For a long time already on the market there was no inexpensive representative of mobile devices, which could lay claim to several price categories at once. In this article, the reader will get acquainted with the seemingly unremarkable Acer Aspire 5742G laptop, which is positioned in the corporate segment and is popular among students, gamers and businessmen. Technical characteristics of the device, a review and reviews of the owners will allow a potential buyer to learn a lot of interesting things about the new product.
Attractive baby
Who would have thought that Acer technologists would be able to create such an attractive laptop that will freely compete with similar devices in a budget niche, without going beyond 30,000 rubles! From the outside, this seems impossible, and the potential buyer certainly expects a trick.
Yes, the Acer Aspire 5742 has a number of flaws. However, for the sake of affordable cost, many buyers are ready to turn a blind eye to minor flaws that the manufacturer allowed. But first things first - let each user decide for himself whether he needs such a laptop or not.
There is something to save
As practice shows, all the well-known manufacturers of mobile devices over the past decade have learned to save on everything, even on packaging and configuration. It’s time for customers to forget about brightly colored color packs and all kinds of gifts that come with the laptop.
In addition to the Acer Aspire 5742G device itself, in the box the owner will find a 6-cell battery, a power cord with a power adapter, a quick guide and a one-year warranty card . A protective case, an optical mouse, a cloth for wiping the screen and a branded sticker of the manufacturer are a thing of the past for many users who are used to the surprises of manufacturers.
On the other hand, most buyers are interested in only a laptop and a charger, because very often many users don’t like the manufacturer’s gifts, so no one wants to overpay for them. So the majority of buyers reacted to such savings positively.
First meeting
To say that the Acer Aspire 5742 series mobile device looks beautiful is to say nothing! The laptop will simply charm a potential buyer with its appearance. Thin and stylish body, glossy finish and excellent durable plastic attract the attention of all customers.
Looking closer, the user will find that the glossy plastic has a texture. Such a coating not only protects the device’s body from scratches and fingerprints, but also provides a kind of protection against strong shock.
There are no complaints about the build quality. The plastic case on the side looks like a cast monolithic structure. Even the hinges of the screen look not only beautiful, but also provided with sufficient rigidity that can hold the display at any angle.
Echoes of a manufacturer's saving
The glossy display with a resolution of 1366x768 dpi spoils the overall impression of the exquisite Acer Aspire 5742 G. Notebook PC display is aggravated by the quality of the matrix, which is made using the outdated TN + Film technology. Yes, a low-quality display is a weak point in a mobile device. However, on the other hand, it is this parameter that allows the laptop to be in an affordable price segment and compete freely with less attractive counterparts.
Judging by the reviews of the owners, not everything is as bad with the screen as it seems at first glance. Firstly, the manufacturer installed a display from LG, which is recognized by the leading laboratories of the world as the leader in providing high contrast in the budget segment. Do not forget about the LED-backlight, which will solve the problem with viewing angles and partially eliminate glare on the glossy screen.
Connectors and Interfaces
No need to think that for an ultra-thin laptop Acer Aspire 5742 specifications of external ports and interfaces are not needed. Quite the contrary, devices from the budget segment are simply obliged to possess all the necessary interfaces. As practice shows, the manufacturer did not save on ports.
On the front of the laptop is a reader for memory cards. It confuses only its functionality - only two formats are supported (SD and MMC). The manufacturer did not fill the back panel of the mobile device with ports, allowing the user to install the laptop directly to the wall with a display, or break something without fear, take the gadget with him to bed.
On the left is the standard set for most budget laptops: a VGA port, an RJ-45 socket, an HDMI output, one USB 2.0 port and contacts for connecting a stereo system. On the right panel you can find two more USB 2.0 interfaces, as well as an optical DVD writer.
Internet technology and data transfer
The standard Wi-Fi 802.11n module does not surprise anyone, but the lack of a conventional Bluetooth adapter can cause a lot of negative for users who have already purchased this device for personal use. It is strange that the Acer Aspire 5742 laptop motherboard does not support the Bluetooth module, even optional. To meet their goals, the owner of a mobile device will have to purchase a portable device separately in the store and connect it to the USB 2.0 port.
The manufacturer decided to rehabilitate in a slightly different way. The laptop has a proprietary Broadcom NetLink network card that supports a gigabit port. But in practice, such a fast network is useless, because the 100-megabit Internet channel will not work faster from this, and local network games have long lost their popularity.
Input Devices
The keyboard on the laptop Acer Aspire 5742G for the amateur. The fact is that the manufacturer equipped it with an input device that has a small stroke of buttons. Working with text on such a keyboard is not very convenient, since a short stroke and low return do not give the owner a clear sense of depression. As for the keyboard unit itself, it is complete and equipped with a digital panel. Recently, this has become a rarity, because most manufacturers in the pursuit of miniature forget about the real needs of users.
But the laptop’s touchpad is decent. It is large, sleek and comfortable. Working with the touch pad is a pleasure. Even the mechanical selection buttons that seem loud at first glance cease to annoy in the first minutes of use.
Attractive features
It's time to talk about the performance of an elegant laptop. Judging by the reviews of the owners of the Acer Aspire 5742 PEW71 mobile device, the characteristics of the components attracted them to the product on the market. Intel Core i3 / 5 processors can hardly be called budget. They relate more to the corporate segment or the game class. The manufacturer did not save on the video card either.
Yes, technologists have installed the morally obsolete discrete video adapter Nvidia of the 5th series, but it is still able to demonstrate to others the high potential in demanding gaming applications. To top it off, the manufacturer equipped the laptop with 8 gigabytes of RAM and installed a 640 gigabyte hard drive as a bonus.
By the way, in the domestic market, the buyer can also find a lightweight modification of this laptop, which the manufacturer has released on the markets of some countries where people can not afford to buy expensive products. In such mobile devices, a dual-core Intel Pentium G processor is installed , the amount of RAM is reduced to 4 gigabytes, and the hard drive is set to 320 GB in size.
Real performance
What can you expect from the symbiosis of a powerful processor, entry-level game adapter and a large amount of RAM? Only great returns in demanding applications and games. As practice shows, the Acer Aspire 5742G mobile device at medium and high settings demonstrates excellent performance in all games created for DirectX 9 and 10.
However, with version 11 libraries, problems begin. The weak link here is the video adapter, which simply does not draw resource-intensive games. The situation can be partially improved by installing a solid-state SSD-drive and overclocking the graphics core, but this still will not allow the laptop to move from a budget class to the gaming segment.
Finally
Notebook Acer Aspire 5742G in the mobile market is considered a rather strange device. On the one hand, its high performance, elegance and affordable price simply captivate a potential buyer. But it is worth getting acquainted with the characteristics of the gadget closer, as many questions immediately arise. However, do not rush. You just need to realize that there are not many devices in the budget segment with such attractive characteristics.