Acer Aspire 5560 Notebook: specifications, reviews

Acer can be rightfully called "the king of the home line": the brand brings to the market a huge range of models for every taste and purse, and if you still consider the variety of brands of satellites such as eMachines and Packard Bell, then it's not difficult to get lost in the variety of devices.

The hero of today's review is the Acer Aspire 5560 laptop, a budget laptop for home use. Let's try to identify all its advantages along with shortcomings, taking into account the opinions of specialists and reviews of ordinary users.

Appearance

The cases of budget rulers "Eiser" are similar not only among themselves, but also on competing laptops. For example, the Acer Aspire 5560 looks very similar in appearance to the eMachines 600 and 700 series, but if the "Emachins" is a frankly cheap line, where the savings occur literally at all levels of assembly, then the engineers of "Aiser" choose plastic more expensively and more qualitatively, although The overall stylistics of laptops has remained almost the same.

Even with rounded edges and corners, the Acer Aspire 5560's case looks flat and heavy. Yes, and the appearance of the laptop in a closed state is more utilitarian and looks very inexpensive, but when comparing everything with the same "Emachins" it becomes noticeable that the Aspire materials are better.

The cover of the device is made in matt style, has a corrugated surface with a texture that resembles metal floors on the ship's equipment - so that no one slips. Here the tasks are slightly different, but the texture performs its goals: it is difficult to leave fingerprints on the lid or any other "bloopers". In general, the body is difficult to stain, and clean much easier.

On the front of the cover of the case is formed the reverse angle, for which you can easily catch your finger to open the laptop. The stroke of the loops is easy enough, and you can open the device with one hand, without holding the whole structure.

When open, the Acer Aspire 5560 looks like an ordinary, unremarkable laptop with a simple, relaxed and extraordinary appearance. The display frame is a continuation of the screen and does not stand out when the device is turned off, the only thing that users constantly mention in their reviews by an unkind word is that the frame is made in gloss and when opening the frame collects fingerprints and other dirt. The keyboard panel is also devoid of any design delights and looks simple, flat and painfully familiar.

The only thing that somehow refreshes the appearance of the laptop is the brown palm rest. The beautiful shade of the case gives the device a stylish note, highlighting it among the whole variety of corporate black models. Yes, it looks much worse in terms of design than the same series of HP 6000, but our model is also located in a completely different price segment.

Build quality

The characteristics of the Acer Aspire 5560 laptop do not allow the model to act as a "traveler", so it can be called a home device. The cover of the device is not strong enough, and even with a relatively weak pressing there are distortions, so that during transportation it should be attentive and careful.

The device is assembled quite well for its segment: there were no creaks or any kind of crunch, but keeping the notebook on weight, one can feel how the case slightly bends, which once again proves the model's unfitness to travel and travel.

In general, the appearance of the model under test is a little boring, and even the nearest competitor of the line in the person of ASUS K52 looks much more interesting in terms of design and style. The only thing that consumers say about the appearance of the Acer Aspire 5560 is the practicality due to the matte finish. From the point of view of users, the model corresponds to positioning as a "home" laptop of general application.

Ergonomics and Interfaces

According to long-established tradition, laptops with g-shaped loops on the rear panel of the case have no ports or connectors due to interference from the cover. On the front panel of the device in the left corner is located only a card reader with a protective cover.

On the left side of the device is a power connector with a corner plug, which allows to withdraw the high-voltage wire beyond the matrix, away from the eyes. Next is a network interface type RJ-45, followed by a ribbed ventilation grill, a digital HDMI port coupled with an analog VGA, the latest are universal audio connectors and a USB 3.0 port. The right side of the device is allocated for two USB 2.0 ports, DVD-drive and Kensington lock.

It is very convenient that on the left side of the laptop there are ports that are used seriously and for a long time: a network, a cable and, for example, an external hard drive, that is, all the thick wires run to the left of the laptop without interfering with normal operation. On the right you can connect a mouse and a USB flash drive, but it should be noted right away that many specialized forums are full of indignation of users in their responses about the Acer Aspire 5560, whose characteristics allow you to connect only three USB devices, which is extremely small with all the abundance of third-party gadgets (cameras, players , Phones and stuff). Use the USB-splitter is not quite convenient in the laptop, and why the company did not think about the expansion of ports, remains a mystery.

Input Devices

The company has equipped the Acer Aspire 5560 with an unusual form of "mushroom" type keys, where the hat is slightly wider than the base itself. With such a keyboard it is very convenient to blow off dust and crumbs and other dirt trapped in the cracks.

Markers of medium size, white with angular arrangement are very well read, and when working with the keyboard, there is no discomfort. There are no obvious claims to the layout, the only thing that the users are dissatisfied with in their responses is the too close location of the digital block to the main keyboard, otherwise everything is fine.

Touchpad

The touchpad of the Acer Aspire 5560 is something special from similar manipulators: the average response, smooth surface and a single rocker for functional. Those who often type on the keyboard, note that the hands touch the touchpad when working, so the best option would be to connect a USB mouse - to avoid overlapping and arbitrary clicks.

Acer Aspire 5560 screen

The technical characteristics of the display are absolutely standardized with analogous models of the segment. The screen diagonal is 15.6 inches at a resolution of 1366 by 768 pixels with a ratio of 16: 9. The display has a glossy styling, so it's unlikely that you will be able to work outdoors on a sunny day.

The brightness of the matrix is average, with a low saturation limit, but for a home device it will work. The colors on the screen look a bit pale and like all other TN-matrices, the display has a very small viewing angle.

Disassembly Acer Aspire 5560

Depending on the place of work and the environment, the laptop can become very hot after a while and even shut down. This is a clear signal that it's time to clean the device from dust and accumulated dirt.

Before removing the Acer Aspire 5560 laptop , be sure to unplug it and remove the battery. Follow the simple steps in the operating instructions, disconnect all the hardware until you reach the motherboard, where the fan with the lid is located, they must be thoroughly cleaned and blown.

The owners note that the Acer Aspire 5560 ventilation system is easy to disassemble and clean, as it seems at first glance, the main thing is not to rush and carefully follow the instructions. If necessary, after disassembly, heat pipes and thermal grease can be additionally replaced.

In order to minimize the problem of overheating and clogging the system with dust, you can use special cooling pads that are sold in any computer store.

Summarizing

The 5560 is an inexpensive and medium-sized laptop for home use. The main advantage of a laptop is the price, which sometimes interests a potential buyer much more than the performance or functionality of the device. There is a model of about 14 000 rubles. By functionality, the laptop does not lag behind the more expensive counterparts, as users note.

The other parameters of the device are in more or less acceptable limits for their class, both price and technical. Surely most buyers will not notice the difference between this line and similar laptops of other platforms.