Acer Aspire AS5740-6378

Moore's Law predicts that transistor density, and thus processor speeds, increase dramatically over time, but even I was stunned to discover this $650 Acer laptop performs as well as a $2,000 gaming laptop (like the Sager NP8662) from 6 months ago. The Acer Aspire AS5740-6378 ($650 street) has the Intel Core i5-430M processor to thank for this incredible burst of speed, but you can't sell a laptop based on speed alone. Unfortunately, this laptop's looks are long-in-the-tooth and its 3 hours of battery life is a little disappointing.

Acer Inc.

http://www.acer.com

• Price as Tested: $650.00 Street
• Type: General Purpose, Media, Value
• Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium
• Processor Name: Intel Core i5 M430
• Processor Speed: 2.27 GHz
• RAM: 4 GB
• Weight: 5.7 lb
• Screen Size: 15.5 inches
• Screen Size Type: widescreen
• Graphics Card: Intel GMA HD
• Storage Capacity: 320 GB
• Networking Options: 802.11n
• Primary Optical Drive: External