Page 65 - PCWorld (September 2019)
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single-thread Cinebench test results, which the 49 watt-hour battery in the Core
shows the Core i5-powered Aspire 5 basically i5-equipped Aspire 5 to die, which is right in
even with its competition, save for the much line with our expectations. Topping the list is the
heavier Aspire E15 and expensive Lenovo Asus ZenBook 13, which wrings an exceptional
IdeaPad. The Aspire 5’s relatively strong amount of juice out of its similar-sized battery.
single-threaded performance bodes well when The Acer E 15 benefits from a larger 62 watt-
it comes to everyday computing duties. hour battery. In any event, the Aspire 5’s nine-
hour result in our battery rundown trial means
3DMark Sky Diver close to all-day battery life.
With its integrated Intel UHD Graphics 620
core, it’s unfair to expect much from the BOTTOM LINE
Aspire 5 in terms of gaming, but we put it Capable of smooth-as-butter performance for
through its paces anyway with the 3DMark mainstream computing activities, this Core
Sky Diver graphics benchmark. i5-powered version of the Acer Aspire 5 manages
No surprises here, with the i5-packing to pack quad-core power into a thin, budget-
Aspire 5 in the top third of its class in our priced chassis. But while it can run Office like a
chart. What’s that one laptop at the top that’s charm, the Aspire’s quad-core performance isn’t
blowing all the others away? It’s the Core quite as impressive, and we’re also disappointed
i5-enabled Acer E 15, a bargain-priced laptop by its dim display.
with an ace up its sleeve: a discrete GeForce
MX150 graphics card. The MX150 is no Acer Aspire 5 A515-54-51DJ
powerhouse, mind you, but it illustrates the
difference that even an entry-level discrete PROS
• Inexpensive.
graphics card can make.
• Plenty of mainstream productivity power.
• Impressive battery life.
Battery life • Fingerprint reader.
CONS
We test battery life on laptops by looping a 4K
• Dim display.
video over and over using the stock Movies & • No memory card reader.
• So-so quad-core performance.
TV playback app for Windows, with the screen
BOTTOM LINE
brightness tuned as closely as possible to 250 This slim $530 laptop packs in more than enough
nits (which meant cranking the Aspire’s power for everyday computing tasks, and its
quad-core performance is respectable, but you’ll
brightness all the way up) and with the volume have to settle for a dim display.
set to 50 percent, with headphones plugged in. $509
On average, it took a little over 9 hours for
SEPTEMBER 2019 PCWorld 65
