Meow! The Acer Aspire 5530G Reviewed (AMD Puma)

I Am Kitty - Hear Me Roar!

Firstly, before we begin, we like to apologize in advance for the inevitable cat jokes that are bound to appear in our next few pages. Rest assured though, we haven't actually turned into a 'icanhascheezburger' fansite, it's just that we couldn't resist the puns. But given the fact that the unit today is based on AMD's Puma (a much bigger cat) platform, and that cat jokes are bound to happen anyway, just sit back and enjoy the ride.

Let's start with a quick recap: AMD's Puma platform was launched at Computex 2008 (which we covered) and made its way to our sunny shores just earlier last month, hot on the heels of Intel's Centrino 2 launch. AMD's performance in the notebook category has been lackluster thus far, so it's good to see that they are putting some efforts into staying competitive in the mobile computing category that has been dominated by Intel in recent years.

One thing AMD has going for them of course, is the relatively low cost of their hardware, which means manufacturers can then pass on the savings to you. Case in point is the focus of this review, the Acer Aspire 5530G, which as part of their Aspire line up, features both looks and affordability. Do note that the lower cost of the AMD platform can and may come with a slight performance trade off, but more on that later. Let's see what the Aspire 5530G has in store for potential buyers.

So Far, So Meow

Aesthetic-wise, this Acer model sticks to a very familiar clamshell design that looks good and makes no bones about being pretty. Of course, being glossy on the outside can only mean fingerprint madness, but it does look good. Build-wise, the 5530G feels solid and sturdy, which is expected; after all the unit does weigh in at a cool 3kg. As far as entertainment functions go, the 5530G has what's needed, including Dolby Surround Sound, a 15.4-inch screen for viewing your videos, though it does lack a HD-capable optical drive due to budget constraints.

Everything else we've seen so far is pretty much standard stuff, so if you're expecting something radical, well, it's not happening. But that's really a good thing, as opposed to manufacturers introducing some newfangled function or design that doesn't really work that well when it comes to actual usage. And if you're one of those that like glowing but none too obtrusive bits, the Aspire 5530G also sports just that with its power button.

Inside a Puma

Inside this Acer kitty, you'll find that it's powered by AMD's 65nm Turion X2 RM70 (2.0GHz) processor, has 3GB of DDR2 RAM, and an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3470 for its graphics chipset. You'll note that the Aspire 5530G uses the cheaper version of the new Turion Ultra X2 line, which means that the RM70 only has 1MB of L2 cache, but it does use the same architecture as the Turion Ultra X2, and shares many similar features that are taken from the desktop Phenom range of processors.

In a nutshell, most of the features are really targeted at maximizing the power consumption and efficiency of the processor, so you'll find Independent Dynamic Core (taken straight from the Phenom), which reduces processor energy consumption by adjusting the power usage based on CPU utilization and the Power Optimized HyperTransport 3 feature on the Turion X2 series.

In terms of its specifications, it looks pretty decent and the unit also comes with a built-in TV tuner, 320GB HDD and 15.4-inch to seal the deal as an entertainment class notebook. We'll find out more in our performance benchmarks how the unit performs, but we're not expecting a full fledged gaming system anyhow given what we can reasonably deduce based on the components present.

Battery Life and Portability Index

With all the recent talk about power saving and efficiency from both AMD and Intel marketing teams on their mobile platforms, it will be nice to see how this actually holds up during our own tests. While we can't exactly compare a notebook with the exact same specifications for an accurate result, we've tried to match weight and class (and system specifications) as closely as we can to ensure a reasonably fair comparison. This is however the first Puma-based notebook that we're reviewing so do note that the comparisons may not be ideal.

Battery life isn't probably going to be a selling point for the unit, as our DVD playback test showed a dismal 88 minutes worth of playback goodness. Putting things in perspective however, the Toshiba Satellite A300 didn't fare too well either, as it lasted only 11 minutes more than the Acer unit on the same test. Still, the results indicate that power consumption is something of a weakness of the unit (which also explains the short battery life).

