GROUP TEST

ACER Aspire 5536-643G50Mn
E-CODE LX.PAW0X.128 DELIVERY CHARGE FREE SUPPLIER WWW.LAPTOPSDIRECT.CO.UK TELEPHONE 8369 PROCESSOR AMD 2.1GHZ ATHLON 64 X2 QL-64 MEMORY 3072MB DDR2 SDRAM HARD DRIVE 500GB (5400RPM) OPTICAL DRIVE TRI-FORMAT DVD DL SCREEN SIZE AND TYPE 15.6-INCH SUPER-TFT DISPLAY RESOLUTION 1366 X 768 (WXGA) GRAPHICS CARD ATI RADEON HD 3200 DIMENSIONS 384 X 235 X 40MM WEIGHT 2.7KG WIRELESS LAN 802.11N ETHERNET GIGABIT USB PORTS 4 FIREWIRE NO OPERATING SYSTEM VISTA HOME PREMIUM STANDARD WARRANTY 1 YR C&R P&L

PRICE 499 (inc. VAT)

PRICE CHECK: www.techradar.com/594034
IN BRIEF: A stunningly usable entry-level media centre that is truly hard to fault
cer's Aspire range is its consumer line, and the Aspire 5536-643G50Mn (499 inc. VAT) is unique in this group test, thanks to its widescreen panel, impressive storage and long battery life, although performance is slightly disappointing. The 2.7kg chassis is one of the lightest in this group and suits basic travel use. This is helped by a 166-minute battery life. This falls short of the three-hour minimum we expect, but betters all rivals here. Build quality is excellent, with strong plastics used throughout. The textured silver plastic and glossy blue lid give the appearance of a high-end media centre, but the lid quickly attracts scratches and ngerprints. A large fan on the rear ensures the chassis stays cool at all times. Usability is outstanding and the large keyboard features an unusual style. All the keys are raised above the chassis with large gaps between them. While this adds a stylish look, dirt can easily fall underneath the keys. The board is rmly xed, however, and quiet in use. The large touchpad is equally usable, and its use of gesture controls lets you zoom into photos by pinching your ngers

SUB-499 LAPTOPS

BENCHMARKS

BATTERY LIFE MINUTES

Acer 166 Benchmark Machine 201
together on the pad. The single dual-click mouse button is less practical, however. You have to click in specic areas for it to register, which provides awkward usability. The use of a 15.6-inch screen panel is unique in this group and rare at this price. Its 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio makes it ideal for watching movies and viewing multiple documents side by side. Brightness, colour and contrast are all excellent and by far the best in this group.

Ample storage

Storage is also outstanding. The 500GB hard drive provides comprehensive space for your music, video and photo collections, while the dual-layer DVD rewriter lets you save les to DVD and CD. Finally, the integrated 5-in-1 card reader provides support for the most popular ash card formats. Despite its dual-core AMD processor and 3072MB of memory, the Acer falls slightly short when it comes to performance. While we were able to run multiple applications fairly smoothly, the MSI and Toshiba proved much faster in daily use. Graphics performance is more capable, but bettered by the MSI and Samsung. The ATi graphics card smoothly processes HD video and also provides ample power for basic photo and video editing. Only the most basic gaming is possible, however. Despite its limited performance, the Aspire 5536-643G50Mn is stunning value for money. Its stylish design, vibrant widescreen panel, impressive specication and great usability make it hard to fault. At such a low price, this is a truly fantastic laptop for the home or ofce.

MOBILEMARK 2007

Acer 111 Benchmark Machine 210

3DMARK 2003

Acer Benchmark Machine 2622 1765
See page 38 for benchmark specication
VALUE FOR MONEY PERFORMANCE FEATURES BUILD QUALITY

OVERALL

What type of user are you? See page 96

ASPECT RATIO

This is the ratio of the width of a display to its height. Older machines feature an almost square 4:3 aspect ratio, but most new laptops use a wider 16:10 aspect ratio, with the latest machines switching to an even wider 16:9 panel. This lends itself to watching movies or viewing multiple documents.

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