Acer
sticks to its line and again releases numerous models of the new Aspire
7551G series. We picked out the four most important alternatives to
start with in order to shed a bit of light on the range of products.
It starts with the Aspire 7751G-N834G32Mn,
which already goes over the counter for around 650 euro. The buyer gets a
triple-core processor from AMD (Phenom II X3 N830, 3x 2.10 GHz), a 320 GB sized hard disk and a DVD burner. An ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5470
does its job as the graphic card, which is only suitable for games to
an extent because of its relatively weak performance. The Aspire
7551G-N934G32Mn for about 730 euro bids significantly more graphic
power, as it is equipped with a Mobility Radeon HD 5650 and a Phenom II X4 N930 quad-core processor (4x 2.00 GHz).
Acer also has a fitting bundle up its sleeve
for entertainment fans. Thus, the Aspire 7551G-P524G64Bn can't only
serve with a Mobility Radeon HD 5650 and a large 640 GB hard disk, but
also with a BluRay drive for around 760 euro. In this case, Acer has
opted for a Turion II P520
dual-core (2x 2.00 GHz). We've reviewed the Aspire 7551G-N934G64Bn,
which unites all benefits of both aforementioned models, and should
appeal to both gaming fans as well as movie lovers, is the cream of the
crop. It's equipped with a Phenom II X4 N930, a Mobility Radeon HD 5650,
a HDD with a capacity of 640 GB and a BluRay drive. Price: around 830
euro.
Apart from that, all models have a 17.3 inch
display in a 16:9 format and a resolution of 1600x900 pixels. Every DDR3
RAM has a capacity of four GB. Not surprising - Windows 7 Home Premium
64 bit is used as the operating system.
Case
In regards to the case, the Aspire 7551G basically correlates to its 15 inch brother, Aspire 5551G and thus inherits almost all advantages and drawbacks.
Especially the design would be named on the pro
side. The case not least makes a fresh impression due to its silver
display lid with a grippy texture. Another bonus point is the pleasant
wrist-rest that reminds of brushed aluminum in haptics, which gives the
Aspire 7551G a certain amount of quality. The notebook isn't exactly
handy or made for mobility with its 17 inch size, but due to its weight
of 2.9 kg, the Aspire 7551G can still be carried around adequately
anyway. Above that the notebook doesn't look bulky with a height of only
34 mm.
Now to the negative aspects. Thus, the
stability is not at all well. The quite wobbly display lid can, for
example, be bent and pressed alarmingly intense. Furthermore, the
wrist-rest yields slightly towards the center and the case even emits an
extreme and cheap sounding creaking noise under higher pressure.
The workmanship of our test device isn't perfect either. The optical
drive has very differently sized gaps. The extremely sensitive display
bezel reveals itself as yet another weakness. In opposition to the other
surfaces, it is made with a high-gloss finish and thus tends to scratch
and grime quickly.
At least the hinges do a good job. We couldn't
establish a lifting of the base unit at opening the lid. The maximum
opening angle of 160° is well above average.
Configuration and Supplies
Connectivity
Acer presents itself as very conservative
with connectivity. The user will look for an ExpressCard slot just as
in vain as for a Firewire or eSATA port. The existing interfaces prove
to be standard fare. Thus, the Aspire 7551G has a Kensington lock, RJ-45
gigabit LAN, three USB 2.0 ports (2 right, 1 left) and both an audio-in
and audio-out. External monitors can be connected via VGA or HDMI,
there's no display port. Acer has also integrated a 5-in-1 cardreader on
the front, which is capable of SD, MMC, MS, MSPRO and XD formats.
In our opinion, the port arrangement is,
expressed carefully, suboptimal. Reason: Acer has placed the majority of
connection in the front area of both sides. If you connect many cables,
you'll soon find your elbowroom limited and a mouse use could turn into
a problem.
Software and Supplies
As (unfortunately) known from Asus, the Aspire
7551G's system is clogged by numerous software. These aren't usually any
halfway sensible applications that give the user a particular
advantage, but it's mostly so-called bloatware. A negative
consequence of the bloated installation is a slower work speed and a
longer system booting time. Because many programs also inhabit the
notification area of the taskbar, the user is often faced with annoying
pop ups. Thus, we can only recommend every buyer to devote himself to,
admittedly, time-consuming, but ultimately also rewarding, deletion
immediately after initializing the notebook.
Acer at least deserves praise for one software
addition, though. The user receives a video software that can also
render BluRay disks aside other formats with PowerDVD 9. If the
Aspire 7551G weren't equipped with the according program, you'd have to
buy expensive, additional software. Acer additionally includes a remote control,
with which the Aspire 7551G can be controlled comfortably from the
couch and movie enjoyment is really fun. Otherwise, the scope of
supplies turns out rather scanty. The buyer will only find a short
instruction manual, a warranty card and a quick start guide beside the
90 watt adapter. Acer has, as usual, not added any operating system
DVDs.
Input Devices
Keyboard
On the whole, we quite liked the keyboard. The
detached keys distinguish themselves by their well dimensioned size and
acceptable pressure point. Merely the arrow keys have turned out
extremely narrow on the vertical plane. The left shift key could also be
a bit wider. Improvements could especially be made on the number pad in
regards to stability. Because the optical drive is found under it, a
noticeable yielding can already be established when moderate pressure is
applied. The fairly loud and clattery key noise, which doesn't exactly relate a high-end impression, annoyed us most though.
