Sign in / up

back to article Acer Aspire 5749 budget 15in laptop

Acer’s Aspire line has become synonymous with affordable computing power, providing an air of quality even towards the lowest end of the pricing scale. With an asking price of £399, the 15.6in Aspire 5749 isn’t going to break the bank and it certainly won’t be shattering records, but can so little money buy reasonable …

COMMENTS

House rules Send corrections
This topic is closed for new posts.
  1. zanto

    wait for the "G" addition

    in the past they bumped up the cpu to an i5, slapped a fairly decent ati card on and called it the "XXXX"G where XXXX is the model number.

    i use a 5740G at home and it's incredible value for money. i don't play games any more, but the hardware is capable. it's fast, functional and takes on ubuntu like a dream.

    0 0
  2. ByeLaw101
    IT Angle

    Laptop resolution

    "I’m not a fan of 16:9 displays on notebooks - call me old-fashioned, but 16:10 makes much better use of the available area - so it’s no surprise that I didn’t take too well to the 1366 x 768 resolution."

    I'm with you on that one, unfortunately I really struggle getting a monitor or laptop at 16:10 ratio, do they exist anymore?

    2 0
    1. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      I like 16:9...with less vertical screen the laptop is structurally stronger and it's enough to work with.

      0 1
      1. Spoonsinger
        Reply Icon
        Unhappy

        I like my 1600x1200 screen. Sad the rest of the laptop is getting old :-(.

        1 0
    2. AndrueC Silver badge
      Reply Icon
      Thumb Up

      Yeah I'm forever having to scroll to bring the bottom of pages into view that I wouldn't need to on my desktop or older laptop. I have a 5472z and that's plenty powerful enough and after two years still going strong. One of the shift keys is a bit temperamental but I can live with it.

      0 0
  3. spegru
    Linux

    OS

    What's it like with Linux Mint on it?

    2 2
  4. annodomini2
    FAIL

    There is a lot better budget stuff about for less money.

    Some retailers have had Lenovo i5 Sandybridge systems in the £380 region.

    With i3's being in the £340 region.

    If this was around the £300 mark it would be a good deal, but at £400 there are many better options that won't be broken in 6 months.

    1 1
    1. AndrueC Silver badge
      Reply Icon
      Thumb Up

      Yeah my 5472z was only £450 two years ago. This has a slightly better CPU and more USB ports but not much else. I too would've thought this would be closer to £300.

      0 0
  5. sebacoustic
    Angel

    glossy screen

    Can somebody come up with an after-market screen-unglossifier?

    Some sort of an etching compound that achieves the silky screen finish found on all the good old laptops that we don't seem to get any more.

    And no I don't want royalties for my brilliant idea. Just send me a free tin of the stuff once you'e done, to compensate me fro my brilliant idea. Thank you.

    4 0
  6. Matt_payne666

    Dell Vostro...

    3550 - sandybridge i3, metal casework. backlit keyboard and usb3 goodness all for the same money

    0 0
  7. Dus

    16:10 screens rule

    I agree too on 16:10. 16:9 is only any use for watching the output of the film studios. And even then it doesn't matter if you've got a 16:10 screen showing a black bar at top and bottom whilst you watch a film does it? Because the reverse - using a movie-resolution 16:9 screen for actual computing just doesn't work - I can't display my extra vertical lines on parts of the screen that don't exist...

    As an aside, my old 1920x1200 resolution laptop needs replacing, and I can't find any for sale at all. There's a few 1920x1080 (16:9) around, but I really need the missing 10% vertical resolution. Can anyone tell me of any? Apart from whatever Mac it is that currently has such a screen as I'm just not a mactard.

    2 0
    1. Piro Silver badge
      Reply Icon
      Thumb Up

      Just go buy yourself an old Precision

      In the range of new Dell Precisions, only the M6500 offers 16:10, in the coveted 1920x1200. Funny, because the top model is also called Covet.

      0 0
  8. Havin_it
    Thumb Up

    10/100 not a big surprise

    From what I've seen, most consumer DSL modem/routers are still only up to 10/100, and certainly those dished out by ISPs in these parts, which is the sort of level of customer these are aimed at I'd think. So a Gbit NIC would probably be wasted in many cases; right decision by Acer to keep the price down IMHO.

    1 0
  9. Richard Ball

    wifi

    How is the wifi likely to outperform 10/100 wired ethernet?

    Higher bandwidth, better reliability and lower latency, all at the same time?

    1 0
  10. James 47

    My 5740G has a really annoying and loud BEEEEP every time the power cord gets plugged/unplugged. Also, with recent versions of ubuntu the Wifi driver crashes the system

    0 0
    1. zanto
      Reply Icon

      running ubuntu 10.04 LTS

      my 5740G has been running ubuntu since i bought it. wifi, bluetooth, webcam for skype calls all work.

      0 0
  11. scotsblood

    Matt_payne666 - Vostro 3550 for £399 with anywhere near the same spec, where?

    Today at Argos £399.99 gets you the 5749 with 6GB of DDR3, the Vostro with only 2GB and the tiny 250GB hard drive runs to £358.80!

    Is there a Dell discount I don't know about?

    0 0
This topic is closed for new posts.

Other stories you might like