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For a sub-£500 model, this is remarkably fast. Storage capabilities aren’t as ample as on some laptops, with a 500GB 5400rpm Western Digital hard disk provided. Nonetheless, 500GB is ample for many users, so this is no great compromise. See Group test: what's the best portable hard drive?.
The Acer is no gaming paradise and (much in keeping with other sub-£500 models) is saddled with an Intel HD 3000 graphics controller. In fairness, the Acer gets more out of this than many other laptops we’ve seen, and a score of 16fps in FEAR is respectable for last year’s HD 3000 integrated graphics.
It’s still going to cut very little ice in the gaming world though. The Crysis figures are underwhelming, but potentially usable. With DirectX 9 and Low quality settings, the laptop achieved a highly playable 59.5fps. It did slump to 27.2fps with battery like Dell BATDW00L Battery , Dell 1X793 Battery , Dell BAT1194 Battery , Dell Precision M20 Battery , dell F5635 battery , dell YF976 battery , dell C5974 battery , dell U4873 battery , Dell Inspiron XPS M170 Battery , Dell Inspiron XPS M1710 Battery in Medium, and a quite unplayable 14.7fps at High.
In DX10 mode, even the Low and Medium quality settings yield just 36.6 and 22.2fps respectively.
So, the Acer won’t be much of a choice for gamers. However, they shouldn’t write off the range altogether, as an enhanced model, the V3-571G, comes with discrete graphics, and may be worth hunting down.
The V3-571’s Dolby Sound System supposedly gives the Acer an extra burst of audio quality, although this wasn’t evident in testing, with the tinny speakers offering rather painful reproduction. They’re fine for informing you that you’ve got new mail, but you won’t be wanting to use them for trying out your latest music.
Ports and connectors are straightforward. Of the three USB ports, only one is USB 3.0. You also get VGA and HDMI external output, and the versatile front-mounted memory-card drive covers MemoryStick and xD-Picture as well as the ubiquitous SD cards.
A gigabit port takes care of wired network users, and those that like to roam can choose from Atheros Wi-Fi (covering 802.11a, b, g and n) or Bluetooth 4.0. The built-in DVD writer is a standard Matshita UJ8B0AW. A little noisy, it burns up to speeds of 8x. An Acer Crystal Eye HD webcam is built into the top of the screen.
The 64-bit version of Windows 7 Home Premium is provided as standard, and the Aspire comes with a range of software that includes Microsoft Office Starter and a number of useful Acer utilities.
The Acer recorded a very adequate figure of 318 minutes (5 hours and 18 minutes) in our MobileMark Productivity test, which should give enough juice for hours on the road.