Acer Aspire V5-171

[railroadmaster]

There doesn't seem to be a lot of discussion about this particular model of Acer notebooks. I will be receiving the notebook in the mail some time this week I will give you guys my impressions of it, I also ordered a spare 4 cell battery.The specs match a 11.6" ultrabook just it lacks an ssd (but you can add one yourself) and of course it is a little bit thicker and heavier than an ultrabook. But with the thickness and weight you get the ability to swap the battery, a keyboard that isn't shallow as all hell, the hardware is upgradable and a full array of ports of including 3 usb ports (including a USB 3.0 port), hdmi, ethernet, and an sdcard reader. Most ultrabooks I have found don't have more than a few USB ports and almost none have a full hdmi or ethernet.
full specs here
http://us.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/model/NX.M3AAA.004
For the price of 550 USD I purchased it for I would say it is a very good deal. I initially wanted a Samsung Series 5 with AMD but I decided to get this instead.

 

[railroadmaster]

The keyboard: So far I really like the keyboard. I was used t using a keyboard from 10" netbook so clearly it is better. But the overall feel of the keys is very nice. Compared to the ultrabooks I used the travel of the keys is much better. However there is no function keys for media playback, which is a feature that I am used to having. The DPAD is somewhat cramped because it shares space with the pgup and pgdown keys, however I eventually got used to it, but you can still use it without looking at it.
Trackpad: The trackpad is buttonless and clicking for the most part works as expected but you occasionally get errors trying to right click. The trackpad is synpatics so gestures do work, though like any other gestures I really only use two finger scroll. The size of the trackpad is pretty god considering the small size of the laptop.
Screen: Mostly standard when compared to other 11.6"" laptops such as Macbook air 11 or various other 11.6" laptops. It has the same resolution, glossy finish, and yes it is a TN panel. I can't really complain much about the 1366x768 resolution being as it is an 11.6" laptop and many laptops with much larger screens have the same resolution. I would say the resolution is comfortable on eyes but you still get decent pixel density. The only thing I would desire is matte display, but the screen is still visible in sunlight.
Sound: the speakers get really loud considering the small size of the laptop, I myself keep it at a somewhat low volume.
Performance: I will not bother to post actual benchmarks being as it has the same ULV ivybridge processor as many of the ultrabooks. The performance is like other ultrabooks the only real difference is that Acer lacks an SSD so boot time and file transfers aren't as fast. Though despite the lack of SSD the everyday performance is definitely not slow.
Ports: Like I mentioned before it has a large selection of ports. Rather than adapter for ethernet or a small sized ethernet port it has actual ethernet. Rather than micro hdmi or no VGA, you get full size hdmi and vga. It also includes a 2 in 1 card reader plus 3 usb ports.
Design: The Acer aspire v5-171 for a 550 USD machine is very good looking if a bit utilitarian. The subtle look of device is nice though the dark grey matte palm rest and keyboard deck combined the faux brush metal lid look add for a simple and nice looking design.
Build quality: Being as it is 550 USD obviously it doesn't have the "premium" materials of other more expensive ultrabooks but overall it is very well assembled and there is very little flex anywhere in the computer.
Battery Life: I have so far gotten around 4-5 of mixed usage moving from web browsing and multitasking with various other applications. The battery life is pretty close to advertised. 4-5 hours is less than what is desired but a you can replace the battery and carry an extra battery.
Temperature and noise: The machine runs very cool and only on occasion does the fan become audible. If anyone can point me to a good free tool for measuring CPU heat I would be willing to post the results.
Conclusion: The Acer 5-171 is an 11.6" ultraportable that offers much of what an 11.6" ultrabook offers but at a much better price with some features of its own.

 

[volvik]

Well it was good to finally get some written feedback on this machine.

I'm on my second netbook and this one is on it's last legs. Even with a desktop at home I almost always default to using the netbook on my laptop in the house. I also take it on my many motorcycle trips throughout the year so it has been a good soldier but I confess to being totally frustrated with the speed/performance.

I thought I had decided on replacing it with a Macbook Air 11, it's the right size and obviously has a reputation. There would be a learning curve and yes I would still need to run a virtual machine for the one Windows program I use that isn't available on a Mac OS.

Problem is I just have a huge problem getting my head around spending the better part of $1500, for my configuration, when I would likely only have it for 3 years or so before upgrading and getting a terrible resale.

After getting migraines from searching I had stumbled upon the V5-171 with an 8gb of RAM configuration. So it pretty much has the same config as the MBA (Ivy Bridge, HD4000, i-5 etc) with the exception of the SSD AND as you mentioned the cost is <$600!

Am I missing something here? My application isn't heavy use, just surfing, route mapping software and some minor video editing from a GoPro.

I played around with an MBA in a store and yes it's instant on what with the SSD but when I was just surfing and starting apps it didn't appear that much more responsive than a normal netbook.

Now after 5 months of use or so would you still buy the V5-171? At this point I'm thinking I would regret spending over twice as much for a machine that pretty much has the same components and does an equally good job?

Thanks in advance for your feedback..

 

[railroadmaster]

Well it was good to finally get some written feedback on this machine.

I'm on my second netbook and this one is on it's last legs. Even with a desktop at home I almost always default to using the netbook on my laptop in the house. I also take it on my many motorcycle trips throughout the year so it has been a good soldier but I confess to being totally frustrated with the speed/performance.

I thought I had decided on replacing it with a Macbook Air 11, it's the right size and obviously has a reputation. There would be a learning curve and yes I would still need to run a virtual machine for the one Windows program I use that isn't available on a Mac OS.

Problem is I just have a huge problem getting my head around spending the better part of $1500, for my configuration, when I would likely only have it for 3 years or so before upgrading and getting a terrible resale.

After getting migraines from searching I had stumbled upon the V5-171 with an 8gb of RAM configuration. So it pretty much has the same config as the MBA (Ivy Bridge, HD4000, i-5 etc) with the exception of the SSD AND as you mentioned the cost is <$600!

Am I missing something here? My application isn't heavy use, just surfing, route mapping software and some minor video editing from a GoPro.

I played around with an MBA in a store and yes it's instant on what with the SSD but when I was just surfing and starting apps it didn't appear that much more responsive than a normal netbook.

Now after 5 months of use or so would you still buy the V5-171? At this point I'm thinking I would regret spending over twice as much for a machine that pretty much has the same components and does an equally good job?

Thanks in advance for your feedback..

I think it is pretty good computer I don't see why you would get a Macbook air it is thinner and has a ssd but it costs much more. You can install an ssd into an Acer V5-171. I think there are versions of the machine that come with Windows 7 or Windows 8. The Acer seems like the more practicle choice to me.