Acer AS7540-1317 17.3-Inch Laptop (Blue)
Monday, June 7th, 2010Acer AS7540-1317 17.3-Inch Laptop (Blue) Review
Acer AS7540-1317 17.3-Inch Laptop (Blue) Feature
- 2.0GHz AMD Athlon II Dual-Core M300 Processor
- 4GB DDR2 667MHz Memory
- 320GB SATA Hard Drive, 8X DVD-Super Multi Double-Layer Drive
- 17.3″ HD+ Widescreen CineCrystal LED-backlit Display; ATI Radeon HD 4200 Graphics
- Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit); 802.11b/g/Draft-N Wi-Fi CERTIFIED
There are certainly comparable laptops near this price range, but I found this one to be a decent value. It’s peppy. It has a lot of RAM. It’s got Windows 7 pre-loaded and it’s not bogged down with too much crapware. The screen is very nice and super bright (with brightness controls linked to Fn+Left/Right arrow keys). There are enough USB ports (3 or 4) and even an HDMI port for using the laptop as a media player on your TV. So for me, this meets my needs of having a laptop in the living room for casual internet browsing and also having something powerful enough to play hi-def video or run powerful software like Photoshop or Visual Studio.
My biggest issue with this laptop is the touchpad — which is multitouch by the way. The touchpad itself is fine. It’s large, supports multitouch, and the included software has a lot of configuration options available that I won’t go into here. But it’s the buttons and the placement of the pad that are awkward. And when I say “buttons” I mean it’s actually a single button where the left side is left click and the right side is right click. The single button spans the width of the wide touchpad so it basically requires 2 hands to use because you can’t bring your thumb over far enough to right-click. It’s really a horrible design. Someone should be slapped. The touch pad is also over on the left side of the laptop so it’s almost like it was designed for a lefty. I actually find that it’s more usable with my left hand, but I’m a righty so it’s awkward. Anyway, my wife says that had we had a chance to experience the awful touchpad in a store instead of buying the laptop blind on Amazon that we would definitely not have gotten it. Personally I don’t think it’s that bad because the laptop is fine and I can hook up an external mouse with one of the little nano receivers.
As far as the multitouch, it’s super gimmicky. I’d prefer keyboard shortcuts to awkward pinching and swiping gestures any day. Not all software supports it anyway so it’s not even like you start to rely on it. It’s more like: “Oh wow, this program supports the swipe gesture. Yay… But, oh look how much easier it is just to use the arrow keys.” Multitouch makes sense on small gadgets like smart phones, but when I have a full keyboard, why bother?
Speaking of keyboard… this one is a full keyboard as in having a number pad. So that’s nice. The Home, End, PgUp and PgDown keys are in an unusual position, but you get used to it. The key presses are fine. Typical laptop keys I would say.
As I said with the brightness controls, the volume control is also linked to the Fn+Arrow Up/Down keys. I’m fine with that, but it should be noted that other laptops have a much more elegant means of controlling the volume. HP for example has a little touch-slider on all of their laptops that I like a lot.
Other things I like are no flip-up latch. You just open and close the laptop without having to unlock — though this seems to be standard these days. The WiFi adapter supports all the latest security protocols. And there’s a decent video card for some light gaming. All in all, I’m pleased. I just wish the touchpad was designed better.
Acer AS7540-1317 17.3-Inch Laptop (Blue) Overview
Acer AS7540-1317 Notebook comes with these specs: AMD Athlon II Dual-Core Processor M300, Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit), 17.3-Inch HD+ Widescreen CineCrystal LED-backlit Display, AMD M880G Chipset, 4096MB DDR2 667MHz Memory, ATI Radeon HD 4200 Graphics, 320GB SATA Hard Drive, 8X DVD-Super Multi Double-Layer Drive, Acer InviLink 802.11b/g/Draft-N Wi-Fi CERTIFIED, Multi-in-1 Digital Media Card Reader, 3rd Generation Dolby Home Theater Audio Enhancement, Two Built-in Stereo Speakers, 4 - USB 2.0 Ports, 1 - HDMI Port, Multi-Gesture Touchpad, Touchpad-lock, 6-Cell Lithium-Ion Battery (4400 mAh), 7.19 lbs. | 3.26 kg (system unit only), One-year International Travelers Limited Warranty, AC Power Adapter, AC Power Cord, Wireless Setup Card, Registration/ Limited Warranty Card, McAfee Internet Security Suite Trial
Acer AS7540-1317 17.3-Inch Laptop (Blue) Specifications
Acer Aspire 7540: Mobile Cinematic Entertainment
Enjoy a portable theater experience with the Acer Aspire 7540 (AS7540-1317) PC laptop, which features a 17.3-inch CineCrystal display with a fast response time so that fast action moves seamlessly across the screen and a 16:9 aspect ratio–perfect for viewing content created for the widescreen. The two built-in speakers produce vividly realistic audio thanks to the Dolby Home Theater technologies, and you can connect the laptop to your own home theater receiver for 5.1-channel surround sound with the audio line-out jack with S/PDIF support. You’ll also be able to connect this laptop to your HDTV via the HDMI port.
