Acer Aspire 4720-4538-Mini Review

Ok, first let me point out the obvious: This laptop is certainly not anything to get overly excited about and some may ask "Why is he reviewing such a mainstream model?". Simple answer: I've had a couple people ask me to, so I figured I'd oblige. Also please keep in mind, this is my first "formal" review and I'm sure it's not going to be perfect, so please go easy on me. At any rate here goes:


Today I will be reviewing the Aspire 4720-4538 laptop from Acer. It is a 14.1" model with decent specs and can be had for about $550.

Manufacturer Specifications
Hard Drive Size: 120GB
System RAM: 2048 MB
Display Type: 14.1" WXGA TFT Crystalbrite
Max Resolution: 1280 x 800 ( WXGA )
Processor: Intel Pentium Dual Core T2370 / 1.73 GHz
Chipset Type: Mobile Intel GL960 Express
Data Bus Speed: 533 MHz
Cache Memory 1MB L2 cache
Hard Drive: 120 GB - Serial ATA-150 - 5400 rpm
Installed RAM: 2 GB / 4 GB (max)
Technology: DDR2 SDRAM - 667 MHz
Configuration Features: 2 x 1 GB
Optical Storage: DVD±RW (±R DL) / DVD-RAM - integrated
Read Speed: 24x (CD) / 8x (DVD±R) / 6x (DVD±R DL)
Write Speed: 24x (CD) / 8x (DVD±R) / 4x (DVD±R DL)
Networking
Data Link Protocol: Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g
Wireless LAN Supported: Yes
Video Graphics Processor: Intel GMA X3100 Dynamic Video Memory Technology 4.0
Audio: RealTek High Definition Audio
OS Provided: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium
Battery
Technology: 6-cell lithium ion
Installed Qty: 1
Product Dimensions
Width: 14.4 in
Height: 1.7 in
Depth: 10.8 in
Weight: 6.2 lbs
Card Reader
Supported Flash Memory Cards: SD Memory Card, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO, MultiMediaCard, xD-Picture Card
Voltage Required: AC 120/230 V ( 50/60 Hz )
Manufacturer Warranty
Service & Support: 1 year warranty

My first out of the box impression was how light the unit is, especially compared to the 17" models such as the m17x or the 6860FX. It feels as though I could carry this around all day without strain and the build quality leads me to believe that I actually could. It's certainly no Asus, Sager, or any of the other brands renowned for their extremely high build quality, but it's nice and solid with no creaks or flexing (with one exception which I will cover in a moment).

The back is made of plastic and is a matte black with a single Acer logo in the center and the typical SignalUp logo towards the top. There is a strip of shiny black plastic towards the top which adds a nice "touch" to the design. Being mostly matte makes it less prone to fingerprints and is a great feature in my book. That being said, however, the shiny strip at the top is thirsty for smears and fingerprints.



Moving around to the front, the user is greeted with an all white matte plastic "bottom-end". This is different than Acers other models such as the Travelmate, Extensa and newer Aspire line, which are all black. This design actually resembles the Apple MacBook and adds a little bit of flair for those searching for more design "oomph".



The screen is the typical 1280x800 reflective variety which is pretty much standard in every low to mid level laptop manufactured today. Colors "pop" and movies are a pleasure to watch, albeit contrast tends to suffer when viewed off axis. As expected on a screen such as this there is some light reflection as can be seen in the picture below, but this is pretty much the norm with any of the screens today. The backlight is a Cold Cathode device and is plenty bright for both indoor and outdoor viewing, although direct sunlight tends make it a bit harder to see. My unit did not come with any dead pixels or other deformities and is honestly a pleasure to view.



The keyboard and palm area are of typical variety, with the exception of the angled space bar and 4-way directional pad located between the touch pad buttons. The volume has also been changed to a rotary encoder and moved to the front of the unit a la Toshiba. This is rarely seen on a laptop in this price range and is certainly a welcome addition. The keyboard is of typical laptop quality and nothing to get excited over. In fact, I noted some flex when pressing the keys in the center and while not a deal-breaker, its something I feel that could have been improved during the design phase.





