The back-to-school season is approaching, and that means swarms of students will soon be shopping for an affordable laptop. Yes, every college newcomer would love to be decked out with a MacBook Pro, but most will have to buy something more practical – like Acer’s Aspire E5.
Starting at $599 and boasting a 14” 1366×768 display, the Aspire E5 is no superstar, but it does offer a few unexpected features. The Core i5-4210U processor is a slight upgrade over the more typical 4200U, for example, and Nvidia discrete graphics comes standard along with a 500GB hard drive.
This equipment makes for a well-rounded package, but stuffing solid hardware into an inexpensive system often compromises battery life, display quality and other areas. Let’s take a look at the trade-off Acer has made – and judge whether they’re worthwhile.
A familiar face
On first sight we thought Acer might have accidentally sent us a duplicate of the Acer Aspire E1, a laptop we reviewed just a few months ago. The two offer many similar traits including an approachable white exterior, thick plastic chassis and black display trim. Unlike the E1, however, the E5 has a matte display bezel. This small change helps to reduce reflections and fingerprints, as the bezel is one of the most frequently handled areas of any laptop.
Quality is what you’d expect for a system in this price bracket. While plastic is the only material used, it feels durable and is slapped together with tight panel gaps. Some flex can be found, particularly in the keyboard area, but not enough to make the laptop seem flimsy.
Connectivity comes via three USB, only one of which is 3.0, along with HDMI, VGA, Ethernet and a combined headphone/microphone port. A optical drive is included, as well, which contributes to the system’s thickness but adds versatility. WiFi is restricted to 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth 4.0 is also part of the package.
Typical keys
Though thick, the Aspire E5 doesn’t use the extra vertical space to provide an excellent typing experience. Instead, a merely passable one is offered. A good amount of key travel is included, but keys bottom out vaguely, which can make mistakes hard to notice by touch alone. Users with large paws will appreciate the roomy layout, however, and there’s plenty of palm space.
Backlighting is not available on the Aspire E5, not even as an option. This makes low-light use difficult. We can’t knock the system too much for its absence, however, as few rivals in this price bracket offer the same.
Mouse navigation is available through a touchpad that’s four inches wide and two inches tall. In most respects using it is an entirely average experience. Sensitivity is modest, multi-touch gestures work well but aren’t perfect, and the integrated mouse buttons feel cheap. We wish the touchpad surface was textured, too, because we found it hard to distinguish from the surrounding plastic when our eyes were glued to the sceen.
A budget display
The Aspire E5’s 1366×768 non-touch display unfortunately looks like a relic from the past. We measured a gamut that spans only 56% of sRGB, poor color accuracy and high black levels. In these critical areas the E5 posts some of the worst scores we’ve recently seen; only the Lenovo IdeaPad Y50 and the old Acer Aspire E1 perform as poorly.
Are there any bright spots? Not really, and that includes brightness – the maximum of 179 lux is adequate in most situations but can’t overcome the glossy display’s reflective properties in a bright room. We also noted poor viewing angles and a general lack of sharpness.
All of these numbers translate to flat, low-contrast image quality. Images and movies often look hazy, as if there’s a film over the screen, and the already inaccurate colors shift wildly when tilting the display just a few degrees.
Audio performance is better. Maximum volume is loud and while music has a tinny quality, it’s generally free of distortion. The speakers perform well with podcasts and video, where the clear mid-range can dominate most rooms. Still, external speakers or headphones should prove an upgrade.
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No performance surprises
The Acer Aspire E5’s Core i5-4210U processor features a base clock of 1.7 GHz and a maximum Turbo Boost of 2.7 Ghz. Though technically a “low-voltage” chip, that distinction has less meaning of late, as the majority of Intel’s mobile processors now target low power draw rather than maximum performance. Even so, the i5-4210U makes a strong showing.
