Acer Aspire 5742Z 15.6 inch Laptop ( Intel Pentium P6100, 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD, DVD, Webcam, Wireless, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit) - Black

I have had this Acer notebook for just over a week now, and I am thoroughly impressed. It's quick, the battery life is excellent considering the size of the screen, hard-drive etc. I previously had an Advent 5302 (250GB hard-drive, 2GB RAM) - so this is double my previous specification and still has a far superior battery life. I was lucky if I got 1.5 hours out of my Advent. I will most definitely be putting the battery through its paces when I get back to university! It's quick, I thoroughly like Windows 7 - which is a surprise because I was very wary after my Advent came pre-loaded with Vista. I ended up uninstalling it and putting XP on there, but Windows 7 seems to be the best of Vista and XP. Easy to use, and the slideshow-style desktops are very appealing. I assume that as Windows 7 becomes more popular, Microsoft will upload a lot more themes for download on the website.

The wireless is a lot stronger on this model too; my Advent previously could not pick up my Sky wireless router in my bedroom. We had an extension built and there is tin insulation in the walls (very troublesome for phone and wireless signal), but I get at least two bars of wireless on this and it hasn't crashed on me yet, unlike my Advent regularly did. As with any laptop, I would most definitely recommend using Google Chrome, it's much faster than Internet Explorer and just generally makes the internet browsing experience so much easier. I also couldn't play The Sims 2 on my last laptop; this runs it beautifully.

The HDMI port really comes in handy as well, as I've just purchased a new television with full-HD. As long as you get good quality downloads, it's a brilliant little tool. Got very fed up of watching all my TV shows on my laptop screen, so that's another problem solved. Plenty of USB ports (3) - also very useful because I'm regularly backing up my work onto my terabyte box and onto USB memory sticks - or charging my iPod/uploading photos from my phone. I also use the SD slot a lot when uploading photos from my digital camera. Basically, this laptop has everything I need on it.

The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because I don't feel I've had it long enough yet to have discovered all of its faults, that and the keys have spaces in-between them and they are slightly raised. I have long nails so sometimes they get caught underneath as I am typing (this has only happened twice in a week though, and I have been using it very regularly!) I would most definitely recommend this, it's an absolute bargain compared to other laptops of the same specification, and I would say it's just as good.

I bought this laptop as a Christmas present for myself because of the remarkable price. My previous laptop was also an
Acer so I already knew it would be reliable.
The laptop is already pre-installed with Windows 7. I just had to follow and click through the instructions to setup which
was very easy to do. Acer has also pre-installed additions which has some extra games/software which is good.
On first impressions the laptop looks great, slim and sleek and is surprisingly lightweight. The LCD screen is bright and
vibrant and very easy to read. The fact that it's wide screen made it great for browsing the Internet and watching movies.
The keyboard was a great idea, including the full numeric pad which made the laptop very user friendly. The keys on the
keyboard have just the right amount of spacing however the keyboard does take some getting used to. The mouse-pad is smooth
and very reactive with a scroll bar to the right which was very handy. There is also one button for left and right click
which is ideal.
I plugged this laptop into the TV via the HDMI port (cable not supplied) and watched a movie from the DVD player on the
laptop which was very easy to do. We also browsed online and used the TV as a projector which was really good.
There is a built in camera on the laptop which is quite clear and is ideal when using skype. There is ample amounts of
storage on the laptop (500GB) and it also has 3 USB ports for connectivity and an ethernet port to connect to the internet,
however I used just the wifi connection. The battery life on the laptop is excellent lasting me over a day once fully
charged. It also charged very quickly.
This laptop is great and can be used for either business or pleasure. Acer has put a lot of thought into making the laptop
build suitable for the end user.

I bought this laptop to cope with photo editing and everyday office and browsing applications. So far it has performed brilliantly on all these tasks (and even running on the battery).
Setup is very easy. Simply turn on and follow a few on screen steps. Acer have included their recovery wizard which prompts you to create 3 DVD's used to recover the system should something go wrong. I would recommend you do this as soon as you are prompted to as there are no software discs supplied with the laptop.
The one thing I have noticed over everything is the noise produced by the laptop... there isn't any!! The only hint that it is switched on is the glow from the very impressive display. Images are crystal clear and very sharp.
Overall a very good purchase, well worth the money. Acer have always been reliable for me - I still have a 9 year old Acer that still works fine for managing the ipod. Lets hope this lasts me another 9 years.