The Laptop review

The Asus X53SR laptop is a great all round laptop, with a powerful Intel Core 2 Duo Processor for superb performance, & a great graphics card providing an excellent viewing experience.

It's quite high performance for a cheap laptop, but it doesn't look great and has a relatively short battery life. However, if you want better "bang" you have to fork out more hard earned "bucks" so it's a good all rounder. I wouldn't recommend it for the high powered exec, but if you want a practical, powerful desktop replacement that you can shove in a drawer to save space or a machine for light travel it's a bargain at just £549 inc VAT from PC World this Easter - that's £250 off.

The Fineprint
This Asus X53SR laptop has a DVI port, so you shouldn't have a problem hooking it up to an HD TV using a HDMI adapter. This could be great if you haven't invested in a DVD player, or perhaps want to watch HD Prison Break from the err ...Internet...

Unfortunately, the HD DVD drive is what it says on the tin "HD" ie. Toshiba's standard that recently lost out to Sony's Blu-Ray. Still, you're not paying extra for that and it will read all your software and "Fisher price" DVDs no problem so what's there to complain about?

Processor: INTEL CORE 2 DUO T5450, 1.66 GHz. Not bad for a laptop
Memory: 2048 MB DDR2 (fast) DRAM. Enough for a basic Vista machine
Storage: 160 Gb hard drive
CD / DVD:Super Multi DVD1RW (reads and writes to CDs and DVD-RW)
Battery life:2.5 hrs (manufacturer)
Weight2.95 kg

Asus X53SR laptop

Going on the experience of sales at Cheap Laptops and immediate colleagues, friends and family ACER are a real contender for affordable but capable laptops.

But why is that? Well, for just £352.49 (we musn't forget the obligatory 49p...) you can get your hands on an Acer Aspire 5051WLMi. Now, that's an ACER laptop with economy in mind - ie. you might "aspire" to upgrade to a Travelmate, Lamborghini etc.

What do you get?

For the price it is an impressive package powered by a powerful 2GHz AMD Turion 64 low power processor supported by 1 Gb RAM. Unusually for laptops it also has a 120 Gb hard drive and a built in DVD +/- RW. Not bad eh? Well, that's the one reason why ACER seem to be killing off Toshiba's long term domination of desktop replacement notebook PCs.

I like to call these laptops "tabletops" because they have quote high end processors and aren't ideal for travel / mobility but can still be popped away in the drawer once you've finished doing your online shopping from Tesco, ordered your wife (or partner!) some sexy lingerie to keep you out the doghouse and poked fun at friends on Facebook.

All of which moves us swiftly on to display.

Can I watch DVDS?

Well, this little laptop has a 14.1" WXGA monitor. That's Wide screen XGA in English and yes, good for personal DVD viewing but perhaps you would fork out for a 17" if you want to share. ACER laptops are alway fully featured and the cheaper models are no exception. The Acer Aspire 5051WLMi has a 5 in 1 card reader to make it easier to grab photos from a digital camera.

The laptop comes with Windows Vista home and a built in wireless interface.

Acer, the third largest PC vendor worldwide (source Gartner data, 1Q 2007), has introduced a new Professional notebook lines based on the latest Intel® Santa Rosa platform. The new TravelMate series are the flagships in the Acer notebook portfolio, representing the most powerful and reliable instruments for demanding business professionals and ultra-mobile users.

Travelmate laptops are the high end of Acer laptops, with high performance, good features and good battery life. For something cheaper laptop or a desktop replacement try the Aspire range, otherwise read on!

With its long history of bringing new technology to the market first, Acer has incorporated the new Centrino® PRO platform into several new notebook series due to be launched over the next two months. The new notebook families will take advantage of the superior processing capabilities of the new Centrino® PRO architecture, and will provide better performance and graphics, enhanced wireless connectivity and improved security.

Acer’s mission – breaking the barriers between people and technology – is brought to life through intense and consistent product research and design: all of the new Acer notebooks are based on an inspired new industrial design that introduces numerous smaller enhancements whose collective value is greater than the sum of its parts. Acer has worked hard on refining the details of its TravelMate line to deliver better ergonomics both on the outside – with the round treatment of edges and optimized port placement – and on the inside through a more comfortable keyboard shape, improved build quality and overall durability in addition to a host of personalized security features.

The TravelMate ProFile design features an advanced magnesium alloy cover that is 20 times stronger yet considerably lighter than plastic, adding stylish protection while minimizing weight for effortless mobility. This is good news considering how large and heavy the old Travelmate laptops are.

www.acer.co.uk Acer at Cheap Laptops

The Acer Aspire L320 desktop PC has won the Best Choice of Computex Taipei 2007 Award, a competition which decides on Taiwan's best IT products in the overseas markets, and is one of the most important events at Computex each year.

At only 3 litres in volume, the Aspire L320 achieves the perfect balance between size, performance and cost. The Intel® Viiv™ technology and Intel® Core™2 Duo processor deliver faster processing of the latest home entertainment and multi-threaded applications, with up to 40% greater processing power and 40% less energy consumption than previous-generation CPUs fast yet cool and quiet performance.

Small stylish design
Up to 10 times smaller than a traditional tower PC, the Aspire L320's go-anywhere design gives you a full-featured PC system wherever it is needed in the home! This small form factor media center and PC can be placed both horizontally and vertically on the desktop for optimal space saving. A stylish silver/black color scheme and smooth contours, with cool-blue luminescent indicator lights set against a shiny metallic surface emit a high-tech feel, while adding a contemporary style to any environment.

Audio and graphics
The Aspire L320's whisper-quiet operation (only 26 dB idle) means users no longer have to suffer the distraction of a noisy PC in their work or living space! High-definition audio with 7.1-channel surround sound delivers super-clear acoustics for a theater-like entertainment experience at home.

Enhanced thermal solution
A breakthrough thermal solution achieves performance without sacrificing cost or compact design. By using a copper heatsink and heat pipe design with ultra-quiet fans, the Aspire L320 has an extremely efficient air flow system similar to a full-size desktop that maintains a low internal temperature, and also lowers total cost of ownership (TCO) by reducing power consumption. Furthermore, three air-flow passages allow for optimal ventilation.

The Best Choice Award features a total of 13 categories, the Aspire L320 was a winner in the "PC/Server systems, Notebook,Tablet PC" group. The Aspire L320 belongs to the Aspire L3-series family of desktop PCs, which was also awarded by Germany's prestigious design competition - the Red Dot.

www.acer.co.uk Acer laptops