Acer Aspire 5 Slim Laptop, 15.6 inches Full HD IPS Display, AMD Ryzen 3 3200U, Vega 3 Graphics, 4GB DDR4, 128GB SSD, Backlit Keyboard, Windows 10 in S Mode, A515-43-R19L, Silver

This is NOT a Budget Laptop. This is the best laptop deal you can get, full stop.Touchescreen? Nope. That feature is stupid in a laptop, in my view. As you use the keyboard, incidental touche s of the screen change focus or move to different screens–touchscreen is a gimmick and sucks.The screen on this laptop is worth the price by itself. Gorgeous, black is actually black, it rivals my AOC gaming desktop monitor.The Ryzen chip inside can be overclosked if you feel like it, but it is not needed. It is plenty fast for a laptop.This is set up to add memory and a hard drive. Do so. I spent an additional $50 to add a 1tb drive and an 8gig memory stick. In so doing, I have the same specs as a $700 consumer laptop.Gaming? I stream from my desktop, it’s perfect. It won’t run any modern games at more than low settings (if that) but you don’t need to run them onboard if you have a gaming machine. DO NOT BUY THIS TO PLAY GAMES ONBOARD. Stream via Steam, it’s perfect.Buy this for $300, spend an additional $50 or $100 on memory and storage, and sit back and realize that you got a premier laptop for 1/3 the money people are spending on nothing.Build quality is bomber. Eveything is solid, no rattles, no warps. Others have ripped on the touchpad–can’t tell the difference between this and any other laptop touchpad. It isn’t loose, responds as usual, no problem.The screen is GORGEOUS and much better than laptops at twice or three times the price.I actually like the compressed number pad on the right. If you aren’t doing a lot of 10-key stuff, it’s what you need.The keyboard backlight stays on while you’re typing, shuts off when you aren’t. Perfectly configured.This boots in about 15 seconds.It has some heft, but is still very light. Hard to describe, but you can carry this all day in your backpack and not even know it is there. The power brick is about the size of a Toblerone tube. I plan on buying an extra to travel with.This will work as a consumer laptop as is, like I said, but add some memory and a hard drive and you are CRUSHING.I can’t sing the praises of this enough.Buy this, add a drive and a memory stick and you get a premier laptop for less than $400. And you get a better screen, too. And anyone can do that, it isn’t tough at all. If you can turn a screwdriver, you can update this machine.Make sure to go in and turn S mode off. First, activate Windows, then go to the store and turn off S mode.This is much better than what other companies are offering as a budget laptop.

Better with a couple of upgrades but works OK out of the box. Aspire 5 with 4gb RAM 128gb PCIe NVMe SSD drive notes (long, so you may want to skip this review):Aluminum cover, plastic housing.Left side ports – Ethernet cable, HDMI, USB 2.0, USB 3.0, Headphone jack.Right side ports – Kensington computer lock port, USB 2.0.Notably missing – no port for SD cards at all.Not a touch screen, but nice in color and clarity. (Opinions on screens and keyboards tend to vary widely – what suits me perfectly may seem to be junk to you, so YMMV).The speakers on the front underside – the sound is O.K. (for an inexpensive laptop) but volume is lacking.Power supplied through a proprietary Acer plug, not through a USB-C port. Cord can only attach to the laptop on the left side (as seen by the user at the keyboard).Windows “S” is installed; it is limited to running apps available only in the Microsoft Store.Suggested upgrade – move up to Windows 10 Home. It’s a free upgrade – with the caveat that you cannot return to “S” version.To upgrade to Home version (instructions as of the date of this review; I assume/accept no responsibility if things go awry. You may want to Google instructions to verify):Go to Settings.Then select Update & Security.In the left sidebar, click Activation.Then click “Go to the Store.”Press the “Get” button under the “Switch out of S Mode” section and in a very short time you’ll be assigned the Windows Home version.Suggested upgrade – if you want to encrypt your laptop you may want to upgrade to Windows 10 Pro or Windows 10 Enterprise. These upgrades are not free, check Microsoft for current pricing.The Aspire 5 has a TPM chip so encryption will not require a boot password (not your Windows password).If you want to set a boot password for the computer (not your Windows password) you can set that in BIOS. Don’t forget it – resetting a boot password on a laptop can be a pain and a half (or impossible) to rectify. See below on how to get into BIOS.The included 128GB PCIe NVMe SSD drive is (for me) large enough to hold Windows 10 Enterprise and the applications I use and is quick enough to run them. I’m in I.T. support (although semi-retired) and don’t use the Aspire 5 for computer games. YMMV.Suggested upgrade – add an additional SSD to the computer (screws are in the box, housing and cable required are inside the Aspire 5). You can Google videos on how to perform the upgrade. A second internal drive allows you to separate your data from your operating system and applications; if Windows ever has to be completely re-installed your data won’t be