Acer Aspire 5542g Review

The Acer 5542G may be the company's alternative model for it is extremely popular 5536/5536G series. The brand new model posseses an enhanced processor and another Tigris platform. It had been after greater than a week's wait and telephone calls which i bought one Acer Aspire 5542G. As soon as I just read the specs sheet, I've been very thrilled to obtain the machine within my hands. The specs boasts in regards to a AMD Turion II 2.2 Ghz, 3GB DDR2 Memory, ATI 4570 Devoted video card having a 512MB DDR3 memory along with a quite generous 320GB Hard drive for any cost of under RS 34000, quite an attractive deal.

Within this detailed review we will have how these specs satisfy the real performance needs.

Key features:

Within this section, we'll look at length in the key components that comprises this laptop. I'll likewise try to incorporate just as much specifications and particulars as offered by the manufacturer's source.

Processor:

Acer Aspire 5542G has the second generation AMD Turion Processor (AMD Turion II M500) which is 2.2Ghz which houses a 1MB L2 Cache. The Turion II M500 is fabricated while using 45nm technology. It goes towards the Caspian generation of processors and supports HyperTransport 3. and hardware virtualization.

The Turion is AMDs response to mobile processors, which supplies excellent performance and keep the energy consumption at least. The Turion processors creates less warmth in comparison to AMD's desktop work horses which have a poor status in warmth emission department. The Turion II to be the next form of the decent artist Turion, it sets high anticipation when it comes to rivaling the Core 2 Duos on the market. We will have the way it scores in tangible performance whenever we benchmark it in the future.

Video Card: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570 512MB DDR3

Among the primary points of interest of the laptop may be the graphics engine that lies underneath the hood. The Acer 5542G has a devoted ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570 with 512 Megabytes of DDR3 memory.

For individuals individuals who aren't obvious concerning the distinction between a built-in along with a devoted graphics solution, I am adding a couple of words. A Built-in graphics solution (eg: the Intel's X4500) does not include devoted video memory it utilizes the body memory for graphics processing and therefore the reduced path between your system memory and also the graphics engine causes the greatest bottle-neck if this involves performance. Even the integrated graphics processor could be less effective than the usual mainstream devoted one out of raw processing energy. However, a devoted video card will often have a superior speed devoted video memory (eg: DDR3) that is combined towards the graphics processor. This removes the bottle neck and provides the credit card superior performance. The graphics processor on the devoted card would usually support high-finish effects supplied by the most recent DirectX and OpenGL APIs which provides the realism and visual-chocolate within the latest games.

The HD 4570 is really a faster clocked form of the Mobility Radeon 4530/4330. It features a 64 Bit memory bus and has a 512MB DDR3 VRAM. The 512MB ought to be sufficient for many gaming and graphics needs, unless of course you participate in the craziest resolutions. (As rendering resolution increases, the greater memory it requires). The DDR3 memory will meet the requirements for that quickest and big volume texture processing that modern games demand. Nevertheless the 64 bit bus stands inferior towards the 128 bit bus that many mainstream cards offer.

The ATI Mobility Radeon 4570 is dependant on the RV710 nick also it provides 80 stream processors. The Mobility Radeon offers the recording technology known as Avivo HD that gives an aboard 7.1 seem nick. The graphics solution also includes a second generation Unified Video Decoder that supports full bitstream decoding of H.264/MPEG-4 AVC and VC-1 streams. The 4570 graphics unit is capable of doing handling all video tasks including HD video decoding.

Display:

The Acer 5542G has a 15.6" Hi-def Brought backlit TFT Liquid crystal display that gives 220-nit high brightness and Acer's Cinecrystal display technology. The pure widescreen (16:9) display supports an optimum resolution of 1366X768 and offers a 60% color gamut. It features a high-def response duration of 8ms.

Memory: There's nothing much to boast in regards to a 3GB DDR2 800Mhz memory that accompany the Acer Aspire 5542G when in comparison to the present type of laptops a few of which sports a 4GB underneath the hood. The 3GB is enough for the majority of the computing needs which could later be upgraded to 4GB. Nevertheless the 3GB deal would seem reasonable whenever we keep your cost from the Acer 5542G in your mind.

