I received this laptop promptly. I was beating myself up with all the choices. What I finally decided was that this one was really my only option. I wanted all the features this offers. Great battery life, a matte screen (non-glossy) full HD, an SSD vs the HDD drive, and a backlit keyboard. This laptop as mentioned by others will not win any style points. It will however win with substance. It still is nice looking with a textured cover and being black overall. But that is not what this one is about. Its about what is inside of this amazing product. It took me about an hour to get all the updates to get it current. It boots up in 10 seconds and shuts down in 2 to 3 seconds. The screen quality is excellent, and I am fussy due to my interest in digital imagery. It opens programs immediately. I like the idea that the keyboard lights up and has a "time out" feature to shut off. It also works with the battery where my older ACER did not. That one had to be plugged in for the keyboard to light up. I can tell you for web surfing, the battery life is on par with what is advertised. I bought this primarily to surf the web and to edit digital images. I may play SIMS 4. I do not think I will need to upgrade the RAM. I will however be looking into adding a second storage drive at some point. If you are on the fence about buying this, go for it. Its amazing. One more note. Do not even consider a laptop with an HDD drive vs. an SSD. You will already be behind the times. The difference is incredible. Acer made a winner here!! I am a very happy customer!
"She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts, kid. I've made a lot of special modifications myself. "
--Han Solo
I couldn’t have put my feelings about my new Acer Aspire E 15 E5-576G-5762 better. The 8th generation processor and SSD make for a very snappy computer, and the easy upgradablility is helpful now and will be useful in the future. Since the i5-8250U version comes with DDR3L RAM, I swapped out the 16GB from my old laptop for a free upgrade. It took all of 3 minutes. The hardest part was finding the 3 tiny screws that flew everywhere when I took the plastic compartment off. I foresee a time when I’ll need more storage, but when that time comes I’ll get another SSD and install it. Again, a 3 minute task.
Chassis: Plastic, with a painted aluminum surface for the keyboard and track pad. It seems put together well. The monitor is surrounded by a somewhat large bezel, which I’ve been told is a turn off for some people. I never would have noticed had it not been pointed out in my research.
Processor: This is the primary selling point for me. The i5-8250U is substantially faster than even the 7th generation mobile processors in a very energy efficient package. I haven’t put the processor through anything very rigorous yet, but reading the reviews and head-to-head comparisons on the internet was convincing enough for me to buy it.
GPU: A discrete GPU with 2GB GDDR5 VRAM in a computer that costs less than some graphics cards. I don’t play GPU intensive games, but I’ve read that many games are playable with this card, just not to consider this a gaming computer.
SSD: A Solid State Drive is a must have! What they lack in size, they make up for in raw speed, durability, and energy efficiency. I would have liked a 512GB drive, but the 256GB one that comes with the computer will last a while, and when I need more space, it’s an easy process to put another SSD, or HDD, in the empty bay.
I/O: Tons of ports, a DVD burner, solid keyboard with good feel to the key strokes, and a very precise and responsive trackpad. The trackpad, keys, and wrist-rests collect the oil from your fingers and hands very well, so I’ve taken to wiping them down after every use.
RAM: 8GB of DDR3L-1600 RAM. I’m sure it’s enough, though I would have preferred the faster, more energy efficient DDR4. Still, I had other 8GB sticks of the RAM available, so was able to get a nice upgrade for free.
Screen: This 15.6 inch screen is my first 1080 screen on a laptop, and I love it! The higher definition is very apparent from the 1200 X 800 screen I’m used to. Plus the screen is matte, so bright lights aren’t glaring. Not the brightest screen I’ve seen, but certainly acceptable for all indoor use.
Battery: Coming from a 17.3 inch laptop with a 3rd generation, power-hungry i5 in it, I was used to getting 2ish hours of battery life, even with battery saver on. Now, without sacrificing processor performance or screen brightness, I can get 5-6 hours of battery life out of my computer. I will be interested to see how long I can get the battery to last with power saver on. Acer claims you can get 12 hours, so we’ll see.
Overall Impression: This is a killer laptop for a killer deal! Acer has done a great job of creating this workhorse of a computer and selling it at the $600 price point. Kudos to them. If you’re on the fence I challenge you to find another computer with all these feature at a similar price. Buy this computer and you’ll be very happy with it.
