Acer Aspire E5-771G-553Q (i5, 840M) Notebook Review

Like its smaller brother, the Acer Aspire E5-771G-553Q also features an elegant brushed aluminum look. Since our test model is gray, you will realize that this is a variation of the black 15-inch model. Nevertheless, it feels good to the grip with a height of 28 mm (1.1-inch). The simple Acer feels nice to the touch. The weight of 2920 g (6.5 lbs) does not have a negative impact either. Overall, the build quality seems good enough. Because of the materials used, the stability is not particularly high. Acer sticks to its policy in terms of maintainability and makes it difficult, as neither battery nor components can be replaced without completely opening the keyboard unit.

The addition of further  USB-3.0 ports and interfaces further towards the back, at least on one side, are positive improvements. Otherwise, there are no differences. It is still a drawback that the USB 3.0 ports are on a single side.

Many automatic downloads were used to test the average bandwidth of the WLAN adapter. The router was a floor above the notebook. The Acer Aspire E5-771G-553Q achieved an average download rate of 4 MB/s, while a MacBook Pro Retina (Late 2013) model reached 5 MB/s. The difference disappears if the notebook and router are on the same floor.

The input devices are the same as that of the 15-inch model. Further details about them are available there. Unfortunately, the larger model does not have special keys despite ample space. The big touchpad of the Acer, which uses all of the available space and has good gliding traits, is still impressive. Acer rightly promotes this component. Keyboard grip is high enough to fast touch-type without problems. Key travel, and the stability of the keys, could still be improved.

The size of the display is not the only change. While the 15-inch model only achieved an average brightness of 216.9 cd/m², the Acer Aspire E5-771G-553Q accomplished a great 364.9 cd/m² and, so, performs significantly better than the competition. The contrast of 931:1 is exemplary in this price range. The Asus model neither features Full HD, nor can it keep up with the Acer in any other aspect. But, the MSI GP70 comes in close behind. The only disadvantage is that the brightness falls to 265 cd/m² on battery, as did the Acer Aspire E5-571G's. The black value of 0.42 cd/m² is above average for this category.

The color coverage would also be of interest for professional use. But, with 54.01% of AdobeRGB and 73.4% of sRGB, it is not adequate.

Thanks to Intel Core i5-4210U CPU and a dedicated Nvidia GeForce 840M, the Acer Aspire E5-771G-553Q has sufficient performance. The hardware can be used for a wide range of applications with some compromises. Gaming enthusiasts and office users alike could like the E5-771G. In case you want more performance or faster access times, Acer has made replacing components difficult. Neither the battery nor the hard drive can be replaced via maintenance hatches. The complete keyboard unit has to be removed in order to repair the laptop.

A Western Digital hard drive with a  capacity of 1 TB and  a revolution speed of 5400 rpm is used for storing data. The other models in our comparison also feature magnetic hard drives and perform worse than the Acer in the reading and writing tests of CrystalDiskMark 3.0. The WD is average compared to all other hard drives we tested in the last 12 months.

The system noise of the 17.3-inch model is  "audibly" different to that of the 15.6-inch model. First of all, the fans are always audible and louder while idling. This does not mean that the noise is annoying. It is quite quiet - particularly under load. The fan control initially uses the maximum level after a long stress test and the fans remain in idle mode for a long time during the 3DMark 06 test.

As with most notebooks, the two speakers can only measure up to a certain extent. Basses and lower mid-tones are hardly audible, higher mid-tones are completely missing. In general, the speakers are sufficient for usual home use, but demanding music listeners should use external devices. The volume of 79 dB(A) is adequate, too.

Finally, we want to summarize the review and determine whether the Acer Aspire E5-771G-553Q qualified as a multimedia notebook. While the case is made from plastic, it looks elegant thanks to a brushed aluminum look. We liked the input devices. The keyboard is apt for fast touch-typing and the touchpad convinces with size, responsiveness and multi-touch support. The good TN panel was a surprise. Its brightness is impressive and its contrast good for this price range, especially when compared to the 15-inch model. The Nvidia GeForce 840M and Intel Core i5-4210U let us expect good system and gaming performance. In particular, the maintainability is a point of criticism. Not even the battery can be removed without completely removing the keyboard. The system noise when idle is also poor. Although the notebook is always constantly quiet, the fan noise is always audible. The battery life is a huge step backwards. A 17-inch notebook seems to have more space for components. Nevertheless, its battery is smaller than the Acer Aspire E5-571G-536G's. As a result, the battery life is shorter. If you do not mind these small inconveniences, you can be very satisfied with the Acer Aspire E5-771-553Q for 700 Euros (~$920).