Acer Display Graphics Keyboard A515 43 R19L

My Old Man Sadie Parker tell us a real opinion.

I could sit here and write all about the specs on this computer, but they are already in the description, and If you are like me... you don't really understand it anyways.

So I am going to tell you what I LOVE about this computer and what I use it for. I am a full time college student as well as a single mother who stays busy. I have previously used a HP All In one computer that I bought brand new a year ago and I hate that thing... It is so slow!!! When I first opened this item, I was just hoping that it would be a little faster! What I got instead was an amazing computer that is faster than I could have ever imagined. Now I don't use this thing for much more than amazon reviews, school work, and papers. But this is exactly what I needed.

It navigated quickly between web pages, my Microsoft word programs opens instantly and doesn't take forever to load like my HP does. The picture of this monitor is just beautiful. Everything is so clear. I love that the keyboard has a back light so I can see the keys if I need to take a look at them while I am typing, but the back lights go away after a few seconds, so if you are watching a movie, the lit up key board will not bother you.

This computer is so light weight and easy to carry. I love the sleek design of it as well. This would be a great computer for anyone who just needs a basic computer for the internet or spreadsheets. I would feel at ease taking this computer with me to college or sending it off to college with my children, and I wouldn't worry if they had the ability to complete their assignments in school. I am so so so happy with this product!

My Old Fellow Jason tell us Good choice for basic computing needs.

A very reasonably priced laptop for basic computing needs. The specs that stick out to me for describing this as "basic needs" is 4GB of RAM, and 128GB M.2 SSD. Both are at the bare minimum in today's needs. Cell phones now come with those specs( high dollar ones though..).
Seems like one of the goals of this laptop is to keep an aesthetically pleasing design. Just 1 3.1 USB port and 2 2.0 USB ports are included, one headphone/mic jack, 1 slim RJ45 port, HDMI, and power input plug. No external battery.

2 things that stuck out to me when I started using: screen and sound quality. The screen is very sharp and high contrast. Black is actually black. Very impressed. I was also surprised by the audio quality. I don't expect much from laptop speakers, especially low priced ones, but was pleasantly surprised on how clear the audio is.

The back panel of the laptop does not have any easy access ports to swap out hard drives or RAM. Instead, you remove 10 or so Philips screws to remove the entire panel. I've already swapped out the 4GB RAM stick for an 8GB. Easy enough.

The laptop includes an M.2 SSD. The pro to this is you still have the option of adding a traditional sized disk to expand your storage, without needing to worry about reinstalling an OS or attempting to clone the included drive.

Almost puked when I thought I was locked-in to "S Mode" When I went to unlock S-mode, Windows kindly directly me to pay >$100 to purchase a license! I was furious thinking this was some new scheme to sell laptops without a full legitimate Windows license and instead lock you into a Microsoft only app store. I forget the exact steps I took, but somewhere I found that there was an error in activating my Windows license, and I had to click a troubleshoot button, then it magically worked and got me out of S mode. Disaster averted.

A couple of things that annoy me:
-The touchpad feels a little loose to me. Just gently touching it causes it to move and you can hear a plastic on plastic sound, its distracting...
-The keyboard backlight turns off after a set amount of time, you must press a key for it to illuminate again. Moving the mouse/touchpad does not cause the keys to light up. You must touch a key. I see the is a BIOS option for disabling the timeout. I've disabled it but it appears to have no effect. It still turns off.
-The slim-line RJ45 port seems messed up... I pull the flap down and it does not open far enough to insert a connector. I will probably never use it.. but what gives?

My Old Man H. C. L. Brian experience Won't be wrong at this price.

A few months after the purchase....

It is still running good and I bought 5 more for my colleagues, so I bought all together 8 machines. My of my colleagues need more memory while some need less. So what I do is, for those who need more, I took the 4GB RAM out from their machine and put it in the machine of the colleague who needs less. So 1 machine got 2x4G running in dual channel with identical RAM and install a new 2x8G for the original machine. To be honest, difference for 4 to 8 is high, but little difference from 8 to 16. So those in a tight budget can save your money.

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This laptop is great. For this price, there is nothing to complain.

I use this for basic computer needs at home. What I will do with is just Office, surfing, youtube, netflix. This computer handles it really well, all very smoothly.

What I like most is the screen. It is IPS. At this price point (310 for me), most laptops are bundled with TN display, which be honestly is a deal breaker. The screen here is gorgeous. I do not see much difference to my gaming laptop which cost me thrice. Sound is good, keyboard design average. I don't like the small num pad. Some people complained on the backlight, but I don't need this function. But the num lock indicator, however, is important but wasn't there.

