Acer Aspire 3 A315-21G [A315-21G-40SM] (NX.GQ4EU.002)

Perfect entry-level laptop

The Taiwanese company Acer produces high-performance laptops in a wide price range. Acer Aspire 3 A315-21G 40SM is a full-fledged representative of the middle class of devices. It has a minimalistic design that is more suitable for an office, while at the same time offering good performance.

The screen is made using TN + film technology with a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels and viewing angles that are unusually good for this type of matrix. The matte finish protects the eyes from glare, but somewhat hides the saturation of the image.

6th Generation Fusion Processor

The Acer Aspire 3 A315-21G 40SM is equipped with a sixth-generation Fusion A4 dual-core processor with a frequency of 2.2 — 2.5 GHz. While not the most powerful processor on paper, in most synthetic benchmarks it is practically on par with the previous generation quad-core processors found in most laptops under $400. Also important is the fact that the base 4 GB of RAM can be increased up to 12 GB. Moreover, a new bar can be added to the old one, and not replaced — there are two slots for RAM.

For work and play

But what pleasantly surprises is a graphics card atypical for the class. Instead of a simple integrated video chip, the laptop has a discrete Radeon 520 with 2 GB of video memory. And this gives the model an interesting balance: two processor cores are enough for work and everyday tasks, and the graphics card provides access to full-fledged gaming. Of course, it won’t work to drive completely fresh shooters on it, but it’s quite possible to play at medium graphics settings in Battlefield 4 or The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

Rugged housing

The laptop weighs 2.1 kg with rather compact dimensions of 381.6x259x21.6 mm. Such a mass is explained by the fact that its body is made of thick and durable plastic. It looks angular, but assembled in good conscience — no backlash, and the lid and the space for the hands bend only with a slight effort.

In terms of switching, we see a classic picture: one HDMI port, a pair of USB class 2.0, one USB 3.0 port, a card reader and a LAN connector for connecting an Internet cable directly.

Capacious battery

Another reason for the more than 2 kg weight is a capacious battery, which will easily last for 6.5 hours at full resource. However it will not work to replace it with a new one as it wears out, because it is non-removable.