affected. If you keep your data in the Cloud you can set the second drive as the sync drive and not fill up “C:” drive.The chip, an AMD Ryzen 3 3200U, does pretty well for my purposes. Again, gamers may have a different opinion so YMMV. I’ve had no issues when viewing training or YouTube videos.The battery life won’t get me through a typical support day without at least some recharge time – Acer claims up to 7 1/2 hours but, of course, that depends on what you’re doing. Watching videos will eat more power than writing a project proposal in Word. YMMV, but I bought a second power cord to take with me to client offices while leaving the cord at my home office plugged in. I seem to be getting 5 hours, maybe a bit better, with the screen set to maximum brightness.The machine doesn’t get overly warm in use (again, I’m not a gamer), but I use a laptop board most of the time when the laptop isn’t on a hard surface, so there is nearly always some airflow under the machine.The included 4gb of included RAM is really the absolute minimum to think about with Windows 10.Suggested upgrade – add a single 4gb RAM chip in the empty slot (Google for videos on that) to bring the total to 8gb RAM. After installing the additional 4gb the computer will report 8gb installed with “5.94gb usable”. The ‘missing’ RAM is being commandeered by the Radeon software for the display. If you need/want more the machine can support up to 32gb (1 16gb chip in each slot, discarding the 4gb already installed). 16gb would require 1 8gb chip in each slot, discarding the 4gb already installed. For business purposes (Office, Chrome and You Tube videos) I’m finding the 8gb (5.94 available) to be acceptable. YMMV.How ‘easy’ the RAM and hard drive upgrades are depends on how comfortable you are working with computers. I found them quite simple. Be careful not to crack the plastic housing when removing the bottom cover. Using the correct plastic spudge is helpful, you can search Amazon for a selection of tools. (spudge = type of plastic or rubber pry bar). Google the ‘how-to’ videos first.”Bloatware” included with the computer isn’t completely over-the-top, but it does take a few minutes to delete all of the junk. The “Microsoft Office” included with the Aspire 5 is a 30-day trial version, not a full license.After uninstalling the bloatware I installed Microsoft Office365 with Access, Adobe Photoshop Elements, DIA (a program for diagramming), AllwaySync (a backup program), Google Chrome, Splashtop Business and Personal (remote access software), VLC Media Player and a couple of network utility applications. I have 78gb of free space left on “C” drive.The three small stickers showing Ryzen chip, Aspire 5 inclusions, and Radeon graphic chip that are stuck onto the hand rest part of the computer can be easily peeled off and leave no residue (I was able to rub the remaining adhesive off easily with my thumb). I don’t know why the stickers are there – presumably if you’ve bought the machine you know what the details are without seeing sticky notes on the keyboard surface. If they’re for advertising purposes in the store it might be more cost effective to print advertising to be placed by the machine rather than label every machine on the production line. I also found the “Full 1080 HD” sticker on the screen bezel easy to take off. So I did. If Acer is interested in putting relevant data on stickers, how about putting the Make, Exact Model Number, Serial Number, and Date of Manufacture on a sticker? THAT one I would leave in place. As it is you need to flip the machine upside down to see the manufacturer’s information. (Sorry – this is a pet peeve of mine).A couple of quick notes for those who are new to Windows laptops – if the keyboard fails to light up, check the F8 key – it can toggle the light on/off. If you suddenly lose your WiFi connection check the F2 key – that toggles “Airplane Mode” on/off. Note that the “function” keys are set to use the little icons (F1 is sleep, F9 is mute, etc.). To use them as traditional function keys you need to hold down the “Fn” key simultaneously. Fn+F9, for instance, will cause the Outlook application to re-sync when you’ve got that desktop app open. If you prefer the traditional function key usage (not having to hold down the Fn key to use the keys within applications) you can toggle that in BIOS. To get into BIOS, reboot the computer and immediately start tapping the F2 key (no Fn key required).For me the ‘sweet spot’ of laptops is in the 14″ range (11″ for road trips). That being acknowledged I don’t find the extra width or weight of the Aspire 5 to be onerous – the thin screen bezel allows the claim to the 15.6″ screen while not unduly expanding the overall size of the laptop. At nearly 4 pounds it’s a bit heavier than the under-three-pounds-sweetness that I prefer but it’s not too bad. Especially after removing the weight of those ridiculous stickers. YMMV.If you need more power than this machine has, Acer does offer a similar package with upgrades to the Ryzen 5 chip, 8gb of RAM, and 250gb of hard drive space as well as some other goodies:https://www.amazon.com/Acer-A515-44-R41B-Hexa-Core-Processor-Graphics-dp-B087N4ZRXV/dp/B087N4ZRXV/ref=dp_ob_title_ceHTHRegards,Jim

