Acer Aspire R7: 3rd and 4th generation

rdub2008

I only find on retailer that sells the Aspire R7. They have the 3rd generation for $699 and the 4th generation for $899. Is the main difference the 2 extra gig of ram?

 

Anything to be concerned about with the 3rd generation?

Andrik

Hi,

 

With 3rd and 4th generation I assume you refer to the cpu's? There have been only 2 generations of the R7.

The latest R7 has the 4th generation Core i7, haswell processor. this processor will run cooler, more efficient then the 3rd gen core i8 in the R571 series. battery time is also longer running on haswell.

 

the older R7 used to have some WIFI problems..not sure if that ever got solved.

 

So to answer your question....if money is no concern go for the more recent version ;-). Simple as that.

 

PenguinJim

The wifi problems did get fixed on the old R7 571.

 

The new R7 is called the R7 572, and benefits from about 50% longer battery life due to Haswell, as well as an active digitiser screen (for 'proper' styluses). The new Haswell CPU is just a couple of points slower than the old one, though.

 

Whichever R7 you get, try to get the R7 571G or 572G, as that model will include the nVidia GT 750M dedicated graphics. (Unless you're never going to do games/3D stuff, in which case: avoid the G! )

Andrik

Haswell  most certainly is not gonna give you 50% longer battery life. Maybe on paper, but not in real life. Perhaps 1 hour more, but that's all.

 

The nvidia card is nice to have, most games are playable.

PenguinJim

I'd usually agree with you about the battery, but in this case it does seem to be roughly a 50% increase.

 

Acer claimed 4 hours for the R7 571, 6.5 hours for the 572.

 

I also read quite a few (possibly ALL!) reviews for the R7 571 and 572 before purchasing which agree that there's a huge increase in battery life, for example:  "...the previous model managed respectable life, and updating to a 4th-gen Core processor has only enhanced endurance. The Peacekeeper web browsing benchmark needed five hours and thirty-nine minutes to drain a full charge, and our light-load reading test extended that figure to nine hours and thirty-four minutes. That’s an increase of four hours relative to the preceding R7."