Acer’s new dual-core AMD-based ultraportable is the Acer Aspire 1551. It’s the fraternal twin of the Aspire 721 we reviewed a while back with an identical design and body. Check out our full review below.
In most respects, the Aspire 1551 is the dual-core version of the Aspire 721 with an AMD Athlon Neo II K325 running at 1.3GHz (slightly lower than the 721’s 1.7GHz, single core, but with the same TDP of just 12 watts).
The ultraportable has this nice mesh-textured finish on the lid cover which is a slight departure from the usual dark glossy ones of the previous 11.6-inchers of Acer (i.e., the Timeline series) and helps avoid it from fingerprints.
At under an inch thick, this ultraportable is one of the slimmest and lightest we’ve reviewed in its category. It’s got a full-sized keyboard and a brushed-metal finish on the palm-rest area.
The trackpad area is a bit small and is only separated from the palm-rest by a thin vertical groove. The friction from that brushed metal finish on the trackpad area is a bit uncomfortable though. The left and right trackpad buttons are separated but a bit tough to press on.
The 11.6″ screen has glossy finish and the display is bright and crisp with a nice resolution of 1366×768 pixels. However, it is also prone to glare in the outdoors or against bright light sources.
With an on-board graphics chip powered by an ATI Radeon HD 4225 (336MB shared memory), the system can do some decent gaming performance (at low resolution). The built-in HDMI is an added bonus if you want to play HD videos and output it to a larger TV or monitor. It can play full HD videos with no problem at all and can stream 1080p from YouTube HD without any noticeable choppiness in the playback.
Performance is above average when compared to regular netbooks, thanks to the dual-core CPU and GPU combo paired with a 2GB DDR3 RAM. The CPU has almost the same Windows Experience Index as the ULV Core 2 Duo SU7300 of the Acer Timeline. In fact, the embedded graphics chip got a much better sub-score in the WEI compared to the old GMA 4500MHD of Intel.
The system gets a 3.3 base score from Windows Experience Index but the CPU has a pretty nice sub-score of 3.9. Not much of an improvement of the single-core AMD K125 @ 1.7GHz which got a 3.7 sub-score.
Battery life isn’t as impressive as the other Aspire Ones but a median time of around 4 hours on a single charge (based on BatteryBar) isn’t bad at all considering you get a more powerful CPU and graphics combo.
The 6-cell battery is only rated at 4400mAh. It would have performed better if it were in the 5600mAh range which could give it around 6 hours on a full charge. Here’s the complete specs of this unit:
Acer Aspire 1551
11.6″ display @ 1366×768 pixels
AMD Athlon II Neo K325 @ 1.3GHz Dual Core
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4225 w/ 336MB RAM
2GB DDR3 RAM (max 4GB)
250GB HDD
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
3 USB 2.0 ports
HDMI port
Windows 7 Home Basic 64bit
The Acer Aspire 1551 has a suggested retail price of Php27,900USD 475INR 40,304EUR 453CNY 3,462 but you should be seeing them in the Php26k range in some stores. It’s a good upgrade if you’re coming from netbooks — good performance, decent battery life but still keeps the thin and light form factor.
YugaTech.com is the largest and longest-running technology site in the Philippines. Originally established in October 2002, the site was transformed into a full-fledged technology platform in 2005.
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robieg. says:
Sir, maybe it’s a typo.. but isn’t the processor a dual core INTEL atom not AMD? pls check your specs.