The Acer AS7540 with blue Gemstone design. |
Enjoy cinematic brilliance on the 17.3-inch HD Acer CineCrystal widescreen LCD display with a true 16:9 aspect ratio and Intel integrated graphics delivering crystal-clear images and brilliant color for today’s best entertainment. |
 |
It’s powered by a dual-core AMD Turion II processor and the ATI Radeon HD 4200 graphics processor, which combines multi-core processing and powerful graphics for a superior digital entertainment experience. A Multi-Gesture Touchpad enables you to pinch, flick and swirl your fingers across the touchpad for more natural photo and video viewing as well as intuitive navigation of websites. Other features include ultra-fast Wireless-N Wi-Fi networking, an integrated webcam for video chats, and a SuperMulti optical drive that’s compatible with double-layer DVD discs.
Pre-installed with the Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium operating system (64-bit version), you’ll be able to easily create a home network and share all of your favorite photos, videos, and music. Windows 7 is the easiest, fastest, and most engaging version of Windows yet. Better ways to find and manage files, like Jump Lists and improved taskbar previews, help you speed through everyday tasks. Windows 7 is designed for faster and more reliable performance, so your PC just works the way you want it to.
Key Features
- 17.3-inch CineCrystal LED-backlit widescreen display with 1600 x 900-pixel resolution (native 720p for high-definition viewing). Its widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio is designed to present websites without lots of left-right scrolling, as well as with a smoother line of sight.
- 2.0 GHz AMD Turion II Dual-Core Mobile M300 processor with 1 MB L2 cache and 800 MHz front-side bus for excellent multi-tasking. And it’s designed to handle simultaneous 32- and 64-bit computing with no degradation in performance.
- 320 GB SATA hard drive (5400 RPM)
- 4 GB of installed DDR2 / DDR3 RAM (667 MHz; expandable to 4 GB)
- ATI Radeon HD 4200 graphics (with 256 MB of discrete video memory) is equipped with 40 stream processors and an advanced 3D engine to provide support for hybrid graphics when paired with this system’s Windows operating system. It provides up to 1919 MB of total shared system memory and is compatible with Microsoft DirectX 10.1.
- 8x SuperMulti DVD±R/RW drive can also write to CD, DVD-RAM, and dual-layer (DL) DVD±R discs–which can hold up to 8.5 GB of data.
- Multi-Gesture Touchpad allows you to pinch, flick and swirl your fingers across the touchpad for more natural photo and video viewing as well as intuitive navigation of websites such as Google Earth. It also enables you to scroll, zoom in and out and flip through web pages, photos, spreadsheets and more. (Learn more)
- Backup Manager software and easy launch backup key for scheduled and as-needed backups of your most important digital files.
- Crystal Eye webcam supports Acer PrimaLite technology, which consists of a premium sensor, firmware and lenses to provide superior video performance under low-light conditions. A built-in digital microphone helps keep background noise levels low and minimizes echoes.
- Stereo speakers with third-generation Dolby Home Theater audio enhancement technologies transforms the experience of movies, music, and games. Includes Dolby Digital Live, Dolby Pro Logic IIx, Dolby Headphone, Dolby Natural Bass, and Dolby Sound Space enhancer technologies.
- Wireless-N Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n) for ultra-fast connectivity to home and business networks.
- Gigabit Ethernet (10/100/1000)
- Multi-in-1 Digital Media Card Reader compatible with Secure Digital (SD), MultiMediaCard (MMC), Memory Stick (MS), Memory Stick PRO (MS PRO), xD-Picture Card (xD)
- Four USB 2.0 ports
- HDMI high-definition audio/video output allows a single cable to transmit uncompressed high-definition video to your digital TV or LCD. It also includes a standard VGA video output.
- Windows 7 Home Premium makes it easy to create a home network and share all of your favorite photos, videos, and music. And you can watch shows for free when and where you want with Internet TV on Windows Media Center. Get the best entertainment experience with Windows 7 Home Premium.
- Get more features with Windows Anytime Upgrade. It’s the best way to add features to Windows 7, takes as few as ten minutes, requires no software or downloads, and you’ll keep your existing programs, files, and settings. Windows will walk you through the simple upgrade process.
- Pre-loaded software includes Microsoft Works SE 9.0 for word processing and spreadsheet work. Enjoy a 60-day trial version of Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007.
- Up to 2.5 hours of battery life (6-cell battery; 4400 mAh)
- Dimensions: 16.18 x 10.78 x 1.77 inches (WxDxH)
- Weight: 7.19 pounds
- Warranty: One-year parts and labor limited warranty with concurrent International Traveler’s Warranty
What’s in the Box
This package contains the Acer Aspire AS7540-1317 notebook PC, rechargeable lithium-ion battery, AC adapter, and operating instructions
It also comes with the following software: McAfee Internet Security Suite (trial version); NTI Media Maker; Google Toolbar; Acer Recovery Management; Acer GridVista; Microsoft Works; Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007 Trial (60 days); Norton Online Backup; MyWinLocker
Learn More
The Acer Multi-Gesture Touchpad
 |
A Multi-Gesture Touchpad allows you to pinch, flick and swirl your fingers across the touchpad for more natural photo and video viewing as well as intuitive navigation of websites. The Multi-Gesture Touchpad enables you to scroll, zoom in and out and flip through Web pages, photos, spreadsheets and more.
The TouchPad can also be disabled with a one-touch button, eliminating accidental cursor movement with palms and wrists when using an external mouse. |
Available at Amazon Check Price Now!
*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Jun 07, 2010 00:54:06
