GADGET WATCH: Acer Aspire 5750

While there have been a flood of high-powered laptops and ultrabooks hitting the market over the past two years, sometimes you just need a machine that can do the job without costing a fortune. The Acer Aspire 5750 attempts to hit that mark.

Although this may not be the ultimate choice on the market, it’s definitely a worthy consideration if you’re on a budget. So how does it stack up against its competitors in the same price range?

Hardware and Features

The Acer 5750 is powered by an Intel Core i3 2.1Ghz processor, and 4GB of RAM. The device also comes with a 500GB hard drive.

It features a 15.6” screen, Wi-Fi, integrated HD graphics, an optical drive, webcam, six-cell battery and a gigabit Ethernet port, along with USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports as well, along with an HDMI port as well. The operating system is Windows 7, Home Premium.

What’s the consensus?

There’s a lot to like about the 5750. Although, TechRadar points out this isn’t a particularly good-looking laptop when you first open the box.

Although the finish appears glossy and nice, there are questions about the durability of the plastic build. It notes the body flexes under pressure, and the plastic keys are “lacking in quality”.

“They don’t feel very robust under your fingers, as if one angry YouTube comment could dislodge one from the laptop once and for all,” it says.

However, there’s more to like in the laptop itself. The Core i3 processor offers a good amount of power, “making it suitable for most day to day tasks” such as web browsing, watching video, pictures, while listening to music.

The review also noted the system starts up extremely quickly, in less than a minute, and is very responsive when flicking around different programs.

Over at Expert Reviews, concerns over the appearance were echoed, although it said the speakers were quite good quality with a nice mid-range sound, thanks to the Dolby advanced technology.

The review also noted the screen caused quite a lot of reflection given the glossy finish, “but there’s more than enough screen tilt to stop this from becoming a problem”.

Expert Reviews also said the touchpad was responsive – a problem that’s often found in some budget laptops.

At Trusted Reviews, the site complained about the lack of USB 3.0 ports, but said overall the device is quite nice to use – and especially noted the fast performance given the limited integrated graphics.

It also said the four-hour battery life was fairly good for the price range.

“It managed just short of five hours in MobileMark’s low-intensity productivity test with wireless radios disabled and screen brightness at 40%, which means you should still get at least four hours under more strenuous conditions.”

“Considering there’s a Core i5 under the hood that’s not too shabby a performance from the removable 4150mAh battery.”

TechRadar also said the battery life was a caveat, but also noted the device is pretty light and compact for you to carry around if need be.

Who’s it for?

This is definitely a budget laptop. It doesn’t have big bells and whistles, the battery life is lower than what you’d get on a higher-end machine and you probably won’t get as speedy a performance.

But if you need something to just get the job done, to do some web browsing, some editing of documents and spreadsheets, and watching media on the road, then this is a great choice. It’s powerful, portable and fast for the price range.