Review of Acer Aspire AS5349-2899 15.6-Inch Laptop (Gray)

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I bought this laptop from Micro Center because I saw it on sale for $279 and needed a new computer. I basically try to keep things until they go bad, my computer previous to this one was like a 1996 Award Tower with a basic Dell Screen. Very slow, with a 6 GB hard drive. It got to the point where it was too slow for me to do my work efficiently and couldn't even watch 360p videos on Youtube. I always try to save money and try to purchase items that offer the most for the money. This laptop was an excellent choice. I've had it for about a month so far and I am so happy with it. The performance is excellent, its not sluggish at all, the keyboard is nice and comfortable, and the HD graphics and LED screen are wonderful. Two minor complaints I have is that I couldn't connect to my WiFi and had no idea why it kept disconnecting. I had to uninstall the Norton virus protection that came with the computer and then the internet is working fine. It kept blocking it and driving me crazy, so now that it is gone everything is perfect. The speakers aren't too great either. I work from home and have a two screen setup and wish the audio was just a little bit louder because I sometimes watch videos or the news. I would opt for this model because it is the Intel processor and you can't go wrong with it. The screen is 15.6 HD LED LCD and is a great size. I use it more as a desktop computer so its just fine for me, someone who takes their computer on the go a lot more might want something a bit smaller in size. The hard drive is 282 GB which is huge and coming from a 6 GB HD...yes 6 where I literally had to delete photos after uploading them to conserve space. The drive is more then enough. The battery life is roughly 4 hours, and when you have the screen dim it lasts a bit longer. I typically have the screen dim after a few minutes and sleep after 15 minute to extend the life. I have no problem watching Youtube videos in 1080p and the quality is fantastic. I have also purchased a TV show in HD from Amazon and streamed it and the quality is excellent. Even with the computer being a lot more expensive on amazon it is still a great computer to consider. I also love the HDMI input on the side where I have hooked the laptop up to my 47" Vizio TV and it looked perfect. My girlfriend has a Macbook Pro which is almost $1,000 more and I just can't see the point. She doesn't even have an HDMI port and it has a smaller screen and I can't justify why someone would pay so much more. If you want a laptop that is fast, perfect for everyday use with all the bells and whistles that come standard...this is an excellent choice. There was no reviews for me to read prior to purchasing which made me nervous but I still took the leap, hopefully this will help people who are considering.

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This is a pretty nice notebook. The wide screen is crisp and clear. Default resolution of 1366 x 768 is quite acceptable. I paid 280 and bought a 4 GB memory module for 18 bucks. If you are upgrading the memory remove ALL the screws on the bottom of the notebook. Don't forget the 4 screws inside the battery compartment, and keep them separate from the others as they are smaller. All the other screws are the same size. Once all the screws are removed the back should come off. There are no ribbon cables to worry about. You just set the notebook upside down on a cloth on a table, remove all screws and pull the back plastic off. My fingernails are short and I was still able to gently pry the back off without a tool. If the DVD door cover comes off don't panic, just snap it back into place. Insert memory in the blank slot and screw it back together. remove the entire Presto, you have 6 GB memory. This is a snappy little notebook for under 300 clams. My Scores are Processor 5.3, RAM 5.5, Graphics 4.3, Gaming Graphics 5.7, Hard Disk 5.9.

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Like Jared, I also picked this up at Micro Center. In my case, for only $249! As someone who remembers working on IBM XT personal computers, it is astounding to consider the power and performance that can now be had for a pittance.

I am an Apple user, but so far I have been reasonably well impressed with Windows 7. I downloaded Open Office (I absolutely detest the Microsoft "ribbon" interface) which runs great, and the machine streams movies well. BTW, apparently it is running a 64 bit version of Windows.

I did install 4 megs of additional memory at the suggestion of the sales guy it cost about $20 so I cannot swear the streaming would be quite as good with only 2 meg. I can also attest to the fact that you do indeed have to remove 20-something screws and take off the back of the case to install ram. Though the whole process still only took about 20 minutes.

The keyboard is a little weird, in that the keys are sort of like large Chiclets that kind of float over the body of the machine, which tells me it could get messy for users who eat while using their computers. This is the only weak spot I have noticed. It is also true that you have to burn your own recovery disks for Windows, but given the price, I can't beef about that.

Overall, a very good machine for the price.

Honest reviews on Acer Aspire AS5349-2899 15.6-Inch Laptop (Gray)

My dear wife needs a basic laptop to do her Turbo tax and net surfing.

This machine fits the bill.

I got this from Fry's for about $280.

I added 4G of RAM on top of the current 2G RAM (total of 6G).

The machine has two memory slots. Mercifully, the existing RAM is a single module 2G RAM so that leaves another slot open (instead of having two modules with 1G each).

As mentioned in some previous reviews, there are 20 "long" screws in the back that need to be removed.

On top of that, there are 4 "short" screws (3 in a row, and the forth on the other side) in the memory bay.

These need to be removed too (so a total of 24 screws).

The screws were put in rather tight and I needed a wrench (on the screw driver) to unscrew some of the screws.

Putting back the back cover was a bit tricky. You need to make sure that the cover lines up with the two front circular audio ports (headphones + mike).

The machine came with little bloatwares and I did not have any problem uninstalling them.

The laptop is not the best looking laptop (I was spoiled by my daughter's ultrabook which came in an aluminum chassis).

However, it is not hideous either. It looks rather "functional".

The machine has an Intel B815 processor I believe this is a celeron processor (dual core) this is a low-end Intel processor.

It cold booted Window 7 in about a minute not too bad.

This is my "Window Experience Index":

Processor = 5.2

Memory = 7.1

Graphics = 4.1

Gaming graphics = 4.4

Primary hard disk = 5.9

I have done some web surfing and viewed HD contents on youtube.

The machine handle these tasks with no problem.

(as compared to those blasted netbooks)

I do not anticipate any issue when running Turbo-Tax or large Excel spreadsheets.

On the other hand, I am pretty sure the machine will choke on latest/greatest games or heavy duty video processing.

I could not comment on the battery life have not tested this yet.

(I expect this to be decent since the machine comes with a 6-cell battery and celeron processor is not that power hungry.)

The AC brick does not get hot that is good.

The machine is pretty quiet even when viewing HD content on youtube.

The fan seems to kick in very seldom and it is not loud when it kicks in.

The DVD-ROM is rather loud (when used), though.

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I use the internet alot and three years is about the lifetime of my computer. I was a bit hesitant to go with Acer, but having spent $500 for a HP laptop just 3 years ago, I opted for a budget model. I have not had any of the issues that negative reviewers have found. The keyboard is very comfortable. The computer is very light compared to my old model, but faster. I've been advised to not get anything less than 1.6 GHz processor for using You Tube, and the 1.3 GHz processor on this model is more than adequate to view You Tube videos without issue. I'm very happy with it.