Edit: Since writing this my computer needed warrantied repair, and the service was extremely quick. Amazon and Acer make the repair process very easy. I've also discovered that the battery is better than I first thought, and will last 8 hours for light-duty activities such as web-surfing and word processing; longer with power management on. The maximum resolution of it's graphics card is 1920 x 1080, which is fine for my uses, but may not be acceptable if you wanted to use a higher resolution TV as a monitor. I've also added a small, $40 SSD to the computer for audio and visual files since the SSD it came with was getting cramped. A word of caution if you add another drive: don't forget to go to Disk Management and format the drive or Windows will not recognize it. My overall impression has not changed in the past 8 months, and I am still very impressed by it.
I recently was forced to use my machine in direct sunlight, and the screen performed excellently. The matte finish made everything very easy to read without the glare you get on some monitors.
My search for the perfect laptop began 6 months ago and nothing has changed since then. No new technologies have rendered others obsolete or pushed prices down. The same laptops still cost the same amount. I first started in the 300 dollar range since I only needed the laptop for writing books and background music. In fact, the less it could do the better, because then I couldn't get distracted so easily. I quickly learned that laptops in that price range could barely function as laptops. They either didn't have hard drives or had such weak CPUs that opening a Word document was a complex task requiring several hours and a battery recharge. The best laptop in that range was the 350 dollar little brother of this one, but to make it worth it, you had to upgrade the RAM and the hard drive, bumping the price up to around 550.
I quickly found that most negative reviews of laptops are by people who have no idea what the specifications of a laptop mean. They get mad that a 300 dollar laptop with the guts of a typewriter can't play The Witcher 3 at 60 fps. If you want to game, why are you buying a laptop? Gaming laptops are lava-hot bricks of awkwardness. Just buy a desktop. Also among the complaints were people who liked to pay too much money for redundant gimmick features (let's call these people iPhone users), like fingerprint scanners and detachable screens and laptops that fold in half backward. People would complain that the viewing angles get dark when viewed from the side. Why are you watching your laptop from the side? It's mobile. It turns. That's the whole point.
I quickly deduced that a laptop needs at least 8 gigs of RAM, which this laptop has. It needs an SSD hard drive, which I had never used until now. This laptop turns off and starts up faster than my desktop comes out of sleep mode. It needs at least an i5 processor. I narrowed it down between this one, the Acer Swift 3 (which costs hundreds more just for being metal), some random HP laptop (but being a PC purist since the 80s, I have always despised HP anything that isn't a printer), and the Acer Nitro 5 (a gaming laptop on sale, but the dual graphics cards meant a battery life of 5 hours).
Basically, here are the pros and cons of this laptop:
Pros:
-Though the case is plastic, the keyboard area itself has a cold metallic feel.
-The battery life is at least 8 hours. I can use the laptop off and on all day without worrying about charging it.
-The keys, often described as mushy, still have a decent click and distance to them.
-The backlit keyboard looks nice.
-The screen is sharp, and this is coming from a guy who owns a 144hz IPS desktop monitor.
-Compared to other laptops I've owned, this one stays pretty cool unless playing a game on full performance.
Cons
-As others have mentioned, the keyboard backlight turns off after just a few seconds of not typing, which can be annoying and there doesn't seem to be a way to change this.
-I swear my screen periodically changes brightness but I can't tell if this is my imagination or not.
-The webcam sucks but I don't care about that.
-The speakers are on the bottom and sound like any other laptop speakers, but laptop users should always use headphones anyway.
Overall, it looks better than I expected and has performed without any problems. This is the best laptop for the price.
Hello.
Just recently acquired the new E5-576G-5762 (8th gen i5 with Nvidia 150mx) and have to say that this laptop is extremely decent. Thanks to its SSD, it boots Windows 10 pretty fast, bloatware is kept to a minimum (please uninstall Norton before doing anything else. :p), and the machine is definitely zippy. Haven't added more RAM nor extra HDD but planning to do so (and update the "review" when I do). Battery life is touted at 12 hours and I pretty much doubt it will reach that milestone (unless you are using the screen at 30% or less maybe) but it does give you at least 6 to 7 hours using it for browsing, writing, etc. Oh, and the Nvidia card is plenty capable for gaming at medium settings at least (Grid Autosport FPS avg is in the 80s/90s or so)
Initial assessment:
+ Great and fast CPU and overall fast PC performance
+ Backlight KB and travel feels pretty nice on the keys.
+ Decent quantity of available ports
+ It has a DVD drive :o
+ Upgrade possibilities
+ Decent Full HD screen (might be the 'crappiest' thing on it and it is still good for the price)
- Trackpad is too finicky and not my favorite
- IT RUNS HOT!!!!!
