Customer Reviews

Acer 15.6" Aspire Laptop 8GB 1TB | R7-572-6805 (Certified Refurbished)

As most of my reviews, this one is also long, but bottom line: Impressive unique laptop. Perfect for my needs and highly recommended.
This review is for a certified refurbished R7-572-6805 (the non-Best Buy version) sold by Acer Outlet via Amazon.

It's funny how I did a 180 degree turn and ended up with the Aspire R7. Last Year I was originally intrigued with convertible hybrid laptops to which both the Aspire R7 and the Sony SVF13N13CXB VAIO Flip 13A 2-in-1 13.3" TouchScreen Laptop 8GB Memory 128GB Solid State Drive Black belong in. I settled on the Sony Flip 13a since it was the only one in the store that had a digitizer at the time and the Acer one didn't but the Acer R7 still struck more of a cord with me with its better design and its bigger size. So I bought the Flip and reviewed it. At the time it was the almost perfect convertible laptop. Fast forward to the present and the Flip has ended up with the loud fan noise issue that so many others were experiencing. So I decided to buy another convertible and realized that this time around the Aspire R7-571 was updated as the R7-572 with a digitizer. So I went in search of buying one.

Unfortunately, finding one was next to impossible. In the U.S. the laptop is a Best Buy exclusive, but local Best Buys don't carry it. When it was in the stores (last year), the reps (as well as the media) gave it not so great reviews due to the design of having the touch-pad above/behind the keyboard. And while the laptop is selling well overseas, due to this exclusivity and the reps telling buyers to look at other laptops the device is nowhere to be found in stores. (Actually the model isn't even listed on Acers website for sale). Hopefully Acer continues with the design and improves upon it and makes it available to all retailers. In the meantime the device started appearing on Amazon. These are the models sold on Amazon.
R7-572-6423 (NX.M94AA.001) is the U.S. Best Buy version,
R7-572-6805 (NX.M94AA.005) is the Non-Best Buy version,
R7-572-6637 (NX.M94AA.003) is the Canadian Version,
There is also the R7-571-6858 which is the previous version without a digitizer.

I decided to buy here, at almost half the price, the non-Best Buy version R7-572-6805 which is sold outside of Best Buy stores. Both are identical except that the 6805 comes with the Broadcom BCM4352 802.11ac adapter instead of the 802.11 a/b/g/n adapter. The model is sold through/coming from Acer Outlet and marked as Certified Refurbished. Upon further inspection the laptop is actually coming from Secondipity.com in Indiana, (which sells overstock, returned, reconditioned and refurbished items from Acer and other major brands.) They have a very good high rating. It comes with a 90 day warranty.

Order, Delivery, and unboxing process:
Amazon shipping was quick. I ordered it on a Thursday around midnight and it arrives on Monday. The box the laptop comes in says Acer and upon opening the box, the laptop is packaged well. The contents are only the laptop and the wall charger. No documentation, armrest, stylus, etc. as in some other versions. I expected this to be the case since I previously went to the Secondipity site to double check the company and their sales procedure and they outline what to expect and what is included. The manuals are available online and I already have other styluses. The laptop upon closer inspection has no signs of use or wear. It looks brand new.
I unwrap it and started it up and put it through my usual daily motions. After about a week with it, these are my observations.

Pros:
This is the only other laptop convertible other than the Sony Vaio Flip series that converts to tablet mode and presentation mode with a digitizer. The Lenovo ThinkPad Helix also has those modes but converts by removing the tablet portion unlike the Vaio Flip and Aspire R7. The VAIO is more expensive and this version is cheaper than the Best Buy 6423 version.
The hinge is quite ingenious and sturdy, offering rear presentation mode, tablet mode, laptop mode and suspended (slightly over the keyboard) mode. I feel every laptop should come with this type of hinge. The hinge has no wires exposed.
Build quality is top notch.
Keyboard is back lighted, and quite nice to type on. It is at the front which is something I always wanted a laptop to have instead of being further back like most laptops. I don't use a touchpad since I usually use a mouse for more precise maneuvering and selection.
The speakers are very good. Loud. Better than any other laptop speaker I've encountered. (When flipping the display to presentation mode, the speakers automatically switch their orientation).
Screen is bright and clear. No dead pixels and quite responsive to both finger touch and numerous N-Trig styluses.
Includes Windows 8.1 which saves having to waste time to do any update from 8.0 to 8.1.
2 USB 3.0 ports (one is chargeable), 1 USB 2.0 port, 1 full size hdmi port and a converter port (for additional connectors).
Fan is barely noticeable.
Memory is upgradable. It comes with 8GB (2 Kingston 4GB modules), I upgraded to 16GB using Crucial 16GB Kit (8GBx2) DDR3/DDR3L 1600 MHz (PC3-12800) CL11 SODIMM 204-Pin 1.35V/1.5V Memory for Mac CT2C8G3S160BM.
Wireless works well. It has a Broadcom BCM4352 802.11ac adapter (BCM94352HMB) and I have been able to connect to my Verizon Fios router as well as to my phone hotspot and to my TP-LINK TL-WPA4220KIT ADVANCED 300Mbps Universal Wi-Fi Range Extender, Repeater, AV500 Powerline Edition, Wi-Fi Clone Button, 2 LAN Ports.
Performance wise, it has handled everything I have thrown at it. Photoshop, Office, numerous IE and Chrome tabs, YouTube videos and it handles them all fine all while connected to 2 Plugable USB 2.0 to VGA / DVI / HDMI Video Graphics Adapter Card for Multiple Monitors up to 1920x1080 / 1600x1200 Each (DisplayLink DL-165 Chipset - Supports Windows 8.1, 8, 7, and XP) connectors.
Has a small size wall adapter. But I bought Acer 19V 3.42A 65W Replacement AC adapter for Acer Notebook Model: Acer Aspire V5-551-7850, Acer Aspire V5-551-8401, Acer Aspire V5-571, Acer Aspire V5-571-6119, Acer Aspire V5-571-6471, Acer Aspire V5-571-6499, Acer Aspire V5-571-6605, Acer Aspire V5-5... for work to avoid having to pack it daily for travel.
Low Price.

