Sunday, January 26, 2014
An unassuming ultrabook with gaming chops
Acer makes a assortment of laptops. So many with the aim of it's unkind to pick a restricted single available of a lineup. Round about are amazing examples of top-notch design and engineering, such in the same way as the glass-clad Aspire S7, while others are well-intentioned experiments, such in the same way as the flip-and-fold R7 hybrid. But nearly everyone are generic-looking cloudy boxes with the aim of look like they may well cost at all amount and contain at all combination of components -- it's unfeasible to have an effect from the outside.
While the design of the Aspire V7 is the textbook definition of lackluster, inside I found a pleasant take aback. This 14-inch ultrabook-thin laptop limited an Intel underlying i7 CPU, a game-ready Nvidia GeForce 750M graphics tag, and a vast 1TB hybrid unkind drive, with a 24GB SSD store. With the aim of configuration (the V7-482PG-9884) goes in place of a reasonable $1,199, but you can bang the CPU and unkind drive down and keep the Nvidia 750M in place of $899 in the sphere of an alternative of several preconfigured versions free by Acer.
(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)
Bound to be, you may well use $50 added and understand a 13-inch MacBook Air with a underlying i7 CPU, but this classic has added RAM, added luggage compartment, and with the aim of discrete GPU. Dell's XPS 15 is just a trace better, offers largely related specs, plus the GPU, but can cost $1,900, depending on the exact configuration.
The Acer Aspire V7 lacks the design polish of the competition, and the cheap-feeling baby grand is frustrating, but not a deal-breaker. In place of decent mainstream gaming in the sphere of a slim ultrabook by the side of ample 1080p solution, you can be a issue with the aim of it's a smart, if not inspiring, bad deal.
Design and skin texture
If you used single word to illustrate the Aspire V7, with the aim of word would be located "gray." Both outside and interior are finished in the sphere of cloudy aluminum with a sly brushed-metal pattern.
Black plastic covers the floor panel, and the screen bezel and keys are additionally black, giving you a clean two-tone look. Exciting, it's not. The design screams generic administrative center PC, even though this is a vindicate mainstream multimedia/gaming organism.
(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)
While the interior components are a superior sense, the soul interface is a letdown. Acer's standard island-style baby grand is at this point, and while the keys are hefty and arrange a delightful sly backlight, they're additionally very shallow, giving you excluding tactile response as soon as typing. The keys additionally bob a trace under your fingers, which can be located maddening, and the complete baby grand tray has round about warm up, especially in the sphere of the spotlight. I've certainly seen added warm up and wobblier keys in the sphere of other laptops, but it adds a non-premium feel to the organism, which is not what did you say? You absence in place of $1,200.
(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)
The hefty tad pad offers plethora of place in place of gestures and navigation, but response in place of the all-important two-finger scroll gesture is miscellaneous. In the sphere of highly optimized apps, such in the same way as IE10, it mechanism smoothly, but in the sphere of the Chrome browser, it can be located jumpy. The pad uses a clickpad-style design, with rebuff marked gone and sincere mouse buttons, so you understand added break the surface area, and the Synaptics software scheming it offers plethora of options in place of amendment the response and gestures.
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The 14-inch tad screen has a native solution of 1,920x1,080 pixels, although configurations with lower-res screens are additionally to be had. I wouldn't vouch for with the aim of in the same way as a place to take out overheads, however. The flaunt at this point is crusty and upbeat, and offers extensive viewing angles, although the edge-to-edge goblet spread over the surface is glossy an adequate amount of to point toward a assortment of light. In the same way as with at all Windows 8 laptop, tad control is main, and this 10-input screen worked well in place of navigating Windows 8. With the elevated screen solution, you'll understand added available of HD capture on tape and games, someplace 1080p ought to be located your baseline spec.
The Acer Aspire V7 is not just logically equipped with informative ports, it additionally spreads them around to both boundary and the rear edges, a setup rarely seen at all added. Every boundary approach has a USB 2.0 docks, with an SD tag slot and audio jack on the sincere boundary, while the rear approach has both HDMI and mini-DisplayPort, plus USB 3.0, and an Ethernet jack -- an alternative rarity in the sphere of the ultrabook age.
(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)
While our $1,199 re-evaluation piece is by the side of the superior conclusion of the Aspire V7 line, you perform understand a low-voltage Intel underlying i7 CPU, a huge 1TB hybrid unkind drive (with a petite 24GB SSD), 12GB of RAM, and the Nvidia GeForce 750M graphics. Several preconfigured versions are to be had, with unusual screen resolutions, processors, unkind drives, and even 15-inch screens, but the top overall deal is the $899 version, which trades down to a underlying i5 CPU, 500GB HDD, and 8GB of RAM, but keeps the 1,920x1,080-pixel-resolution screen and Nvidia graphics.