Hard Drive: Again there is nothing jaw shedding within this department. However I would state that the 320GB that accompany the Acer 5542G is generous for much of your storage needs.

Processor performance and benchmark:

I had been initially unwilling to switch in the Intel's proven workhorse Core 2 Duo towards the AMD's Turion group of processors. It's a broadly recognized proven fact that the Intel's processor outperforms the AMD counter part, so long as both works on the same clock speed the primary reason to be the lower L2 cache in AMDs. But my desire not to move onto the AMD Turion II was taken away through the performance benchmarks. The AMD Turion II M500 2.2 Ghz outperforms the Apple Core 2 Duo 6670 2.2 Ghz. When AMD Turion II M500 scores a good score of 1426, the Apple Core2 Duo 6670 handled to obtain only 1379, although the margin isn't huge.

The Turion II M500 also obtained greater within the Home windows 7 performance rating having a score of 5.7 from the score of 5.5 from the Intel's Core 2 Duo 6600.

The Turion II undoubtedly has enhanced it's architecture significantly in comparison towards the previous generation Turion, which will help it to attain a greater performance benchmark, while competing mind-up with the Intel's counterpart, despite the fact that AMD Turion II M500 houses only 1MB L2 cache in comparison towards the 2MB provided by the Intel's variants.

The AMD Turion II M500 is doubtlessly a great artist and it is good to be the very first AMD processor model overpowering the Apple Core 2 Duo across the performance lines, each of which are which is exactly the same speed. Although the Turion II only has 1MB L2 Cache it brings excellent performance and computing energy on a tight budget. The Turion II M500 processor provides the Acer 5542G with large number crushing efficiency, which was much noticeable whenever we went tests including blending/removing, Gaming and Video rendering using three dimensional graphics tools. The Acer 5542G demonstrated brisk performance throughout daily computing, and also the Home windows responsiveness and multi-tasking were considerably quick.

Video card performance:

The Acer 5542G using the ATI Mobility Radeon 4570 with 512MB Devoted DDR3 VRAM isn't a fantastic artist when it comes to the most recent gaming standards. But very couple of laptops has a top end video card that fits our prime-finish gamer's needs and individuals machines will burn an opening in the bank without a doubt. The HD 4570 within the Acer 5542G is really a decent video card to experience older game game titles entirely detail whereas if this involves the newest games, you may have to tweak the detail level to some medium to obtain reasonable frame rates.

The Acer 5542G is a superb option for gamer's on a tight budget in addition to three dimensional Graphics designers and Artists.

I discovered the Acer 5542G delivering very smooth frame rates on Try Out Limitless even in the greatest configurations, though a relevant video overview of the Dell Studio 15 housing exactly the same video card demonstrated considerably lower frame rates in YouTube. Might be the performance boost is because of the DDR3 Video Memory along with the better number-crushing made by the AMD Turion II M500. The credit card worked out very well in older game titles like Requirement For Speed Popular, Requirement For Speed UnderCover, Unreal Tournament 2003, and Crysis Warhead even in the greatest detail configurations with 1024X768 resolution and FSAA switched on. The Acer 5542G also shipped consistently playable frame rates in Microsoft Flight Simulator that is a quite resource hungry game, because of the existence of huge textures and extensive terrain.

Display performance:

The 220-nit high brightness display from the Acer 5542G, gives excellent image quality with higher sharpness and contrast. Additionally, it provides excellent and accurate color reproduction (60% gamut). The viewability from sides isn't exceptional, but is sufficient. The only real major drawback to the display is the fact that it's high glossy finish draws in glare. Hence it's not appropriate while viewing against any direct source of light.

Audio Performance:

The Acer 5542G sports a Dolby licensed sound system. The Realtek nick provides 32bit audio decoding and offers SP-DIF and Dolby Digital output. Additionally, it supports Dolby Earphone and Dolby Virtual Surround modes. This means you'll be in audio bliss, should you connect the Acer 5542G to some nice home cinema or high-finish earphones.

