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An all-in-on PC is often expected to be all things to every member of the household, from an assignment tool for the kids to a photo-video editing tool that can handle any odd work project for Mom or Dad. The Acer Aspire C27-962-UA91 checks most of these boxes without being expensive, like the 2020 Apple iMac or the Microsoft Surface 2.
At 27-inches, it delivers one of the best all-in-one PCs for the price, offering powerful processing and general capability for under a grand. While it may not meet your kids’ appetite for serious gaming, but it will just be pretty everything else, including a premium design that looks great on any surface.
Design
Like the Acer Aspire C24-865-UA91, the new C27 has a sleek and attractive design for an all-in-one, sporting a black-and-silver color scheme that looks quite great. The C27 measures a svelte 24.21 x 0.27 x 17.72 inches, making it about the same size as the 27-inch HP 27-dp0170 AIO (17.28 x 6.02 x 0.61), despite the HP’s slim profile.
The Acer C27 manages to be portable as well at 14.82 pounds with very thin bezels around the display, with computers in Apple’s iMac having some of the widest bezels available on an all-in-one. The construction leaves a little to be desired, since most of the silver-colored trim is plastic rather than the aluminum you find on something like an iMac.
Here, the only external metal piece appears to be the stand’s mounting bracket. The Aspire AIO attaches to a stand with a Y-shaped base, that hooks to the back to offer a decent range of vertical-angle adjustment. However, horizontal adjustment requires that you move the entire machine, and it doesn’t have vertical adjustment – you’ll need to place the the PC on something else, like a stack of books.
Ports
The port selection is acceptable but not great. Around the back of the panel there are two USB 2.0 ports, two USB 3.2 ports, HDMI, Ethernet RJ-45 and audio jacks. There’s no USB Type-C, no DisplayPort and DisplayPort.
Acer only offers ports for basic desktop peripherals, but its not good for much else. On the inside, you get dual-band 802.11ac wireless, Gigabit Ethernet and Bluetooth 4.2 for wireless connections.
Bundled into the package is a wireless mouse and keyboard. It also gets an integrated 1.0 MP HD camera on the top bezel, something that was missing on the Acer Aspire C24 that we reviewed a last year.
Display & Speakers
The 27-inch screen is a full HD IPS model without touch, but it is as good as anyone would expect for an affordable all-in-one. It has matte finish that cuts down on glare from nearby lights and windows. The screen’s matte finish, bright backlighting and in-plane switching (IPS) technology make the display exquisite, offering wide viewing angles and does a nice job reducing glare from ambient light.
In addition to lack of 4K option even at higher prices, the lack of a touch screen may not go down well with most prospective owners. While we didn’t anticipate for both features at this price range, at least a higher-price configuration would be better.
The inclusion of two built-in speakers is much welcome, but they can’t match the Apple iMac’s audio output quality. There’s no bass, a tinny high-end that reminds of old, cheap laptops, and the midrange isn’t any great either. If you’re thinking of using the Aspire C27-962-UA91 for music or media, you’ll need to invest in some external speakers.
Performance
The Acer Aspire C27 we’re reviewing (the C27-962-UA91) comes equipped with a 10th Gen Intel Core i5-1035G1 processor, 12GB RAM, 512GB solid-state drive (SSD) storage and a dedicated NVIDIA GeForce MX130 graphics card. It’s a capable combination that can regularly keep 20 browser tabs open, as you type a word document as you stream a full-HD video on YouTube, all without any noticeable slowing.
The new quad-core Core i5-1035G1 will be increasingly popular in coming months, as it delivers a little more power over its predecessor from last year. It delivers a bigger boost to computing power for proper work applications, justifying more reason it’s the chip of choice being used in some of the latest productivity laptops.
As such, the Core i5-powered Acer delivers enough benchmark power for day-to-day use on paper – and using the Aspire C27 in real-world applications is nothing short of satisfying. The dedicated graphics card is also a welcome inclusion of the common integrated Intel HD graphics as it allows you run some basic graphics-intensive tasks and games, but you’ll have to look elsewhere for a truly gaming AIO desktop.
Bottom Line
The Acer Aspire C27 offers a fairly robust desktop experience for much less than its closest competitors. The 10th-Gen Intel Core i5 processor inside this machine rivals all but the priciest systems we’ve seen, and its paired with dedicated graphics card, plenty of storage and high-performance memory. The middling speakers and lack of a touchscreen hamper things a bit, especially if you had hopes of a touchscreen.
But for a household system that might be used for anything from executing simple school papers to editing home movies, the Aspire C27 promises superb performance under most circumstances. Combine this with the affordable price, bright 27-inch screen and stylish design, and the Acer Aspire C27-962-UA91 replaces the older Acer Aspire C24 as our favorite value all-in-one.
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