- AMD A8-4500M
- 4GB Memory 500GB HDD
- AMD Radeon HD 7670M
- 1366 x 768
- Windows 8
- DVD Super Multi
Worth it
05/22/2013
This review is from: Acer Laptop Aspire AMD A8-4500M 4GB Memory 500GB HDD AMD Radeon HD 7670M 15.6" Windows 8 V3-551G-8454
Pros:
Quad core; just keep throwing more work at it, it'll keep chugging.
Integrated graphics are unbelievable; can tackle most games at med-high with no problem. Combine the integrated with the discrete in crossfire (for certain titles) and it gets even better.
1600MHz RAM is noticeably quick and there is a vacant soDIMM slot for future upgrades.
Wireless N + Bluetooth 4.0 + Gigabit Ethernet.
Windows 8 boots with "SSD speeds" but on a 5400RPM HDD (I average 9 seconds from power button to lockscreen)
Keyboard is very comfortable + 10key pad. Also has no proprietary keys that only work with particular programs as some other machines do. Every key is usable with straight Windows.
Touchpad is better than others give it credit for (just disable any annoying gestures especially tap-to-click and it's much better) Hey at least it has separate buttons instead of "touch zones"
Runs surprisingly cool for having AMD chips under the hood. (even under load)
Battery life is ~5 hrs on "Balanced".
DVD drive is very sturdy. (Doesn't rattle when the disc spins. Even massively unbalanced discs are nice and quiet.)
Ships with x64 bit Windows 8. (give Win 8 a chance it's just windows 7 with some new graphics tacked onto it.)
Dolby Home Theater v4 keeps speakers from crackling at higher volumes. Audio out jacks are wired well and don't "hiss" through speakers or headphones. Headphone out jack supports headsets that combine the mic and phones on the same 3.5mm plug, as well as standard headphones.
Comes with quite a bit of preloaded bloatware, BUT it all uninstalls nicely and without issues.
Screen is plenty bright and plenty dark and has decent blacks.
Machine is very light for it's size.
Webcam and built-in mic are decent.
Media card reader works well.
Cons:
Some titles suffer from graphical micro-stuttering because the two GPUs take turns rendering every other frame. (many games are optimized to overcome this so it's not a big deal.) The integrated GPU is so powerful, I'd recommend running everything you can off of it alone, (solves stuttering, runs cooler, saves energy) if the integrated is not cutting it, then throw in the discrete GPU.
Graphics hardware can only run in two modes, integrated GPU only or BOTH integrated and discrete GPUs in crossfire. You cannot run off the discrete alone.
Definitely should get an 8GB 1600MHz RAM kit for this, 4GB is ok for a while, but you'll start to feel the sluggishness of dumping memory to HDD cache under heavier loads.
While it boots quickly, 5400 RPM HDD is a tad slow. I live with it, but others may want to upgrade to something faster.
Although 2.8GHz turbo core is listed in the specs, I have never been able to hit 2.8GHz. The highest I've ever seen is 2.28GHz. (Still feels plenty fast though)
Screen's colors are a bit washed out, but... you can't win em all.
Speakers may not crackle, but they are very quiet and have, as little as makes no difference, no bass whatsoever. Movie dialog is crisp and loud, but music will suffer from the lack of bass.
Glossy black finish is not the easiest to keep shiny, it collects fingerprints badly.
Outer casing plastic is not the sturdiest. Flexes a little under pressure, but I've seen worse. Just be gentle with it.
Power brick gets quite hot under heavy load. (Charging and gaming combined)
Overall Review:
I had difficulty installing Linux on this machine, likely due to the odd GPU setup. Your mileage may vary.
The crossfired GPUs mean that the graphics drivers must be repackaged by the manufacturer, AMD's normal drivers won't work properly. I suppose you could build your own drivers, but I've never tried that myself. Just something to think about.
For the money, this laptop has blown away my expectations. I would highly recommend this to a friend.
After owning this machine for 7 months or so, and using it heavily and daily at college, (programming and gaming) not one thing has gone wrong. All the ports still work (and I use every single one of them every day).
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- Christopher B.
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Verified Owner
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Owned For:
1 month to 1 year
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