Anyway great review! more power!
robieg. says:
oops.. sorry my bad! hahaha
CK says:
nice body and specs, but i can get a bit larger 12″ screen in this price range, hmmm
Pusang Kulog says:
Pag bumaba pa ng konti presyo nito come first quarter of 2011, pwede nang kagatin… He he he…
Ethan says:
27k with the Windows 7 Basic? Pretty good deal. Shame about the GPU though. Thought the 4225 would be significantly better than the ATI 3200 on the MSI u230, .2 lang pala yung difference.
leeto says:
bakit ang mga netbook mas mahal pa sa notebook samantala mas maganda naman ang specs ng notebook?
paulkev09 says:
@leeto
netbooks are more expensive than notebooks because of their ultraportability…that’s how technology goes.
portability always come with a high price.
leeto says:
paulkev09 “netbooks are more expensive than notebooks because of their ultraportability…that’s how technology goes.
portability always come with a high price.”
di rin sapat kung portability ang reason for them to price netbooks that much. di naman one ton ang weight difference limited pa ang functions. mas maganda pa nga ang performance ng notebooks kaysa netbooks. I just dont see the logic at economics ng mga netbook manufacturers to price it that way.
caloy says:
mas mahal ba? pano nangyari un? ndi ata ah… magbigay ka ng example na netbook at laptop with thesame brand na nagpapakita na mas mahal ang laptop sa netbook… mas mahal pa rin ang laptop kaysa netbook
Chris says:
Got this today at one of the PC Stores in Gilmore,
OS installed is Windows 7 Home PREMIUM! Price is P25k
Jhay says:
I’d install Ubuntu 10.10 netbook edition on this one. The Unity UI will be perfect for the screen size. :)
rys says:
which will you recommend? asus eeepc 1215t or this one?
Robin Lim says:
Thanks for the reviews. Looking for an 11.6″ unit. Looks like the AAO 721 might be a better choice. Cheaper, and it the benchmarks are pretty much the same. Battery life is a bit longer on the AAO 1551.
Or just bite the bullet and go for the i3 powered Acer 1830T. Am not sure how that does in terms of graphics power. What do you all think?
Joseph says:
At last it’s already here! The sad thing though it’s not with the AMD Athlon II Neo K625 @ 1.5GHz Dual Core. Will they ship the better version?! The 1.5 is what I’m really waiting for :D
airevolt says:
Just bought this gem of a laptop today and I must say I am so satisfied was eyeing on a samsung nf310 or the acer 721 but when I found out from yuga that this was already available I went to Gilmore just to window shop but ended up buying the unit since it was the last unit they have. Will try out 3d intensive games and post here soon the results thanks! :)
jay says:
can i play high spec games like nba 2k11 on that model?
dante says:
@jay If you are thinking of playing NBA 2k11 with this notebook, you should rather buy the ASUS Eee PC 1215N because their price is almost close but ASUS has ION which can handle high spec games better and faster.
@yuga Sir, can you make a review about Samsung NF310. Thanks.
jay says:
@dante thanks for the info… can you recommend a gaming notebook around 25k or less? :-)
dante says:
@jay Probably the cheapest netbook that could handle games would be ASUS Eee PC 1015PN (which costs $425, although it’s different here in the PH) because it also has ION graphics although it lacks Optimus. That would mean a trouble for your battery because it cannot auto switch your graphics when you need to use it or not.
dante says:
@jay I forgot, there is also ASUS Eee PC 1201T which also has an ION graphics. Here’s its review from yugatech: http://www.yugatech.com/blog/personal-computing/asus-eeepc-1201t-review/
jay says:
@dante thanks agen. btw. i am looking for notebook not netbook. anyways sir thanks for the suggestion. :-)
airevolt says:
tested street fighter iv and left for dead 2 and it’s surprisingly playable on this lappy
lightlegato says:
i wonder how much more expensive the one with the AMD K625 cpu.. i really hope this could slide down a bit more with it’s srp. this is one i really prefer over the msi u230.
Airevolt says:
I think d one wd k625 processor won’t be available here in the phil there’s a similar gateway model wd this same specs btw
Aaron says:
Sir which in Manila area is this Netbook Available name of shop and price range thanks to all who replyed
Marc says:
@lightlegato I bought the 4GB AMD K625 W7 Home Premium version for about 23,250 PHP from Amazon.com. I paid about 5750 to have it shipped here so it would cost around 29k total. However I have no warranty. That’s the risk I took in ordering it abroad.
