Acer - Nitro 5 15.6" Gaming Laptop - Intel Core i5 - 8GB Memory - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti - 256GB Solid State Drive - Black

This brand-new Acer Nitro 5 is a huge step forward from prior gaming laptops offered by Acer. It is a superb combination of technology and functionality which will outperform almost all existing laptops thanks to its incorporation of a new generation of Intel CPU and Nvidia graphic processing units. Visually, the Nitro 5 is a stunning design with a beautiful slate black body containing subtle angles, beveled corners and elegant metallic red accents. The cover is not just slate in color, it also has a very fine texture which closely mimics a polished piece of slate. The keyboard has red backlighting and red type faces. It also comes with a very nice soft-sided black slipcase (with a red zipper) to protect it during transit. Overall, the impression is very sophisticated, high tech and definitely not a teen-ager’s gaming toy. This design would be just as much at home in a Goldman Sachs boardroom as in a college dorm. Consider this fine combination of features: • Acer Nitro 5 Laptop Model AN515-53-55G9 • Intel Core i5 (8th generation) CPU 8300H (Coffee Lake) 4 core/8 thread • Processor runs at speeds from 2.3 to 4.0 GHz • 64 bit Windows 10 Home operating system • Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 Ti GPU with 4 GB GDDR5 dedicated video memory • 8 GB DDR4-2666 high efficiency RAM primary memory (expandable up to 32 GB) • 256 GB Intel PCie SSD fast hard drive • 15.6” IPS LED-backlit display with 1920 x 1080 (full HD) resolution @ 60Hz and wide viewing angle • 720p Webcam with dual microphones • SD card reader • HDMI 2.0 video output • 1 USB 3.1 Type C (up to 5 GBps) • 1 USB 3.0 with power-off charging output • 2 USB 2.0 • Wireless LAN 802.11AC (Intel 9560 NIC) • Gigabit Ethernet • Dolby Audio Premium • Two stereo speakers • Headphone out/Microphone in 3.5 mm port • Bluetooth • 4 cell Lithium Ion battery • Very slim and compact: 15.35” wide x 10.47” deep x 1.05” thick • Weight: 5.95 pounds • Custom soft sleeve zippered case So how does this laptop perform? In a word – fast! Make that two words – blazing fast! I ran two well-regarded benchmark programs (Novabench and PC Mark 10) on three computers to determine their relative performance. These tests measure both the CPU (general processing) and the GPU (graphics processing) so they give a good overall result on the speed of a computer. The first was a base model desktop with an AMD A6 (A6-7310) CPU (comparable in speed to an Intel i3 CPU), no separate GPU and 8 GB RAM. The next was a nicely-equipped all-in-one computer with a 6th generation Intel i5 (6400T), Intel 530 GPU and 12 GB RAM. The last is the new Acer Nitro 5 with an 8th generation Intel i5 (8300H), Nvidia 1050Ti GPU and 8 GB RAM. All were well-maintained, running identical versions of Windows 10 with no other programs active. Here are the results (higher is faster): Novabench Results: Desktop A6: 636 All-in-One i5: 877 (38% faster than base) Acer Nitro: 1997 (214% faster than base) PC Mark 10 Results: Desktop A6: 1451 All-in-One i5: 2372 (63% faster than base) Acer Nitro: 4724 (226% faster than base) In you go to the websites run by these two benchmarking services you will see that the results achieved by the new Acer Nitro 5 are faster than almost all prior generation Intel computers, including the i7 devices. How was this achieved? Primarily because the new Acer Nitro 5 incorporates the just-released 8th generation Intel i5 in a high-performance version (the “H” in 8300H), fast DDR4 RAM and the very fast Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050Ti GPU with 4 GB of dedicated graphics memory. OK, that’s a lot of numbers and technical jargon but the bottom line is that you will find this laptop capable of out-performing anything you currently own (unless you have a really geeked-out special system) and very smooth in running any games or software you may ever buy. Put this nice laptop to work on most business software and it will never even break a sweat. Use it for photo or video editing and it will calmly do whatever you want, no drama. Fire up a graphics-intensive game and it will come alive, roaring with power and giving you the satisfaction that you made a great choice. The Acer Nitro 5 includes some nice software but is not loaded with bloatware. Besides the full set of Windows 10 software and accessories it has Dolby Audio, X-Split Gamecaster, Cyberlink Photo Director and Power Director. A nice utility is NitroSense which brings up a graphic image of the cooling fans and gives you excellent control over them (see photo). As you use the laptop a program called Acer Collection builds up a set of recommendations for apps you may find interesting from the Windows Store. Some may complain about the speakers but I found them adequate for most purposes. They are mounted at the bottom, have decent volume and good stereo separation – certainly good enough for watching Netflix or YouTube videos. It is fairly light – less than 6 pounds, nicely balanced with a great lighted keyboard and big touchpad, so those who like to literally use their laptop on their lap will be pleased. What are the weak points of this laptop? Well, the battery life is marginal. I tested it by running Netflix on battery power with a bright screen and high speaker volume. From a full charge the laptop ran only 2.5 hours before exhausting the charge. So plan on taking the charging transformer with you! Speaking of the latter, it is pretty bulky, one of the biggest and heaviest laptop chargers that I have seen. I wish that Acer had added a second USB C port to use as a charging input (and other purposes.) It has an adequate 15.6” IPS LED-backlit display with 1920 x 1080 (full HD) resolution. Some might wish that it had a touch screen (I do!) as good as Acer’s beautiful Chromebook (which also has higher resolution modes). However, a touchscreen would probably add 15% to 20% to the very modest price of this laptop. And you always have the option of using the HDMI output to connect a big display. I hooked it up to my 65” 4K TV and it did a great job as a video source. But these are fairly minor quibbles. When you consider all of its power and functionality you will agree that the price is a bargain. I can enthusiastically recommend the new Acer Nitro 5 for both serious gamers and power users of all other software!

