Acer Laptop Aspire E5-573G-56RG Intel Core i5 5200U (2.20 GHz) 8 GB Memory 1 TB HDD NVIDIA GeForce 940M 4 GB 15.6" Windows 10 Home

Pros: Pros: You're going to be hard pressed to find better specs at a $500 price point. Laptop itself is pretty nondescript, which if you're like me, is a plus. I don't want anything flashy looking. Keyboard is solid, I have no complaints. The 10 key is smaller than normal but still a nice to have on a 15" laptop.

Cons: Touchpad isn't the best, but some of the reviews are overblown on how bad it is. It is perfectly functional, albeit far over to the left. Screen is ho-hum on viewing angles, but not the worst out there. Upgrading components looks like a pain, and it is, to a degree. See below. Would be nice to have one of the USB 3.0 ports on the right. At least the HDMI and VGA aren't right next to each other so you can use both.

Overall Review: To access the RAM/HD you'll need to flip the laptop upside down, remove all the screws. Take out the CD drive blank. There are 3 small screws underneath there. It's best to start in a corner and pop up one set of clips. Run a small metal tool in the gap and you'll pop up the clips around the laptop. Don't yank off the bottom cover as there is a cable connecting the motherboard to the speakers, which isn't a ribbon cable and is easily removed. From there, you have easy access. Yes, it could be easier, but it is really not that difficult. Install process for swapping the HD for an SSD was about 15 minutes, most of it removing the screws. As for comments on bloatware - it has some. With Windows 10, once the computer is activated, you don't need a product key.I've found it's easier to just format and reinstall Windows. Download the Windows 10 Media Creation to a jump drive, plug it in and reboot. Hit F2 to get into the BIOS to change your jump drive to primary boot device and then reboot. Follow the prompts and choose advanced to delete all the data and install a fresh copy. When you get into Windows for the first time, check for updates and it will download the 840m driver. You're all set. With an SSD the install time is less than 20 minutes.

Pros: Probably the best specs you can get on a laptop at this price. 1080p screen, decent (albeit ULV) current-gen i5 with hyperthreading and turbo boost, Windows 10, GeForce 940M for light gaming. Good battery life. Fairly lightweight. I'd heard a lot about Acer "bloatware" but found very little.

Cons: To get these specs at this budget, you give up a fair bit. No DVD drive. The screen is below-average in terms of color and viewing angle, like a budget TN panel. The touchpad is janky enough that I switched to a mouse quickly. Build quality is so-so, although it's has a nice look and seems sturdy enough.

Overall Review: Contrary to the other reviewer, my machine came with Windows 10 Home 64-bit.

Pros: You must remember it is built to a price. Everything is a trade-off. Fast, good keyboard, Windows 10 64bit, I'm in the minority probably but after playing with the settings, the track pad is good for me. Good mobile graphics board and solid i5 processor. Bloatware is minor in todays world unfortunately.

Cons: My 2 only real gripes are horrible off-center viewing. The screen while of course is not ips is actually quite good as long as viewing angle is nearly perfect. No indication of caps lock or number pad lock. Sounds minor but it annoys the hell out of me.

Overall Review: No one will mistake this for an ultrabook but I don't care. The build quality seems decent. Laptops are like tools for me, not jewelry or a status symbol. Abuse them for a couple years on the road and replace. At this price I think it will work very well for me.

Pros: Plenty of everything: Graphics Card that can handle the gaming I do and look great at it as well as show movies nicely. Large Hard Drive to hold my work I do on the machine. Plenty of Memory to start but I added 8gb more myself for a total of 16gb So it is my little monster of a laptop for a great price. Windows 10 has been a pleasant surprise too.

Cons: None that I have hit yet, other than I would will had a dvd drive probably bit not much of a con really.

Overall Review: Great all around machine for really anyone from novice just starting out to a techie like me who needs the extra this machine provides. Would recommend to anyone.

Pros: You're going to be hard pressed to find better specs at a $500 price point. Laptop itself is pretty nondescript, which if you're like me, is a plus. I don't want anything flashy looking. Keyboard is solid, I have no complaints. The 10 key is smaller than normal but still a nice to have on a 15" laptop.

Cons: Touchpad isn't the best, but some of the reviews are overblown on how bad it is. It is perfectly functional, albeit far over to the left. Screen is ho-hum on viewing angles, but not the worst out there. Upgrading components looks like a pain, and it is, to a degree. See below. Would be nice to have one of the USB 3.0 ports on the right. At least the HDMI and VGA aren't right next to each other so you can use both.

Overall Review: To access the RAM/HD you'll need to flip the laptop upside down, remove all the screws. Take out the CD drive blank. It's best to start in a corner and pop up one set of clips. Run a small metal tool in the gap and you'll pop up the clips around the laptop. Don't yank off the bottom cover as there is a cable connecting the motherboard to the speakers, which isn't a ribbon cable and is easily removed. From there, you have easy access. Yes, it could be easier, but it is really not that difficult.