Joseph says:
@Marc: ohw! way to go marco! hahah to i got no online account! is there any chance of getting the k625 here? thanks and congrats with your new super cool laptop :D
Marc says:
@Joseph
If you’re willing to spend about 5-10% extra you can use the freight forwarding company’s credit card to order it for you. I used Johnny Air. They have a website but you might want to visit their offices and talk about the details there. I went to their SM Megamall branch.
Marc says:
I’ll share my WEI scores just for reference:
Acer Aspire 1551-5448
Processor: AMD Turion II Neo K625 1.5 GHz
Ram: 4GB DDR3
Video: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4225 (384mb RAM)
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit
Processor: 4.3
Memory: 5.9
Graphics: 4.2
Gaming Graphics: 5.2
Primary Hard Disk: 5.9
Compared with the K325 version, the K625’s faster speed improves everything apparently.
Aaron says:
@Marc
Can i ask what is the exact link of the amazon and how long did it take to get here? please reply
acer enthusiastic says:
Question is there any Difference with the K325 & K625
The only thing i was targeting is that the Combo of AMD and ATI in one Net-book but if the price of the K625 with GB increasing like 5k-10k would it be worth the increase. And if yes how did you get it w/c shop Site(“Direct Link please”) Exact Amount did you spent of the K625 + 4GB RAM. and how long did it take you to get it. Thanks Please do Rate the K625 for Gaming like HD or Try Prototype. if Prototype Work’s Fine in a Laptop or Computer i am sure all my games will work fine :D.
Marc says:
@Aaron
Here is the exact link. I noticed that however it is now out of stock. :(
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003N3A86C/ref=oss_product
How long did it take?
Placed order: Nov 25
Order arrived at JAC-NYC: Dec 1
Order arrived at JAC-Megamall: Dec 11
Note that the package was delayed 3 days because of the enormous volume JAC was bringing in.
@acer enthusiastic:
See post 26 for an idea on how much I spent.
Check my WEI scores in post 29 and look at Yuga’s WEI scores in the main article for the performance difference.
For gaming, I have played only two games, all on LOW setting and they are playable.
1. World of Warcraft: Cataclysm – 30FPS on low, 15 FPS on Med. (I play on low)
2. Civilization 5 – Minimum Settings Only.
In my opinion the Radeon HD4225 is roughly equivalent to Intel’s i-series HD Graphics (with slightly lower performance).
Joseph says:
@Marc: The price you’re placing isn’t the same with the one on amazon. I’m kinda confused with what you stated.
Secondly, the games you tested were on low settings? How about trying on Need for speed shift?
I hope it runs smoothly, Thanks!
acer enthusiastic says:
I Think that Acer Aspire 1551 its almost the same as my Desktop here is mine with Rate of WEI.
Acer Aspire M3800
Processor: Intel® Core™2 Quad Processor Q800 2.33GHz
Ram: 3GB DDR3
Video: ATI Radeon HD 4350 512MB RAM
OS: Windows Vista Home Premium 64 Bit
Processor: 5.9
Memory: 5.9
Graphics: 4.2
Gaming Graphics: 4.9
Primary Hard Disk: 5.9
Basically Processor wins but i think AMD is for gaming purpose then 4GB RAM Win of One but still same if you think about it then on the Video how does your video get a high score and mine lose?
i got ATI Radeon HD 4350 512MB and Yours ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4225 (384mb RAM) its should be more powerful thats why i am asking that this laptop can sure play Prototype Game with Few Lags and for the point of running a game like Prototype on a Netbook its kinda crazy so in my reasoning i think this Netbook is kinda great even in the K325.
Please do Check my Review or my Opinion i just wanna have 1 PC and 1 Laptop that has almost the same Spec and the look of it i can go with K325 or K625 if there is any in PH.
