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Acer Aspire AS5100-3577 Notebook

Acer Aspire AS5100-3577 Notebook

(2.00GHz AMD Turion 64 Mobile MK-36, 120GB, DVD±RW DL, Windows Vista Home Basic, 15.4" TFT - MPN: LXAX90Y004)
Description: The Aspire 5100 is a feature-packed, cost-effective choice for the discerning buyer, with abundant processing power, wireless connectivity, generous hard disk space, enhanced multimedia capabilities and a comprehensive array of I/O ports

User Reviews

4 Star Review(2 Reviews)

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Date Reviewed:  07/02/2007
  • icandoit
    • from CA
  • Member Since:
    Sep 2005

    • View Member's:
    Reviews
    Product Experience:
    5 Weeks
Strengths: Fast processor. Large hard drive. Good DVD writer.
Weaknesses: None found so far
Summary: Heard that Windows Vista is memory hog, so I decided to do a clean installation of Windows XP on my Acer. Spent about 4 hours totally for the reinstallation, including downloading all the drivers from Acer website. Everything worked fine. Watching some video clips and pictures displayed smoothly. The WiFi LAN worked great; it was able to pick up 5 networks from the neighborhoods. When I could get my hand on another stick of 1GB memory, I'll put Windows Vista back on my Acer to compare the funstionality. For what I paid for this Acer, it's a lot of bang for my bucks.

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Date Reviewed:  06/26/2007
  • N/A
  • Member Since:
    • Product Experience:
    5 Months
Strengths: PCMCIA card slot, 4GB RAM max, Atheros-chipset mini-PCI wifi adapter, Compatible with the latest versions of Ubuntu Linux and FreeBSD.
Weaknesses: DVD-R/RW lacks firmware upgrade, screen is a little too bright and dull, Intel audio requires configuration to work with Linux or FreeBSD.
Summary: IMHO, the best 64-bit laptop for Linux/FreeBSD and wardriving.

PROS:

Good keyboard. Nice feel: not too shallow, not to "clickety-clack." Good layout, and important keys are large and prominent.

Rock-solid Atheros mini-PCI wifi interface. Kismet compatible in *both* Linux (madwifing) and FreeBSD (radiotap.)

Has PCMCIA (PC Card) slot, so you can run 2 wifi interfaces! One for passive sniffing and one for connecting to the network.

Expandable to 4 gigabytes of memory! As if a Unix geek needs more than 64MB.

Intel HDA drivers in Linux and FreeBSD (3rd party drivers) work fine.

Also, CHEAP, CHEAP, CHEAP!

CONS:

1. Intel HDA (High Definition Audio) drivers for FreeBSD are provided by a third-party and are not in the latest RELEASE.

2. EHCI (USB 2.0) in FreeBSD 6.1 RELEASE interferes with shutdown. Of course, disabling EHCI will fix this, but will also *greatly* slow your USB transfers.

3. The screen is very reflective and difficult to read in sunny rooms. Also, you must adjust the gamma to .7 or so, otherwise the screen gets so bright the picture is washed away.

4. The firmware on the DVD-R/RW drive cannot be flashed. "Thank You, Mr. Panasonic-- NOT!!" Therefore, you will have to buy a broad selection on DVD's and determine on your own which are the fastest to burn.

5. ATI's 64-bit drivers for Linux aren't as solid as I had hoped. But at least direct rendering works most of the time.

6. Remember, this ain't a Panasonic Toughbook (although they probably share the same crappy DVD-R/RW drive.) It's cheaply made and can't take a lot of pounding.

In summary, *if* you don't have a lot of money *and* you want to experiment with 64-bit FreeBSD or Linux, then I can't imagine a more budget-conscious alternative under $650. It also is just fast enough to play World of Warcraft, although the frame rate will crawl when several objects occupy the screen. Hope this laptop brings you some joy!

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