Cool Gadgets

The Aspire 5630 combines three important elements: the latest 64bits dual-core power, stunning multimedia and effortless connectivity in a stylishly-compact entertainment system designed to provide unbeatable all-round value. With a 15.4″ WXGA CrystalBrite screen (with optional integrated 1.3MP videocamera), large hard disc drives and the simplicity of Acer’s Empowering Technology, the Aspire 5630 is a truly unique source of mobile entertainment. Lets take a further look at it!

The Acer Aspire is a great little new laptop to be released by Acer. The RRP price is about £600, but online it can be bought for about £399, making it a semi-budget range laptop. For the money though you do get some impressive specs.

The main processor is a Intel Core 2 Duo T5500 1.66GHz. Although not a quad core, which would be nice, but for this price it is very good - even for (slightly older) games. However the graphics card isn’t too great for games, but we will get onto that later.

The laptop comes with 1GB of RAM which is far more than enough for normal web work or programs like Microsoft Office. If you do want more though you can always upgrade to 4gb (although more than about 3.5 won’t be read by 32bit operating systems).

The operating system supplied at the moment is Windows Vista Home Premium - but I’ve heard you can also get it with XP in some stores if requested. Like most prebuilt computers that come with Vista there are absolutely no conflict issues whatsoever. It runs nice and smooth straight out of the box. The only annoying part of the software is the useless software that Acer bundle with it (such as its backup software, which I personally found no use for). It can easily be removed though through Control Panel.

On the side of the Acer Aspire 5633 laptop is a 5 in 1 card reader, supporting Secure Digital, MultiMediaCard, Memory Stick/Pro, and xD. As well as the card reader in terms of I/O ports it has line-out/in and microphone on the front, a built in microphone, s-video out, vga out, 4 USB 2.0 ports and a PCMCIA slot.

Acer have tried to market this laptop as an “entertainment value system” - meaning that it will just about play games, fine with DVDs and will fly through browsing the web.

The keyboard is quite standard, and feels nice to type on. The keys do not feel (at the moment) like they have any chance of falling off. The touchpad comes a 4 way scroll key between the left and right buttons - great for when browsing the web. The touchpad is very responsive too.

The build of the Acer Asprice 5634 is of very high standard and feels fairly solid, and is very aesthetically pleasing.

Above the display is the Acer 1.3 mega pixel Orbicam, manufactured by Logitech. This webcam on the Acer Aspire 5630 can be used to record video or take still photos, and works straight away with MSN and other major instant messaging services.

All in all this is a great laptop, and perfect for any students heading to uni (especially at the price currently). Overall rating of the Acer Aspire 5633 - 9/10.

Check out the latest prices from all shops before you buy, as they have probably changed:

Play.com £499
Amazon.co.uk £399