Our portability index showed that the unit was way less portable compared to the other machines that we have reviewed, and this is probably due to the weight of the machine and its relatively short battery life. The Acer Aspire 5530G is definitely not one for those who like to use their notebooks on the go.

Performance Benchmarking

Here's where it gets tough for the notebook and the review in general. There aren't really any comparable notebooks in the Aspire 5530G's class, so we had to make do with compromises across the general spectrum to get a decent comparison.

System Benchmarking

Having offloaded the tons of non-essential programs that normally come included with Acer products, we then proceeded with running our standard suite of benchmarking programs: PCMark05, PCMark Vantage and 3DMark06. We're none too surprised by the results of the Aspire 5530G - they were within our expectations for AMD's Puma platform. While the scores showed the the system wasn't exactly a blazing fast speed demon, it was a good match for the older Intel Santa Rosa platform machines (though still not obviously there). CPU performance was behind even when pitted against the slower clock speed processor of the BenQ Joybook.

Against another similar Puma based notebook like the HP Pavilion tx2500 though, the results showed a much better score even though both machines used the same processor for our PCMark Vantage test. We double checked the scores for the tx2500 to be sure, but didn't find any changes.

Sadly, the 5530G really shows its weakness when pitted against a similar 15.4-inch entertainment class notebook, the Toshiba Satellite A300. To be fair though, the A300, which performed well in overall scores and beat the the Acer unit by a sizable margin, has much better specifications overall and does retail at close to twice the price of the Acer unit, so in that regard, the Vantage scores do make much more sense.

Gaming Benchmarks

In our 3D performance test for the Aspire 5530G, we used our usual suite of benchmarking programs - 3DMark06 and Quake 4 and also threw in the Sony VAIO VGN-Z17GN into the mix due to the NVIDIA GeForce 9300M GS that it uses. The NVIDIA GeForce 9300M GS, as some of you may know, is the closest equivalent to the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3470 that's found on the 5530G (though the HD 3470 is technically faster). Our tests showed that the 3DMark06 scores are similar, but do bear in mind that CPU performance does matter for the score obtained, which also explains the Quake 4 results despite the HD 3470 being rated as faster and more powerful than the 9300M GS.

Lastly, the results of our 3DMark06 test for the Hybrid CrossFire performance of the HD 3470 are close to what AMD has already released to us and as you can see, it's almost twice as fast as the HP Pavilion tx2500 which only has integrated graphics (Radeon HD 3200). All this confirms what AMD has been telling us, so the company definitely has a winner on its hands with its integrated graphics (which does outperform the Intel's X4500).

When I Meow you Meow - Just like that!

Unfortunately, the performance for the Acer Aspire 5530G isn't quite as good as we would have liked it despite the presence of AMD's new Puma platform. It's probably one of our main grouse that AMD has yet to catch up with Intel since the good ol' days where they stood toe to toe with its competitor. Intel's dominance in the mobile market can be attributed to their marketing success with the Centrino branding though the solid performance of their platform does play a part.

AMD has always played it closer to the lower end of the budget spectrum, offering decent performance at a competitive price, and this is continued in the Acer Aspire 5530G. Acer is moreover quite well known for its competitively priced offerings and this Puma based Acer Aspire 5530G is no different. Retailing at a very affordable S$1498, the unit is well worth the cash for its entertainment features, solid build and overall decent (for its specs) performance capability.

We do have some qualms about the unit's short battery life and weight of the unit, but chances are the notebook will probably spend most of its time plugged in and not on the move, so this may be a moot point for some. If you're the mobile sort of user, we suggest giving this a miss instead. But if it's a deal you're looking for, then the Acer Aspire 5530G is one you should be looking at, but do take note about what we've said on what you can really do with this notebook.

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