Index
Review: 3D - are we there yet?
Acer Aspire 5745DG is one of few laptops with 3D picture capabilities, but make no mistake – it packs a mean punch as it is. You’ll get special Nvidia’s 3D Vision 3D glasses in the package.
Since we’re talking about 3D Vision, Nvidia’s technology, we’ll mention that Acer offers several models with Nvidia Optimus technology, such as AS5742G. According to NVIDIA, Optimus technology is currently not available for notebooks designed to support 3D Vision, meaning our today’s 5745DG does not feature Optimus.
In case you haven’t been following Optimus, you should know that the tech enables saving power and thus extending your battery life. The method is quite simple – when the integrated graphics processing unit lacks juice to process information, Nvidia’s discrete graphics will wake up from idle mode and save the day. Naturally, discrete graphics consumes more and thus stays idle most of the time.
Good thing about Optimus technology is that the driver itself decides whether an app requires faster graphics. Turning the GPUs on and off is done on the fly and the transition is smooth so you’re practically saving power whenever possible.
Although Acer 5745DG does not come with Optimus, meaning that Intel’s IGP is off all the time, the battery is pretty good and will last several hours depending on what you’re doing.
One of the most interesting things on the Aspire 5745DG is the 3D capability, courtesy of Nvidia’s 3D Vision. As you know, the flat screen shows only 2D with no depth perception information. When you put the shutter glasses on, however, 3D Vision will make sure that the user gets a feeling of depth, i.e. the third dimension. Of course, 3D is not only reserved for static pictures and will run good in games as well.
