Acer Aspire 3 (A315-24P) Review

Small internal hardware updates have been sliding into the otherwise consistent exterior of the Aspire 3 line for years. Carrying that torch, the Acer Aspire 3 (A315-24P) has a bit of aluminum on the display lid and keyboard deck, though I can’t say it feels much better than plastic, lending little rigidity to the display. Plus, with the plastic bottom, the whole system is a little more bendable than you’d expect a laptop to be. The hinge is a bit sticky, so even though the lid can be opened with one hand, the base of the laptop will start to lift up as the display opens up, making it a two-hand job in the end.

Since Acer is effectively reusing the same black and silver design, it’s little surprise that the Acer Aspire 3 (A315-24P) looks rather dated. A blocky design comes alongside thick display bezels that fall well behind the trend toward narrower and narrower bezels, even in some budget products. The result is a laptop that’s a little larger than need be.

For instance, the recent Dell Inspiron 15 (3525) fits the same 15.6-inch, 16:9 screen into a laptop measuring 0.83 by 14.1 by 9.3 inches, but the Acer Aspire 3 (A315-24P) measures 0.75 by 14.3 by 9.4 inches. Even if it’s not packed to the gills with hardware, the size lends to weight, which sees this modest laptop weigh 3.77 pounds. That’s not exactly heavy, but feels more dense than it ought to for a laptop that lacks any components that could be described as “beefy.”