ACER ASPIRE E1-571

While the Lenovo IdeaPad Z570 is great when it comes to performance and style, it’s not the most affordable option out there. As you go down the order with respect to price, you have to compromise on performance and features. But in the case of Acer's Aspire E1-571, compromise is one word you won't have on your mind. It uses the same processor as the Lenovo IdeaPad Z570, but a diff erent chipset. In effect, the Aspire E1 matches up with the Lenovo Z570 across almost all CPU-oriented benchmarks; trailing behind only on the gaming and graphics fronts. Clearly, this isn’t a laptop you want to buy if you’re thinking of gaming. But keep the gaming aspect aside, and the Aspire E1 does above average across all other tests.The E1 has decent speakers and good build quality. It's is not the swankiest, but it looks and feels better than the Zenith Uranium Plus, which is just a tiny bit cheaper. It’s got a sober look to it, with a plain grey, plastic panel around the trackpad, a black bezel display and keyboard. There are no physical buttons or hotkeys to play around with, but the shortcut keys are present and they are well laid out.
If you want to use the laptop as a media centre PC, you can do that too. The Intel HD 3000 graphics solution might not be suited for gaming, but high-definition video is no problem. The HDMI connectivity means you can connect it to a TV using a cable. The screen isn’t spectacular, but at the same time, it’s not as bad as some of the other notebooks we’ve seen.
The keyboard isn’t a chiclet-style one, but it’s got a nice feel to it. There’s enough travel and feedback and they’re the largest we’ve seen on the laptops we compared, which makes for comfortable typing.
For a product that’s a good Rs.10,000 cheaper than the Z570, and one of the cheapest in this test, the Aspire E1 offers great bang for your buck. The package includes a Windows 7 Home Basic license. If you were to take away the integrated solutions on the high-end notebooks in this test, this one would be almost at par with them. We suggest you to absolutely go for this notebook if you’re on a tight budget.

SPECIFICATIONS


CPU:Intel Core i3-2350M, 2.3 GHz, RAM: 2 GB, GPU: Intel HD 3000, 
Screen: 15.6-inch / Resolution: 1366x768, Storage: 500 GB HDD