Acer AS5732Z-4867 15.6-Inch HD Display Laptop

5 Responses to “Acer AS5732Z-4867 15.6-Inch HD Display Laptop”

1. Ali baba says:

   April 4, 2010 at 12:13 am

   its a excellent laptop it hase 2.2ghz cpu witch is excellent if you what to play WOW or other games and it hase a huge screen its my first pc i got it for $429 i hade it for 3 days now and it dose what you what and more for $429 i was not expecting this much but the hard drive is smaller than 250gb its 220gb and 196gb win everything is installed
   Rating: 5 / 5
2. Chibicat23 says:

   April 4, 2010 at 2:03 am

   This is a excellent basic computer, and I bought it particularly because it came with a webcam. Who now days would get a webcam on their computer lacking a microphone?? It doesnt make sense. I see that another person wrote a review with another point of view, but clearly thats not why people ordinarily buy computers, and I’m sure Acer sought after to save $$ so it omitted the Microphone. Whats even more ridiculous is on the computer itself where the camera is on the top of the monitor, there is a call out adage “WEBCAM OPTIMIZED FOR LOW LIGHT VIDEO CHATTING” Chatting is the key word here, you cant chat with someone when there is no microphone. (Unless you can read their lips) besides the no Microphone issue, this is a excellent computer for the price, very light and portable. I bought a Olympus ME-12 Noise Canceling Microphone from Amazon which facility fantastic with the laptop but would have much rather had it as a part of the computer than having this mic stick out as an added accessory.
   Rating: 3 / 5
3. J. Battig says:

   April 4, 2010 at 4:16 am

   So far this has been a excellent laptop for doing the basic tasks (e.g. internet browsing). I haven’t and don’t plot to do too much power computing with this thing, but overall I have been pleased with the performance. I’ve been able to load demanding websites with no issues.

   This laptop does not come with recovery disks or even a backup partition. A recovery disk can be obtained from the Acer website for a fee, but I was unable to order it since the site wouldn’t recognize my laptop’s serial number, even after registration. Some select drivers are available for preside over download, but I feel a recovery disk should be included with any new laptop or at least provided for free upon request.

   There is a lot of additional trial software loaded on this laptop, with annoying popups once in a while to register or buy a software product. I haven’t found a excellent use for any of the products yet, and will eventually have to consider uninstalling each item. I’m assuming the included trial software is helping to keep the price of this laptop reasonable, so I find it only mildly annoying to deal with it.

   The laptop’s physical point is excellent overall but the laptop’s outside case material is not of the sturdiest plastic. Compared to my wife’s Dell, the plastic feels flimsy. I don’t reckon this will be a huge problem in the long run, but wish the case was a bit more rugged. There are no lights to indicate when the caps lock and number lock are on, which has been very annoying. Everything else is comparable to a standard laptop, with no outstanding additional facial appearance.

   Other: Wireless was simple to set up and has been reliable with excellent range. The track pad and scroll feature are accurate and function well. The screen is bright and simple to read.

   As I get more experience with this laptop I will try to update this review with more comments about performance and facial appearance.
   Rating: 4 / 5
4. ChurchOfJesusChrist.Net says:

   April 4, 2010 at 6:59 am

   I’d like to respond to Linda’s complaint/review. I do agree that the mfr should be more up-front in disclosing lack of internal mic, but please let me provide a different point of view… for the benefits of other readers, at the least. I really reckon a built-in webcam and no mic is the ‘best of both worlds’. I know, that seems weird, but here’s why.

   A built-in webcam is creepy enough, but you can easily cover it with a piece of tape. We’ve seen in recent news that people can and DO hack into webcams and mics of people online–even (illegally so) a school providing loaner laptops to students, spying on them in their bedrooms.

   You can’t turn an internal mic off (no mfr provides a hard switch). You can disable it in the OS, but it’s inconvenient, and you have to trust the OS and apps that nothing’s switching it back on. Plus (and maybe most importantly, if not realistically), internal mics ordinarily SUCK. Even if it’s excellent, it’s generally too far away and too close to the speakers when integrated. So what you ordinarily get, is a built-in mic which stays on all the time, with the creepy security risk (and Google adage someday it will eavesdrop on your mic and if it hears a dog barking in the background, will spam you with dog food ads, for instance)… and you end up using an external mic anyway. Maybe you’ve had excellent luck with integrated microphones? I know I haven’t. Nothing beats a headset, or something close to your mouth…. especially if you’re using the laptop’s speakers to hear your party.

