PC World - USA (2019-10)

50 PCWorld OCTOBER 2019

REVIEWS ACER NITRO^5

Kensington lock slot. The right side has a

USB-A 2.0 port, a headphone jack, and a

DC port for connecting the Nitro 5’s beastly

power brick. This is a fair selection of ports

overall, but the lack of

DisplayPort or

Thunderbolt 3 output is a

downer, especially for

folks who’d want to hook

up an adaptive

sync monitor.

DESIGN AND

DISPLAY

Considering the hexagonal

frame, the shiny red

display hinge, the red

keyboard backlighting, the

interlocking exhaust vent

pattern on the backside,

and the red trim around the keyboard and

trackpad, there’s no hiding that the Acer Nitro

5 is a gaming laptop. And at 15.87 x 11.02 x

1.06 inches with a weight of 5.73 pounds, the

Nitro 5 will stand out no

matter how it’s decorated.

Still, the Nitro 5 is fairly

trim for a 17-inch gaming

machine, thanks largely to

its narrow bezels that

measure 0.28 inches on

either side of the screen.

The entire laptop is only

about a half-inch taller and

wider than Acer’s popular

Predator Helios 300 (go.

pcworld.com/prdh), and

it’s only 0.22 pounds

The Nitro 5’s right side has one more USB port, a headphone jack, and

some extra ventilation for good measure.

You can upgrade the Nitro 5’s RAM and storage, but Acer removed

previous versions’ component hatches and warns against adding an

HDD on your own.