Feb 11, 2017 11:27 PM
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This is a pretty good laptop from Acer for the price with quite a few features that appear to offer superior performance. The main hardware downside I see is that the DVD drive is quite flimsy compared to my previous Gateway laptop also built by Acer. Fortunately, I don't expect to need the DVD drive very often. The other feature I am not certain about is the Reversible Type-C USB connector which is billed as being USB 3.1. This Type-C USB drive might have the performance characteristics of a typical USB 3.0 drive, and I don't think this laptop has the new USB 3.1 drive with the increased performance over standard USB 3.0. Otherwise, after about a week into setting up this laptop the issues I have with its performance can be attributed to Windows 10.
By the way, based on my experience, plan to spend about 6 to 8 hours setting up this laptop. Most of this time is consumed in creating a USB restore/back-up copy of Windows 10, and then processing a series of updates to Windows 10 that have been issued in 2016 and early 2017. I also added a second DDR4 memory module(Brand: Crucial) ordered after I received my Acer laptop. The laptop I received came with a DDR4 memory module also manufactured by Micron Technology with a speed of 2400 MT/s. I had never performed any kind of addition to a computer before, but adding additional memory turned out to be quite simple. The key to finding additional memory involves looking for the terms "DDR4", "SODIMM", and the speed of 2133 MT/s or 2400 MT/s. I learned this from reading many of the other reviews on Amazon as well as figuring out what type of DDR4 memory module was installed by Acer. In addition, with respect to how much memory one should have on a Windows 10 laptop, I am not certain what the correct number should be. I did purchase this laptop knowing that I have specific project coming up, and the software for this project recommended 8 GB of system memory(4 GB minimum). However, I do think the overall performance of this Windows 10 laptop will be limited by Windows 10 and its many foibles!
If I were rating this laptop based solely on my experience thus far with Windows 10, it would be 1 Star! Compared to Windows 7 Home Premium that my previous Gateway laptop came with, Windows 10 is a practically useless O/S. I don't like the design or layout of Windows 10, and who needs a toolbar icon for the Microsoft store?! I don't plan on buying anything further from Microsoft Corporation in connection with this laptop if I can help it. Furthermore, the digital assistant feature of Windows 10 called "Cortana" is merely fluff, and I doubt I will ever use it. In addition, the new browser on Windows 10 called "Edge" is quite irritating, and the main "Start" page for Edge is apparently tied to MSN content in perpetuity. Apparently, Microsoft Corporation does not believe its customers should be permitted to select the media content they wish to receive! So, as I stated earlier, the principal downside in the performance of this Windows 10 laptop will be Windows 10! If my genealogy software program was not designed solely for the Windows O/S, I think I would have considered buying a different system.
