Acer Aspire V5-552G Review

Why is the Acer a good gaming laptop for $600?

The Acer is the premium horse in the stable. In our comparison of the best gaming laptops under 600 dollars, the Acer is the most expensive of the bunch. But for good reason. Wrapped in its sleek brushed-metal exterior it looks like a tailored suit, while packing a quad core 2.5 GHz Quad-Core CPU and dual AMD GPU under it. If it wasn’t for the 100 dollar premium, it would have owned the number spot in our comparison. 

The Acer Aspire V5-552G-X852 might not have the most sexy of names, but it is sexy where it counts: Under the hood. Being very versatile by design, it carries a quad core AMD Trinity A-series processor clocked at 2.5 GHz, which is supported by 8GB of DDR internal memory. Adding to the joy is the 15.6 inch LED-backlit screen operating at 1366x768, which is fired up by the dual GPU: The dedicated AMD Radeon HD 8750M next to the integrated AMD Radeon HD 8650G.

Being more of a multipurpose laptop than a pure gaming machine, the Acer is a very thin and light machine. Combine this with a full terabyte (1000GB) of hard disk space, a quad core processor and 8GB of RAM and it becomes obvious that the Acer is designed to be more than just a gaming laptop for 600. Other purposes such as some serious video and photo editing are also very capable using this Acer.

Even though this is by far the most powerful machine in our comparison of the best gaming laptops under 600 dollars, it still doesn’t own the number #1 spot. This is due to the fact that in our independent rendering test we found the dedicated AMD Radeon HD 8750M GPU not able to outperform the integrated AMD Radeon HD 8650G GPU which comes as standard in our #1. In regular English this means that for gaming purposes, this laptop is bringing extra hardware to the party that it doesn’t need, but which you do pay for.

What games will you be able to play?

• On Minimum Settings: Battlefield 3, DiRT Showdown, Max Payne 3 Ghost Recon Future Soldier, Red Faction: Armageddon, Borderlands 2, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Medal of Honor, Battlefield 1943, F.E.A.R 3, Serious Sam 3, Battlefield Bad Company 2, Fable 3, Diablo 3.
• On Recommended Settings: World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria.

To Conclude

A magnificent machine. The Acer Aspire V5-552G-X852 carries enough firepower to take on much more expensive systems and comes in a Italian 3-piece designer suit. If you are looking for a versatile machine to use for more demanding tasks outside of gaming, this is a great option. But as far as we conclude, you’re paying for the extra dedicated AMD Radeon HD 8750M GPU which you simply don’t need. Save the cash, go for the number #1, and buy yourself a couple cool games!

The Key Facts:

• Processor / CPU: 2.5 GHz AMD A10 Quad Core
• Graphics Card / GPU: AMD Radeon HD 8750M + AMD Radeon HD 8650G 
• RAM: 8 GB DDR3
• Hard Drive / HD: 1000 GB
• Screen Size: 15.6 Inches
• Screen Resolution: 1366 x 768 pixels
• Operating System: Windows 8
• Weight: 4.4 Pounds
• Number of USB 2.0 Ports: 2
• Number of USD 3.0 Ports: 1
• Battery Life: Lithium-Ion with up to 4 hours and 30 minutes
• Dimensions: 10.80 x 15.02 x 0.82 inches