Luxury Features on a Budget
At first, I was hesitant to get this laptop. I'm so used to high-powered machines. I have a gaming laptop with a Ryzen 5 4600H and 8 GB of RAM and a gaming desktop with an Intel I7-10700 and 16 GB of RAM, so they're workhorses. Plus, I am always a little wary of refurbished products.
However, my gaming laptop wasn't lasting long enough (just up to 5 hours) to make it through all of my classes at school. Unfortunately, my classroom is lacking in outlets, so I needed something with better battery life. I didn't want to spend a lot (less than $400, and ideally less than $300) since I already had good go-to machines, and this fit the bill. With my 10% off, I spent less than $300 after tax.
-The battery life on this laptop is fantastic. It really can go more than 10 hours on basic use (word processing and internet browsing). The charging is fast, too, which is an even bigger win.
-The Ryzen 3 3250U isn't a major workhorse like my other computers' processors, but it can handle a decent amount of multitasking with its 4 threads. Even switching out of Windows 10S mode couldn't hold this processor back.
-While the integrated Vega graphics are great for basic (and I mean basic) gaming, the 4 GB of RAM is a limiting factor (I don't even attempt gaming on this laptop anyway).
-The HD LCD screen is crisp (though not terribly bright), and the capacitive touchscreen is decent for simple touch functions. Don't expect to be drawing masterpieces on this thing, but a touchscreen is a rare feature for a budget laptop. The 360-degree hinge is a nice touch if you want to treat this laptop as a reader/tablet.
-I am super stoked that this budget laptop has a metal chassis. It just feels solid and durable.
-Because it is a 14" laptop, the keyboard does not have a number pad. If that's a dealbreaker to you, so be it. However, none of the Macbooks have number pads, and those are incredibly popular. You can always get a USB device to add on. I like the keyboard overall. Touch typing is clean; there are no strange arrangements on the board. The only things I don't like are the small-sized directional buttons (but that prevents other weird layouts on the board).
Despite my hesitations, after 2 weeks with this machine, I can say that it's a winner. Acer is a great brand, and this Acer-refurbished product is practically as good as new. I would suggest it to anyone who needs a general-purpose laptop.
Verified purchase: YesCondition: Refurbished