Acer Aspire E 15 E5-575G-57D4 15.6-Inches Full HD Notebook (7th Gen Intel Core i5-7200U, GeForce 940MX, 8GB DDR4 SDRAM, 256GB SSD, Windows 10 Home), Obsidian Black

Since I’ve had this laptop it has consistently shut down, without warning, when on battery power. This usually happens after about 0 – 90 minutes of use making the shut downs quite unpredictable. It works fine when plugged in. I have called Acer support three times regarding this issue. The first two times they asked me to “reset the battery” by sticking a paper clip into a small hole on the underside of the laptop – it didn’t fix the issue so I called another time about a week later. The technician on the second call made me do it again anyway even after I explained to them that they were asking me to apply the same solution that hadn’t previously worked (this was after about 20 mins of working through touch tone options and waiting on hold which made it all the more frustrating). On the third call I was asked to send the laptop to Acer support in Texas for which I had to pay to have the computer shipped to them (despite being under warranty). I got the laptop back within 10 days with a note saying they had updated the BIOS and found the computer to be working fine. Now, on its first use while on battery power since I’ve had the laptop back, the problem persists.

I’ve read a few other reviews complaining of similar problems but I hope this review can heed other potential buyers away from this product as Acer support, in addition to the laptop itself, has been a poor and costly experience for me thus far.

01.05.2018 – As an update, I have called Acer Support again to report to a supervisor that the laptop is still shutting down while on battery power even after an initial repair. The supervisor told me that the only option is to send it back for further repairs. I was given a shipping label and they said they would expedite shipping back to me once the laptop was repaired but that it could still take up to 14 days between sending and receiving. The support person told me that they would write a note to the technicians that this is the second repair so they shouldn’t apply the same fix as the first time, she also said that they would take “extra care” to make sure they did their best, which was frustrating to hear as a customer because I think its fair to expect “the best” the first time around.

I was also told that there are no other options for talking to a person one-on-one over the phone to discuss their policies or to try to work out other options. The support person told me if I wanted to complain about their policies that the only other option would be to send a letter to their corporate office. The support person also said that they were the highest level of personnel that I could speak with over the phone. They also said that other departments do not exist and that the Acer support number listed on their website is the only point of contact to actually talk to a person over the phone so, as Acer customers it feels like we’re only given one option for support that has immovable policies, which makes me sort of feel like I’m at their mercy when I’m the one that’s been sold a defective product.

I’m told that if the issue persists after a second round of repairs that they would “consider replacing the laptop” and that this policy cannot be changed to have the laptop replaced now.

01.23.2018 – I received the laptop back from Acer today and it shut down without warning after less than four hours of use.

The report from the company’s technicians notes that they replaced the thermal module as well as the upper case and the lower case and they stated that the “unit passed all diagnostics and works correctly.”

After speaking with someone on the support line I’m told that the technicians now think it’s possible that my power adapter “may be the issue” and they’re sending me a new one.

This is extremely disappointing given that I asked the support person during my call on Jan 5th if I should include the power adapter when I sent in the laptop for a second round of repairs and they told me not to given that the issue was “likely with the battery.”

I can update again after the power adapter comes but even at this point I feel comfortable advocating that buyers do not purchase this laptop or other Acer products given my experience with their technical support.

03.22.2018 – I sent the laptop back to Acer again for the same issue – this time I spoke with someone at warranty services (8666582237) rather than calling the same tech support number given that they had not been able to fix the issue twice already. I spoke with someone who was very helpful and said they would put a note into the repair technician to replace the battery.

03.27.2018 – I get the laptop back, the issue seems to be fixed; the laptop can operate on battery power for hours without shutting down.

10.22.2019 – The same issue resurfaces. The laptop has begun shutting down randomly (e.g., after 10min – 1hr) when on battery power. I called the warranty number given that I’m now out of warranty and was told that, because the laptop was out of warranty, that I would have to pay ~$350 to have it shipped and repaired. I asked if there was a supervisor or manager I could talk to and was told that the warranty line does not have supervisors or managers that can talk on the phone. I asked if there were anyone at the company, more broadly, that I could speak with about a complaint regarding the quality of repairs and was transferred to the corporate office. The corporate officer was able to waive the repair and shipping fee completely so, my plan is it send it to the Acer repair center for a FOURTH time. I asked under what circumstances the company reimburses customers or replaces products and was told this was only done on a “case by case” basis and that I was not eligible for either at this time. I asked what would happen if the issue persisted after a fourth repair and was still told that “we can’t discuss ‘what ifs’.”

11.15.2019 – I received the laptop back from Acer and days later found that the video card had been damaged. The repair notes show that some work was done to the motherboard so maybe something happened there? When loading programs that used the graphics card there would be patterned green dots overlaying the program. I tested this by running the same programs with integrated graphics and found that the greet dots/screen artifacts were not present. To double check that it wasn’t a software issue I made sure I had the latest video card driver and even tried rolling back to old drivers and got the same issue throughout. I called the contact I had been given at the Acer corporate office (they had called me after receiving the laptop to check that the repair had gone well which I appreciated) and let them know about the problem. They offered to replace the laptop given that fixing the issue with the video card would mean a fifth repair to this laptop and I accepted. The end of a wild saga.

I would not suggest anyone purchase this laptop given my experience. I think it’s acceptable that a certain number of units may have a factory defect, but the quality of repairs to fix this defect have been substandard to say the least. If you do have to interface with customer service for repairs I suggest trying to get your case escalated to the corporate office. When on the phone with Acer customer service they will tell you that they do not have managers on site and that there is no one else you can talk with. In order to speak to the corporate office you need to ask them if there’s anyone else AT ACER that you can talk to about your issue at which point they will transfer you to the corporate office. My experience with the corporate office has been good and it seemed like the most major/long lasting repairs came after I had contacted the corporate office, who were able to ensure that my repair was done by a senior technician.

Best of luck to all the Acer owners – I’m generally not the type of person to (1) write reviews or (2) call companies to complain about products so I hope you’re experiences are better than mine.