Hands On with Acer's 3D Laptop

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http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2354515,00.asp


Testing 1080p files in WMV formats proved that the 3D HD experience wasn't at all compelling. DVD playback software is also included in TriDef's utility and suffered the same limitations as other video file formats. If you're fixed on getting 3D to work with any sort of video, animations tend to produce the best results.
DirectX 9 capable games can also reap the benefits of 3D, and it's more compelling than photos and videos because the Direct X engine already contains all the necessary information for a high quality 3D experience. Direct X 10, however, is currently not supported.

Popular titles like Crysis and Call of Duty: World At War are part of an extensive list of games that have been tested to work with TriDef's software. And sure enough, a game like World in Conflict, which wasn't listed, didn't work as well off the bat. Like photos and videos, these games have to be launched within TriDef's software, and while the 3D effects weren't mind-blowing, they delivered a worthwhile 3D experience—at least more so than with photos and videos. You can switch the game back to 2D mode at any point by holding down the Alt+Shift+- keys. There are plenty of other tweaks that can be performed to improve the 3D gaming experience; none of which, though, I had time to try out.

When the glasses come off and you exit out of TriDef's software, the appearance of the 15.6-inch widescreen, for the most part, looks like that of any laptop in its class (the polarized screen produces faint horizontal lines that can be detected if you look close enough). There's no hotkey that turns off the polarization either, but everyday tasks look absolutely fine.

Inside, it's the usual
Despite a plain outer appearance, the interior is typical of the times. The AS5738DG adopts the island keyboard format, where every key is isolated and slightly raised from its backbone. Having the keys slightly raised does have minor drawbacks, as crumbs or loose particles can find their way beneath the keys. The laptop is wide enough that it includes an adjacent numeric keypad, while the touchpad incorporates the same multi-touch gestures found in the AS5434-1958. I can do without the clicking noises from mouse buttons, though.

The notebook has the usual set of features found in any desktop replacement within the $600 to $800 price range. It has an HDMI-Out connection, which would've been omitted had the AS5738DG been priced beyond this range. Case in point: Both the $500 AS5434-1958 and the $575 Toshiba Satellite L505D-S6947 omit HDMI-Out. It comes with a plethora of USB ports: four, in this case. The VGA-Out, Gigabit Ethernet port, 5-in-1 media card reader, and a webcam are features you would find in most budget desktop replacements. The 320-GB hard drive is spacious and consistent in capacity with the HP dv6 (1030u) and the Gateway NV5807u. The Dell 1555, on the other hand, will let you bump up it up to 500 GB.

The AS5738DG runs on a budget Intel processor – a 2.2-GHz Core 2 Duo T6600 – which is fast enough to satisfy average and sophisticated users alike. In fact, it's a higher-clocking processor than the ones found in the Dell 1555 (2.1GHz), the HP dv6-1030us (2.0GHz), and the NV5807u (2.1GHz), so you're getting slightly faster speeds for about the same amount of money. Softening its budget specifications still is 4GB of DDR2 (1,066MHz) memory and a decent ATI graphics card.

The midrange ATI Mobility Radeon 4570 3D graphics inside the notebook, paired with 512MB of VRAM, won't shatter any records. Although these specifications resulted in decent game play, I would advise against cranking up the eye-candy in games like World in Conflict and Crysis. With Crysis, I had to reduce most of the settings to "Medium" in order to prevent choppy frames. Likewise, game settings in World in Conflict had to be tempered for a smoother gaming experience. Compared to its peers, though, which run on Intel integrated graphics, the AS5738DG is a far better gaming machine.

Put aside TriDef's 3D hardware, which could use some work in the video area but altogether delivered a worthwhile 3D experience, and judge the Acer Aspire AS5738DG as a budget desktop replacement first. It's priced very competitively, performed well, and comes with a decent graphics card when others in its class don't. Factoring in the 3D visuals, it's easy to see why these gimmicks will work Acer in the long run.

Stay tuned for our full review.