That is the major con for me. Running GRID benchmark, it got to a high 92/93 degrees C!!! Same thing when running 3DMark :o
I think Intel CPUs limit is 100 C and it will probably start throttling to maintain a decent temperature. I guess we could probably undervolt (will look into that) or see if one of those rest 'things' with fans could help. (Do note that this is at room temp 60-something Fahrenheit. I live in the Caribbean were temps are usually 80+ so when I go back I need to retry the test and watch the temps.
Other than that, haven't found any major problems, but it's been only 3 days... Need to play with it a bit more. As of now, for $600 or less, this is a nice buy.
Thanks
My laptop model is E5-576G-5762. If you are purchasing any other model this review is not relevant.
This laptop is the best for the price in my opinion.
There are 2 pretty significant flaws in the design however. One I think might only be on my laptop.
Con1 high pitched buzzing sound coming from both speakers even when the sound is off. Sounds like an electrical problem.
Con2. Finger sticks to touchpad. It does not slide accross it easily. It skips across the touchpad because it grips too well.
- new I5 mobile processor.
- very decent graphics card for a non gaming laptop. Plays most games in 1080p.
-ddr4 ram that is upgradable.
-IPS full HD screen.
-Very decent battery life. Around 6-7 hours of normal usage. Probably half of that for gaming.
-M.2 SSD for fastest boot and file transfers.
-sata port so that you can add a HDD or sata ssd for more storage.
-backlit keyboard.
- pretty loud speakers.
-an optical drive if you ever want to play a classic game or watch a dvd.
-usb 3.0's and Usb-c port.
- thinner than most 15.6 inch laptops.
Feature Product
- 8th Generation Intel Core i5-8250U Processor (Up to 3.4GHz)
- 15.6" Full HD (1920 x 1080) widescreen LED-lit IPS Display
- 8GB Dual Channel Memory & 256GB SSD
- Up to 15-hours of battery life.Adapter: 65 W
- Windows 10 Home
Description
Acer Aspire E 15 E5-576G-5762 comes with these high level specs: 8th Generation Intel Core i5-8250U Processor 1.6GHz with Turbo Boost Technology up to 3.4GHz, Windows 10 Home, 15.6" Full HD (1920 x 1080) widescreen LED-backlit IPS display, NVIDIA GeForce MX150 with 2 GB of dedicated GDDR5 VRAM, 8GB Dual Channel Memory, 256GB SSD, 8X DVD Double-Layer Drive RW (M-DISC enabled), Secure Digital (SD) card reader, Acer TrueHarmony, Two Built-in Stereo Speakers, 802.11ac WiFi featuring MU-MIMO technology (Dual-Band 2.4GHz and 5GHz), Bluetooth 4.1, Gigabit Ethernet, HD Webcam (1280 x 720) supporting High Dynamic Range (HDR), 1 - USB 3.1 Type C Gen 1 port (up to 5 Gbps), 2 - USB 3.0 ports (one with power-off charging), 1 - USB 2.0 port, 1 - HDMI Port with HDCP support, 6-cell Li-Ion Battery (2800 mAh), Up to 15-hours Battery Life, 5.27 lbs. | 2.39 kg (system unit only) (NX.GTSAA.005). Do not expose the computer to direct sunlight. Do not place it near sources of heat, such as a radiator
E5-576G model. Best PC bang for this level of buck. I saw lots of good reviews and I concur. So far I am pleasantly impressed with this unit, however I have not used it a long time or tested many applications to date.. I am upgrading with a second storage disk (HD not SSD) and more memory. To perhaps help some avoid confusion the memory upgrade: There are two RAM memory slots in the laptop, and it comes shipped from Acer with 1 slot filled with 8GB. (By piecing together numerous incomplete Acer replies and posts from Acer) -- The RAM memory supported by the E5-576G model is 32GB maximum (2x16) DDR3L 1600Mhz memory 1.35v SODIMM Laptop. DDR3L memory is low voltage ( L=1.3v ) Acer (incorrectly?) posted memory as having 260-pins -- I believe that Acer post is wrong and should be 204-pins. This was very confusing and took a while to figure out. I ordered the wrong memory twice and one commenter lead me astray by recommending the wrong memory -- perhaps their post was not for the E5-576G model? To the best of my knowledge this 8GB of Kingston memory is the specification that is correct for the E5-576G. ( https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01B5SKK78?tag=wwwkingstonco-20 ) I have not found any matching 16GB single sticks (1x16) available anywhere -- only 8GB. The photo attached is the 8GB memory stick that ACER delivered with the PC.
I will update this post if anything changes from what I posted, after I get the correct memory installed. If anyone thinks this memory information is incorrect or incomplete PLEASE comment.
