Acer Aspire 5742G

[fastzr]

Is this laptop any good?Asus i5 15" AS5742G-5464G64BN

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Intel Core i5-460m 2.53GHz CPU
Bluray ROM + DVD Super Multi
Wireless 802.11 B/G/N
15 Inch Screen
4 GB RAM
640 GB HDD
Win 7 Home Premium
WIFI
Webcam
nVidia Geforce Gt 420 With 1GB Dedicated Graphics

I have heard that the wireless internet on these computers is pretty bad...

here is the link
http://www.jbhifi.com.au/computers/acer/15-inch-notebook-sku-65802/
sorry that there isnt any more info but thats all that was on the website...

I also found this very similar one.. does anyone know the difference?
http://www.jbhifi.com.au/computers/acer/15-inch-notebook-sku-65445/
Its model number is AS5742G-5464G50MN


THx guys,
Fastzr

Oh and also I want to play some games on this
it doesnt need to be Ultra High quality mainly Starcraft 2 and maybe some CoD

And lastly if anyone knows any good laptops for around $800-1000AUD preferably from an actual shop not online, plz tell me

thx again

P.S.S. sorry for my earlier thread post but i got the brand wrong... so im posting it again

 

[Greg S]

Well if that price is legitimate its not bad. I do have to say that is won't offer full quality picture when playing CoD, but it is fairly nice. I can't say how good the Wifi is or isn't because I don't have an acer laptop, but I can say that this one is worth about $800-1000 depending on what kind of deal you get. You might want to look for a more reliable site to check the price on before you think about buying it though. I'm not so sure that it will be that cheap in a store. I would look at some different laptops though just to see what is out there. Some brands that I think are good are toshiba, hp, dell, IBM, Asus etc. I would not worry about the processor branding (i3, i5, i7) but look at the number of cores and the number of threads. A 1.7Ghz quad-core processor is better than a 2.4Ghz Dual Core. Dell, HP, and Toshiba allow you to customize laptops on their websites to choose your own upgrades, so you can pick your processor and OS, and whatever else. Be warned that when I say customize it is fairly limited.

 

[fastzr]

Thx for answering
How would I find out how many threads and cores the processor has?
I have purchased some laptops from jbhifi in the past and they were alright, obviously its more of a supermarket then a computer store but if their are warranty issues it will be sent back to acer anyway right?

Fastzr

 

[Arris]

I've had a Acer 5942G laptop for almost a year now. Would buy from Acer after this experience. Nice machine. Obviously a slight step down from my friends Alienware and Dell machines, but not much. Only thing I'd maybe do, is go for something with a bigger screen or larger resolution if possible. Feel the 1366 x 768 resolution a little of a let down but the screen itself isn't bad on mines, imagine it would be very similar on that model. Not had any issue with the WiFi, although it does use Acer's "Signal Up" technology, not sure about the 57** series, but I would think so. Something to check

Based on the principle that signal reception increases the higher the antenna is located, Acer has placed two efficient PIFA antennas on top of the notebook’s LCD panel.

The Acer Signal-up dual-antenna panel-top design creates an omni-directional signal sphere, which ensures that your wireless connection remains strong even at the outer range limits of available access points. Compared to other notebooks, the panel-top placement of Acer Signal-up reduces the interference caused by shielding, mechanical parts and any electrical and thermal noise from the main board and processor. The panel-top design has been endorsed and recommended by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), as it also minimises the signal absorption rate (SAR) by the human body. The panel-top position creates an omni-directional signal field.
....
Acer Signal-up technology utilises the most efficient antenna type available on the market — PIFA (planar inverted-F antenna). This particular antenna creates an exceptionally uniform 3D signal sphere through its inverted-F design, which generates an omni-directional signal field. In comparison to other popular two-dimensional antenna types, such as IFA (inverted-F antenna) and MLA ( meander-line antenna), the 3D signal generated by the cubic structure of PIFA-type antennae offers double the surface area of other antennas guaranteeing the highest levels of antenna efficiency for enhanced transmission and reception.

Thx for answering
How would I find out how many threads and cores the processor has?
Fastzr

Found this to be a very good site for information on entire laptops and single laptop components:
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-Core-i5-460M-Notebook-Processor.35993.0.html

Number of Cores / Threads 2 / 4

Here is a review of that laptop, albeit with a GT 540M video card rather than the one you've listed. Rest of the components look to be the same.

 

[fastzr]

Hey,
thx for that answer and that good review... the review did highlight some problems the main ones being that the screen is very glary but i will only use it inside and the battery only lasts for 2.5hours but as it will stay mainly in my house or near power that won’t be bad, the thing that I am a bit worried about though is that it said the cpu heats up to 90C and they don’t state the gpu temperature, is that a normal operating temperature? it also states that its reasonable parts put into a bad frame but as long as this causes no real technical problems I'm O.K with that...

So what are your verdicts as experienced laptop and computer purchasers, should I go for this laptop?

Fastzr

 

[Arris]

My mates slightly older Alienware is dropping FPS as it's overheating when playing StarCraft2, think its paired with an older GT 260M so the temperature problems might comes from that. It's a quad core i7 based machine. My Intel i5 520M based Acer machine hasn't displayed any overheating problems so far but is running a HD5650 graphics card, so it's hard to make a comparison. Personally I haven't had any issue with temperature at all in mines but not sure if the cooling system is the same in the model you are looking at.

 

[fastzr]

So to buy or not to buy?

You guys know way more about these specs then I do, is this a good computer for that price range?

Does anyone know a better computer for that price range?

Thanks for all the previous answers by the way,
Fastzr