On the spec, there is just 4G of RAM. You can, however, upgrade it easily. There are 10 screws at of back. Open it and you can add another slot of RAM and another HDD. My recommendation, upgrade to 8 or 16G and add another SDD drive immediately after the setup is done as 128G storage will not be enough. For gaming, I am yet to test it, but at 310, don't expect anything.

Ar.. the Windows S issue, google Windows S Switch and you will know how to change it back to Windows 10 Home. It is just a few clicks and a few minutes. Everyone can do it.

After all, a great computer. My family members ordered 2 when they see mine. Highly recommend.

My Old Chap David Fisher Talk This is NOT a Budget Laptop!.

This is the best laptop deal you can get, full stop.

Touchescreen? Nope. That feature is stupid in a laptop, in my view. As you use the keyboard, incidental touche s of the screen change focus or move to different screens--touchscreen is a gimmick and sucks.

The screen on this laptop is worth the price by itself. Gorgeous, black is actually black, it rivals my AOC gaming desktop monitor.

The Ryzen chip inside can be overclosked if you feel like it, but it is not needed. It is plenty fast for a laptop.

This is set up to add memory and a hard drive. Do so. I spent an additional $50 to add a 1tb drive and an 8gig memory stick. In so doing, I have the same specs as a $700 consumer laptop.

Gaming? I stream from my desktop, it's perfect. It won't run any modern games at more than low settings (if that) but you don't need to run them onboard if you have a gaming machine. DO NOT BUY THIS TO PLAY GAMES ONBOARD. Stream via Steam, it's perfect.

Buy this for $300, spend an additional $50 or $100 on memory and storage, and sit back and realize that you got a premier laptop for 1/3 the money people are spending on nothing.

Build quality is bomber. Eveything is solid, no rattles, no warps. Others have ripped on the touchpad--can't tell the difference between this and any other laptop touchpad. It isn't loose, responds as usual, no problem.

The screen is GORGEOUS and much better than laptops at twice or three times the price.

I actually like the compressed number pad on the right. If you aren't doing a lot of 10-key stuff, it's what you need.

The keyboard backlight stays on while you're typing, shuts off when you aren't. Perfectly configured.

This boots in about 15 seconds.

It has some heft, but is still very light. Hard to describe, but you can carry this all day in your backpack and not even know it is there. The power brick is about the size of a Toblerone tube. I plan on buying an extra to travel with.

This will work as a consumer laptop as is, like I said, but add some memory and a hard drive and you are CRUSHING.

I can't sing the praises of this enough.

Buy this, add a drive and a memory stick and you get a premier laptop for less than $400. And you get a better screen, too. And anyone can do that, it isn't tough at all. If you can turn a screwdriver, you can update this machine.

Make sure to go in and turn S mode off. First, activate Windows, then go to the store and turn off S mode.

This is much better than what other companies are offering as a budget laptop.

My Old Chap a.jm say One of the best values out there. Full linux support as well, upgradeable. NVME STORAGE.

*UPDATE : The labtop completely died near end of warranty, would not charge or power up. Acer replaced motherboard, about 2 weeks turn around time.
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The only down side is the 4 gb of ram. 128 nvme is AMAZING at this price, makes the labtop amazingly snappy. Reads are in 1.3-1.4 GB/s range.

The display is great for the price, viewing angles are fantastic. Perfect for media consumption. Easily comparable with labtops 2-2.5 times the price. This is bar far my #1 reason for keeping the machine. speakers arent great though, have bluetooth headphones handy.

I was able to put POP OS 19 on it without an issue, everything worked perfectly and its very snappy. Due to the nvme you are going to get amazing snappiness.

Fully upgradable! There is a included screws to mount 2.5 drive in the box, you can switch wifi card , add another stick of ram , or swap the M.2.
Ram runs at 2400 based on platform, so dont bother with expensive stuff. The included one is rated at 2666.

Stays cool since its a small chip. Fan isnt loud at 100%.
Battery life lasts about 3-3.5 hours underload with brightness at 40%.
I was able to run dawn of war ii and a few other older games at medium 1080P at half decent frame rates on linux, older games forsure though.

Keyboard is good , much better than idealpad3XX and swift3. I've seen much worst on much more expensive devices.

I actually really like the aluminium cover, makes the device look premium.

This is great machine to consume videos and do light typing without being frustrated by cost or the performance, A+ Acer for putting every dollar where it makes the user experience pleasant .

My Old Chap vikingpiper tell us STAY AWAY from Microsoft 10S!!!.