The Acer Nitro 5 has exceeded my expectations. Having a laptop this light and thin that can still crank out the FPS for 1080p gaming. This laptop doesn’t seem to have a problem playing games as long as you’re not looking for the highest graphic settings and fps beyond 60, which most people can be happy with. Playing Fortnite and letting G-Force Experience optimize my game settings, I was getting 60fps at high graphical settings. I didn’t experience any stuttering or lag while playing. Playing Paragon, the optimal settings were set to medium which kept the game at 60fps and again, gameplay was smooth even as minions flooded the screen and a lot was happening. The laptop itself looks good to the eye. Hinge seems sturdy and opens easily enough that it doesn’t lift the laptop. Everything does kind of flex a bit if you try to make it with little effort, although you don’t get that sense from looking at it. The keyboard types really well, keys are spaced nicely and backlit red (sorry, no RGB). There doesn’t seem to be any weird layouts as far as where the keys are placed but Acer does use the Fn key for a lot of the hot keys you’d normally see specialized buttons for. The trackpad is a trackpad. The physical click is kind of stiff and requires a bit of effort. I pride myself on never using physical clicks on the trackpad anyways and typically stow away a mouse in my travel bag anyways. Specs in this thing are pretty solid. There’s enough ram (8GB) to tackle everyday tasks with an open slot for future expansion. The SSD seems to be NVME which makes file transfers a breeze with 1554 MB/s reads and 586 MB/s writes with synthetic benchmarks. There’s also a slot for a SATA drive if you wanted to add storage for games (I’d take care if doing it yourself as the SATA connector is on a ribbon cable and they’re very fragile.) The CPU is pretty beastly for a laptop, coming in with a quad core i5-8300U it can turbo boost up to 4.00 GHz. Finally, the GeForce 1050 Ti. I wasn’t 100% sold on the capability of the 1050 Ti at first, but after playing a few games I was pleasantly surprised how well it performs. Now for a few of the cons. The fans do get a bit loud when cooling the laptop. The fan noise doesn’t personally bother me, but if you game in a public environment, this could bother others. The webcam is so-so, it checks a box but that’s about it. During setup my laptop came default with the trackpad off. Not knowing the Fn key off the bat, it took me a few to figure out how to get it back on. The chassis isn’t aluminum which is common in notebooks these days but for the price, I can understand the tradeoff. I/O has 1 usb c, 1 usb 3, and 2 usb 2.0. Not sure how much using usb 2.0 saved on this build but I would be surprised if it was a lot. I was extremely happy with the power and speed of this laptop. It’s ability to sit in the lap and work as a productivity machine without fatiguing my lap, then sit at the desk and crank out a few hours of gaming is fantastic.