   A few years ago I had the opposite experience. I bought a laptop with no webcam, and it had an internal mic which wasn’t documented. I’d had it about a year when I installed a recording program, and noticed it was picking up noises when I was just trying out the program (with no input). The quality was so low it wasn’t useful, and the fact I had a a waste of time mic which was only a security and creepiness liability made it an albatross. I wished they made laptops WITH webcams, but NO integrated mics, but I didn’t reckon anyone would do that. Then I bought this laptop (not this actual model, but similar) and was so pleased–but surprised–that there was no internal mic. Really. YMMV.

   Let me make a comment on my laptop. I have an emachines translation which is identical but mine has a lower-power AMD CPU with a lower-capacity hard drive. Chassis and hardware should be identical. I was astounded at the quality of my webcam. It does appear to be only QVGA (quarter VGA), but the quality is better than the VGA cams I’ve seen. And because it’s QVGA, it updates a 4x quicker on the user’s end (seems smoother, more motion-y). Best of all, it really is “optimized for low-light” like it says on the computer. If you have a white background on your screen, the light from the screen is enough for the webcam to pick you up fine in an UNLIT room (too terrible Skype has a black background; I can’t seem to change it). (And it facility fine in well-lit rooms too; no ‘overexposure’.) One low-powered light on in the room is excellent enough for this webcam (exceedingly rare to find on an integrated cam IMO). Which is really nice for those late-night conversations, which is really when you want to use a webcam, right? I can tell you firsthand it’s substantially better than a late-gen iMac webcam which didn’t do well in existing reproduction light.

   Over the internet, I let a friend a point out between my integrated webcam and a well-respected USB VGA webcam I’d previously bought. I didn’t say which was which, nor give techincal details, just: “which do you prefer?”. My party chose my integrated webcam, to my surprise (and delight). Nearly all integrated webcams are crappy, and I’ve never heard of one which is really exceptional. Plus, it is aimed right at me, taking into account proper screen angle. It’s as if someone knew what they were doing when they designed it!

   Personally, I use a small over-the-ear mic which came with that before webcam I mentioned (now made obsolete by the exceptional internal cam). These are really cheap to buy on the net. You can also get small “stalk” right-angle connector mics which are made for notebooks as you just plug it into the jack and angle it at you. But something close to your mouth is best. meritline, dealextreme, pcmicrostore, amazon of course and many others sell cheap mics of wildly varying style and quality. You can leave the stalk type ones connected–the smaller the stalk, obviously the simpler it is to leave connected but the father away it’ll be from you. Other options would be a USB ’speakerphone’, also pretty handy, but that’s more wires, or an adapter (which you can get on Amazon) which allows you to use your 2.5mm connector cordless phone headset in your computer.

   With this laptop, ALL the connectors are in the right place. Very rare. The sound, power, and network ports are all on the left–where God intended them to be . You don’t have a power cable running out one side of you and a network cable out the other. Everything comes in at the left (yes!). There is nothing on the back, and nothing on the right to interfere with your mouse hand except for the optical drive, which again is also in the right place for you to replace disks.

   In the front, you have the card reader–which is a excellent card reader. It’s BOOTABLE, and quicker than a USB card reader I have. Yeah it’s a small hard to get to, and the action is very clear (you have to push pretty hard on the card to get it to pop back out), but I see that as a excellent thing, as the card is flush and is not going to pop out accidentally pushing up against you.

   Honstly, I wish I had this model (I reckon it’s a new model). What I’d really like to know is how often the fan turns on when idling in this model? Mine is really cool down. Fan doesn’t run much, and is cool down when it does. My 160GB drive is the quietest drive I reckon I’ve ever heard, and I hope this 250GB is too, as it’s only 5600rpm. A lot of the 250GB drives are 7200rpm, which are quite noisier, and not worth the speed tradeoff for me (I use a 7200rpm in my work laptop daily, so I know). I only have 2GB RAM and most for users running Windows 7 (Windows 6.1 technically), that’s enough. But, if you open tons of web tabs, it is possible to max out in Windows 64-bit (I was surprised). 3GB or 4 would be enough for me but I’m a power user. This has 3, or 50% more than my 2GB. (The RAM surrounded by may also be DDR3, which if right would be contrary to some spec lists.)

