Compared to macbook pro
Pros:
1) AMD Athlon 64 x2 Dual-Core Processor TK-57 is fast with supporting architecture.
2) Streamed CBS s' 60 minutes off the internet seamlessly and in equivalent time.
3) Wireless connectivity with 802.11 b/g WLAN is adequate compared to draft n.
4) Windows Vista which came installed is very usable.
5) Laptop mouse is very stable, sensitive and sleek.
(Good redundancy features)
6) Given that the reliability of the processor is good (years out), this computer is robustly upgradable in the future:
PCMCI and Express Card slots can be used in future for Flash memory upgrade three years out from purchase date
(December 2008) to complement dwindling hard drive space.
7) Equipped with 4 USB hubs, if one hub breaks there are three more in operation.
8) Connectivity from virtually anywhere (If wireless LAN not available, an ethernet hub is built in; if ethernet not available, a modem hub connection is built in)
9) Screen picture quality has brillant, vivid colors.
10) Keyboard has a nice natural curve for typing so hands do not get tired.
11) Computer barely gets warm -cooling fan is vey good.
12) 1/4 the price ($ 500) of mac book pro ($ 2000) and similar functionality except for battery and included hard disk space.
13) Warranty from radioshack and acer combined is 2 years compared to 1 year from apple.
14) Acers online support for drivers and downloads is very transparent, acers documentation and manuals for older and current models is better than apples, phone service is good but needs improvement, (we have an apple G5 1.8 GHz which is quite good, apples technical phone support is also good but apples store genius personal support is inadequate and very limited with respect to battery replacement or hardware fixes).
Cons:
1) Battery life wirelessly is about 2 hours; battery life is 2.5 hours with wireless off (battery is upgradable from 6 cell to 8 cell however). So battery life will increase to 3 h 36 min ( 2h 57 min) but compared to the the macbook pro and acer timeline series currently (11/2009) with > 6 hours, the battery life could be better but this would consume spatial volume within the computer that I see can be better utlilized in the future for Flash (solid State memory upgrades) in the PCMCIA and Express card slots without having to carry around a portable drive (that may be faster for retrieval) but cumbersome to carry.
2) Hard disk drive included is 120 GB which is ok but not as good as 250 or 320 GB.
3) No bluetooth included but installation of a wired internal bluetooth chip is quite doable for $20 off ebay or using one of the 4 USB hubs is also doable for the same cost.
I really do not see why a CD drive is constantly being included in this and future laptops as it just takes up potential valuable hard drive space, Flash memory space or Battery space. I anticipate flash memory will eventually displace CD infrastructure when it becomes more affordable for software and movie vendors.
Considering purchase of acer timeline 15.6" in addition for newspaper browsing family member just for the extra battery life per charge. However I look to my acer extensa 5420-5038 more as a long term investment for the AMD processor life span and for the acer extensa 5420-5038 to be more expandable and upgradable in terms of memory --we will see, but so far so good.
Update as of Oct 22, 2012 (3 years and 10 months later) -I originally gave this computer four stars to be conservative after owning the computer for 11 months. After having owned this computer for 3 years and 10 months, this computer has been reliable and functions very well with the vista operating system. If you want a workhorse computer that is reliable, then the acer extensa 5420-5038 computer is a good investment.
I purchased this laptop in 2008 in preparation for college. While it has lasted me for while I am less than impressed with it. Here are a few things that I've noticed.
1. The video card is AWFUL. Mine came with an ATI Radeon Xpress 1250 video card, which is barely enough to run games that came out when I bought the computer (at minimal settings) and not nearly enough to run anything new. (It lags on Portal, if that's any indication of just how bad the card is). Not only that, but ATI long since stopped updating the drivers for it, probably about a year after I got. So if you're looking for support or software upgrades for the video card, you're SOL.
2. The battery lasted about 2 and a half hours on low-power settings when I bought it. It now lasts about 2 and a half minutes on battery (Though thankfully will stay on standby overnight on the battery. I'll soon be buying a new battery so I can actually be portable again.
3. Build Quality. Again, about a year after I got it, the headphone jack failed. Now I'm a musician, so I use the headphone jack almost every day, so maybe this is just wear and tear, but it is now to the point where I have to use a PCMCIA audio card in order to listen to anything. The case itself is not very durable as well. The bottom left area where my left hand rests is coming apart at the seam (literally, you can lift the plastic up and see the inside). But most annoying of all is the screen. Acer must have not thought this part out very well, because about 6 months ago the left hinge for the screen BROKE THROUGH the plastic surrounding the case after being perpetually cracked for about a year. I had to dismantle the screen, pull apart the hinge and remove the attachment entirely to be able to open and close the screen without casing further damage. The screen is now held up solely by the right hinge.
Cooling: On a hot day, the fan works just well enough to prevent overheating...for about 20 minutes. Then it will shut off and you get to spend another 20 waiting for it to cool down. I now have it on a cooling pad and it still gets hot after extended running periods (2-3 hours).
Oh, and I'm down to 1.75 GB of RAM. Down from the original 2GB (Though I doubt there was every that much to begin with).
The keyboard is quite fragile. I've just ordered another for it as my backspace, o and \ keys have broken off simply from use.
Honestly, I'd look elsewhere.
Buy Acer Extensa 5420-5038 Athlon 64 X2 TK-57 1.9GHz 2GB 120GB DVD±RW DL 15.4" Vista Home Premium w/We Now
I didn't buy this laptop, and I'm not the original owner. I ended up with this machine by trading a friend my beloved Asus EEEPC 1015PE netbook for it. As much as I loved my netbook for its amazing battery life, small footprint and extreme portability, it's single core Atom processor lacked the necessary power to meet many of my requirements. I am a full time student and I am taking several programming classes, and running IDEs like Eclipse would put the computer through it's paces, but when it came time to compile the anemic 1.67GHz single core would be brought to it's knees from the punishment. Long compile times and periodic crashes while doing so make netbooks a less than prime candidate for CIS students.