I first purchased this laptop to because I needed to run some virtual machines for school as I am learning about Information Technology. I needed something with power and speed at a low cost. The GPU would help with penetration testing tools. I also game quite a bit so the GPU really delivers. The Intel core i5 is great because it allows the use of Intel Turbo Boost. This lets the cpu run at higher speeds. It ran my virtual machines smoothly and there is enough RAM for use of multiple applications. The Wireless card allows for use of multi user- multi input/multi output technology. I am going to probably add a new stick of RAM. I don't know if it allows dual channeling I hope it does. The upgrading process looks user friendly enough as there are slots on the bottom to add/upgrade the RAM and add a second storage slot. Some might say if you are going to upgrade why not just by a better one at the time. Well, I didn't have enough money at the time so having easy upgrades on a computer this low price is a blessing. I well update the review after I have upgraded the RAM. Acer throws in a nice bundle of software for keeping the computer tuned. My favorite is nitro sense. It lets you control the fan speeds for the cpu and gpu. The only gripes I have is that the build is a little too plasticity and bendy and that the battery even when not gaming only lasts like two hours. It must be plugged in most of the time while gaming. I would have purchased a Desktop but I don't have much room for a desktop and I needed something I could take to school.

I've had all three size laptop screen sizes and like the children's story ones a little large on plane etc., ones a little small to really see and type on (no side numeric keypad) and this, the 15-inch is just right. A full size illuminated keyboard is easy to type with and easy to see in the wee hours of the night. No annoying key clicks but a real feel tactile key stroke. They large side pad area is perfect for resting your palms while typing. I like the large mouse pad but am not in love with the use of the mouse pad as a mouse key. I'd prefer real buttons or keys.The integration, to me, needs more improvement. But, if you really need a lot of mouse key work for say CAD work, add a real mouse. The sound was FANTASTIC. I couldn't believe when I watched a movie trailer that the sound I heard was coming from my laptop. Phenomenal! I have the SSD (solid state drive) version and for me a great choice. Boot up speed and application speed greatly improved over slower hard drives. For those that use the keyboard for games I think you'll love it. Extra highlights on the ASDW keys. To keep the look of a sharp machine, the on/off power button (which is programmable for sleep-hibernate-on/off) is tucked neatly into the upper right corner of the keyboard. Supper fast WI-FI, solid video (thanks to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX GPU) which takes the burden away from the CPU allowing it to speed game play ), HDMI output, SD card slot, no CD/DVD drive though, but USB ports for connecting devices and external hard drives. Windows 10 HOME should be PRO for me too. NITRO Sense software will give the serious game player the edge over the competition. I know my grandsons will help me test this on ROBLOX. I'm more the graphics CAD design guy. CAD work is memory intense and the NITRO has both DDR-4 and a 8th generation Pentium 5 processor.

