Review – Acer Aspire 4730Z

Ok – this is probably an untimely review.  After all, this computer isn’t the latest powerhouse to come down the block.  For the most part, it’s a decent computer.  Here’s the breakdown.

1. Screen/Graphics

The 14.1” screen is really nice.  The contrast is good enough to make digital photo really pop from the screen, and the text is big enough to read without having to lean in toward the screen.

Graphics are on-board (as are most laptops), and so far it seems to be holding up very well.  I haven’t decided whether or not to shoehorn World of Warcraft of the system yet (I might do it as a test), so I don’t know what the 3d capabilities of the computer are.  It also has a VGA out, so I could hook up a monitor to it to use externally.

2. Sound

The built-in speakers are very tinny, but the sound output from the headphones is very clean.  No popping or distortion, and the jack is located conveniently on the left hand side of the computer.

3. Hard Drive

250 GB. Plenty of room for movies, music and pictures.

4. Keyboard

The keyboard, for me, is hard to get used to.  I’m very used to have the springy tactile response from a regular computer keyboard, so typing on the laptop feels like I’m light touch typing, and it’s not easy to get used to.

5. Touchpad

It’s sensitive.  And the ability to scroll using the right side of the pad is cool, but not easy to control.  I’ll be getting a small laptop mouse for this computer.

6. DVD Drive

It as one, and it burns fine, albeit slower than a desktop’s would.  I haven’t ripped any CD’s off of it, so I don’t know how the read/write speed is yet.

7. Networking

The wireless access is great.  I get faster downloads over wi-fi than I do wired on my desktop.  Whether that is because the computer is new, or because the signal is faster, I’m not sure.  It also has a port for a direct wired connection, and – in a quaint 1990’s gesture – it has a built in 56K modem.

8. Vista

Well… It’s Vista.  Despite the bad publicity and general crapped-on-ness that it’s got, it works fine.  I’ve used Vista at my friend’s place of and on, but I haven’t had any significant time to delve into it and see what it can do.

9. Overall feel

It’s a great machine – I like the fact that I have it setup to do e-mail websurfing. One of the few downsides is the battery life – only 3 hours.  I’m going to try to find a 6-cell battery to replace the current one so that I can get a few more hours of time on it. 

I find it great that I can plug in my headphones and use the laptop as my Ventrilo computer, so I can squeeze a few more frames out of WoW while I’m running it.

All in all, a nifty little package.