This review is from: Acer Aspire V5-171-6614 11.6-Inch Laptop (Silky Silver) (Personal Computers)
I got this laptop to replace a long-in-the-tooth eee-pc (Atom based) netbook. I wanted something with a little more oomph for doing Android programming. I also needed the higher screen resolution as the new Android Studio programming environment really can't be used on a low resolution screen. This product delivers on both of those counts. It also has a very nice, thin form factor. Almost too thin as I sometimes get the sensation of fragility, which is increased by a slight give on the cover when I pick it up. Is it really fragile? Probably not. But I find myself treating it with more respect than my old netbook, which felt fairly robust.
It came with Windows 8 pre-installed. It was a nicer environment than I expected, but I still found it irksome. Too many design choices that really didn't make sense. I found it annoying. But enough about that, as this is a review of the hardware, not the OS. More to the point, Win8 seemed a bit sluggish and slow on this machine. Not horrendously so, but enough to annoy me. So I set about to fix that. My solution: replace the spinning hard drive with a Solid State Drive (SSD) and install Linux Mint 15 XFCE. I got a 240gig SSD from crucial (go to their SSD finder and pick the V5-171; they didn't have this specific submodel listed when I purchased). I was briefly puzzled on how to remove the back (only used to working on desktops prior to this) but soon realized that after removing the single screw holding the cover on the bottom, you have to slide that entire cover towards the front to easily remove it. There was nothing teribly difficult about replacing the drive except the connector, and with a little close examination I figured it out. Don't be alarmed if you pull the whole connector strip out. It goes back in and locks with two nearly hidden plastic latches on either side. It was definitely a learning experience for me.
Once it was back together, I loaded Linux Mint (you will need to go into the bios and set the boot to "Legacy"; it will let you install Linux without doing that, but you will have to reinstall again after setting it; I know because that's how my install went; just set to "Legacy" first). The difference in performance is remarkable. Boot and shutdown times are very short. Andoid Studio starts in about 20% of the time it took on Win8 with the spinning hard drive. All programs open incredibly fast. Basically, it is now a very zippy and capable machine.
My one big gripe with the machine is the trackpad. Yuck. It has a trackpad that has buttons built-in such that you just press on the pad and it clicks. No separate buttons. It also seems a bit too sensitive. I understand that some people like clickable trackpads, and I believe those fruit machines also sport such a system, but I can tell you it is an annoyance on this machine. Perhaps it is Acer's implementation, or perhaps all such mechanisms suck, but this constitutes an annoyance that I don't seem likely to grow comfortable with. Does it inspire fits of rage? Frothy flows of invective? No. It's just a mild, recurrent issue that mars an otherwise very nicely executed product. My Kingdom for Dedicated Trackpad Buttons!
I see another reviewer disliked the keyboard. I haven't personally had any issues with it. It's a keyboard.
Everything else seems to work quite nicely. All hardware seems to work under Linux with no fiddling. Wireless is great. The charger is decent but with an odd round plug-end that upsets an otherwise fairly svelte profile. Screen is bright and crisp. I'm not overly fond of the high-gloss treatment on the screen. A matte finish would have made viewing nicer. Battery life is good.
All in all a huge upgrade for me and an extremely capable programming platform. I took a star for the trackpad. Quite pleased if not ecstatic.
This review is from: Acer Aspire V5-171-6614 11.6-Inch Laptop (Silky Silver) (Personal Computers)
Really light and really small compared to our last laptop. Came with Windows 8 loaded and was a bit of adjustment however the machine is very responsive. Overall very pleased with our most recent Acer computer.
This review is from: Acer Aspire V5-171-6614 11.6-Inch Laptop (Silky Silver) (Personal Computers)
I was looking for a 11.6" and saw a similar one at a store. I liked the form factor. It is thin and small. I like that it feels solid. There is minimal screen wobble. I felt it was well made. So I did what I haven't done ever. I went on Amazon bought this laptop at full retail price (but cheaper than the retail store). I am using the laptop to write this review.
The good:
Nice screen. Nice resolution. I got it mainly for school and it does great. When I am at school, I set the screen to the lowest brightness as my class lasts 6 hours. The battery indicator says it would last 6 to 7 hours on a full charge with no wifi or anything else. With wifi and a bluetooth mouse, I get about 4 hours. Bluetooth is great. It works flawlessly with the mouse. The moment I turn on the laptop, the mouse is working. Sometimes there are hiccups. For school and internet, I feel it is speedy. I also did some photo editing work in Adobe Lightroom and it worked out well. The SD card reader worked well.
The bad:
The biggest problem I have with the laptop is the keyboard. The keyboard is fine. It feels great and works well. BUT the spacebar is horribly designed. It is in the right place but the way they designed it, means you have to hit exactly in the middle to get it to register. If you hit it to the left, right, or near the bottom, it won't register. I don't know how many times I type things out and have to go back to put in a space between letters. It got so amazingly annoying. I decided to pull the spacebar key out. I cut a small piece of paper and stick it under the spacebar. And it worked! The spacebar works now with about 99% effectiveness. Honestly, if this happened in-store, I wouldn't have bought the laptop. The keyboard is overall nice. Fairly quiet. Great for school.
While it is just a nitpick, my track pad is crooked. It is lopsided but works perfectly fine. It means that their quality control might not be so great. The screen is nice and bright. But it can get imprints from the keyboards.
Conclusion:
Overall, it works and it works well. Would I buy it again? Due to the keyboard missing strokes, probably not. Yes, it was that annoying to me. But it works nice with my fix and I am happy to keep it. I would recommend thoroughly testing your unit before the return period. After thinking about, the touchscreen version might had been fun and helpful to do quick tasks. I would probably consider that for my next laptop.
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