Pros: * Sharp “gaming” design. * Fast (little bloatware). * Relatively light-weight. * Easy access to upgrade memory and storage disk. * Comes with a neoprene travel sleeve for the notebook. * Full gaming-optimized backlit keyboard. Cons: * Trackpad “click” requires a lot of force/travel. * Plastic body feels cheaper than a metal case. This is a relatively good value for a speedy mid-level gaming laptop. The screen is standard HD resolution 1080p) and is easy to see from most viewing angles (IPS). The overall system is speedy and not too bloated with extra software. In fact, it runs the Oculus Rift well enough to be usable, although not many would choose a laptop as a VR rig. The AC charging adapter is mid-sized which makes it a tad large for travel use; not the largest I’ve seen but it’s also not small. During setup, the trackpad was disabled by default and there’s no touchscreen, so I had to turn the trackpad on with the function key on the keyboard. This shouldn’t be a big deal for anyone buying a gaming rig as they probably know enough to figure it out, too. The speakers are loud enough and clear although not really high fidelity. The built-in webcam works well, too. The full size backlit keyboard has highlights around the gaming-focused “WASD” keys and there’s also a separate numeric keypad. Really, I have only a few small omplaints. The trackpad’s “click” functions require a firm deep push. Of course, you can just tap the pad instead of actually “clicking” the buttons at the corners. The plastic shell doesn’t really have a premium feeling to it, but this notebook is not the high-end of their series, so it’s not a big deal. Overall, this is a nice mid-level gaming rig. It does the basics right and is a good value.

The Hardware The Acer Nitro 5 AN515-53 notebook is based on Intel’s new 300-series notebook platform featuring Intel’s Coffee Lake Core i5 processors with four cores, an integrated USB 3.1 Gen 2 controller, and built-in 2×2 802.11ac Wave 2 Wi-Fi support with the Intel Wireless-AC 9560 CRF module. The wireless module also supports Bluetooth 4.1. The system is equipped with 8 GB of DDR4 -2666 memory (Micron) and can be upgraded to 32GB. The hard drive is a 256GB Intel SSDPEKKW256G7 PCIe SSDs. There is an extra hard drive bay with the HD tray and extra screws needed to install one. I did have one quirk installing the extra drive I had to go into the bios and switch the boot drive to drive 1 (the internal) as the additional drive is designated drive 0 I already had windows on there from a previous computer and it booted to that drive instead. The AN515-53 upps the gaming performance in this version from both components with an Nvidia GTX 1050 Ti with 4GB GDDR5 and an Intel SSDPEKKW256G7 256GB SSD compared to the base model that has the Nvidia GTX 1050 and a 1 TB sata hard drive. Routine video is controlled by the Intel 630 while gaming uses the Nvidia GTX 1050 Ti. Screen This laptop has a 15.6 inch matte 1920 x 1080, IPS LG Philips LGD0590 (LP156WF6-SPK6) screen. I found it bright and after I applied a calibration (icc) file https://ultrabookreview.com/color-profiles/Acer Nitro 5 AN515-52 FHD.icm the colors were accurate. This icc file works for the -52 and -53 variants with the Lg panel. Ports and Sound This laptop has one USB Type-C port, three USB Type-A connectors, a GbE port, an HDMI output and a SD card reader. The sound system of the Acer Nitro 5 is comprised of a headphone jack connector, stereo speakers as well as Acer TrueHarmony and Dolby Audio Premium software enhancements. Webcam The webcam is good quality, it also has 2 microphones. If you want HD video you will need to add an external webcam. Conclusion I found the gaming performance was really good, I played Fortnite, Final Fantasy XV and Star Wars Battlefront. There was no noticeable lag and excellent response. The Fans on the laptop will get slightly loud as they rev up to keep the Nvidia 1050 Ti cool during game play. The new LG Philips LGD0590 (LP156WF6-SPK6) ips matte panel was bright and reproduced colors well after application of the icc file. The overall performance of this laptop is great due to the SSD, the Coffee Lake i5, 8 GB memory and the Nvida graphics. It is a great Mid tier gaming laptop and will satisfy most gamers without draining their wallet

Didn't have the chance to give it a lot of use but until now working good, I have to say that this laptop have such a nice design that everyone is in love with her, strongly recommend to add another hard drive because I guess 256 GB is not enough, very fast, screen with beautiful colors, I noted that the mouse pad sometimes is a bit too sensitive, the only thing that I don't like(until now) is the absence of the USB 3.1 port, the computer have two 3.0 and one 2.0, is weird considering that this design is recent. I will update in case that something happens.

This coupled to My Acer SA230 Monitor has changed the time I spend on computer work. The speed and dual screens has been a work changer for me. I highly recommend this economic combination. I have 1,25 TB of memory having put a 1 TB into the second drive space.