Acer
Acer Spin 1: a good convertible PC at a low price
Aprox. 326€ - see price -
See specificationsWith Spin 1 (2017), Acer is trying to improve its image on the entry-level niche and offers us a convertible laptop for less than 400 €, with a design close to a product for 1000 €. Successful bet?
Our review
Construction
Like the recent Swift 1, which has largely convinced us, the Spin 1 (2017) is further proof of Acer's desire to offer a worked design and a good level of finish on an entry-level product. . Difficult, in fact, to say that this ultraportable convertible is offered at less than 400 € when you discover its all-aluminum chassis and the care taken in its construction. The glossy and slightly brushed effect on the hood is very successful, and the silver hinge on the back provides an additional "premium" touch.
Once unfolded, the PC lets appear an input zone benefiting from a mat treatment, again very successful, as well as a large touchpad and a keyboard whose keys seem quite small. In use, the typing proves to be precise and pleasant, however, thanks to a fairly long stroke and a good feeling of return under the fingers. The keys, however, tend to sink slowly, in a rather unpleasant plastic noise. We also found, on our test model, a strange implementation of the arrow keys which have a little trouble sinking (but remain functional). The touchpad, meanwhile very well designed and integrated, benefits from a silver border pleasing to the eye. We tick a little on the other hand on the very large black bands around the screen, which are struggling to value it.
The Acer Spin 1 (2017) offers full connectivity, although the absence of a USB Type-C port is somewhat regrettable. There is still a USB 3.1 Type-A port, a USB 2 port, an HDMI output, a microSD port and a jack port for audio. Note that the use of a microSD card is almost essential, since the default storage space is only 64 GB.
Unsurprisingly given the on-board configuration, the Spin 1 (2017) heats little and emits no noise, even during a sustained performance test. There is thus a hot spot of 39 ° C at the front and 38.8 ° C under the chassis.
Screen
The Acer Spin 1 (2017) is equipped with an 11.6 inch (29.5 cm) touch screen, displaying a Full HD definition (1,920 x 1,080 px). Brilliant and IPS type, the slab used here seems, at first glance, of very good quality.
Persistence 22 ms Brightness 340cd / m² Contrast 940: 1
These positive impressions are largely confirmed once our test probe has been applied. For an entry-level product, the screen of the Acer Spin 1 is thus particularly neat. First of all, there is a very good brightness of 340 cd / m², thus a very respectable contrast ratio of 940: 1 (we would have liked to exceed 1000: 1, given the brilliant slab). Either way, readability is particularly good. Delta E 3.6
And, miraculously, even the colorimetry is in keeping! Delta E indeed drops to 3.6, while the color temperature is 6,940 K. Recall that Delta E, which reflects the difference between the actual colors and the colors displayed, is considered to be excellent in below 3. The temperature, meanwhile, is close to the standard of 6,500 K. The rendering is therefore both faithful and balanced. Finally, the gamma curve is particularly stable, a sign of a very controlled gray gradient.
The only real downside in the table concerning the Spin 1 screen, the remanence rate, raised to 22 ms. It's pretty bad, but not surprising for an IPS panel.
Performances
Entry level requires, the Spin 1 (2017) has a modest configuration: Intel Celeron N3350 processor, 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage in eMMC. Suffice to say that it is not with this model that you will do video editing or photo editing. The Celeron N3350 has 2 cores, for frequencies between 1.1 and 2.4 GHz, as well as a TDP (or thermal envelope) of 6 W. It is one of the least powerful CPUs at Intel, and you can feel it with use.
Spin 1 is therefore reserved for very basic tasks: note taking, word processing or spreadsheet, surfing the web, a little video playback .... and that's about it. Multitasking is of course possible, but the operating system will still display some slowdowns if you force on the open tabs. It is therefore important to be aware of this when buying: here we are dealing with a purely "office" PC with limited versatility.
Games
Again, no miracle: with a simple iGPU (graphics chip integrated into the processor) Intel HD Graphics 500, the Spin 1 (2017) will be unable to run recent games in 3D. The practice of video games is not however completely banned, but it will be necessary to limit oneself to 2D titles that are not very greedy. A service like Steam offers a wide choice of "pixel-art / indie" productions that will go perfectly with this configuration.
