Acer Aspire M5

The marketplace is awash with laptops that promise all sorts of cute and gimmicky ideas. And for those that have an affection for all things touch there are many products that can inspire you to want to play all day.
That’s where the Acer Aspre M5 series comes in to make the choice a little bit easier. The M5-481PT and its clamshell, multi-touch design allows it’s users to swipe in and out of applications, programs, online as well as use this Ultrabook machine as one would an “old world” laptop.
The touch screen capabilities are excellent. The finger contact is exact and allows you to zoom in and out, scroll, pinch as effortlessly as one would on an iPad (that seemingly being the standard). That being said as vivid as the screen appears it is not as crisp as the aforementioned Tablet.
On the topic of appearance it’s sleek, it’s light, gray metal and with much desired back-lit keyboards. Yes finally for those who have looked longingly at the Lenovo laptop and thought, “ I would love my laptop all the more if I could use it in the dark”. Well now you can, because Acer has finally decided to give us light.
As far as the speakers go they are ok. But that really has never been Acer’s strong point. They are adequate for watching a movie but not so great for grooving to your tunes.
Yet what the M5-481PT lacks in sound it makes up for in ports and features. All too often one is forced to disconnect to connect. Not here. It comes with two USB 3.0 ports, HDMI and Ethernet. It’s nicely equipped with 500GB hard disk space and 3rd generation Intel Core i5 processors with Turbo Boost Technology 2.0. The DVD burner with built in optical drive is a nice touch as well as are the preloaded Windows 8 software and apps.
It stands by it’s promise of portability by weighing a mere 4.4 pounds, (which is lighter than many laptops on the market), and thin too; less than an inch. But what one really has to love and appreciate is the battery life, which lasts up to 8 hours.
Starting at $699.99 it’s certainly is a good buy.