Acer Aspire 5 (A515-58GM-787G)

Review Acer Aspire 5 (2024) First impression The device surprisingly started talking to me in English when I waited too long with a first action. This was unexpected, but funny. The screen has a 16:9 format, which makes it appear larger than 15 inches. This format is ideal for widescreen applications, but can be somewhat limited in height, for example when using Word. For Excel, on the other hand, it offers sufficient space. The laptop is made entirely of plastic, beautifully finished, has sufficient connections and is finished in a beautiful dark gray metallic paint.

Ease of use and installation • Mouse pad: The mouse pad responds smoothly, clicks pleasantly and is spacious. Fortunately, there are no unnecessary extra functions that are sometimes difficult to disable. • Installation: Very easy to set up in Dutch. After setting basic options such as language and network, the device automatically searches for updates and performs them, followed by a restart. ________________________________________ Keyboard The keyboard (QWERTY) is unfortunately a disappointment: • The silver-gray metallic design is beautiful, but impractical. In backlight, the keys reflect, making the thin, off-white letters difficult or impossible to see. This makes working in daylight, such as outdoors or near a window, very difficult. • The illumination of the keys goes out too quickly and is not sufficiently visible in brightly lit rooms, even when the laptop is connected to the mains. • There is no [Pause] key, which can be a loss for some users, such as in Access. Redefining keys is possible, but not ideal. • Numeric keypad was another much appreciated bonus!

Specifications and performance • Test laptop: Acer Aspire 5, Intel Core i7 (13th gen), NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2050 (4GB), 16GB RAM, 510GB SSD. • Comparison test: Compared to my older desktop PC (2019), Intel Core i7 (8th gen), NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (6GB), 32GB RAM, 4TB SSD. Note: Storage: The 510GB SSD is on the small side for this type of laptop; 1TB or more would be a better fit. This may be upgradeable upon purchase.

Performance per application

1. Network: The Acer almost reaches the maximum speed of a 1Gbps connection (113 MB/s) thanks to the SSD disk.

2. Office tasks: o Excel runs noticeably faster than on my older PC. Reading large XML files is twice as fast. o Opening Office files is smoother and faster.

3. Gaming: o Tested with Need for Speed: Payback (26GB installation files). With all settings on 'High' the game ran without any hiccups. o The fan is noticeably loud during intensive games, but the noise is not disturbing. o The arrow keys are small and close together, which makes them difficult to operate. Fortunately, the keys can be easily customized in most games.

4. Video and rendering: o Full HD laptop screen (1920x1080) works fine; when connected to a 4K TV, the laptop supports 4K output (3840x2160). o Video rendering with heavy programs is twice as fast as on my old PC. Both the CPU and GPU perform excellently during intensive tasks.

5. Stress test: o The laptop ran for 48 hours at full load with AI video processing without overheating or glitches. The fan was clearly audible at maximum capacity, but remained acceptable in terms of noise.

Software and Operating System • Windows 11: Although functional, Windows 11 is still full of unwanted features such as telemetry and privacy settings that are enabled by default. Adjusting these takes time. • Installation experience: o Try to avoid the Office365 trial subscription, as this will convert to a paid version after a month. o Avoid installing gaming services such as EA, which ask for credit card information. o McAfee is installed by default, but Windows Defender is fine. This saved money can be better spent on a VPN subscription.

Conclusion The Acer Aspire 5 (2024) is an excellent laptop with many possibilities for a reasonable price. The performance is stable, and the hardware components are well matched. For applications such as gaming, video rendering and intensive office work, the device is very suitable. The numeric keypad is a nice addition for a laptop of this size. However, the keyboard design (color and lighting) is a big disadvantage for use in bright environments. The choice of metallic keys with low-contrast letters makes the keyboard almost unusable in backlight or sunlight. This detracts from the versatility you expect from a laptop. Previously, you had to buy a high-end laptop to work with heavy Excel and Access applications, but now you can make do with a laptop in this price range that costs less than half. For video editing, the sky is the limit in terms of speed, so if you can afford it, more is always better. Final score: 8/10 Pros: Performance, build quality, price-quality ratio Cons: Impractical keyboard design (finish, not layout), limited storage.