it is what it is. well i’m using it to write this review. so there’s that. lol.bought this in march of 2020. one thing i never understood is when companies want you to write a review immediately after purchasing an item, and you haven’t even had the opportunity to really use it, or put it through the paces.so any review you give would be a false one. cause if the item doesn’t last was it worth it?so here we are. almost three years later. and yes it does work.one thing that i found rather annoying is that it has nothing on it.we live in this world of apps and more. this wasn’t my first computer purchase. so imagine my chagrin when i opened it up to a fully blank screen with zero programs on it.we live in a world where these companies are about giving you less and less for more money. akin to going to the hairstylist, they want to charge you extra for washing your hair, which was an part of the package, AND a requirement in getting your hair done.the same with this. now they want you to pay for the computer PLUS all of the apps separately. and they call it progress. you’d think with that being the case it would be faster. nope.you have to constantly reboot it just to get the web browsers to work properly. as you’re using it the screens will change and fade out on you to safe mode. sometimes it freezes and you don’t know why.the constant notifications about microsoft updates are a nuisance.does it still work like it did when i bought it? yes it does. but i have to be mindful of programs i attempt to use on it. because i’ll get an error message that there isn’t enough storage to run the programs on the hard drive. smh.this claimed to have the ability to use multiple applications and do split screens and more. well you can have the apps up at the same time. but good luck passing back and forth between them. i can’t use anything from the adobe suite. because there’s not enough ram.the few programs i loaded on it all have issues of usage and it tells of space and storage issues. “slowing it down” when the apps are open.and that microsoft store is not it. that’s the biggest issue of all. you’re pretty confined to the usage of “apps’ that they offer UNLESS you download a whole other program that basically works on top of the microsoft. which is a nuisance and yet another reason to not purchase this.if this is the way of life of computer purchases where you have to download a google app just to put programs on a computer that you’ll use. when they USED to work well with and for microsoft years ago… just nope. why should we have to deal with these complications.before it was about making a cell phone like a computer. but now they’re trying to make computers like cell phones. and this is one place where it just ain’t premium and not working.i hate it. the programs i need and use i can’t take advantage of. the stuff i don’t want or need are here. they’re good for pushing microsoft programs on you. but if you’re in this world you know that microsoft doesn’t excel at all types of needs involving a computer. so be aware when you’re buying this if you purchase it.also it’s so old now that i would say it’s not even worth the money they’re charging for it. upgrade yourself and get something that will be worth your money.yes they have chromebooks where work from a google mainframe. but they’re no better either. because they don’t allow you to add on whole programs that you may need either. it’s like you can’t seem to win these days when buying a computer.just be aware when you’re making a purchase. pay attention to the ram. pay attention to the storage space. the number of usb outlets. those do matter. this has three. and i use them all.oh one other thing. last year in 2022 the cord malfunctioned and stopped working to charge it up. so i had to purchase a replacement. which doesn’t even fit well. but it does charge it up. so there’s that i just have to be mindful if i’m plugged in and the new plug doesn’t drop out.so yes it still works. the battery life, not so good roughly a good 2-3 hours of usage out of it, even this many years after the fact. but then i rarely use it without the plug, because i’ve found that most laptops don’t work as well without a plug. and all claim to have a long battery life, until you put them to the test.not being plugged in you don’t get full usage of the applications as you’d like. everything slows down. something i don’t like. even the web browsers tend to struggle more when it’s not plugged in.the sound from the speakers is midrange. not great but not poor. there are things i’d prefer to be louder. but you deal. it’s not a touchscreen. but i didn’t need it to be one.i paid $343 for this back in 2020. that it’s now a few dollars more if it were purchased new today, AND IT’S OLD AND OUTDATED says much to me. this thing needs to be way cheaper given what you get and don’t get. it’s basically two steps from being obsolete.screen resolution is okay. and to be honest. i bought an acer. cause i’ve purchased from the name brands that charge more and received a mediocre product. so i figured if i were to get something that was not premium, i didn’t want to pay a premium price for it.in the end people are going to spend their money how they choose. so if you want it do it. get it. but i wouldn’t.