I have been beyond pleased with this laptop purchase over the last 6 months of use. I can certainly say this is the best laptop I've ever had (but then again I've only had 3, and you would expect these things to improve over time, right). I purchased the Acer Aspire E 15, 15.6" E5-576G-5762 laptop with 8th Gen Intel Core i5-8250U, GeForce MX150, 8GB RAM Memory, and 256GB SSD. I highly recommend this laptop for anyone looking for a great performing machine with an outstanding price (just to be clear, it won't be running the newest high-end games on ultra-high graphics settings, but it still performs phenomenally for its price range and usage category).
This laptop has been my traveling partner as I've been traveling for 4 months, and I've been extremely happy with the battery life, performance, and form of this machine. It is also amazingly quiet: the SSD doesn't make any noise, and the fan only spins up if I am doing something intensive like playing games or running a heafty program - just browsing or watching videos / basic office work will not make this computer more than whisper. This was pretty amazing coming most recently from a desktop, which always has its loud fans spinning. The battery life is longer than I expected, and really can meet the 15hrs specified for this laptop in regular conditions. I spend most of my time on battery with the brightness low (again, I've been traveling, so charging up is not exactly easy) and I will be able to watch several movies / shows and browse the internet for hours without concern for the battery. As of writing this, windows says that I have 14.5hrs left on battery (I don't completely trust Windows battery estimates, but they have been reasonable ballparks) and I'm at 77% left. I've been using it for at least 4 hours since last charged in that 23% used up. So again, the battery is surprisingly great, and way better than what any other laptop like this was offering. Obviously if you try playing Overwatch or Assassins Creed the battery will drain super fast.
Many comments complained about the screen, but I have no issues with it. It is clear, HD, bright (if you want), and no possible concerns or complaints from me. Same with the trackpad/ touch pad: it's worked really well for me and the standard Windows gestures (zoom, scroll, taps, etc.) are responsive and easy to use. Not sure what problems people have saying its difficult to use (maybe older model?)...
The keyboard was a bonus for me: I really like having the number pad for when working with spreadsheets and such, and this size laptop doesn't always have one. Additionally, this has a nice backlight to the keyboard, which will turn off when nothing has been pressed for about 20 seconds (great for when just watching or reading something) or can be manually turned off entirely.
The ports were another thing that I was really excited to see fully included on a laptop in this price range. They can be a bit confusing so let me detail them out: there is 1 USB-C 3.1 port (this is the same port most new phones have for connectivity), 1 USB 2.0 port, and 2 higher speed USB 3.0 ports for faster transfers. One of these 3.0 ports also allows sleep and charge (so the laptop can be closed and asleep while still charging your device). There is HDMI, VGA, and Ethernet, so you won't struggle to connect to anything modern.
In addition, you are gifted with an SD card reader and an optical drive which can read and write CDs and DVDs (which I can't say I've used other than testing that it worked, but I do remember how hazardous it is to suddenly need something like that and not have it available).
The MX150 GPU performs really well - it doesn't make this a high-end modern gaming PC, but it will let you play most current games reliably (check out the benchmark data for just how it compares). I've been happy being able to plug in and run Overwatch from time to time on this laptop, with higher settings.
I have also been using this laptop to dual boot Ubuntu Linux with Windows, so for those who are looking to do something similar: this laptop works well with both, and I've had no issues getting any of the hardware to function with either OS.
I bought this mostly for my wife to use (net surfing, email), but wanted a machine with enough power to run CAD and GIS software. This laptop fills the bill.
I like that it's got the 8th generation i5 CPU. I've got a home-built desktop with an i5-8800k and it runs great and has plenty of computing power.
Regarding CAD software, I've found that 3D rendering does not work well at all (if at all) using CPU integrated graphics; you need a dedicated video card to do the heavy lifting for rendering. That's another reason I settled on the Acer.
Pros:
- separate video card (with GDDR5 ram)
- easily replaceable battery (I've had other laptops that you had to tear apart to get to the battery - not good)
- easily upgradeable RAM
- easily upgradeable HDD (it comes with a 512 SSD, which is fine for now, but is easily changed out)
- CD/DVD drive
- 2 USB 3.0 ports, 1 USB 2.0, and 1 USB C-type (haven't used the C type)
- VGA and HDMI ports for external projector/monitor - nice feature!
Cons:
- Windows 10 (do I really need to list the drawbacks of 10? My biggest complaint is that a major update erases your desktop settings - annoying as hell!)
The E15 has a bright, 1080p screen - text is extremely sharp. Viewing angle isn't all that great but certainly adequate.
