One of the most common questions I'm asked is how I manage to run a blog as a full time business from home whilst juggling 3 children who are home educated, with no regular childcare.
And honestly? The answer has always been "I'm not really sure!" I've always kind of juggled everything in whatever way I can...usually staying up until 3 or 4 am to meet deadlines, and get work done while the boys sleep.
The juggle is real, and I'm forever trying to think of ways to make this lifestyle more manageable.
One of the main issues for me has been that all of my work is done from my PC which is upstairs in my bedroom...this means I either have to take the boys upstairs with me while I work, which inevitably means that they trash their bedrooms and mine! Or I leave them downstairs while I work...which is just not an option at their ages. So I end up not being able to work during the day time at all.
So when I was recently given the chance to review a brand new laptop, I jumped at the chance...could having a laptop to work on downstairs while supervising the boys play be the answer to my juggle struggle?!
I was gifted the Acer Swift 3 which is a sleek, stylish and slim line laptop with lots of very handy features including Intel Core i5 Quad Core Processor and Intel Optane Memory.
The first thing I noticed when I took it out of its box was how incredibly light it is...it weighs in at 1.8kg but don't let its lightness fool you into thinking its tiny - the display screen feels luxuriously large at 15.6 inches making it the ideal size for watching YouTube videos (not that I procrastinate on YouTube when I'm supposed to be working of course!).
The laptop was ready to use when it arrived - the instructions talked me through the very simple process of setting it up which basically involved connecting it to a power source, switching it on and following the on screen prompts.
It operates with Windows 10, and Cortana talked me through the set up process using voice recognition - the whole thing was done and dusted, and ready to use within around 15 minutes and couldn't have been more straight forward.
One problem I've had in the past with using laptops in our house is that there are limited power sockets downstairs, but the Acer Swift 3 gives up to 7 hours battery life which is absolutely ideal as it means I just pop it on charge over night and then its ready to use the next day with no need for worrying about the battery dying in the middle of an article!
It has a mic and HD webcam built in making it perfect for Skype, and the HD audio system is fantastic providing great quality and impressively loud sound.
A feature I really like is the finger print recognition which allows you a quick, convenient and safer way to log in to the laptop - you set up finger print recognition when you first set up your new laptop (or can do it later if you prefer) and then you simply scan your fingerprint to log in from then on.
The keyboard feels comfortable to use with soft-to-touch but very responsive keys, which I find to be perfectly positioned for optimum typing speed...you have the option on turning the backlighting on the keyboard on or off by simply pressing F8.
The trackpad is also responsive although I do find it to be slightly temperamental with recognising right clicking, hopefully with a little more time I'll get more familiar with it though and find this less of a bother...it is only a minor inconvenience.
The Intel® Optane™ memory is an adaptable system accelerator that adjusts to your computing tasks making everything you do faster, smoother, and easier. Its software learns your computing behaviours in order to accelerate frequent tasks and customize your computer experience.
What I love about Optane Memory is that not only does it make for an incredibly fast system launch, but it allows me to open large media files quickly and easily. It's also great when it comes to opening multiple applications at once, with none of the usual freezing!
I'll be honest, I'm not the most tech-savvy of people but for those who are...here are all of the specs you may be wondering about - The Acer Swift 3 has:
- Intel Core i5 8250U processor.
- Quad core processor.
- 1.6GHz processor speed.
- 4GB RAM DDR4 and 16GB Intel Optane.
- 16GB and 1TB.
- Hard drive speed 5400RPM.
- Microsoft Windows 10.
- 15.6 inch screen.
- High definition display.
- Resolution 1920 x 1080 pixels.
- Intel HD Graphics.
- Shared graphics card.
- SD media card reader.
- Secure Digital (SD), .
- 1 USB 2.0 port.
- 2 USB 3.0 ports.
- 1 USB 3.1 port.
- 1 USB Type-C port.
- 1 HDMI port.
- Bluetooth.
- Wi-Fi enabled.
- HD webcam.
- Built-in mic.
- HD Audio sound system.
- Up to 7 hours battery life.
- Size H1.69, W35.9, D24.3cm.
- Weight 1.8kg.
To find out more or purchase the Acer Swift 3 yourself, just head to:
https://www.argos.co.uk/product/8507732
*This laptop was gifted to me in return for my honest review, all words and opinions are my own
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