| CPU | Intel® Dual Core T4400 processor 2.20 GHz L2 Cache: 1 MB, FSB 800 MHz |
| Chipset | Intel® PM45 Express Chipset |
| Graphic | ATI Mobility RadeonTM HD 4570 (512 MB) up to 2303 MB shared system memory supporting Microsoft® DirectX® 10, Shader Model 4.0 |
| Memory | 4 GB (2GB+2GB) DDR2 max 4 GB DDR2 |
| Hard disk | 320 GB Seagate SATA HDD, 5400 rpm |
| Optical drive | DVD-Super Multi double-layer drive |
| Display | 15,6″ HD WXGA TFT LCD Acer CineCrystal technology Resolution 1366×768, high-brightness (220-nit) 16:9 aspect ratio, 8 ms high-def response time |
| Audio | Realtek HD, Dolby®-optimized Surround Sound System |
| Modem | ITE Modem 56k v.9 |
| Mic | Yes |
| Camera | Acer Orbicam 0.3MP camera |
| Memory cards | 5-in-1 card reader (SD™, MMC, MS, MS PRO, xD) |
| Ports | 4 x USB 2.0 1 x HDMI™ port with HDCP 1 x External display (VGA) port 1 x Modem (RJ-11) port 1 x Gigabit Ethernet (RJ-45) port 1 x Speaker/ headphone/ line-out jack 1 x Microphone jack 1 x Line-in jack 1 x DC-in jack for AC adapter |
| OS | Linux Linplus |
| Warranty | 12 months (battery 6 months) |
| Weight | 2,8 kg |
| Size | 383 x 250 x 26/37 mm |
| Battery | 48.8 W (6-cell) Li-ion battery pack |
I also took extended warranty (36 months) because it’s really cheap and I already purchased it for my old Acer 5920G which saved me a lots of money because only two weeks later my Blueray drive died, so replacement was free of charge.
5738ZG laptop looks really nice, quality materials, and the keyboard feels much better then on my old 5920G laptop.
Noise from CPU/VGA vents is pretty low even in Ubuntu where I had problems with Acer 5920G. Well 5920G was silent in Windows but in Ubuntu 9.04 it was loud as hell. Dunno why, maybe it was something with drivers or Ubuntu itself. Maybe it is fixed now in Ubuntu 9.10.
I plugged old 19″ LG LCD monitor to see how it is working in Linux. Well at first I had some problems with dual display. Like, playing game on laptop LCD and watching a movie on LG. But since I was playing that game in Wine, the problem could be with Wine. Nevertheless, pure video is working just fine. HD 720p & 1080p (h264), Mpeg1, Mpeg2, DVB-T Avermedia A815 card worked just fine with Me TV.
Touchpad is not too sensitive so it really hard/rarely to move your cursor when you type lots of text. No extra drivers are needed to turn off and on touchpad, and the on/off switch is located 1cm right from touchpad. I like that.
Volume buttons are up on the right side of keyboard and are also working without any drivers. You just have to love Acer!
I don’t have HDMI monitor so I was unable to test HDMI port.
Picture of laptop from behind shows us that there is one free PCI-E mini slot available, so you can insert for instance GSM/GPRS or DVB-T card.
If you bought extended warranty, you must register it online or send them all the details via postmail. Acer advantage registration (extended warranty) is plain simple, open Acer advantage web page, fill up all the details, attach the proof of purchase and that’s it. Your laptop warranty will be extended to three years.
Memory slots 2 x 2GB DDR2, Hynix:
Ubuntu
I’ve tried Ubuntu 9.10 with Compiz and this is working flawless. Graphic is smooth, everything worked out of the box (wireless, bluetooth, network, vga) so in the end I’ll stick to it because nowdays all I need is browser, media player (VLC, Amarok, Totem,…) and file manager (Total commander works in Wine without any glitches).
HD Tune
Pretty bad access time… but it’s a really quiet drive. If you need speed upgrade to WD 7200 RPM drive 😉
Yes / No
Pros:
+ ATI 4570
+ 4 GB of memory
+ 320 GB disk
+ no Vista Home or some other crippled OS, so you can buy whatever you want
+ volume and touchpad buttons are really useful
+ keyboard is sleek and firm
Cons:
– Modem (who needs this?)
– Ubuntu would be much better than Linplus
– 2.8kg is really heavy for a mid range laptop
– heat (you can’t hold it on legs for a longer time)
– reflective screen if on sunlight, but for movies it’s great
– no fireware, eSATA or Expresscard slot
Drivers
If you need drivers you can download them from Acer website or from these links (only Windows XP 32bit):
WARNING! Some of this drivers listed down there are not from Acer!!! Some are found on Internet search, some are generic like Intel, Realtek but those drivers I have used for my XP system and they are tested and working 100%. No viruses or any other funny stuff in there. Pure drivers.
update:
The best way to install drivers for this or any other laptop is via http://drp.su/ just download
the whole pack and run it, it will install all drivers without a problem. I’ve tried it, and it’s a killer.