Acer Aspire 3003

The Acer Aspire was one of the cheapest laptops that I could find when I looked into purchasing a basic laptop for my school work earlier this year. In fact, it was the cheapest model that Acer made, and it shows in the features that it has, and doesn't have.

It features a nice bright 15 inch screen that is good for watching movies, viewing pictures and general internet surfing. However, the model above features a great glossy LCD that is perfect for a laptop of this size, which brings me on to my next point.

Unfortunately, like many manufacturers, Acer has used the similar case for many of its' laptops including the model above with the widescreen, therefore, the case is quite wide in comparison to the standard style (squarer) screen.

Networking. Nowadays with the internet and all, access and connectivity is paramount when choosing a laptop. Unfortunately, unlike its' older brothers, the Acer Aspire 3003lc only features wired networking (you have to plug it in to get on the internet) and not wireless networking. It does however have a slot on the side for a PCMCIA type card so you can buy a wireless card and fit it yourself which is what i've done. This slot can also be used for card readers, tv tuners and other peripherals.

The laptop has a DVD reader/CD-Writer which is adequate for most people's uses even though a DVD writer would have been useful.

The keyboard and touchpad are good surfaces to type on and use for long periods of time, and don't become uncomfortable like some laptops. The touchpad is quite wide which is useful as there is more space to drag your finger, and if you drag along the side, you can use your finger like the scrollbar on a website for example which is a nice touch.

The unit actually gets very warm after short periods of time, and can get uncomfortable after extended use but won't be a problem if you intend to use it on a desk.

The graphics in the laptop aren't great. For those that are interested it features SiS Mirage 2 Graphics on a M760GX chipset that takes its memory (speed) from the laptop which slows it down. It does have quite a fast processor though, so some older games play quite well.

Finally, the battery. It is quite a poor battery in comparison to others used in cheap laptops as it only has a 2000mAh capacity when most have around 4400mAh - this means it will last for around 1 hour at the most.

Overall although there are a lot of problems, for the £375 that I bought it for, it isn't actually too bad and I would definitely recommend it to anyone in need of a cheap laptop for basic applications - gamers, keep looking.