Comparison Acer Aspire 5 A515-57 [A515-57-53QL] vs Asus Vivobook 15 X1502ZA [X1502ZA-BQ643]

— Glossy. A glossy surface improves the overall picture quality: other things being equal, the picture on such a screen looks brighter and more colorful than on a matte one. On the other hand, pollution is very noticeable on such a surface, and in bright external lighting, a lot of glare appears on it, which can greatly interfere with viewing. Therefore, instead of the classic gloss, laptops are increasingly using an anti-reflective version of such a coating (see below). Nevertheless, this option still does not lose popularity: it is somewhat cheaper than the “anti-glare”, and in soft, relatively dim lighting, it can even provide a more pleasing image to the eye.

— Matte. Matte finish is inexpensive and does not form glare even from fairly bright lighting. On the other hand, the picture on such a screen is noticeably dimmer than on a similar glossy display. However, this moment can be compensated by various design solutions (primarily a good margin of brightness); so this option can be found in all categories of modern laptops — from low-cost models for working with documents to top gaming configurations.

— Glossy (anti-glare). A variation on the glossy finish described above, designed to reduce glare from external light sources. Such screens really glare noticeably less than traditional glossy ones (or even do not give glare at all); at the same...time, in terms of image quality, they are at least superior to matte ones. So it is this type of coating that is most popular nowadays.

The maximum brightness that a laptop screen can provide.

The brighter the ambient light, the brighter the laptop screen should be, otherwise the image on it may be difficult to read. And vice versa: in dim ambient light, high brightness is unnecessary — it greatly burdens the eyes (however, in this case, modern laptops provide brightness control). Thus, the higher this indicator, the more versatile the screen is, the wider the range of conditions in which it can be effectively used. The downside of these benefits is an increase in price and energy consumption.

As for specific values, many modern laptops have a brightness of 250 – 300 cd / m2 and even lower. This is quite enough for working under artificial lighting of medium intensity, but in bright natural light, visibility may already be a problem. For use in sunny weather (especially outdoors), it is desirable to have a brightness margin of at least 300 – 350 cd / m2. And in the most advanced models, this parameter can be 350 – 400 cd / m2 and even more.

Laptop display certification for safe blue light emission levels and panel flicker rates. The presence of a TÜV Rheinland certificate confirms that the screen is comfortable for the eyes.

TÜV Rheinland is a large international concern headquartered in Cologne, Germany, providing a wide range of audit services. The company's specialists have developed and approved a number of tests for the compliance of the screens of mobile devices, monitors and TVs with the required level of eye protection from the harmful effects of display radiation on the user's vision on the other side of the screen. The authoritative opinion of TÜV Rheinland is respected in the tech community. Certificates from this body are issued to successfully tested electronics for the implementation of blue light filtering and screen flicker suppression technologies.

The result shown by the laptop processor in the Passmark CPU Mark test.

Passmark CPU Mark is a comprehensive test that is more detailed and reliable than the popular 3DMark06 (see above). It checks not only the gaming capabilities of the CPU, but also its performance in other modes, based on which it displays the overall score; this score can be used to fairly reliably evaluate the processor as a whole (the more points, the higher the performance).

The maximum amount of RAM that can be installed on a laptop. It depends, in particular, on the type of memory modules used, as well as on the number of slots for them. Paying attention to this parameter makes sense, first of all, if the laptop is bought with the expectation of and the amount of actually installed memory in it is noticeably less than the maximum available. So laptops can be upgraded in RAM to 16 GB, 24 GB a>, 32 GB, 48 GB, 64 GB and even more - 128 GB.

The total number of slots for RAM modules provided in the laptop; in fact — the maximum number of slats that can be installed simultaneously in this model.

Features for upgrading RAM directly depend on this indicator. So, in low-cost models, there is often only 1 slot, and the only upgrade option is to replace the "native" bar. In more advanced devices, two or even four slots may be provided, while some of them may be free in the initial configuration.

A special case is embedded RAM; it is more compact and cheaper than removable modules, but does not imply replacement at all. At the same time, in some laptops, the “RAM” is only built-in, in others it can be supplemented with one or even two slots for interchangeable strips.

The result shown by the laptop's graphics card in 3DMark06.

This test primarily determines how well a graphics card handles intensive workloads, in particular, with detailed 3D graphics. The test result is indicated in points; the more points, the higher the performance of the video adapter. Good 3DMark06 scores are especially important for gaming laptops and advanced workstations. However, it is difficult to call them reliable, since measurements are made on video cards with different TDPs and an overall average score is given. Thus, your laptop can have either more or less than the specified result - it all depends on the TDP of the installed video card.

The result shown by the laptop graphics card in the 3DMark Vantage P test.

Vantage P is a variant of the popular 3DMark test — namely, the next version of this test after 3DMark06 (see above). Like all such tests, it is designed to test the performance of graphics under high loads and displays the results in points; the more points, the more powerful and performant the graphics card is. Good results in 3DMark Vantage P are especially important if the laptop is going to be used for demanding games. However, it is difficult to call them reliable, since measurements are made on video cards with different TDPs and an overall average score is given. Thus, your laptop can have either more or less than the specified result - it all depends on the TDP of the installed video card.

The connection interface used by the M.2 SSD installed in the laptop (see "Drive type").

One of the features of the M.2 connector and drives for it is that they can use two different connection interfaces: PCI-E (in one form or another) or SATA. We emphasize that this paragraph indicates the data of the SSD module; the connector itself may provide other interface options, including more advanced ones — see "M.2 connector interface" (for example, a drive with a PCI-E 3.0 2x connection can be placed in a connector that also supports the faster PCI-E 4.0 4x). However, anyway, the connection connector usually allows you to realize all the features of the installed drive; so this item allows you to quite reliably evaluate the capabilities of the standard M.2 module.

As for specific interfaces, nowadays you can mainly find the following options:

— SATA 3. The SATA interface was originally designed for traditional hard drives. The third version of this interface is the latest; it provides data transfer rates up to 600 Mbps. This is significantly less than PCI-E, and in general, very little by the standards of SSD drives. Therefore, M.2 connection using SATA is typical mainly for low-cost entry-level modules. However, even these media are generally faster than most HDDs.

— PCI-E. Universal interface for connecting internal peripherals. Provides generally faster speeds than SATA, making it better suited for SSD modules: theoretically, PC...I-E allows you to realize the full potential of SSDs, even the fastest. In fact, the supported data transfer rate may be different — depending on the version of the interface and the number of lines (data transmission channels). Here are the options most relevant for modern laptops:

• PCI-E 3.0 2x. Connection using 2 lanes PCI-E version 3.0. This version provides speeds of about 1 GB/s per line; respectively, two lines give a maximum of just under 2 GB / s.
• PCI-E 3.0 4x. Connection using 4 lanes PCI-E version 3.0. Provides a maximum speed of about 4 GB / s.
• PCI-E 4.0 4x. Connection using 4 lanes PCI-E version 4.0. In this version, the throughput, compared to PCI-E 3.0, has been doubled — thus, 4 lines give a maximum speed of about 8 MB / s.

Note that in the case of M.2 connectors, different PCI-E variations are usually quite compatible with each other — except that the connection speed when working with a "non-native" connector will be limited by the capabilities of the slowest component. For example, when connecting a PCI-E 3.0 4x SSD module to a PCI-E 3.0 2x slot, this speed will correspond to the capabilities of the connector, and when connected to PCI-E 4.0 4x, to the capabilities of the drive.