Aaron says:
I think i will go for Acer Aspire 1551 K325
this was my Choices
1st was ASUS EEE PAD 121 <- Cool mouth watering
and i think price range in PH will be more or like 70k +
2nd Lenovo Thinkpad x100e <- Similar to Acer Aspire with two types of Processor and others stuff but not DDR3. Worst thing about DDR2 for sure give it 3-6months prices of RAM DDR2 will increase like 50-70%
and a price range of like 25k-30k what i seen in malls and heard from a friend.
3rd Acer Aspire 1551 with K625 Cool but can't buy it i kinda don't know how to order online and shipping i might waste time and money :D.
so in my conclusion :D just like homework i'll just buy K325 in store with warranty.
thanks for the other post and reply of other really help me to decide.
Marc says:
@Joseph:
I bought it during the US Friday Thanksgiving season, where they slashed off 50 dollars from the normal 550 dollar price. Now they no longer have it in stock, so you can only get it from other merchants. That might explain why you saw a different price on Amazon.
Yes Joseph, the games I played were on low settings. I don’t play driving games, unfortunately, so I wouldn’t be able to test NFS:Shift.
@acer enthusiastic:
re: Your video scores. I really don’t know. I just post what Windows is showing me.
@Aaron:
Hope you enjoy your 1551. It will definitely beat the pants off my 1551 in terms of battery life. The K325 will give you 4 hours as per yuga. My K625 only lasts 2.5 hours with the same 6 cell battery.
Aaron says:
@Marc Darn darn darn Failed to buy acer 1551 last night they were out of stack but when i went to the next shop they shown me a different model Acer Aspire AS4552G-N932G32Mnkk T__T darn so cool but need suggestion 1st. cant find a review from yuga please help me.
Aaron says:
a word on the switchable video:
GPU: Switchable by pressing a button or by power express ati software
ATi Mobility Radeonâ„¢ 5470 For high performance GPU 512Mb Dedicated VRAM
ATi Mobility Radeonâ„¢ 4250 For Power saving GPU 256Mb Shared VRAM
Acer Aspire AS4552G-N932G32Mnkk
>
Acer Aspire AS4552G-N932G32Mnkk
AMD Phenomâ„¢II Quad Core N930 2.00GHz / 2Mb / 3.6GT / 35w
AMD M880G Chipset
ATI Radeonâ„¢ HD5470 Graphics 512Mb VRAM
Acer Wireless Draft-N
14in. HD LED Display
2.0Gb DDR3 Memory
320Gb Hard Disk Drives
Bluetooth, HDMI
DVDRW Drive, Acer Webcam
Acer Laptop Bag
Joseph says:
@Marc: Really? Acer Aspire 1551 w/ the K625 processor has only up to 2.5 hours compared to the K325, Why is that?
AMD Fusion APU says:
http://www.yugatech.com/blog/personal-computing/the-amd-fusion-apu-ultraportable-line-up/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+yugatech+(YugaTech)
Check Out the new AMD Fusion Got more horse power and less battery consumption and for the looks at it less price still going to wait the release of Lenovo Thinkpad X120e an Upgraded version of Lenovo Thinkpad X100e and what the hell Less Cheaper too. but still Acer with K625 beat the Score board.
But AMD Fusion APU was based on Gaming, Work, Browsing, Multimedia, and some bunch of works that every day give us a hard time doing so when i get my 1st Ordered HP Pevilion DM1z ill send the review right away. btw price for ordering it in US its like $449 = 20,000 Less i think but hey lets see what the New Year gives us.
techatli says:
very nice and portable and light netbook, very nice for those people who like to run heavy application specially for the people who make computer programs
j0 says:
Go for any laptop brands except Samsung..
Sigh nakakalungkot sana wag to mangyari sa iba
http://tipidpc.com/viewtopic.php?tid=243417
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Joseph says:
Is this model’s BIOS already able to support more than 4GB of RAM?