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Acer Aspire 5 vs Microsoft Surface Laptop 3

Budget Pick

in Laptop

Acer Aspire 5

186 reviews

View Product Details

Microsoft Surface Laptop 3

Microsoft Surface Laptop 3

106 reviews

View Product Details

Consumer Reports · Best Back-to-School Sales on Laptops, Headphones, and More

#14 most mentioned

Reddit · r/laptops

Best Windows Laptop Under $300

RTINGS · The 4 Best Laptops Under $300

Consumer Reports · Best Back-to-School Sales on Laptops, Headphones, and More

Great value for money

Powerful i5 quad core CPU

8GB of RAM

256GB SSD

Slim and sleek design

Great design and fit

3:2 touchscreen display

Quite fan and snappy performance

Compatible with USB-C and 90W slow charge

Great work laptop with preferred laptop keyboard

Not suitable for heavy gaming

Battery life could be better

No dedicated graphics card

Not enough storage space

Reports of weird bugs

Single USB port

Verdict

The Acer Aspire 5 is a great laptop for those looking for a powerful machine at an affordable price. It comes with an i5 quad core CPU, 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD, offering great value for money. It is slim and sleek, and can even handle light gaming. Many users have reported that it runs smoothly even when multiple programs or tabs are open.

Verdict

The Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 is a well-designed ultraportable that gets the basics right. It features a 3:2 touchscreen display, a quite fan, and snappy performance. It has a single USB port, and the battery life is merely okay. It is compatible with USB-C and can charge with a 90W slow charge. It is a great work laptop, with a laptop keyboard that is preferred over the Surface Pro. However, there have been reports of weird bugs and the lack of storage space may be an issue for some.

Reviews by Topic

Our analysis shows how reviewers feel about different topics. Please note these are not full reviews.

Price

3" screen laptop's in this price range that has a FHD screen again with a decent discount.

Positive

reddit.com/r/SuggestALaptop

128 GB is not Enough

It looks and feels like a premium laptop. Unfortunately, there are a good many compromises that make shave of a couple of stars from this review: no Thunderbolt, non-upgradable RAM, non user-replaceable SSD, no SD card slot. Even if one can live without the above, the price of this (and most products from Microsoft hardware) is way too high compared to the competition. They are charging Apple and Google hardware prices when Lenovo, Acer, Asus, Dell, etc

Weight

Acer Aspire 5 (2020, Ryzen 7) Review

This is reasonably mobile for a laptop with a 15.6-inch screen, short of featherweight ultraportables that weigh between two and three pounds, but practical for throwing in a bag or backpack for a commute or school. Those more-mobile options are better if portability is your primary concern, but for a laptop with a 15.6-inch screen that’s easier to work on, this is a good size

Neutral

Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 13.5-inch review: have a normal one

5-inch model weighs 2.89 pounds, which puts it between the MacBook Air’s 2.75 pounds and the MacBook Pro’s three pounds. It’s not the lightest 13-inch laptop you can get, but it certainly isn’t cumbersome

Neutral

Performance

Acer Aspire 5 review: a $549 laptop that doesn’t completely suck

Acer says the Aspire 5 is for “a range of customers who want to get the most bang for their buck.”

Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 (13.5-Inch) Review

The Photoshop test results were more closely clustered than they were in the Cinebench and Handbrake tests, though the Surface Laptop 3 outperformed the MacBook Pro by a meaningful margin.

Positive

Battery Life

Need help with choosing a laptop for college

I intend to use the laptop for programming, netflix, maybe some light machine learning, and for taking notes during class, so I'd like a decent battery life too if possible. Here are my choices:. * Acer Aspire 5 (R7 4700U) - this is kind of a favorite of mine at the moment, it has the biggest battery of the bunch at 48Wh and the port selection is very solid too.

Positive

reddit.com/r/AMDLaptops

Aluminium unibody or similar premium build. Minimal screen bezels. Battery life over performance; but can’t be absurdly slow. Quiet under mild load (ideally passive)

Neutral

reddit.com/r/SuggestALaptop

Screen Resolution

Compact and fast!

Screen resolution is great and videos playing look like a TV screen. