A:AnswerAs someone who's owned both, I would say if you're not a huge high gfx gamer (on your laptop that is), then I would keep the $200 and get the Acer, which is the one I have now.
The ThinkPad is awesome though, and if you don't care about price, then I would get the ThinkPad. ThinkPad is better spec wise and also it comes with a stylus!
But I wanted to save $ and tried out both of them, but I found that I never play serious games on my laptop and that the Acer is fast so I had no complaints about it.
A:AnswerI found the default brightness settings very low and was even considering returning the laptop because of it. Luckily, I found out how to change it. Type in "Intel graphics" in the search area and open that control panel. Go to the "color settings" menu and change settings there. My screen is now glowing bright!!
A:AnswerIt looks like some users have this problem (at least 3 that reviewed here, plus myself). It seems to be an issue with Windows 10 and Intel display drivers - Acer is not the only brand dealing with this; if you google this problem, you will find that over 600 plus people have searched for solutions for this problem with various brands of laptops. Mine has been shipped to Acer once and is on its way again for the the same problem your question asks. It renders the laptop useless as the screen shuts down and while it restarts, it disrupts your work, especially if you work online with skype or other conferencing software. I also had repeated blue screens and unexpected immediate shut downs, which had me lose work often and is not acceptable for any computer in this day and age.
A:AnswerYes but is weird at least for me. You should turn it on by using Fn key and F9 or F10. Then as long as you have not restarted the computer I believe anytime you hit any key it will light up unless you turn it off by Fn+F9. I also had a Dell 7000 7353 which with any key stroke it will light up and no need to be turned on or off although you could turn it off if you wanted but by default was automatically on. I don't know if this was Acer's policy or not but when I called Acer and reminded them about this they said it needs to be replaced. When I compared mine to other Acers of the same model or the higher i7/512 model available at Best Buy, I noticed it is the same for those two as well. So it seems it is what it should be but I think a Bios revision should solve the issue unless they don't want to change it.
A:AnswerWindows 10 is running smoothly for me so far and I haven't had any issues with Graphics drivers crashing like I did with my ASUS and Dell (which were both running Windows 10).
A:AnswerPower jack has a pretty good retent (wont come out easily). It's rather small in diameter though and I worry it could damage easily if accidentally bumped.
A:AnswerOnly difference I have found so far is the battery capacity.
R5-471T-52EE is listed with max charge of 3220mAh and R5-471T-51UN is listed with 3270mAh.
http://www.whatisrightforme.com/laptop/compare-Acer-Aspire-R-14-R5-471T-51UN-vs-Acer-Aspire-R-14-R5-471T-52EE-7425-6377.php
Who knows what else lurks under the hood?
A:AnswerIf I understand correctly, the blue light filter is not a mode that can be activated or deactivated. The Acer screen either has it or it does not. I don't know if my brand-new (2/6/2016) Acer Aspire R 14 does or does not have this feature, but what I do know is that I absolutely love the "f.lux" freeware program I install onto all my machines. It controls blue-light emissions according to time of day, to help your body maintain a proper circadian rhythm. In my opinion, there is little need for the monitor or screen to have a special certification, when a program like f.lux has already solved the problem for any Windows based machine.
A:AnswerMany newer notebook/laptop computers do not include a DVD drive. This is becoming more common because of cloud storage and digital downloads and media. You can attach an external USB dvd drive to add this functionality.
A:AnswerYes, it has a multi-use 3.5mm TRS jack. When you plug something in, it asks whether the device is a line in, mic in, headphone, speaker out, or headset.
A:AnswerAround 216GB is free, more if you wipe and do a clean install but you do lose the Acer Applications, before you do that Apply the $50 Dollar voucher to your microsoft account first.