Acer Aspire 4530 Review

I have had the Acer Aspire 4530 for sometime now. It has the following configuration:
1.9 GHz AMD Athlon X2 QL-60, 2 x 1 Gb RAM, 160GB Hard Disk, Nvidia 9100m integrated GPU (256 MB Dedicated + 256 Shared from system) 512 MB VRAM, 14.1 inch widescreen, WiFi, Bluetooth, DVD Writer, Webcam, 3 usb ports and the other usual ports and card readers.

First thing I noticed was the full jet black body of the laptop and the gemstone exterior. It looks good and futuristic. Absolutely for someone who’s into movies and gaming. I loaded Windows XP +SP2 in it and it worked smoothly and without a hitch. I also used Vista Inspirat pack on it and did various Windows XP optimizations and registry hacks to startup and shutdown windows faster. Available RAM after startup was 1.3 GB RAM since 256 MB RAM from the system is given to the GPU also. The keyboard works well and is responsive and the touchpad has vertical and horizontal scrolling built into it. I bought a Belkin laptop cooling pad after a few days when I noticed that after gaming, GPU temperature rose close to 100 C. As it is the place I am staying at is warm. When I moved to a cooler location these were the temperatures at idle using the Belkin cooling pad beneath it:
CPU – 51-55C (in load doesn’t change much)
GPU – 58-64C (80C in load)
HDD – 40-49C

I ran some games and these are the stats:
UT 2004 (1280X800 full details @ 32bit colour and 4X AF) –68 FPS avg in CTF Face Classic with 7 bots –42 FPS avg in various Onslaught maps with 11 bots
NFS MW worked smooth at 1024x768 with high details but car details low.
F.E.A.R worked smoothly @ 1024x768 with all high details except shader at medium.
AOE II Conquerers and CS:CZ work well and don’t heat up the GPU even while running. The GPU runs at 169 MHz in default but while gaming it increases to full capacity to 450 MHz or so. I have checked from the net that the GPU will also run COD 4 at low settings and Gears of War at medium settings @1024x768 resolution.

The screen quality with standard 1280x800 resolution is very good and it looks glossy and seriously, this laptop is the best available config at this price point. No other company gives a decent GPU/ chipset at this pricepoint.

Bluetooth works well when I use the laptop to transfer from and to my mobile Samsung E-250 but I have not been able to transfer to the laptop using my phone’s interface. The webcam is decent and internet ran smooth while using the Ethernet port. The speakers are powerful for a laptop and generally I could watch any movie without using a headset or external speaker. Video playback is smooth. The one and only gripe is the low battery life of 1.5 :S hours (even when doing basic net surfing and LCD brightness at lowest). This is to be used only when connected to external power.

I bought it in Mumbai for Rs 33.5K (including 1.5k for extra ram). Guess it may be available cheaper elsewhere. But overall good value for money, good looks and good performance given the specifications. It is sufficient to suit my gaming and movie watching needs. A must buy at this price point.

UPDATES
1. WiFi tested by making a adhoc network with another Aspire 4530 in the same room. LAN Gaming is smooth and 6 GB data transfer between the two laptops in one hour.
2. One other disadvantage i found was that the outer edge of only the audio jack was plastic coated. The other two audio ports including mic port gave me electric shocks whenever i touched them by mistake!! My friend has the same laptop and this also happened to him.
3. It comes with its own DVD of drivers for Windows XP and Vista. I tried running Slax Linux Live but it didn't initialize. So Linux support is questionable.
4. Warhammer 40kawn of War runs awesome and smooth at 1280x800 at highest graphics.
5. Sound of the laptop speakers started cracking for a few days in December. Then it got okay. Nowdays I feel that somehow volume is slightly lower than what it used to be. Now I mostly watch stuff using external speakers.
6. Latest Update CnC3 Tiberium Wars Limited Edition runs cool @ 1280x800 with all effects high except Shader at low and Shadows at off.

PS: The standard model comes with only 1 GB Ram.

Picture List Removed as picture attachment limit was crossed for my most recent review

 

[aman.pitbull]

please post some pics of this model from front side and back.

 

[motorheadinc]

I suggest you to download epowermanagement for your laptop from acer website.

I too have had an acer aspire with turion processor, and its battery life improved by about 30-45 minutes once i installed the same on my laptop.

It gave me 2.5+ hrs of backup while using my institutes WiFi network for surfing the net.

Some other tricks you can use to maximize battery life is to close any additional programs that u may not require while on battery.

Cheers

 

[skylark]

Another way to increase the battery backup is to reduce the brightness of the screen. I get around 3 hrs of backup..

