The Advent 5712 is an affordable entry-level laptop that mixes a full-sized 15.4-inch screen with some fairly basic specifications to make a machine suitable for a family looking for a laptop for email and general online duties.
Check out our full review to see if it’s worth considering as your next family laptop…
The Advent 5712 weighs in at 2.6kg, making this a fairly light machine for a laptop with a 15.4-inch screen. The display in our review machine proved bright and sharp and images looked crisp. The laptop ships with an integrated Intel chipset, so you won’t be playing any games on this machine but it’s fine for watching movies and editing photos.
The chassis is plastic and it feels tough to the touch. The lid and textured palm rests adds a hint of style to what is otherwise a rather boxy affair. The keyboard is a good size and we found the keys had a fair degree of travel and proved responsive. Less so the touchpad, which was slow to respond to all but the most firm of clicks.
When it comes to specification, you’ll find this laptop is powered by a rather pedestrian Intel Celeron Dual Core processor but it’s backed by 2048MB of memory, which is enough to load Windows Vista Home with a degree of speed. The 250GB hard drive delivers plenty of space to store you files.
Battery life is poor, we managed to get less than two hours from it. Extras proved a little more appealing, with Wi-Fi and a DVD rewriter fitted – there is even a webcam above the screen, so you can keep in touch with friends easily.
Verdict
The Advent 5712 is a rather entry-level laptop that more than lives up to its budget roots. Battery life is poor but the screen and keyboard more than make up for it. As an all-round family laptop, this is fine as long as your needs are not too taxing.
Best features
Good keyboard
Well built
Nice screen
Not so good
Poor battery life
Slow touchpad response
Pedestrian spec
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