Acer Aspire 5633 WKMI

I've had my 5633 for nearly 12 months now, except for a key coming loose I've had no other problems. Basically, it's an all round laptop for the price, what more can I say! Well recommend Acer Aspire 5633 WKMI.

I've had my Acer 5633 laptop since December 2007 now and I think it's great...even though I am soon upgrading to an Acer 7720G!

There are several variations of the 5633, and my particular model came with a decent Intel Core 2 Duo processor at 1.6Ghz; a generous 2GB of RAM; 120GB of hard-drive space; and integrated Intel graphics. It has a 15.4inch widescreen monitor. The operating system is Vista Home Premium.

I have had no problems with my laptop since I bought it. The ample 2GB of RAM means that Vista works like a dream and multi-tasking between several programs is no issue for this laptop. I don't experience any freeze-ups or crashes like I frequently did with my previous laptop - a Fujitsu Siemens with only 1GB of RAM for Vista Premium. The Core 2 Duo processor is noticeably quicker than previous processors I have experienced - the Pentium Dual Core and the Celeron M.

The only thing that leaves me not quite satisfied with this laptop is the integrated Intel graphics. They're adequate enough to run the Vista Aero scheme...but that's about it! Don't expect to play games with this machine, it will seriously struggle. At the time, I couldn't afford a laptop with dedicated graphics, so I can't really complain as I knew what I was buying, and I still stand by the fact that I bought the best laptop for the money at the time.

The laptop looks great, with a sophisticated combination of black and silver. The build-quality is very good, but maybe not quite to the standard of an HP. But I have yet to find a brand that can beat HP for looks and build-quality where laptops are concerned! For the price I paid - £480 - this is a truly fantastic machine with a lot of power.

The screen - very important to me - is beautiful. It uses the Acer 'CrystalBrite' technology, which basically means it has a glossy coating that really emphasises colours and makes everything look better! The glossy coating can be terrible for those on the move, as it causes serious reflections, but for me - who has always used laptops as desktop-replacements - this poses no problems, and I would never go back to one of those dull, matte screens! Of course, the screen is also widescreen - pretty much standard in most laptops today.

The pre-installed Acer software is worth a mention, as I was surprisingly impressed when I had a look at it. I had assumed it would be pointless rubbish taking up space on my hard-drive, but it has actually proved quite useful on several occasions, especially the toolbar that floats on your desktop for quick access. Of course, this can be disabled.

One thing that's not so great is the battery life. I'm never actually on the move with my laptop, but there have been a few occasions when I've wanted to stay in bed on a Saturday morning and surf the Internet, so I've lazily sat in bed with my laptop! Running on batteries, it will last about an hour. I'm sure this can be extended if you change the power plan and disable certain things, etc. But still, an hour isn't that great!

I'd also like to point out that, as this laptop has Vista and Vista has taken quite a bashing since its release, I have nothing but great things to say about it. Maybe it's because I have a machine with the specifications capable of running Vista smoothly, but it has caused me no problems at all.

Because of my great first experience with an Acer laptop, I will soon be upgrading to a higher model - not because I am in any way disappointed with this one, but because I can finally afford a laptop with the dedicated NVidia graphics that I have desired for so long! And it was thanks to my great experience with this laptop that I refused to even contemplate looking at another brand!

For general daily use, I cannot recommend this laptop enough!