Acer Aspire 5600U review

Webcams aren’t usually the most exciting part of a computer, but Acer’s Aspire 5600U does something different with its 2-megapixel snapper – it uses it for gesture control.

Waving an open palm at the camera moves the cursor, pinching fingers together replicates a click, and waving in from the right, left and top of the screen opens up the Windows 8 edge menus.

We like the idea, but it’s flawed. Waving a hand in front of the webcam soon becomes tiring, and the Acer’s default settings are too sensitive; even with its options adjusted, it’s unreliable.

Elsewhere, the 5600U is more traditional, using a kickstand to prop up the display. The screen rests on a transparent plastic “chin”, which makes it look like it’s hovering over the desk. The chassis is slim: at its thickest point, the screen measures a mere 34mm. Despite this, the rear panel can be removed to provide access to every internal component – and the display can be tilted right back for use while standing.

The 23in screen falls in the middle of the pack when it comes to quality. Black levels are fine, as is the 227cd/m2 brightness, and the resulting 1,194:1 contrast ratio lends images and movies a decent amount of depth. Colours are reasonably accurate, but they look a touch insipid.

The speakers are similarly uninspiring, lacking bass, and although the keyboard and mouse look good, they feel cheap.

The Acer’s most notable component is its Nvidia GeForce GT 630M graphics core. It’s the most powerful chip we’ve seen in a 23in all-in-one: a 40fps result in our 1,600 x 900 Medium quality benchmark is excellent.

The Blu-ray reader, TV tuner, dual-band 802.11n wireless and 1TB hard disk all impress, too, but the processor lets the side down. The Intel Core i5-3210M is a mobile chip, and a 0.63 result in our Real World Benchmarks is poor.

The Acer makes a good first impression, and in many ways it’s a fine all-in-one. However, its main rival – the Asus ET2300 – costs almost £200 less and is better in most areas. Ultimately, that’s the machine we recommend you buy