The Acer Aspire 5 sits in Acer's ‘everyday computing' range and it's the epitome of the no-nonsense laptop. It's a little on the chunky side, not especially attractive to look at and, yet, it delivers the goods when it comes to performance and usability.

Good value; Great performance at this price point; Nice keyboard

Awful display; Chunky design

I chose an Acer model as I'd had one previously that served me extremely well for 10 years before purchasing this one. Setting up was easy, no issues at all. It's light, very fast and the battery lasts a good few days on medium use. Definitely would recommend

This is one of a range recently launched at Thorpe Park on what in some parts of the country was the hottest day of the year. While it was an event I was unable to make I have been kept up to date by the excellent Acer PR Company, here the first offering sent to me.

After a week's worth of use, no problems to report - I removed all the bloatware right away to help. I'm not a techie, so these comments are based on "regular folk" usage. I prefer big screens in laptops even though this makes them less portable aka not exactly lightweight.

With high-end laptops, you're getting an ever slimmer and lighter footprint, backed by a heavy pocket, while budget laptops are wired for performance over looks at rock-bottom prices. Then you…

Decent performance; Good build quality; Very reasonable price

Not as light as it competitors; Not the most vibrant screen

With high-end laptops, you're getting an ever slimmer and lighter footprint, backed by a heavy pocket, while budget laptops are wired for performance over looks at rock-bottom prices. Then you have midrange laptops like the Acer Aspire 5 A515-51G-53V6 that offer the best of both worlds.

Acer's brand-new multimedia all-rounder is equipped with an IPS panel, an SSD+HDD combo, and a GPU suitable for gaming. In addition, it surprised us with its very long battery life.

matte IPS display; FHD resolution; SSD+HDD; plenty of storage space; very long battery life

dim display; no keyboard backlight

The Acer Aspire 5 is a mid-range laptop that ticks pretty much all the boxes you'd want for a day-to-day laptop: it performs most tasks well, plays media fine and has a very good battery life, all for a compelling price.

Good battery life; Up-to-date components; Good build quality; Decent performance; Well priced

Cheap-feeling touchpad; Screen isn't the most vibrant; Not as light and thin as other laptops

Build quality, lightweight gaming performance, and productivity chops are what separate the Acer Aspire 5 from some other budget laptop alternatives. The display sets it back, though, with a dimness and lack of contrast that makes using it far less pleasant than it would be otherwise.

Solid processor performance; Low price for a solid state drive; Decent build quality for the money; Plethora of ports

Screen is dim and seriously lacks in colors and contrast; Battery life could be better; Keyboard isn't backlit

The Acer Aspire 5 is a 15.6-inch desktop-replacement laptop that gives you a lot for your $629, but tops it with something you should never settle for at this price: a 1,366-by-768 non-IPS screen.

Ample memory and storage including SSD; USB-C port; Great battery life

Dismal display