Acer Aspire AS5740G-6979: Budget Priced but Great Gaming

At the end of the day, the major point to make about the Acer Aspire 5740-6979 is the one we've made repeatedly throughout the course of this review: this thing's available for just $749. The mobile gamer on a budget would be hard-pressed to find a better combination of specifications anywhere else. Other manufacturers are packing much less powerful GPUs in their notebooks in this price range, and that's assuming there's even a dedicated GPU at all. If gaming is your primary concern and money's tight, your decision is already made: you simply will not find a better combination of performance and price on the market. Bar none. The 2.26 GHz Intel Core i5 and powerful Mobility Radeon HD 5650 make this thing a steal at its asking price.

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If, however, all things aren't entirely equal, you may want to ask yourself which sacrifices you're willing to make to get this much gaming power. The Aspire 5740G is bulky but not horrendously so, but the battery life is mediocre and the keyboard is going to make or break the notebook for some users. You're going to want to venture out into retail land – where Acer thankfully has a very strong presence – and check out the chassis and keyboard to see if they're compromises you can live with to get to the juicy, delicious performance-class components inside.

The other sacrifice for many users is going to be connectivity. Personally, the Aspire 5740 was all aces at first glance, but a lack of FireWire takes it out of contention for a great deal of multimedia work. Like the Dell Inspiron 15 we recently reviewed, omitted ports wouldn't be such a hassle if there was at least some kind of remedy available in the form of an ExpressCard slot. There isn't one. What you see is what you get with the Aspire 5740.

What we're left with is price, and Acer has made this mightily compelling. If you can handle the dreadful keyboard, the mediocre battery life, and the somewhat cheap-looking build, you'll find yourself with a heck of a machine for the money. The Mobility Radeon HD 5650 delivers plenty of gaming prowess that should last the earnest gamer for some time to come, and the Core i5-430M ensures games present and future won't be horribly starved for processor power. Bottom line: if all you're after is how much computer you can get under the hood for as little money as possible, Acer's Aspire 5740G is hands down the best laptop deal on the market.