It might seem odd to start out a 5 star review with disappointments, but this was an emergency purchase and wasn’t my first choice,Acer AS5517-1643 was just the best thing I could afford. However (and it’s a big however), this little computer rocks very, very hard. It totally exceeded my expectations, and there aren’t too many things that do that.

The Good:
* It’s surprisingly fast – faster than the T7200 2GHz 64bit dual core laptop it replaced. Significantly faster.
* It has enough memory for most folks (unless you’re like me, the mad multi-tasker, in which case, go ahead and increase it to 4GB — it will run all sorts of apps (dreamweaver, photoshop elements, several browsers, local web server, etc) simultaneously when running at 60 – 80% of 3836GB available (out of the 4GB) memory without getting boggy.
* The screen is bright, clear, and has decently vivid color. Watching DVDs and streaming HD video is delightful.
* The keyboard is decent, and the trackpad is one of the first I’ve ever been able to use without missing a mouse. It’s positioned perfectly, recessed just enough, and has software smart enough to recognize accidental touches vs. deliberate ones. The scroll area on the right side is nice responsive.
* Battery life is adequate, this isn’t a Low Voltage processor so it’s going to last 2-3 hours with moderate use and the screen dimmed (it reports 4 hours left when I unplug it, but I’ve never used it more than an hour unplugged — someday i’ll test it to see how long it’ll last, and update this review then).
* Having the numeric keypad is such a good thing. It’s a little squeezed in, so the function keys and decimal are on top instead of on the side, but it’s easy enough to get used to.
* Runs external monitor with no problems (but that needs to be configured in the thing called “Acer Grid” to really work right)

The Hmmm…
* The pattern on the lid is supposed to be fingerprint resistant, but you can still see fingerprints. (It’s still very pretty, no complaints). However, whatever they used on the keyboard frame and the trackpad is some sort of miraculous substance that you cannot tell has been touched. I’ve had my greasy paws resting on it for hours on end for over a week now, never wiped it clean, it’s just … clean.
* There was a little crapware to uninstall, nothing too annoying, but I feel the need to mention it, hopefully one day manufacturer’s will “get it” and stop pre-installing crap entirely? Hey, a girl can dream.
* Only 2 USB ports – when I set it up at work (plugged into external monitor, with keyboard and mouse in front of the big monitor) this means I’d need a USB hub to use any other USB device. No big deal though.

The Meh…
* Speakers don’t rock — but — plugged in my old altec lansing powered speakers + subwoofer (model VS2321 if you were wondering, nothing fancy, just basic laptop speakers) and the sound watching Foo Fighters live stream was freakin’ awesome.
* Last night I plugged my new Droid in to transfer music, and all the browsers got squirrely while it was plugged in. Every browser (I have 5 installed) crashed constantly while Android phone was connected. No big deal, just … weird.

In Conclusion:

Acer AS5517-1643 is a good, solid, basic machine, at a great price — (I paid more for my telephone after deposits, fees, taxes, etc — and it’s the only time I’ve been disappointed by the numbers in the specs but pleasantly surprised by the *actual performance* – usually it’s the other way around. It’s a pleasure to type on, the trackpad is awesome, the screen is lovely, and it strikes a nice balance in size between the huge desktop-replacements and the little ultra-portables that always feel a little cramped. And Windows 7 is an awesome OS (been using it since late beta) and the release version running on a computer built for it is *sweet*.

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