On the mobile market, the representative of the budget class Acer Aspire 5520 is very popular among students and home users who prefer an affordable cost (20-25 thousand rubles) and convenience. As many laptop owners have noted in their reviews, this particular model is an excellent tool for undemanding customers. In this article, the reader will get to know the mobile device better, find out its technical characteristics, and see the photo. Responses of owners will help to find out what advantages and disadvantages a laptop has.
First introduction to the Acer Aspire 5520 laptop
This is probably the only representative of the budget class, which comes in colored cardboard packaging. No guesswork - the buyer knows exactly what is in his hands. A colorful company logo and a photo of the device itself are present on the box displays. On the side faces, the owner of the Acer Aspire 5520 mobile device will find a detailed description of all technical specifications, the address of the manufacturer and the contact details of the distributor.
The contents of the package will also please the buyer: laptop, battery, charger, user manual, driver and software disks. In addition, there are many color advertising brochures in the box. It seems to be waste paper, on the other hand, it is interesting to find out what else is produced under the Acer brand.
Design and ergonomics
Having chosen the appearance of the Acer Aspire 5520 laptop, any, not even demanding, user will find that the gadget is not mobile at all. Its weight and dimensions are very different from modern devices that the buyer is used to seeing on the market. But, as practice shows, this is exactly what many laptops presented under other brands and in the expensive price category lack.
The severity of the device adds thick plastic, which has increased strength. As many owners note in their reviews, the laptop case is not afraid of bumps, scratches and minor physical damage. Due to the volume of the gadget, the manufacturer managed to achieve a balance in placing all the necessary components inside the device. Technologists of the company also did not forget about cooling. In general, the owners of the device have no questions about the ergonomics of the device.
Interfaces & Connectors
It would seem that in a spacious case there should be a maximum number of all kinds of interfaces, but the manufacturer acted differently - provided the Acer Aspire 5520 laptop with only demanded connectors. On the right side of the device there is a DVD writer, an RJ-45 network interface and two USB 2.0 ports. The left panel is supplemented by a card reader, another USB port, a video output and a contact for connecting a charger. Forward, the manufacturer made the sound card connectors: microphone and headphone output.
The remaining space on both sides is occupied by the radiator grille (Acer laptop with them resembles a barbecue). Naturally, any user is interested in the motive of the manufacturer, who is so worried about cooling the laptop. As it turned out, everything is quite simple - all the gadgets of the series have a video game adapter and a dual-core processor, which do not know how to work in energy-saving mode. Powerful devices require constant heat dissipation.
Display word
Screen savers over the past few years have been very popular with all laptop manufacturers. Apparently, for the manufacturer Acer Aspire 5520, the display characteristics were in last place, since he installed the TN + Film matrix with a resolution of 1280 x 800 dpi. If we consider that the 15-inch monitor is widescreen, and the laptop itself copes with games (at least, a decent video adapter hints at it), then many users will be disappointed with the picture on the screen.
Glossy matrix in bright light turns into a mirror, and one can only dream of large viewing angles. Although there are no questions about the color rendering, the image is quite saturated, and there is black color, and not its semblance in the form of a gray gradation. Apparently, a proprietary LED-backlight is installed.
Specifications
The presence in the laptop of a processor with two cores from AMD is the key to high performance. Gaming features are added to the Acer Aspire 5520 mobile device by the NVIDIA 8 Series graphics card. True, the amount of its video memory is embarrassing - only 512 megabytes look poor against the general background. There are claims to RAM - the manufacturer installed one module with two gigabytes.
As the owners of the laptop note in their reviews, for toys you need to install another, similar module, so that the device becomes more productive. The weak link is the hard magnetic disk, its throughput slows down the operation of the entire system. In any case, it is recommended to put a solid-state SSD-drive.
Remote Control
The keyboard on the Acer Aspire 5520 ICW50 laptop is full, that is, there are all buttons and there is a digital panel. It is a pleasure to work with text, because the keyboard unit has a rigid mount (it does not bend when pressed), and the buttons themselves have a short stroke with sensitive feedback. The user will also like the color marking of the keys - the Latin alphabet is black and the Cyrillic alphabet is red, which is quite convenient when working with text.
The touchpad plays the role of a mouse manipulator, its sensor is sensitive, convenient, but does not support multi-touch. As the owners note, the touchpad buttons click loudly when pressed, and it takes a little time to get used to it. Due to the height of the laptop case, it is very inconvenient to place your palms on the device panel. Due to the large angle, the arms constantly swell; a support is needed to accommodate the forearms.
Multimedia and Communication
There are no questions about communications - Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and even infrared port support on the motherboard (although many owners do not understand how and where to display this interface, because the Acer laptop does not have corresponding cells on the case). There is even a built-in modem in some modifications, although its popularity in our country is reduced to zero.
The speaker system works flawlessly. The sound is very loud and has no distortion at maximum volume. There are only comments on the WEB-camera. The resolution of 0.3 megapixels does not look serious. The user will not be able to take high-quality photos or chat on Skype using high-resolution video.
Work autonomy
The manufacturer stated that the Acer Aspire 5520 mobile device can work on a single charge for at least three hours, however, according to the owners, this result cannot be achieved even by turning off the wireless interfaces and reducing the screen brightness. A maximum of two hours of continuous operation can be achieved from the laptop battery. The problem is that a powerful processor with two cores does not have an energy-saving mode, and a discrete video adapter can not turn off. High performance in the loss of mobility to many users like.
The battery and powerful cooling system fans consume battery power, they almost never turn off. According to users in the reviews, through the radiator grilles the dust is quickly drawn into the case, but there are obvious problems with putting it out of the notebook. Accordingly, you need to clean the mobile device from dust 2-3 times a year.
In custody
An inexpensive gadget for students and households is the main segment, which, judging by the review, is suitable for the Acer Aspire 5520 laptop. For a portable device, it is too heavy and oversized, and it has obvious problems with autonomy (2 hours). It is also suitable for game lovers who prefer not to carry a computer with them on vacation (sea, cottage). There are wireless interfaces, a modem too, a processor and a video card get rid of any task - what else does a fan of resource-intensive games need?