The sides are filled with the typical variety of features consisting of an LG GSA-T20N DVD R/W optical drive, a power connection port, an Ethernet jack, an RJ-11 modem jack, (4) USB ports, a Firewire port, an ExpressCard slot, a DB-15 VGA connector, an SVideo connector and an SD/xD/MS card reader. You can see the nano receiver for my Logitech VX Nano utilizing one of the USB ports.





Moving to the last portion of the hardware, the bottom, leads us to an interesting find. It appears Acer is following in the footsteps of Sager, Clevo, Gateway, etc in that they are placing the main components within easy reach to allow for upgrading. Everything with the exception of the wifi card is under one panel and is very easy to get to. There have been many processor swaps on the 15.4" version of this laptop, so I see no reason for this one to be any different.









Now we move to the "meat and potatoes" of the review. System performance. To sum it up, I was very pleased with the performance of this little gem. It utilizes the T2370 Intel Pentium Dual Core processor, clocked at 1.73ghz. This processor is none other than a Core2Duo processor with 1mb cache and running at 533mhz FSB. Older versions of CPU-Z even report it as such



Here are a couple of processor benchmarks:





Now, this processor is certainly nowhere near the top and is not able to keep up with the newer Intel C2D counterparts, however, it does compete with and in many cases, overthrow most of the AMD X2 Turion line clocked considerably higher. In other words, unless you are into heavy video editing and compressing, etc., there's really not too much this processor wont power through with great results.

I will not be delving into the video card performance, as there are already numerous debates on the performance of the X3100 IGP. I will sum it up, however, by saying you will not be playing Crisys with any sort of resolution or detail anytime soon. It does fine for older games such as Roller Coaster Tycoon, etc., but it just isn't powerful enough to run todays games. And it's not meant to. Vista Aero run fluently as well as 2D applications such as Photoshop,etc.

On the hard drive front, this unit comes with a smallish 120gb Hitachi HTS542512K9SA00 5400rpm hard drive, which I have since replaced with a Western Digital 320gb 5400RPM drive. I did manage to run an HD Tune previous to the swap and have posted the results below. As you can see, the performance is inline with other machines running this drive.



IN CONCLUSION: I would like to end this review by saying that although this unit is certainly not considered high-end by any means, and should not be considered as such, the price to performance ratio is phenomenal. This laptop is more powerful than some desktops from only two years ago!


There are many who find Acer to be a "bargain-bin" company and in some rights you are correct. They do market lower-end machines to a lower-end group of users. They have also, in the past, been known to cut corners on build quality which has given them a bad rep. However, it seems as of late, Acer has really been trying to build the name back up and have been turning out some great products at great prices. With the recent acquisition of Gateway, I really think Acer is going to be able to easily compete with the big boys of the industry such as HP, Compaq and Toshiba and in some cases steal market share right out from under them.

Hope this review proves helpful.

 

Good review!

 

By the way, the M15X is a 15 incher , not a 17. Good review though. Not sure if it qualifies as a mini though .

 

Haha! Corrected. I have NO idea why I put 15 instead of 17, but thanks for the headsup!

 

Nice review - thanks for the info.

Although, yea, it is a mainstream, or "pedestrian" notebook, I think that category of laptops probably accounts for 50% or more of current sales.

A walk through any store, or browsing online, will probably show that fully half or more of laptops, are about $799 or less, with MANY under the $600 pricepoint.

I need to get laptops for the kids for high school, and I can guarantee you they're not getting XPS M1530's! They'll be getting something in this category.

T

 

Fantastic review! I think you've sold me on picking one up for when on the road. Got a 5 week trip coming up in August. I plan on bring my P-FX, but while on the bus/plane I don't really fancy the idea of using it.

Thanks, Dook!