 

[avvs_2099]

I already use acer epower tool. I guess few times of discharging and charging will do the trick. Whenever i am on battery i use lowest lcd brightness as it is. i will rarely need it outside from where i stay as office doesn't allow any gadget inside. so i will mostly be using it with power

 

[avvs_2099]

finally have posted my own pic of the lappie with the belkin cooling pad.:hap2:

 

[aman.pitbull]

Are you sure it has 512 mb video ram?? or is it shared ??

 

[avvs_2099]

half of video ram is shared. i have given the details in 1st few lines of my review.

 

[avvs_2099]

review updated. Updates at the end of the review

 

[polarviga]

thanks for review mate

 

[abhisheksohal]

Hey can you please try on some new and latest games on it..and use FRAPS to know the FPS...tell me how GTA4,Crysis,Prince Of Persia(new one),Call of Duty 5:World at war etc. run on it.. Reply ASAP..

 

[avvs_2099]

abhisheksohal . .. . thats like 5-6 thousand rs worth of games right there
this is a good performer for old games like UT 2K4, NFS MW etc. Gears of War should give 30-35 FPS @ medium graphics in 1024x768. Other than that this is not a machine for Crysis etc @ good graphics/smooth gameplay. Those type of machines will contain atleast a 8600 mGpu. Crysis should run at low reso/graphics. Nothing more than that. U can tell from my review what kind of games it will smoothly play.

 

[dennis_nail]

Hi avvs_2099, I am planning to buy 4530 by end of this month. And your review has played a role in my decision to choose this model. Does it come with drivers for XP and/or Vista? Or did you have to download them?

 

[avvs_2099]

Yes, Acer Aspire 4530 comes with its own DVD of drivers for Windows XP and Vista. I guess I will add it in my review too!
Review updated

 

[codyBane]

Hey Hey.

Thanks for the review ...

I've owned nothing but Acer units so far in my computer purchasing history.

They've all been good computer's over all.

I haven't had the 4530, but it sounds like it's worth a look.

You mentioned you did some hacks to get windows to load & shut down quicker. I think this is the one complaint I have about the preloaded systems.

They come so bogged down with crap really & they boot up so slow.

Anyhow ... if you'd like to share your hacks that'd be great.

Thanks. Cody

 

[codyBane]

oh I forgot to ask if your having any conflicts running both XP & Vista on it?
Or do you have them both installed?
Thanks

 

[avvs_2099]

Hi, codyBane. Yes i will post the windows shutdown registry hack by sunday (hopefully). They are easily available on the net too. Mostly the trick is to AutoShutdownTasks quickly and putting the WaittoKillTaksTimeout or some similar thing to a low value. I will put in exact locations and values to put till sunday.

I have only Windows XP + SP2 installed. I haven't installed vista. I am happy with the speedy and light nature of XP.

One thing you can do is Make one system restore point and then clean up the rest. This speeds up the system boot.

 

[Dark Star]

Slax doesn't provide support for any netbooks and it uses old Linux software so you can't just except full support.. Try Ubuntu or Mandirva. both of them will work without creating much havoc

 

[avvs_2099]

Codybane, here are the shutdown tips. For fast startup let only essential stuff start at system startup.

Increasing XP shutdown speed: Tips 95 - 98
95. Increasing shutdown speed by reducing wait
times part 1

Open REGEDIT and navigate to 'HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\'
Highlight the 'WaitToKillAppTimeout' value.
Set it to '1000' (the default should be 20000).
Now highlight the 'HungAppTimeout' value
Set it to '1000' also.

96. Increasing shutdown speed by reducing wait times part 2

Open REGEDIT and navigate to 'HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop'
Highlight the 'WaitToKillAppTimeout' value.
Set it to '1000' (the default should be 20000).
Now highlight the 'HungAppTimeout' value.
Set it to '1000' also.

97. Increasing shutdown speed by reducing wait times part 3

In the third part of this tip, we will alter a second registry setting to decrease the amount of time Windows XP will wait before shutting down active services after receiving a shut down command.

Open REGEDIT and navigate to 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\'
Highlight the value 'WaitToKillServiceTimeout'
Change this value to '1000.'
This should help to considerably speed up the time windows XP takes to shut itself down.

98. Auto kill tasks on shutdown

To allow Windows XP to close non-responsive applications automatically upon shutdown:
Open REGEDIT and navigate to 'HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop'
Highlight the value 'AutoEndTasks.'
Change the value to '1'
XP will now be able to close hung applications without user input during the shutdown process.

I have taken these tips from the net, long ago. Dunno, which website

 

[jesal]

there is a new model from acer for 35k its got the acer logo glowing in the back neat model for the price. also samsung r510 for 39k is a killer deal i felt. anyone buying this do check these 2 out as well

 

[avvs_2099]

Review updated :hap2: at the end of the article.