Pros: Medium settings gaming on a 500 dollar laptop! Loaded up D3 on medium to low settings and temps were around 65c on GPU and CPU. Very playable at those settings! Minor hitching could be the mechanical drive. Nice keyboard with number pad. Laptop is Nice and Thin. Perfect size for me... 17 inch laptops are to big IMO.

Cons: Bloatware bloatware and more bloatware... No SSD drive. No back lit keyboard. Took me about 1 hour to remove Mcrappy security center and all the other bloatware and only then did this bad boy start to shine.

Overall Review: I'm glad I didn't listen to these people with all the bad reviews.. The track pad is better then my old Dells track pad... it just take some getting used to but I'm using an optical mouse anyways. The screen is fine I have no complaints about it. I do wish it had an SSD but for 500 bucks I consider this a miracle! My desktop GPU was 700 dollars so needless to say this complete laptop for 500 is awesome! Thanks Acer... I have always loved your laptops and this is no exception!

Pros: Good value for the money. If it didn't die within three weeks, I would have been okay with my purchase.

Cons: Biggest con: shut off randomly while playing Civ V. After that, it lasted about 3 to 5 minutes max until it shut off again. In the return process now, and I'll be buying something different. Smaller con: the screen really does suck. It has a soft, matte surface, which gets blown out by any light in the room. Glare is horrific, and even in the dark of night, the colors are not vivid. Very poor quality screen.

Pros: * I bought the Acer E5 for a client--who had a very limited budget--to play light video games on, primarily Indie Steam games and Minecraft. To this end, the Acer E5 excels. * - The price for this PC ($509) cannot be beaten if you're looking for a light gaming laptop. There's a lack of selection available for laptops that have a discrete GPU and are budget-friendly. For example, jumping just to a 950M is an average increase of $400; hence, why I always recommend a Desktop for gaming, as price differential is astronomical, but some people need the mobility and that's understandable (I once owned an Alienware, but that's a purchase I still regret). However, the Acer E5 strikes a great balance for light gamers with light wallets. Its 940M provides enough horsepower for indie Steam games, Minecraft and most MOBAs to run smoothly, and on a striking 1080p screen. The fact that you can now purchase a laptop featuring a 1080 screen for this price is very satisfying. Movies look great also. - Speaking of the screen, it is pretty nice. It isn't an IPS or anything, but it's fine for straight on viewing, and its color production is more than adequate. The bezels aren't small, but overall, the E5's aesthetics are pleasing. Its top has a brushed aluminum look, while the inside panels are a smoky gray color with a beaded feel. Combined together, it doesn't clash but instead looks rather sleek. - There are no cardinal sins when it comes to the keyboard layout, yet I've never been a fan of the combined up and down arrow. It also features a numpad and the keys react responsively. - It has a well-rounded Intel i5 processor, which should be more than enough for the gaming you can expect at a 940M. Apps run quickly and boot is about as fast as it can be without an SSD. - Acer (or more like to Nvidia's and Intel's credit) has incorporated a smooth transition between the Integrated Intel HD 5500 and Discrete Nvidia 940M GPU. I didn't need to tweak any settings for the GPU to kick in when running games or to back off when browsing. Speaking of which, the GPU ran nice and cool under stress, maxing out at a luke-warm 69 degrees in Unigine. I'll provide a snippet of benchmark results in Other Thoughts.

Cons: - The viewing angles aren't too impressive. When moving a few degrees, color is nearly completely washed out. However, this is to be expected when purchasing any laptop in this budget range. - I do not like the power button being a key on the keyboard. It just feels like too much can go wrong positioned there. - This is a personal preference (even on my own Aspire S7), I do not like the flush, flat touchpad. I prefer dedicated left and right buttons, especially for a laptop like this that can arguably be meant for light gaming. Obviously, I recommend a gaming mouse though. Still... - There is a good amount of bloatware on here. Just take the time to uninstall the programs. Yeah, it's a pain, but nearly every manufacturer nowadays includes copious amounts of bloatware apps; it's a way for them to make more money, I suppose. - I don't know why Acer has been doing this lately, but the space for a DVD drive is present, but non-functional. I really don't understand it. If anything, use that space to put more IO, or to make the chassis a little thinner. It's confusing. - This may be an isolated event, but the right side USB port is extremely tight. When putting a USB connector in, you really have to wiggle it in. For some reason it's really tight and difficult, but the others are fine.

Overall Review: - Do not expect the E5 to run Major titles, besides maybe some less-demanding games at Very Low settings. Benchmarks - Unigine Heaven: Medium Quality _ Everything else disabled. FPS: 16.9 - Score 425 - Min/Max FPS: 7.7 / 32.7 Low Quality _ Everything else disabled. FPS: 35 - Score: 580 - Min/Max FPS: 9.5 / 50.5 * Overall, this PC is a great bang for your buck. You get a dedicated GPU, a well-rounded processor, plenty of storage, right amount of RAM, and a 1080p screen for about $500. *