Acer Aspire 5043 WLMI Series Laptop - Ports, Cooling, and Battery

Apart from the general hardware features of this particular laptop, there are various details that grow clear once the laptop is taken out from its packing. Not like the earlier version of Aspire laptops, the power adaptor is placed in the middle of the back of the laptop and the general location of the adaptor on the left side of the unit.

And also the place of input and output ports have been spread all over in comparison with the previous models of the company. Earlier almost each external ports were placed on one side of the laptop, next to each other. The USB ports, specifically, are now spaced nicely to enable the capability to insert more devices in absence of any external hub. With the explosion of USB devices, particularly flash drives, many of them are inserted directly in the USB ports instead by using a cable and the large size of these devices are growing as capabilities are multiplying. There’s one PCMCIA slot placed on side of the device for the installation of one external device. However, this expansion slot should be considered an extra option as almost all likely internal devices that most of the users require are installed already.

The laptop weighs in about 6.4 lbs. This is surely is neither the heaviest laptop nor is it the lightest of laptops available in the market at present. However, for the features and its extra features available with it, it's not a bad deal at all.

A big down side of this laptop is the ability to cool the device properly which is generally found din most of the laptops. A small escape lets the movement of heated air out of the device and an intake fan is placed underneath the device. This intake fan is new addition in trying to keep the system cool, but the soft rubber bottom of the laptop doesn’t create a clearance between the intake area and surface on which it is placed. This is unrelenting and problematic error in all laptops as the trend of slimmer and sleeker doesn’t lend it towards meeting the max in cooling efficiency.

Apart from that the negative point of the device is where the processor is placed does heat up after a periods of time. This heat release method is another problem with almost all the laptops for a vital component like the processor.

The battery is also a down fall of this device. On earlier models, the battery was not fixed, but in this model the battery is fixed into the device. This inability to take out the battery proves to be contentious as many problems that can be solved by taking out the battery and discharging the device can’t be achieved.