Acer Aspire 7552G-6436

Acer Aspire 7552G-6436

Acer's Aspire One 7552G-6436 may be packed with a quad-core processor and ATI Radeon graphics, but it can't keep up with most of PCWorld's top-ranked desktop replacement systems. Nevertheless, its light weight, bright screen, and affordable price may be just what some users are looking for. Our review model, priced at $730 (as of April 11, 2011), came configured with a 2.1GHz AMD Phenom II N950 quad-core processor, 4GB of RAM (upgradable to 8GB), a 640GB hard disk drive, and an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 6650 graphics card. The desktop replacement also features a 17.3-inch glossy widescreen, a "floating" island-style keyboard, and a DVD-RW drive. The system runs a 64-bit version of Windows 7 Home Premium. It's not nearly as fast as the most powerful desktop replacement laptops we've tested, but it still delivers considerable bang for the buck. The Acer 7552G-6436 is lighter than most other desktop replacement laptops, weighing in at about 7 pounds, 4 ounces. (The top-ranked Dell XPS 17 3D tips the scales at 9 pounds, 11 ounces.) The power brick is lightweight, too--and you'll probably need it, since the battery conked out after just 2 hours, 20 minutes in our tests.