The Acer Aspire AS5742-7645 ($649.99 list), a Costco laptop, follows the basic script for successfully putting together a low-end mainstream laptop. It comes fitted with Intel's Core i3 processor, which provides great bang for the buck, sitting at the bottom rung of Intel's current mobile processor ladder. The CPU has a standard 4GB memory, coupled with integrated Intel graphics. The only core component that comes as a surprise is the 500GB hard drive, which is bigger than the 320GB drives generally found in competing models, such as the Sony VAIO VPC-EB33FM/BJ ($629.99, 4.5 stars)- the current Editors' Choice for the budget laptop category. The VAIO VPC-EB33FM/BJ, however, counts wireless HDMI and WiMAX broadband capabilities among its major attractions. These features are not found on the Aspire AS5742-7645. Still, if you can make due with a wired HDMI connection and 802.11n Wi-Fi, the Acer Aspire AS5742-7645 is something not to be overlooked. It offers great performance for the price, comes backed with a two-year warranty, and runs nearly an hour longer and weighs a smidge lesser than the award-winning Sony.
Design
The Acer Aspire AS5742-7645's design won't stop you as you scroll down the wide aisles of Costco. The laptop features a basic (read: boring) black plastic chassis, which has a textured design on the keyboard deck and a lid that resembles mesh or cross-hatching. The plastic feels thin, flexing in spots underneath your palms and fingertips while typing. The thin plastic chassis of the laptop makes it weigh a few ounces lighter than the Sony EB33FM/BJ; The AS5742-7645 weighs 5 pounds, and the Sony weighs 5.4 pounds.
I generally like chiclet-style or island keyboards, where each key is isolated. The AS5742-7645's keyboard is roomy, but the keys are very thin and flimsy, particularly if you don't hit each key at dead center. Unlike most island-key designs, where the keyboard tray comes up to the bottom edge of the keys, here the keyboard tray appears to be sunken down. Ultimately, leaving wide gaps between the keys and around the edges of the keyboard, making it more prone to dust and dirt accumulation beneath the keys. I prefer the island keyboard of the Sony EB33FM/BJ; the keys are more firm and doesn't have the wide spaces between and underneath the keys where grime can collect.
A dedicated number pad to the right of the keyboard results in a few keys being shortened, namely the Ctrl keys, the Tab key, and the four arrow keys, which are half the normal height. The Acer AS5742-7645 lacks media control keys and requires you to use the Function keys to adjust the volume and control your media.
One of the few drawbacks I found in the Sony EB33FM/BJ was its loud, clacky mouse buttons. But, you won't turn heads in the coffee shop with each mouse click on the AS5742-7645, yet it's not an ideal setup either. The laptop features a single, rocker-style mouse button. It's quite firm to press unless you are clicking on either end of the button. The touchpad is responsive that features a matte surface and support for multi-touch gestures, such as, two-finger scrolling and pinch zooming.
The 15.6-inch widescreen display of the AS5742-7645 laptop has a standard resolution of 1366 by 768. The screen is bright, with vivid colors and crisp edges, particularly during our test running 720p HD movie trailers on Apple's site. The laptop's stereo speakers are merely adequate, but that's common amongst most budget models. You'll also want to keep a pair of headphones or a set of external speakers. A 1.3-megapixel Webcam is just above the display.
Features
An HDMI connection is the highlight of a standard collection of ports, which includes 3 USB 2.0 ports, a VGA port, the Ethernet jack, and the multi-format media card reader. The Sony EB33FM/BJ features these ports and slots in addition to an eSATA port and a 34 slot ExpressCard. The VAIO VPC-EB33FM/BJ also serves the Intel Wireless Display (WiDi), which let's you send video and audio signals from the laptop to the HDTV's HDMI port without the need for cables.
The Sony EB33FM/BJ also trumps the AS5742-7645 in terms of networking. It provides WiMAX for city-wide mobile broadband coverage (with an accompanying $40 monthly subscription), while the AS5742-7645 provides only the basics: Wired Ethernet and 802.11n Wi-Fi connections.
The AS5742-7645 also has the advantage in hard drive capacity, delivering 500GB (5,400rpm) of storage space to the Sony EB33FM/BJ's 320GB. But, the Acer's hard drive comes with its fair share of bloatware. Power the laptop on for the first time, and you'll find it littered with desktop icons for trial offers for Netflix, McAfee Internet Security Suite, and Norton Online Backup. There's also a shortcut for eBay, because typing those four letters into your browser can be such a chore. You'll also find the Barnes & Noble Desktop Reader and The New York Times Reader, which is good only if you have a Times subscription.
I was doubly impressed with the warranty. Typically, a consumer laptop is backed by one year of parts-and-labor coverage. One of the advantages of buying a laptop from Costco is that it comes backed with a two-year warranty.
Performance
Acer Aspire AS5742-7645 With a 2.4GHz Intel Core i3-370M processor and 4GB of DDR3 memory, the AS5742-7645 turned in an admirable showing in the labs. It offers a clear performance advantage over the Pentium-class laptops that are priced near the $500 mark, such as Acer's own Aspire AS5742Z-4097 ($499.99, 3 stars) and Gateway NV55C03u ($479.99, 3 stars). For instance, the Core i3-370M-based AS5742-7645 outflanked its Pentium P6100-based doppelganger, the AS5742Z-4097, by 23 percent on PCMark Vantage. It was also much faster than the AMD Turion II P540-based HP Pavilion dv6-3122us ($649.98 list, 3.5 stars), trouncing the dv6-3122us by a whopping 37 percent on PCMark Vantage, by 27 percent on our Handbrake benchmark test, and by 21 percent on our Photoshop CS5 test. The AS5742-7645 and Sony EB33FM/BJ posted similar scores through lab testing, which comes as no surprise owing to their similar configuration. In Anecdotal testing, Windows 7 Home Premium felt peppy and responsive, even under heavy multitasking scenarios. It has more than enough oomph for the vast majority of mainstream users.
It also has enough battery power for mainstream mobile users. The Aspire AS5742-7645 features a standard 6-cell (48WHr) battery, but it ran for 5 hours 24 minutes on our MobileMark 2007 battery test. That's nearly an hour more than the Sony EB33FM/BJ's time of 4 hours 33 minutes. However, we were impressed with Sony's battery time. Meaning, we're doubly impressed with the AS5742-7645's battery life!
There is nothing to prevent a strong recommendation for the Acer Aspire AS5742-7645. Though its thin, plastic chassis reveals a bit of its budget status, but for home users who don't expect to heap daily abuse upon the machine during commutes or treks to class, the laptop serves up as a useful, if not expensive, feature set. While strong performance, outstanding battery life, and long warranty being add-ons.
Source [
pcmag.com]
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