Acer Aspire 3628AWXCI – There Ain't No Cheaper?

Aspire 3628AWXCi Specifications

Processor	Intel® Pentium®M Processor 735A (1.7 GHz / 2 MB / FSB 400)
RAM	256 MB, can be expanded to 2 GB, DDR-II
Display	14.1" WXGA TFT LCD, 1280x800; 16:10 aspect ratio
Graphics	Integrated Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 900
HDD	60 GB
Optical storage	DVD/CD-RW, – Read: 24X CD-ROM, 24X CD-R, 15X CD-RW, 8X DVD-ROM, 4X DVD+R, 4X DVD-R, 4X DVD+RW, 4X DVD-RW – Write: 24X CD-RW, 24X CD-R
I/O ports	10/100 Ethernet RJ-45 56K Modem/Fax RJ-11 Mini Dock Box Replicator 50 pin 3 x USB 2.0 1 x VGA 1 x Mike-in 1 x speakers/headphones/line-out 1 x PC card slot (Type II)
Communications:	Ethernet 10Base-T/100Base-TX Fax/modem 56K IEEE 802.11b/g Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™
Power supply	65W AC adapter 29.6W Li-ion battery pack Up to 2 hours of battery life 2.5 hours - quick charge; 3.5 hours - charge during operation
Extra	SigmaTel™ STAC9751 audio system, AC-97 v.2.1 compatible, a single built-in speaker
Warranty	1 year in a service center
Bundled software	Recovery CD is not included into the bundle Acer eManager (including ePresentation, eSettings, ePowerManagement and eRecovery) Acer GridVista Acer Launch Manager Acer Arcade Norton AntiVirus™ Trial (90 days after activation) Adobe® Reader® NTI® CD-Maker™
Dimensions and weight	334 x 244 x 28.6 / 35.2 mm 2.35 kg

Test results

We used the standard Windows profile for our tests - "Portable/Desktop". Display brightness was set to maximum. According to test results, the battery is 44000 mWh.

The system demonstrates more than adequate results for its price, I would say that the 3628 is getting close to leaders of the market. This battery life is quite sufficient even for most mobile users. The 3628 owner shouldn't be concerned with battery time, it will be enough for most cases.

Subjective characteristics

Keyboard and pointing devices

The keyboard produces a nice first impression. We have absolutely no gripes with the layout – even the left ctrl button is in the corner (frankly speaking, I am so used to notebook keyboards that I even fell out of the habit, but it's definitely an advantage when you also work with a desktop keyboard; besides, this layout is more convenient to switch between languages using ctrl+shift), so you'll get used to this keyboard very quickly. All the keys are grouped logically, Del is placed in the upper right corner, which is also convenient for editing texts - you can easily find it by touch. There are lots of Fn combinations, you can see them on the photo.

What concerns the tactile feedback, it's a catastrophe. The entire keyboard moves. Besides, the keyboard seems to be installed with a hump. The central sag is approximately 3 mm. Each time you press a button, the keyboard jumps up and hits your fingers. The keys are too soft, accidental key presses are quite possible (you may weigh down a button accidentally, when your hand just lies on the keyboard). But the soft keyboard is good for typing – it's less tiring for your hands. Only the right side is more or less firmly fixed. So it's unpleasant to type, the keyboard strikes your fingers back. As far as I understand, it's a common situation among such models. It's actually typical of blind typing only. For example, my relatives, who type with two fingers only, feel no difference between various types of keyboards. They are all the same to them.

The touch pad is smooth. Sometimes the mouse pointer follows your finger with a delay, but I have no special gripes with it. The touch pad contains two usual buttons (they are hard to press and click audibly) and a four-way scroll button. It's a mediocre solution, but it will do.

Additional buttons and indicators

Aspire 3628 has four additional buttons near the power button. By default, the buttons start an e-mail client, Internet browser, Acer utilities. There is also one vacant button. The buttons are small, flush with the case. They are not very convenient to press. The buttons are painted carelessly (especially the e-mail button). There are two sliders on the front panel to activate WiFi and Bluetooth. The sliders cannot be locked (it's inconvenient) and have a backlash, it's unpleasant to use them. You cannot feel when the slider activated its function. Activation of the interfaces is indicated by LEDs near the sliders. You can disable them using the Acer utilities, it cannot be done on the hardware level. If you don't use the utility, the sliders won't work.

The main indicators are located on the front panel and face forward. The indicators are small, you cannot see them in bright sunlight. They can light yellow or green. Status indicator: green – on, yellow – idle. Battery – green – charged/working from a battery, yellow – charging.

Case

The case produces a nice impression, it looks great for a cheap model. You can understand it's cheap by the black plastic (especially the bottom lid), but it still does not look like trash. When open, the notebook looks good. The keyboard is also made of good plastic. It's a nice model in terms of materials. It looks more expensive than it really is.

Design of the notebook is also good, it's not made like a "brick". The notebook looks proportional, its silvery and black panels go well. The touch pad is nicely decorated, black with a silvery scroll button. Side panels are "framed" to make the notebook look slimmer and more attractive. The only thing I don't like is the round front edge and that the display lid does not reach the front edge of the case. But tastes differ.  

The case is assembled well, no backlash or creaks. The panel can be forced in to the appearance of circles, so you should be careful with the display lid. But it will most likely survive usual handling.

