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Acer Aspire Z5610 review

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Verdict

An impressive touchscreen PC at a very attractive price. A fine alternative to the A-Listed Sony

Review Date: 19 Nov 2009

Reviewed By: Mike Jennings

Price when reviewed: £782 (£899 inc VAT)

Overall Rating

Features & Design
4 stars out of 6

Value for Money
6 stars out of 6

Performance
5 stars out of 6

PCPRO Recommended

Acer has crammed the Z5610 with a surprisingly good specification too. The Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 processor returned a superb 1.47 in our application-based benchmarks - marginally quicker than the Sony, which scored 1.44 - and the plentiful 4GB of RAM is complemented by a massive 1TB hard disk. Elsewhere, you get a hybrid DVB-T/analogue TV tuner, 802.11n wireless, and a decent pair of stereo speakers. The latter pump out clear sound at good levels of volume.

If there's one area where this Acer disappoints it's in the graphics department with a weedy ATI Radeon HD 4530 offering little in the way of gaming ability - although the Sony is no better in this respect. It returned a score of just 14fps in our medium-quality Crysis benchmark, which rules out running more intensive gaming titles at high detail settings. Perhaps more surprisingly, it also struggled to run some of the touchscreen software, with demanding tools such as Microsoft Surface Globe often struggling to keep up a smooth frame rate.

Another mild irritation, especially given the superb screen, is the lack of Blu-ray, which the more expensive Sony does have. The peripherals are also of a lower quality, with a mouse that lacks special features and a keyboard that both feels lightweight and is plagued with a poor typing action.

Despite these irritations, the Acer Z5610 still offers enough quality elsewhere to offer a creditable alternative to the A-Listed Sony. Its touchscreen is responsive and looks great; it boasts a decent range of features; and it looks great to boot. And it more than comes into its own when you take into account the price. At £781 exc VAT, it's £450 cheaper than the Sony, a differential that more than makes up for its few weaknesses. If you can't afford to splash out on the extravagant VAIO, the Aspire Z5610 should be next on your list.

Author: Mike Jennings

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Comments

User comments

I'm sure I'm probably the only human on the planet who thinks that dragging sticky, sweaty fingers all over a perfectly pristine screen is a really crap idea. Ergonomically, if one is seated at a desk all day, it makes no sense either. What precisely is the appeal of touch screens and where's the benefit?

By CliveDH on 19 Nov 2009

I can see some uses for touchscreens. I'd like to get a system similar to this for use in a hi-fi set-up. It could be wall mounted and allow control of computer based music. A remote control for use from a seat along with a touchscreen it would be pretty sweet. However I'd like one which could be vertically mounted (better for showing playlists) and it would have to be silent.

But for a pimary, working desktop no - touchscreen is a terrible idea. This looks more like a secondary computer so touchscreen could be handy. Maybe.

By stoin86 on 19 Nov 2009

My wife has MS and cannot use a keyboard without frustration. The introduction of touch screen has been a revelation.
Puriste might sneer but the Acer Z5600 has opened a new dimension for my wife, and I imagine for others with similar sexterity limitations.

By Ozzie on 25 Nov 2009

Look how good the iphone 3G is compared to archaic button phones. Look at how high spec this is compared to desktop pc's and there's no box. how can there be a complaint? if you dont loke touchscreed, use the mouse (but i bet you'll use the touchscreen more than you thought) great PC.

By zorrano on 30 Dec 2009

Touchscreen Aspire

A desktop icon that changes the waay one uses a computer. The 64bit processor has its way of tripping you up (new iTunes download and the 64 bit iE8 doesn't like to show the videos which want 32 bit etc etc) To be fair I have a keyboard and mouse (LX710 from Logitech - more capable than the Acer provision)and so using the touch screen is just a bit out of comfortable reach - then when I want to point at something for someone I go "oooh" (cute I know...) when I remember it's touchscreen and you can do extra stuff with it. I'm probably enjoying the Windows 7 experience even more than the new PC having jumped from XP over Vista to Win7 but there's no doubt the PC is a great value package that I couldn't resist whereas the Sony and VAIO were easier to say "not at that price". Go see one in Staples (which was the best deal when I was buying last month) and see for yourself.

By aeromat on 5 Nov 2010

Touchscreen

For normal day to day use I would prefer a keyboard/mouse. But for the lounge/media applications where I don't want keyboards/mouse clutering up the room a touchscreen is just perfect. Ideal for itunes, email and websurfing etc.

By goingfrance on 2 Dec 2010

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