The built-in loudspeakers from the Acer 5542G clearly lacks the bass and would be a disappointment throughout our tests. The seem clearly lacks the thump aspect in it. It does not imply that the loudspeakers are useless. The loudspeakers provide you with excellent high and medium range wavelengths very well. The audio volume levels were noisy enough and will also be sufficient if you're not in the center of a really noisy atmosphere.

Battery:

The Acer 5542G has a 6-cell battery power. It might most likely dissatisfy you, if you're searching for a laptop with 3+ hrs battery backup. The low battery backup could be credited towards the decently large 15.6" display combined with the devoted video card that may drain a great deal of battery energy. Using the screen brightness at low, I could get yourself a 2 hrs 50 minutes backup without any audio, video or games switched on. At greatest performance setting, you may expect roughly two hrs of battery backup.

Heating:

Becoming an AMD based laptop the majority of us who've used an AMD based system might have concerns about over-heating. Stay awesome. The Acer 5542G handles warmth well. If you use it for longer hrs for the daily computing needs, it does not generate any significant warmth. I discovered the warmth close to the palm relaxation regions less in comparison with a other Apple based competing laptop models. The Acer 5542G has sufficient ventilation at the end and it has a vent behind, that blows the new air out. The fan steps into high-speed the moment things get hot.

It does not imply that the Acer 5542G will not generate warmth whatsoever. As soon as you begin doing offers, the rosy picture changes. Although the Acer 5542G's body continued to be just warm, the vent in the rear finish was coming out really heat, which clearly means heavy warmth generation, although it will get displaced well. Although the Acer 5542G will get away using the warmth very well, it might be the ideal choice to obtain a competent laptop cooling pad if you're into serious gaming.

Other components:

The Acer 5542G has a good DVD Author, Bluetooth, Wireless LAN etc. These products works very well and does not appear to possess any sort of points worth mentioning.

Add-ons:

Laptops has a nice backpack from Targus with Acer logo design onto it. The backpack has sufficient space to hold additional stuff inside it when you are on the go. It's quality is nice and offers sufficient padding for that laptop compartment.

Conclusion:

Acer 5542G is really a laptop which brings great value to individuals on a tight budget, who require excellent processing and graphics performance. I recommend it for those gaming fanatics and graphics designers, because of the superb performance from the processor and also the graphics solution built-in. It's effective processor can meet the majority of the extreme computing needs unless of course your requirements concentrate on the ultra-high-finish as an i7. The Acer 5542G outfitted with it's Turion II processor competes very well using the Core2 Duos available no requirement for the 'Will AMD perform as well?A question any longer. It provides brutal processing energy.

If you are a audiophile who'd be a musician with the laptop's built-in loudspeakers twenty-four hours a day, Acer 5542G might not be the very best suit for you personally. If that's not really a top-priority for you personally or you possess a nice home cinemaOrearphone, then your Acer 5542G provides you with great pleasure within the audio department too, through it's Dolby processing and digital results. Everything is dependent in your needs.

Battery suits the house computing / gaming / creating needs. It's 2+ hrs backup are designed for your presentation, on-the-go needs too, though a 3+ hrs backup could have been more recommended.

Laptops model I bought comes packed with Linpus linux operating-system (command prompt only) and removes the Home windows dependency, which will help the Acer 5542G keep its cost lower. You could also obtain a version with Home windows pre-loaded however for a greater cost.

Pros:

Excellent processor

Excellent graphics for designers and budget players

Visual Appearance

Quite sturdy design

Good Audio processing and digital out

High-definition multimedia interface

Cons:

Built-in loudspeakers don't match the great audio processing and lacks bass completely

Glossy screen difficult to utilize in direct light

Volume switches might have been much softer to the touch

Arrow secrets needs refinement

Prices and final words:

This laptop will come in India in lots of shopping online websites in a sub RS 35k cost. I bought one for RS 33700/- (roughly 717 USD) via a local dealer. With your reasonable cost and compelling group of features, I highly recommend the Acer 5542G.