The main gripe with the exterior is the quality of elements. Many components are cast carelessly (for example, the sliders, the grille on the front panel that covers speakers, etc). That is small elements are made carelessly. If you look closely, your impression will be spoilt.

By the way, Acer models use a number of original solutions intended to reduce their costs (by the way, we found it out in our forum; I'd like to thank one of our forum users who provided valuable information and several comments about Acer notebooks). In particular, practically all notebooks that can accommodate wireless network cards are already equipped with built-in antennas. Acer's notebooks are equipped with antennas (not models , but given samples!) only if they already have the cards. No card, no antenna. It requires a new lid. The lid is not expensive. So if you plan this upgrade, you should keep it in mind.

Let's examine the layout of ports and their usability.

The front panel houses the sliders to turn on/off wireless interfaces, speakers, and audio jacks. I have already described the sliders. Audio jacks on the front panel are not always convenient. They are usually placed on the front panel, if it's a desktop model (I still don't understand why). Front connections are more or less convenient to plug headphones, for example, when you watch a movie reclining in an armchair. But it's not good for external speakers (there will be permanently a long plug with a cord on the front panel, which you always stumble against). It's not a critical drawback, but it should be still taken into account.

The right flank houses 3 x USB 2.0, vent holes (theoretically, it blows hot air at your palm with a mouse, which is not always pleasant. In practice, the cooling system is idle 90% of the time, the air flow is weak and causes no problems), as well as network and modem ports.

The left flank – Kensington lock, an optical drive, and a single PCMCIA slot.

Most of the rear panel is taken by the battery. A power connector and a VGA port are on the left. Judging by the remaining room, the engineers either planned an LPT port, or this part of the case is from a previous model with this port.

The bottom contains two vent grilles and two lids to access innards of the notebook.

No excesses and additional devices. But it's justified for such a cheap model – if you need anything, you'll buy it separately. If not, you won't waste money on what you don't need.

Display and Audio

The notebook is equipped with a wide 14.1 panel (1280x800). The panel is rather bright, brightness adjustment range is wide. It's TN-film of the latest generation. Nothing special, but the angles of view are more or less acceptable, you can watch movies without freezing your head in a single position not to change colors. It's a normal panel for a budget notebook.

The sound is similar to standard speakers in other notebooks. It's good only at high and middle frequencies, the speakers are not loud enough for a noisy room. It will do only for dialogs in movies. It does not differ from products of other manufacturers.

Operating temperature and noise

The notebook does not grow hot in normal mode and when you watch movies, only the bottom panel gets warm. When we played an old 3D game in software mode, the right side (approximately under the vent grille) grew hot, the left side remained cold. The right side of the keyboard also grew hot, but wrist pads remained cold.

The fan always operated at constant speed, the noise was absolutely no problem. Hot air blows from the hole, but the flow is weak – it's either intentional, or the fan is weak. No discomfort.

HDD noise is also hardly audible. The loudest sound source is the optical drive, but it does not work much, so you can easily accept it.

Battery life

In my opinion, the battery time is excellent, especially for such a model. The time is demonstrated with all additional devices disabled, of course. In return, we had to uninstall all Acer utilities (they were constantly offering something, interfering with the test script). 3 hours of DVD playback is a very good result for a budget system.

Subjective impressions

The notebook performed surprisingly better than I expected. It's very good for its price and will be an excellent choice for an inexperienced user, who needs a home computer for various simple tasks and has no special requirements. Taking into account that such users usually type with two fingers, even the keyboard flaws shouldn't be a problem to them. When I tested this notebook, I was constantly thinking why you should pay more money, if you were content with this model. This model will satisfy modest needs of a usual home user, who does not want anything above the average level (for example, games). I would have never bought this notebook myself, because of its horrible keyboard. But it's my personal opinion.

But there is one "but"… Big "but". It's technical support. Yes, Acer does much for a client that buys a notebook for $700. For example, its proprietary utilities. But the company orders the notebooks to third-party plants, so we have doubts concerning the quality of a $700 product. I've often heard the grapevine about frequent failures of Acer notebooks. But there are lots of them sold, very often inexperienced users are very angry about any failures. But my acquaintance bought a notebook and it was in repairs twice already, both times quite for a long time.

The iXBT.com forum has a long branch devoted to the 36xx series and Acer reputation in general. We shall not comment on it (you can read it on your own). But it should be noted that I have often heard bad reviews of Acer's tech support: constant problems with notebooks that are even still on warranty, long repairs, authorized service centers sometimes refuse to provide certificates of expert examination, and so forth. This information needs to be proved, of course. But still... It's up to a user to decide to buy a notebook. And all these stories can be usual scare stories. But considering their number, I decided to warn our readers beforehand. If you want to know the details, read the above-mentioned forum branch.

Positioning

In my opinion, it's an all-purpose notebook for home users. It can stay on your desk all the time or travel with you in a bag – its dimensions and weight allow it. That is it's not a pure desktop replacement. It's a cheap, all-purpose, and rather convenient notebook for a home user, who does not want much from it, but who wants to get an all-purpose model.

Conclusions

The notebook pleased me. It is no genius, but it has a good keyboard layout, a convenient wide panel, and most importantly it's indecently cheap. It's a very good solution for the money in abstract terms. But for the situation with technical support. It turns a purchase of this notebook into a big lottery. But the money…