Mobility / Autonomy
With its 1.25 kg and 14 mm thickness, the Acer Spin 1 (2017) is one of the very good students in terms of transportability, especially since it is accompanied by a small charger. You can therefore easily slip it into a medium size bag.
The balance sheet on autonomy is however a little less exciting. We have indeed noted 4 hours 58 of life in video playback under Netflix (screen brightness at 200 cd / m², headphones plugged in), which remains in a small average, even for entry level. As part of an office use and playing on energy saving, you can consider 6 hours of use.
Audio
The headphone output of the Acer Spin 1 (2017) is very good. We particularly appreciate a low distortion rate (0.009%) and a fairly high output power (100 mVrms). The sound spectrum is well restored.
The speakers, on the other hand, are of very average quality, but that is not very surprising for an entry-level laptop. The main focus is on the mids and a few high mids, but the bass and treble are sorely absent.
Conclusion
The Acer Spin 1 is proof that "entry level product" does not always mean "discount construction". Boasting a neat design - close to what a more "premium" PC can offer - and an impeccable level of finish, this convertible notebook pays for the luxury of a very good quality screen. On the other hand, it will be necessary to do with the Intel Celeron processor which limits usage and a somewhat fair default storage space. But the price / quality ratio is undeniably good.
Specifications
Reviews
You get what you pay for
Okay for a secondary laptop. Lacks memory, sound is awful, slow processing and overheats. On the other hand, battery life is surprisingly very good and I like how easy it is to take anywhere do to its small and lightweight design. I would recommend purchasing a cooling pad and a 128 gig microSD card to go with it. It's pretty much impossible to upgrade the hard drive unfortunately. This laptop is good for very light tasks and traveling.
Third time using and DOESN'T WORK! BUYER BEWARE!
I bought this for my daughter for 5th grade, as they have online homework assignments. I bought it in June to be ready for the new school year. I used it once to set it up. I used it a second time to show her how to use it. We went on vacation, we had summer. When I opened it for her first science assignment last night (early September), it doesn't work. It keeps saying that there is an "internal error" and that it needs to restart. Then it does restart, and the whole thing starts over. Never lets you get in and do anything. And now, Amazon is giving me the runaround because it is "outside the 30 day window." What? The computer was used 3 times! It has been less than 3 months. I should be able to return this. I make so many purchases on Amazon, and never return anything, but this is just beyond the pale.
Fed up with Microsoft
I was ordering this computer to replace an Acer Chrome, that I was no longer able to connect to my wireless printer and touchscreen no longer working. I said i'd never get a Microsoft run computer again and wish I hadn't. Almost every time I turn it on, I have to reconnect to my Microsoft account. Although, I put my password in my notes, it will say lost password. Then when I put my email, it says someone else has that account. I have gone back to my Google Chrome Acer. It's user friendly !!!
Very nice for the money
I loved this little computer and purchased it for work however it would not let me download the program for my job because of the security and I am having trouble finding out how to get a different type of security that that will play well with my work program some security systems don't play well with the different programs. I am sure there is a way to fix it unfortunately I am not a techie person.
It’s touchscreen and can turn into a tablet! Amazing!
I never thought I would love an Acer MORE than my MacBook Air but omg its amazing. I can turn it into a tablet and the screen is touchscreen on laptop mode and on tablet mode. It's so cute and only 11.6 inches. Not too big. Perfect for my writing.
Bottom may overheat if not properly ventilated.
Use for writing mostly. In that regard, its portable, light, and a long battery life. May want a cooler for the bottom.
All things considered, I love it
I wish I could get a tiny light laptop like this with more ram and a better processor, but I got this for one reason - travel.
I figure I can flip it backwards to replace my tablet to watch movies and use it for the web and to upload photos.
So far its fast and light and compact. I'm happy with my decision. It's weight with the cord is exactly 3.0 pounds. My other laptop closer to 6. Very thin and I put a 128gb micro sd card in for a 2nd hard drive.
Battery seems to be pretty good as well.
I've had tiny computers in the past and most were just too slow. This has windows 10s preinstalled and I easily changed that to windows 10 by signing in to my hotmail account (windows 10s won't let you install apps outside of the msn store)