Home > Consumer Reviews > Acer Aspire 5739G (15.6-inch Led, Intel Core2 Duo, 2.1 GHz, 4 GB RAM, 320 GB, 1GB Graphics, DVD-RW, Dolby Sound, Vista Home Premium, Webcam, WiFi)

I ordered this laptop as a re-conditioned offer and am delighted with it. I always read reviews before purchasing and am grateful for both the positive and negative comments. I was concerned when a reviewer mentioned that the USB connection points were at the front. A close examination of the picture led me to believe they were actually on the side and once the laptop was received this was confirmed. Nothing is at the front, all the ports and disk drive are on the sides. I do however agree withe the reviewer that typing off centre because of the numbers pad is off-putting, but I found it easy to get used to and the keypad is useful for number entry. The mouse pad is better than any other that I have tried to use (I usually plug a mouse in) but with this one I am actually breaking that habit. I did worry about the Acer Helpline comment, but having had Acers before with no problems decided to but the bullet. I love the machine and the spec that I got for the amount that I paid for it.

Got this laptop delivered very quickly (as normal for Amazon). Set it up and discovered that the the wireless connectivity only worked when I was right next to my wireless router and even then it was very slow. As I walked way the wireless signal was lost altogether. I have another laptop already that has worked fine for over a year. Called Acer Helpline who were just not interested and told me I had to change my router. I decided to change the laptop instead. Other things that were disappointing with this laptop were: The screen size; the shiny black keypad that shows up all your fingerprints really easily; the fact that there are extra number keys to the right of the keyboard that mean that you spend most of your time operating the laptop off-centre (might not bother you but bothered me); The mouse pad didn't seem to work properly no matter what I did; The USB connection points were at the front-right meaning they get in the way if you have a mouse plugged in. But the most disappointing thing was that the Acer helpdesk were not prepared to help resolve the issue with the wireless card - they just said that the problem was with my router.
I sent the laptop back and now have a Sony Vaio VGN-FW41E thanks to Amazon's excellent service and no quibble returns policy (thanks Amazon - that's why I shop with you). The Vaio cost a bit more but worked straight out of the box and is much better than the Acer. See the link to my new laptop Sony VAIO FW41E/H - Core2 Duo T6400 2.00GHz 4Gb 500Gb BD ROM/DVD+-RW/+-R DL/RAM 16.4 inch X-Black Vista Home Premium

Been looking for a laptop for a while when I stumbled on this one. Good reviews in mags was a good start. I was sceptical about the 'custom GPU' but having used it for a few months I have yet to find something it cannot do well. For example:

World of Warcraft over a network - no problem

3d application - No problem.

Video edit - didn't even break a sweat

3 comprehensive security scans at once on seperate apps - routine job

12 browsing tabs open at once - big deal

SecondLife - used extensively with no issues. Better than my desktop machine



Best features:

The same spec on a 'heavyweight' brand e.g SONY would cost you a grand, no problem.

Power, and lots of it

Good webcam/mic for skype users

Secure onboard storage feature - essentially an 'invisible' drive partition



Problems:

The keyboard is a little 'plasticy' but is easy to use

The fingerprint reader can be a little unreliable but is a useful feature overall

It runs Vista so expect a lot of useless features/apps. These are easy to get rid of/deal with for 'power users' that want a stripped down workhorse.

Good value, great performance, looks good. Sound quality better than our other Acer laptops and plays the most demanding games.