deck with a numeric pad. The keys are well-spaced increasing typing comfort. They make a clicking sound, when typing, but it is not much of a bother. The highlight is the backlight on the keyboard. It creates a soft red glow. You can switch it on and off. However, it does not allow you to adjust the settings. What can I say about the touch pad, it is not good, it not bad. It does not have left and right click buttons.
6. Screen –
The Acer Aspire features a Full HD 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution LED-backlit IPS display. The viewing angle is superb. The colors on the screen are bright and images crisp. The ability to adjust screen brightness creates a workable screen for the outdoors.
7. Cooling –
Laptops fitted with a processor and graphic card of this capability tend to heat up (they get hot) within a few minutes of use. During our testing, I used the Acer Aspire for an hour of gaming. The laptop heated up at the back, but just a bit. It was not hot. The front remained cool.
8. Expandable –
Memory also determines how good or how fast and how convenient your system is. Acer allows you to expand the memory with its M.2 slot, an 8GB stick and a RAM slot.
What’s bad with it?
To start with, I would say the 5,400rpm hard drive. It is slow. It is okay for a storage drive, but blistering slow for an OS drive. It causes the laptop to bottleneck when multitasking. It simply cannot handle large amount of data at a single time.
It lacks a maintenance panel. It is common for slim laptops to be designed without a maintenance panel, but we would have liked to see one on the Acer Aspire V Nitro series. So now, if you want to upgrade the RAM or the SSD/ M.2 slot, you will have to dismantle. Even the battery is not easy to access. That means changing it is going to be a hassle.
I was not too impressed with the battery life too. At its best, it offers only 3 to 3 ½ hours of battery life.
Thus, if you see, Acer doesn’t give us a major overhaul on the Aspire V Nitro series. But, it does incorporate some performance-boosting improvements. It does show potential for a better rating, but only time will tell if it is better than its predecessors.
[Reviews by our reader: Jone, thanks]
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