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amazon Acer Aspire 5 A515-54-30BQ reviews
The Acer Aspire 5 A515-54-30BQ is a large-screen budget laptop that delivers a spacious 15.6-inch display, comfortable backlit keyboard, and horsepower for general productivity work – and even more and more. Our review unit is equipped with an 8th Gen Intel Core i3-8145U CPU with 4GB of RAM and an SSD boot drive, but its price is lower than the competition and it catches up with most entry-level machines and universal, including some machines that cost twice as much.
For the low price, expect a few downsides, such as a pile of bloatware and low build quality, which means that like most new laptops out there, this Acer Aspire 5 Slim has its exchange. It gets the job done much better.
Design
By 15-inch laptop standards, the Aspire 5 is fairly light, weighing just under 4 pounds. Most cheap machines are defined by cheap, heavy materials like molded plastic. In contrast, the Aspire 5’s exterior is made of silver aluminum, which means that this laptop is not only lightweight but has a sleek, modern look. Still, it’s nowhere near the 2.2-pound Acer Swift 5, but it still won’t weigh you down in your backpack.
Around the screen edges, there is some plastic but the keyboard deck and the rest of the interior surfaces are made of the same material used on the outside. Even with the improved dimensions and better materials, you will notice that the base of the device wobbles a bit, even when placed on a flat table. There is also some bend in the base, which does not make many people believe in the durability of the Aspire if the body is subjected to a lot of impacts.
Resolution
When you open the lid, you’re greeted by a 15.6-inch full HD (1,920 x 1,080) display, along with new standard LED backlighting and in-plane (IPS) technology. The screen is of excellent quality, with clear and vivid colors when the backlight is set to optimal levels. Better still, the display achieves this by using a matte finish to reduce glare from ambient light.
On the other hand, Acer doesn’t offer a touchscreen option, but this is a noticeable improvement over last year’s model. Above the screen, there’s a 720p webcam with decent video quality – but a bit noisy, lacking the IR sensor that lets you log into your Windows 10 account with facial recognition. After all, we did not expect such a feature on a cheap laptop.
Input
Another interesting feature of the Acer A515-54-30BQ is the backlit keyboard, just above the touchpad. It’s comfortable, sturdy, and offers the flexibility you need during intense typing sessions. Again, it will be very little when you press the keys forcefully. The keyboard has a dedicated number pad on the right side, but unlike the main panel, its keys are not full-sized.
The trackpad used here doesn’t support a built-in fingerprint reader, and it lacks dedicated left and right-click buttons. Instead, the entire surface on the pad is clickable, although it does result in a rather mushy feel every time you click it.
The connectivity options are great, especially if you hate software protection but have plenty of peripherals and cables to plug into your laptop. The left side has the power connector, full-size Gigabit Ethernet and HDMI ports, and two USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports (one with power-off charging). The other side houses a Kensington-style cable, two USB 2.0 ports, and a 3.5mm audio output. Connect wirelessly via Bluetooth 4.2 and Wi-Fi 802.11ac with MU-MIMO support.
While you can’t create a custom-configured Aspire, there are variations to choose from, from the entry-level model to the top-end Core i7 model. Our review unit, the Acer Aspire 5 A515-54-30BQ is the base model, featuring an 8th Gen Intel Core i3-8145U processor, 4GB DDR4 RAM, 128GB NVMe SSD, Intel UHD integrated graphics card Graphics 620, and Windows 10 S.
With Windows 10 S mode, you’re limited to the apps included in the Microsoft Store, the same way you would with Chrome OS running Google Apps, but this version offers the full lightweight Windows 10 experience. It makes a lot of sense to have Windows 10 on this laptop, as it allows you to perform most tasks with flexibility due to the limitations of Chrome OS found on similarly priced Chromebooks.
As configured, the 3.9 GHz Core i3-8145U processor used here is enough for web browsing, video streaming, word processing, and other productivity tasks you normally perform daily. That makes the Aspire 5 a perfect candidate for college or small home office use, especially when a Chromebook isn’t a viable option.
That said, 4GB RAM and 128GB SSD are a bit tight, but you can always swap them out later on with plenty of storage and maybe 8GB of RAM if needed. Battery life is excellent, with the laptop lasting just over 7 hours and 20 minutes on a single charge.
Conclusion
Thanks to its 8th generation Core i3 processor and speedy SSD, the Acer Aspire 5 loadout impresses with very good performance for a machine this low. The increase that storage options and processor choices offer is particularly significant. Again, the battery life and the sleek body are sublime and that’s exactly what most users are looking for at this price point.
where can you get a Acer Aspire 5 A515-54-30BQ online
Acer Aspire 5 Slim Laptop, 15.6″ Full HD IPS Display, 8th Gen Intel Core i3-8145U, 4GB DDR4, 128GB PCIe Nvme SSD, Backlit Keyboard, Windows 10 in S Mode, A515-54-30BQ: Buy it now