Touchpad
One of the Aspire 7551G's absolute strengths is its top notch touchpad.
The marginal lowering of it gives a sufficient amount of orientation.
Above that, the rather smooth surface allows you to glide extremely
pleasantly over the touchpad. The size of 90 x 50 mm is just as
impressive as the always reliable multi-touch functions. The vertical
scroll function works perfectly and Acer has provided it with a white
line for better visibility Both touchpad key unite to one single bar and
don't give reason for complaint in terms of sound or triggering
responsiveness.
Display
The
17.3 inch display, with a screen diagonal of 43.45 cm, has enough room
to consume all multimedia contents adequately. Above that, a resolution
of 1600x900 pixel provides sufficient image area to, for example, work
with two simultaneously opened windows. Movies also benefit from the
16:9 aspect ratio, as it reduces the typical black bar.
So,
basically excellent preconditions, if it weren't for the moderate
display quality. You can work pleasantly with an average brightness of
170.5 cd/m2, but you'll soon find a higher luminosity missing
in games or movies. Our test device's illumination also turned out
surprisingly poor. Merely 126.2 cd/m2 in the darkest and 203.0 cd/m2 in the brightest spot result in a disappointing rate of 62%. At least the poor illumination is hardly noticed subjectively.
The black value places itself in the center field with 0.83 cd/m2.
Dark areas don't really look deep black, but rather grayish. The
contrast of 229:1 is also everything but overwhelming. However, the
majority of current multimedia notebooks hardly do better in this
exercise. Conclusively, the color representation is alright. The image
appears significantly more brilliant than, for example, on a matt
display.
The Aspire 7551G is, as you can imagine, unsuitable for outdoor use. Acer doesn't use an AR-coated display, which leads to intense reflections
in according light incidence. The user is frequently faced with
annoying reflections even indoors. If you spend a lot of time with
office or internet activities, you should consider using an
anti-reflection foil or buy a notebook with a matt display right away.
A
short comment about the viewing angles, which prove to be very
restricted on both the horizontal and vertical plane. Color
representation and illumination are falsified quickly even at slightest
deviations. This is at latest a problem when you want to watch a movie
with several friends. At most only one person can see the display
content fairly authentically.
Performance
It's
taken a long time, but now at last: AMD celebrates its quad-core debut
in the mobile division with the Phenom II X4. As Intel's current Core
i-quad processors, the Phenom II X4 is also still manufactured in a 45nm
process. Acer has opted for the N930
in the Aspire 7551G, which can serve with a clock rate of 2000 MHz. The
power consumption can be described as acceptable with 35 watts.
Comparable Core 2 Quad and Core i7 processors have a 10 watt higher
consumption. The N930's cache has turned out extremely tight with two
MBs. In comparison: The Core i7 range also has an L3 cache beside an L2
cache, which is set up significantly larger with six to eight MBs.
The midrange Mobility Radeon HD 5650 from ATI is used as the graphic card. The Radeon HD 5650 has 400 unified shaders (HD 5870:
800 unified shaders), 627 million transistors (HD 5870: 1040 million)
and a 1024 MB sized DDR video memory. Unfortunately, the video memory is
tethered to only 128 bits, which can turn into a bottleneck in higher
resolutions. Acer doesn't make any experiments and uses the standard 550
MHz for the core and 800 MHz for the memory. The Radeon HD 5650 is
state-of-the-art with DirectX11 support. The ATI can also keep
the power consumption surprisingly low with 15-19 watts, not least due
to the 40nm manufacturing process.
CPU Performance
The Phenom II X4 N930 doesn't only have to measure itself with the equally clocked Core 2 Quad Q9000 (Medion X9613), but also with the often used dual-corer, Core i5-430M (Acer Aspire 4820TG) in the application benchmarks. The Phenom II X4 N930 doesn't look particularly good
in Cinebench R10's single-core rendering. It can't assert itself
against the Q9000 (2643 points) or against the i5-430M (3446 points),
whereas the latter can build up a considerable lead due to its turbo
mode. The Q9000 takes over the lead in multi-core rendering with 8584
points. i5-430M (7849 points) and N930 (7432 points) follow at a good
distance. The same picture is shown in 3DMark Vantage's CPU score: The
N930, with 6731 points, follows both the i5-430M (7339 points) and the
Q9000 (7817 points).
GPU Performance
The combination of Phenom II X4 N930 and Radeon
HD 5650 can reap a good result of 20076 points in 3DMark 03. However,
when the Radeon HD 5650 is supported by a Core i5-430M (Acer Aspire
4820TG), the performance increases by about 5% to 21056 points. The
difference increases significantly in 3DMark 05. The Aspire 4820TG
stands out by a remarkable 19% in comparison to the Aspire 7551G's with
13430 to 11218 points. The lead vanishes into thin air in 3DMark06: The
Aspire (6719 points) and Aspire 7551G (6661 points) have again closed in
on each other. The Aspire 7551G, with 3315 points, is also close behind
the Aspire 4820TG (3415 points) in 3DMark Vantage, which correlates to a
difference of 3%.
HDD Performance
Acer equips the Aspire 7551G with a 640 GB
sized hard disk from the quality manufacturer, Western Digital (WDC
WD64000BEVT-22A0RT0). The average transfer rate of 65.5 MB/s is more
than good for a HDD with 5400 rpm. The access rates of 17.8 ms are
within the usual field. Acer has only set up one single partition (583
GB) on the hard disk, which certainly won't appeal to everyone
No comments:
Post a Comment