   Likewise, I could use the more powerful T4400 processor in this model, I just don’t know if it makes extra heat. The mobile Intels are very efficient. I have an AMD but one of the newer low-powered variants… but gutless compared to this. But, my fan is ordinarily off in idle, only coming on a couple seconds every once in awhile after it’s been on for awhile. I’d want to keep that–and want to know if this T4400 is cool enough it behaves similarly. Max heat of a T4400 is in the thirties of watts; my AMD makes 15 watts max, but max heat rating is not a excellent indication of idle usage. Anecdotal tales are much more useful.

   Having used my laptop enough now, I like it so much (everything being in the right place, etc) that I’d pay extra for what I have now with more ram and a better processor–if that did not mean more noise. I’ve seen a lot of crappy laptops in my day (crappy=terrible heat management/noisy, terrible keyboards, and ports/connectors in illogical places). So I’m soliciting any feedback?

   There’s no exact laptop, but I reckon the fact that this one’s ‘thicker’ than most laptops these days yields veiled benefits that outway lack of thinness (and the lappy is pretty lightweight when you take the array out, if you use w/a cord like I do). I have some issues with the keyboard, and yes there are only 2 USB ports (macbook only gives you 1?). But the intangibles are high here, including the very nice glossy screen, nearly equivalent with HP/Compaq.

   The keys are nearly ’stealth chiclet’, or ‘hybrid’. They have excellent travel (unlike chiclet), and are larger (unlike chiclet), but have no bevel (like chiclet), and only an imperceptible curve (essentially flat), which makes it surprisingly hard for your fingers to find the keys in the dark (and keyboard is unlit). That said, they’re nice and huge and feel excellent due to excellent travel. Key location is above average, not exact. They missed an chance to place page-up/page-down where they place those half-sized arrow keys. Why just leave that part of the keyboard as a blank hole, and make a button half-size, when you could either place a full-sized key there or place another half-size key above it? Again, nothing’s exact. I’m not a fan of numberpads, so I sacrificed the keypad and assigned a slew of non-character keys to it using a freeware app called KeyTweak. Now a pretty pleased camper.

   If you go owing to Windows 7 power management in Hegemony Panel and get aggressive on the ‘power saver’ profile (including aggressive screen dimming), as well as turn off the stupid Aero interface and other animations/things, you can squeeze about 50% more array time out. Disabling wireless helps, if you can, and also frees up about 50MB of memory.

   I like the laptop overall, and friends who see it are envious. Thinner is not necessarily better. Read reviews of the newer thinner Acer models and you’ll see reviews are not as excellent. Most common complaints about this chassis form factor is only 2 USB ports, the silly layout of the number pad, the flat keys, and an occasional “slow Wi-Fi” problem I’ve seen in reviews which appears to be hardware-related (mine is fine and quite quick, really). So if you get one, test out your wi-fi speed within the exchange period.
   Rating: 5 / 5
5. Linda D. Pinder says:

   April 4, 2010 at 8:25 am

   A small disappointed as I just ordered and received from amazon this Acer AS5732Z-4867 and was satisfied that it was a excellent, basic laptop, at a budget price. But, I learned today, that Acer was excellent enough to give me a nice, integrated webcam with this model, but NO microphone, only a microphone jack to connect an external mic. When shopping for laptops, I am in the habbit of searching the specs to see if one includes a webcam and not whether it comes with a built-in mic as well. A built-in mic would be on most laptops, I thought, especially if it comes with a webcam. Not so with this model. If you are going to use the webcam for Skype or Messenger or other communications, you will have to know sign language or the other party will have to lip read unless you are willing to buy the external mic to plug into the microphone jack.
   
   UPDATE: Bought this mic Olympus ME-52 Noise Cancellation Microphone from amazon and use it with the included black windscreen cover via the mic jack (lacking the extension cord). It facility very well, but would have preferred the built-in kind.
   Rating: 4 / 5