BUYER BE AWARE: This computer has Microsoft 10S. This is scam software by Microsoft to force you to use only Microsoft apps from their deserted island wasteland of an app store. The computer will not allow you to do anything else. You can upgrade to a full version of Microsoft 10... for another $134. Hard pass. STAY AWAY from ALL computers with Microsoft 10S!! Absolute garbage software.

My Buddy Mindy said Perfect for kids/teens and seniors.

I got this for my ten year old son because it's a great laptop for kids. It has a solid state hard drive which means there's no moving parts and it can take more abuse. In other words I'm not going to worry when my son throws this into his backpack. It's also pretty lightweight and portable.

I was, however, a little on the fence about S mode. So what is this? It's a locked down version of Windows 10. It is somewhat limiting in that you can't just run any program you want, it has to be a program solely from the windows store. For example, you have to use Bing as your search engine. You have to use Microsoft Edge as your web browser. For those who are interested in programming, you can't use command-line shells. Pretty limiting right? But the advantage is that the laptop is safer from viruses and malware since there is so much control over what programs can be used. It's very stable and "safe." If it tells you anything, Microsoft markets S-mode laptops to schools because of this safety and stability. Now you can easily scrap the S mode at anytime, but once you leave S mode you can't come back.

Other things of note: Upon startup the default settings really lets Microsoft snoop on every little thing you do. I had to disable much of this. If you are handing this over to a kid, I would recommend you do the same. But otherwise, startup was very easy. Cortana talks to you and after you've answered some questions (literally, you can speak the answers) everything is set up.

I did notice the speakers are very weak, but honestly I am seldom impressed with laptop speakers. That's when Bluetooth speakers come into play and you can do that easily with this. The screen is not a touch-screen which, I suppose, at this price point you can't really expect.

I also saw this laptop has a night setting, which I love. Starting at 8pm, the display minimizes blue light so as not to mess with your body's sleep cycle. That, to me, was a HUGE plus!

So would I recommend this? If you are a computer programmer or hope for your kid to be a computer programmer than no, absolutely not. But if you're just wanting to use a computer without necessarily knowing how the parts and software work then YES! This would be a GREAT laptop for you! I can also see this as a great tool for senior citizens as well because if how user-friendly everything is set up to be.

My friend Callie experience Games.

It runs amazing

My Buddy Chris Rosewill Talk Fantastic Deal for the Price.

This laptop is a fantastic deal for the price. The laptop uses the same body as the $500+ Acer Aspire 5 models which is to say it is a fantastic body that is light and compact and very portable. Ram can easily be upgraded and adding a 2.5" SSD allows for additional memory over the 128gb included on the computer. The keyboard is comfortable to type on and as a bonus still includes a full numpad even if it is a bit cramped. The screen is a solid IPS screen and when you consider the price tag is amazing and beats a lot of the more expensive laptop screens I have seen.

My Buddy Sidd Finch experience Excellent value! Just needs a couple inexpensive upgrades.

Got this on sale for $270, which is an absolute steal. Even still, the full price (~$330) is a bargain, too.

Despite what the manufacturer has stated in the comments/Q&A, this comes with a vacant bay for a 2.5" hard drive. It also includes the necessary parts to install the 2.5" hard drive (mounting bracket, a connection/adapter, and a ribbon to connect it to the mother board).

The rear/bottom plastic cover can be removed by unscrewing the 10 screws on the bottom, and GENTLY, with a PLASTIC prying tool, pop the cover off. You have to start at a corner and then slowly/carefully work your way around. Even with great care, I lightly marked the case in a couple of places.

UPGRADES:

I added a 500 GB HDD (regular, spinning hard drive). Search Amazon for "2.5" 500GB" and take your pick - anywhere from $20-$40 will do the trick. If my instructions above are not enough, Acer's own YouTube channel has a video you can follow.

I also added a 4GB stick of RAM to bump the total memory up to 8GB, which is more than enough for this laptop - you're not going to be playing any crazy games or doing any heavy duty stuff like video processing anyways. The specs on the RAM that you should conform to are DDR4 2666 SODIMM 260-Pin (as noted by the manufacturer in the Q&A). Someone mentioned the ram is running at a lower Hz, but best practice would be to buy RAM that matches the stick of RAM the computer comes with.

Also, do a search on taking Windows 10 out of "S" mode. S mode is a security mode that only allows you to install apps from the Windows Store, which effectively prevents you from inadvertently downloading malware. As long as you use your best judgement when downloading apps (and/or install the antimalware software of your choice), you shouldn't need S-mode.

Took all of 10 minutes to uninstall any extra bloatware that came on the computer.

Voila, for ~$330 and about 30 minutes of your time, you effectively have a ~$550 laptop.

For the price, the processor is very snappy, and the screen is extremely sharp. The keyboard feels very natural & is satisfying to use.