Now about this Acer laptop.
First off, I'd like to say that I am not a fan of AMD products (CPUs or graphics cards), particularly in mobile computers because of their typically poor power management, lower performance to clock speed ratio and excessive heat as compared to similarly clocked Intel processors. This laptop is no exception to the rule. The bottom will get uncomfortably warm if sat on anything but a flat level surface like a table.
Second, I think it's kind of cheesy that Acer included the hard switch for Blutooth on the case to this computer but did not actually include a bluetooth module. Not that I use bluetooth particularly frequently on my computers, but it does have it's uses and cutting corners like that is inexcusable. At least have the decency to put a blank off plate on it or something
Third, the graphics card is a disappointment. I've owned laptops with ATI Radeon Xpress graphics before and was happy with their performance. But the Radeon Xpress X1250 barely performs at the level that Intel's integrated graphics chips like the GMA3150 in my netbook did. In some cases, performance lags somewhat behind Intel's. For example on Linux. The last version of Ubuntu to actually support this graphics card using the official ATI drivers was Ubuntu 8.04 which has LONG SINCE been retired, even as a Long Term Support release. ATI can't be bothered to update their drivers for products that are more than about 2 years old apparently, and they relegate everything else to "Legacy" status and eventually drop support entirely. Running Ubuntu 12.04 leaves much to be desired since the only drivers available are the open source reverse engineered "Radeon" xorg modules. If you enjoy using the advanced effects from Compiz like the desktop cube then this card is going to be a disappointment.
However, on Windows the card seems to perform decently well. I wouldn't even attempt to play any games but it will at least enable Aero effects, which seems to be the only function this card provides. It can't handle HD video and struggles with any flash content.
Battery life is not great. I get roughly 2 hours on a full charge depending on what I'm doing. Considerably less if I'm compiling code, which I frequently am. This isn't so much a concern for me though because I typically have access to power at school. It is a pain sometimes having to play contortionist in order to get at the obscure power strip attached underneath the desk.
The laptop's size and weight are a consideration. While it is nice having more screen real estate, this laptop is particularly heavy even for computers of the same size. Coming from a netbook and bicycling several miles to and from school, this is a bit of a drawback for me.
The pros of this laptop are certainly considerable though!
First off, the curved keyboard feels very natural and easy to type on, which is very important for programming. So the computer scores some points there.
Second, the track pad is smooth and responsive. It has some nice Synaptics multitouch features that can be enabled after installing the driver for it from Acer's website. Also, the trackpad is large enough to be easy to use (a considerable improvement over the tiny jittery track pad on my old netbook) but it's not so large that it gets in the way and accidentally gets bumped by your wrists which was a constant annoyance using my netbook.
Third, although the AMD CPU does tend to put out a bit more heat than I'd like, the dual core 1.9GHz Turion64X2 processor does provide a plenty of power for accomplishing tasks and can run multiple programs without any problems.
Fourth, the screen is bright and crisp and easy to read. It would be nice if it supported 1440x960 resolution but 1280x800 is a substantial increase over 1024x600 on my netbook.
Fifth, although certainly not surprising compared to other computers, the inclusion of a DVD-RW drive is a very welcome addition coming from a netbook without an optical drive of any kind.
Sixth, the construction of this laptop is fairly substantial. Actually, it's built like a tank. A big heavy clunky tank. But it is solid and seems pretty durable. Not that I'd want to test it out, but I'm pretty sure it would be fine even if it got knocked around a bit. My netbook on the other hand was one swan dive off the coffee table away from the dumpster.
So in conclusion, I'd like to say that I'd never willingly pay money for this computer but considering the fact that I didn't pay anything for it, it is a welcome upgrade from a netbook in most ways. It provides me with the additional CPU power I needed to be able to use it for school.
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This is a great laptop. It runs fast with over 60 firefox tabs open. The only complaint I have about this is the touchpad mouse isn't very accurate. It will click on things when you haven't actually clicked (clicking can be done by tapping the touchpad twice as well as the left click button, but if you lift your finger to move the touchpad farther to one side, then it sometimes interprets that as a click). Other times the mouse pointer will change position across the screen without you moving your finger. I don't know if that's an overall problem, or just a problem with mine, but if you can deal with the mouse, it's a great laptop.
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I've had this laptop for almost a year now and I love it! I saw a few iffy reviews at first but every electronic is a risk there's always a possiblity for disappointment. A few times at the beginning whenever I watched tv shows online the computer froze up and I was forced to reboot. But the acer settings allow you to change the power settings and if you change it to high performance it runs smoothly. I use it daily and I haven't experienced any of the "vista problems" and tell that to anyone that reminds me of them. I'm actually on my laptop right now. It's definitely worth the money whatever price you pay for it!
I bought two of these laptops for less than what I paid for one of another brand 4 years ago, so it's hard to complain about much. The keyboard is cheap feeling, however this is particular to my laptop as my husband's laptop does not have this feeling. The touchpad takes a bit of getting used to as it is flush with the rest of the surface as opposed to being sunken. This review is after only 24 hours of owning these machines, so time will prove out the really important stuff inside the case! Overall, I give it 4 stars for it simply being functional and affordable. I am not a techie, but apparently this is an entry-level processor. Otherwise, it is well-equipped in RAM and storage for the price. Also need to point out that Amazon and FedEx had this order to me in 17 hours, Saturday delivery for $7.98!
