Question 1

Looking for an adequate laptop for my son to play minecraft on.  I am going crazy looking at forums and would like someones first hand experience.  Would this ACER AMD A series laptop work?

Accepted Answer

It works great for Minecraft! My son even plays Skyrim and other more graphics intensive games on this laptop. The AMD graphics performance in this laptop is MUCH better than the equivalent costing Intel solution. You get even better performance when you add a memory stick. I ordered a 4GB DIMM (Newegg item# N82E16820231702) for an addtional $40. I'm very happy with our choice of this laptop for a Christmas present.

One key thing to note - this laptop does not have a CD/DVD drive. It's very thin and light, but no optical drive can complicate software installation if you are used to using DVDs. Installing over the network isn't a big deal.

Question 2

Is it matte or gloss screen?

Accepted Answer

the screen is glossy. where as the screen frame is more of a matte finish to match all of the case.

Question 3

Im looking to buy a laptop for school, im not looking for much just enough for class work and something to do in between classes, and this seems to be right up that alley. My only concern is the 4GB of RAM and i know there is a 6GB version but its $80 more expensive, and for that price i can buy an 8GB stick at my local retailer, my question is if this laptop is the model with 4GB's solder to the board and an open slot, or just 1 RAM slot with a 4GB stick?
i would greatly appreciate any help on this matter, Thank You!!

Accepted Answer

IIRC the 4gb of RAM that it comes with is soldered in but there is one empty slot that you can additional RAM to. I think the empty slot allows up to 8GB. So you should be able to max it out at 12GB.

Question 4

Is it possible to upgrade to windows 8.1?

Accepted Answer

The Microsoft update from Windows 8 to 8.1 is free. More information can be found on the Microsoft website. They won't let me provide a link, but search for "Update to Windows 8.1 from Windows 8".

Windows 8.1 drivers for this laptop are available on the Acer support website. Again, they won't let me provide a link, but search for "Acer support v5-552".

Question 5

What games have you run with decent performance on this laptop?  (I'm hoping to see Minecraft as someone's answer)

Accepted Answer

I bought this for my son to replace a laptop that died.  While we wait to build him a desktop he's played a number of games including Minecraft and League of Legends.   Of course it cannot compete with a high end gaming laptop but for games like this I believe it runs fine.

Question 6

how fast is 2.1 ghz compared to 2.4 ghz?

Accepted Answer

Well the design of these APU's is to have a base speed, in this case 2.1ghz and a turbo speed for when you need the power. So the APU ramps up it's speed to meet your needs.

Not all ghz are equal. Remember old P4's were 3.2ghz but they are 1/4th as fast as a i7 running at the same clock speed. There is a lot of technology and processes behind today's CPU's that make them less dependent on raw speed and more of efficiency or processing.

Question 7

Found out it has 1 memory slot, so upgrading would be a replacement of the 4GB stick that's already in there.  My question is:  What speed for compatibility?

Accepted Answer

The 4GB that comes with the laptop is soldered onto the motherboard, so the 1 slot is unpopulated. From my understanding I think it is 1333mhz. So a regular 204 pin SO-DIMM 4gb 1333mhz or 1600mhz will suffice.

Question 8

Does this product come with built-in speakers?

Accepted Answer

Yes.

It's a normal laptop. I just found two major cons: the battery isn't removable and there is no optical drive. Anyways I'm lucky, because it is a present for a person who does not use to use any physical support.

Question 9

Would this computer suffice in playing lan parties with games such as pay day 2 and the occasional skyrim or fallout new vegas, maybe a bit of call of duty (I somehow coubt ill be able to play battlefield 4)?

Accepted Answer

I'm not familiar with those particular games other than call of duty which I think it'd do ok on (maybe turn down the detail a bit).  My son plays Minecraft, Gary's Mod, and Counter Strike.  Of course Minecraft plays flawlessly but even Counter Strike runs at a very high frame rate without being choppy, I mean I couldn't believe how smooth it was.  I was really very pleasantly surprised.  Windows 8 is another story but I'll get used to it eventually.

Question 10

For those of you who added 4gb of ram, does it add noticeable FPS difference? Reason being is I'm hoping this laptop could run FFXIV with the ram boost.

Accepted Answer

3DMark scores went up quite a bit with the additional DIMM (I'm not on the laptop now and don't have the specifics handy). My son can now play Skyrim smoothly. There was some stuttering prior to adding the additional DIMM. I ordered Newegg item#N82E16820231702 for $40.

Brand	Acer
Model	V5-552-8404
Part Number	NX.MCMAA.002

CPU Type	AMD A8-Series
Processor Name	AMD A8-5557M
CPU L2 Cache	4MB

Screen Size	15.6"
Wide Screen Support	Yes
Resolution	1366 x 768
Display Features	LED backlight & Acer CineCrystal Technology

GPU/VPU	AMD Radeon HD 8550G
Video Memory	Shared system memory
Graphic Type	Integrated Card

LAN	10/100/1000Mbps
WLAN	802.11a/b/g/n Wireless LAN
Bluetooth	Bluetooth 4.0+HS

Acer Laptop AMD A8-5557M 4GB Memory 500GB HDD AMD Radeon HD 8550G 15.6" Windows 8 V5-552-8404

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USB	1 x USB 3.0 with power-off charging 2 x USB 2.0
HDMI	1 x HDMI

Touchpad	Acer ZoomPerfect touchpad
Webcam	HD webcam (1280 x 720)
Card Reader	Secure Digital (SD) card reader

Battery	4-cell li-polymer battery (3560 mAh)
Battery Life	Up to 4.5-hours

Dimensions (W x D x H)	15.02"W x 10.08"D x 0.71" - 0.82"H
Weight	4.41 lbs.

Item#: N82E16834314228