Acer Aspire 5002 Laptop Review

If you are considering purchasing a new laptop computer, then perhaps you might consider the Acer Aspire 5002.  The Acer aspire 5002 is not exactly a budget notebook, but it is not top of the line either – it falls somewhere in between and offers great value for your money.  The Aspire series of Acer laptops are geared more towards the consumer rather than the business professional.

The Acer Aspire 5002 includes a 15.4” WXGA widescreen, an AMD Turion 1.6 GHz processor, a dual layer DVD burner, and 60 GB of hard drive space.  Priced at under $700, this laptop offers great computing power for the casual user and students alike. 

Other features that are standard with the Acer 5002 are a built in 802.11 /b wireless access card, 512 MB of RAM (memory), SiSM760GX graphics card, Windows XP Pro operating system and an 8-cell battery.  With specifications like these, the Acer 5002 is more than capable of handling your daily computing needs.

For connectivity with peripherals, the laptop includes 3 USB ports, a VGA connector if you decide you want an external monitor, a phone jack, an Ethernet jack, line in, mic in, and stereo out inputs.  It weighs in at around 7 pounds with the adapter.

The laptop design uses a silver/black color scheme, and the chassis is constructed of plastic with a brushed metal finish.  The frame stands up fairly well under pressure – however, excessive pressure will cause the frame to bend.  Another slight consideration is that the screen wobbles a bit if you shake the laptop, but this is nothing major.  Overall, the construction is pretty solid.

Colors are especially vivid on the  CrystalBrite 15.4” screen and images are very life-like.  You not encounter any problems with blurriness with the Acer 5002.  The speakers lack bass response as with many laptops, but are fine for normal applications.  After all, you are not using your laptop as a stereo.

The processor performance is fast enough, are the graphics card is okay, though it is not the as good as those offered by nVidia.  For your everyday computing needs, you should not have any trouble running the applications you require.  This will system handle running multiple applications well.  If you are concerned, simply add a memory card to give the memory a boost.

One concern that should be noted in reference to the touchpad is that the scroll button on the touchpad seems to work just fine in MS Internet Explorer and MS Word, but does not seem to work in Firefox.

If you are one who likes to take your computer with you everywhere and use tap into wireless access points, you will be delighted to know that the Acer 5002 includes a Broadcom 802.11b/g wireless card.  Unfortunately, though, there is no integrated Bluetooth for all you gadget junkies.  The 8-cell battery that is included with the system will last approximately 3 hours, which is a vast improvement over the 4-cell battery in the Acer 3002.

Overall, the Acer 5002 offers great value for your buck and will suit most users.  The dual layer DVD-RW is a real plus as well as the bright, clear display.  So if you are looking for an affordable laptop that will not break the bank, then you may want to consider the Acer Aspire 5002.