Cons: (Hopefully in the 3rd generation, Acer addresses these minor shortcomings)
The overseas versions have a higher processor (Intel i7) and dedicated graphics, the ones in the U.S. only comes with a i5.
Keyboard could have been expanded to include a number pad since there seems to be enough space for one if the keyboard were offset a bit to the left.
No stylus, which means you either have to buy one optionally from Acer (NP.STY1A.001) or use the Sony 2013 Vaio Digitizer Stylus Pen Vgp-std2 or HTC Stylus Scribe Digital Pen for Flyer, EVO View 4G, Jetstream Tablets (90H02900-00M Rev. A) Retail Packaging. Also no slot for the stylus, which may lead to losing it. (Unless you use a clip or pen loop).
(I have both the Sony one and HTC styluses and both work well.)
No Ethernet port. One must either use the Acer Converter cable that has access to VGA, LAN, USB or any USB to Ethernet converter like the Plugable USB 3.0 to 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN Network Adapter I use.
The power on/off button (much like the Vaio series) is set on the right side off the keyboard area. This may lead to accidently turning off the laptop. (Although there is a setting to change its function). I feel it should have been placed on the display area.
I'm not a gamer per say, but this version does not have the dedicated graphics like the overseas version have and thus you really can't tax it with big games.
This version only has a 1TB Sata Drive by Western Digital. It does not have a SSD drive although there is a slot for it internally. I plan on adding one in the future. Compared to my Vaio Flip SSD, the R7 1TB drive is fine but not as fast as a SSD.

In Between: (Could be a pro or con depending on your needs or view).
The R7 is a bit thicker (than most other convertibles like the Vaio Flip).
The laptop does not fall totally flat in tablet mode but I like that since in tablet mode it is at a slight angle allowing for better pen to digitizer handling as well as viewing.
Carrying around the device in tablet mode is a bit awkward with it not being totally flat, but I end up just closing it in laptop mode instead or not for long period of time.
The track-pad is actually well made and responsive but since it is placed behind the keyboard that may bother some buyers that can't get used to it being in that spot. For my needs I love this feature since I rarely use a track-pad with my laptop and instead use an external mouse for more precise selection if my fingers or stylus won't do.
Weight (5.9 lbs) is considerable more than my Vaio but about the same as most 15+ inch convertibles that have a keyboard.
No pen slot for the stylus, I originally bought the Targus Stylus Clip for my Vaio and it works well for the R7 but it leads a small gap between display and keyboard when in the close position. Instead you can use the Leuchttrum Pen Loop.
As sturdy as the hinge is, it also leads to putting the laptop in any viewing mode into a two handed affair.
It has an N-Trig digitizer thus depending on your inking and writing needs that may be a deal breaker since some like Wacom better. I can say that it does have pressure sensitivity and I have no problem.
Does come with quite a bit of bloat ware, but ironically enough I find some of them quite useful and a lot of them are usually what I download and install anyway.
Comes with a trial version of Microsoft Office.
No DVD drive, but then again most other convertibles, hybrids, Ultrabook and even some regular laptops don't come with them anyway. Besides, I have an external Samsung one in case I do ever need to use a cd/dvd.
It is a certified refurbished model. That may be a deal breaker for some since it means that the warranty is less (90 days) and you could be taking a chance if anything goes wrong with it past the 90 days. But it is half the price of a store model and historically I haven't had any refurbished model go bad on me as oppose to a brand new off the shelf item that has.

Bottom line:
Wow, is all I can say. Well Done Acer, well done. This replaces my Vaio Flip which I gave a 5 stars (9 out of 10) originally and reduced that to a 3 stars (6 out of 10) since there is no solution to the fan noise. With the updated Aspire R7-572 I am very satisfied with it even with the cons listed above (which aren't really that bad in my book). This is a very well made flexible convertible pivot slider laptop. Add the fact that I bought it at almost half price since it is a certified refurbished (which looks and acts brand new) then it is certainly a win and highly recommended. This is why I am giving it 5 stars (10 out of 10).
Hopefully Acer continues the series and does a third generation with a mouse pointer in the keyboard area (to appease those complaining about the rear touch-pad), and gives all retailers access to sell it, plus gives us more customization with the processor and graphics.
I will re-visit this review in a few months to update how well it has held up.

it's beautiful , i love it very much

I love it!!!

thanx good