One feature that I love is the ability to disable the touchpad from the keyboard. I've had other laptops where you had to be a computer geek to do that. The only thing that would be nicer would be if it automatically disabled the touchpad when it detected that a mouse was attached (like Macs do). EDIT: This capability is now in Windows 10!
I also really like the finish on the case. It's not "shiny and slick" - it's textured, which helps when you are getting it into and out of a carrier.
I wish the power cord were longer, but that's minor.
All in all, I'm really glad I got this machine. I was considering an HP Pavilion, but it just doesn't have the features I was looking for.
EDIT: I wrote the SSD is 512 when I should have written 256.
This laptop has an amazing price for the hardware it offers. Some laptops have sold for more than twice the price of this laptop with similar hardware.
Pros:
1. Core i7 8550U processor
2. Dedicated graphics card
3. Multiple ports for anything you need.
4. I never really understood the point of a back lit keyboard. After spending some time with it, the feature can really be useful.
5. Two slots for storage. One is SATA and the other can be either a HDD or a SSD.
6. Easily upgrade to storage and RAM. Just requires three screw to be put out. There are two slots for RAM. I believe it only accepts DDR3L RAM. I know it does not support DDR4 RAM because I tried transferring the RAM from other laptop and it did not fit in the slots.
7. Decent sized track pad. The previous laptops I have owned never had a decent enough track pad. I always preferred a mouse. This track pad is large and smooth enough to easily navigate the laptop.
8. Separate number pad.
9. Screen is IPS. I was afraid it was not. This means that colors do not looked washed out if you look at the screen at a slight angle. This is a major plus.
Cons:
1. I figured out the day I got this laptop why the company was able to keep the price of this laptop even with the great hardware inside. The build quality of the laptop is on the lower end. It is not terrible, but it could have been better. The plastic that borders the screen kind of comes out ever so slightly. It is not noticeable unless you look carefully.
2. In order to use the 2nd storage option, you have to buy a case for the HDD or SDD to fit in properly. You can only get this case on Acer's website. It cost 8 dollars and shipping is not cheap. I only got it because a friend of mine had a similar laptop and we just ordered two and split the shipping cost.
3. I saw a lot of comments on this laptop that there were issues with battery and power. I did not get this so far with my laptop. I bought a warranty with this laptop because I plan on keeping this laptop for at least 4 or more years.
4. Bloatware. I immediately uninstalled Norton and any other pre-installed software. I don't like how common this is in laptops.
5. This is for anyone that needs more graphics power. This laptop has a USB-C port. It is NOT thunderbolt. This does not really matter to me because the MX150 is enough for my needs.
6. Taking off the entire back of the laptop is very difficult. You have to be very careful not to chip anything. I was not able to do it. I believe it involves taking out the optical drive first. I only attempted to do this because I wanted to see the other hardware that was inside.
Overall the laptop is great for its price. I cared more about hardware and I definitely believe I got a steal. I should also mention that I got this laptop when it was 100 dollars off.
I bought an Acer Aspire E 15 two years ago.
It has served me very well ever since. It's not fancy, but it's good value and fast and trouble-free.
This new one seems generally just as good, but I guess the new chip runs hotter or draws more power then in the 2016 version, because I was slightly dismayed to find that the fan ran loudly a good bit of the time as soon as I turned the computer on.
I did a Google search and fiddled with the chip's power management, which seems to help with reducing the fan noise, but also seems to reduce the computer's speed and power. So it's a balancing act -- reduce the power to the chip just enough to dial back the fan without reducing it so much that I start noticing significant lag time. (And note that I'm only using this PC for office tasks - Internet, MS Office, PDFs, etc. If I were using it for any gaming or video editing, I'm sure I would need to use the chip at full power and just accept the fan noise.)
I tried originally dialing the chip back to something like 48% power, which is a level I saw recommended in a YouTube video. That eliminated the fan noise altogether, but seemed to cause significant performance lags. So I gradually raised the chip's power back to 80%, which for me, seems to do a decent job of keeping the fan at a low level while also maintaining acceptable performance. YMMV. Or you may not care about the fan noise at all. But for me, one of the main reasons (other than speed) for buying a SSD PC was to have the quiet operations that's hard to get from a traditional (cheaper) spinning hard drive type PC. So finding out that this PC had noticeable fan noise right out of the box was disappointing.
Everything else seems to work fine. I think Acer has improved the keyboard a little. It looks the same, but feels more comfortable and precise for typing. Since I'm a writer, that's a big deal to me. So kudos to Acer for the keyboard! Please work on enabling high performance without requiring the fan.
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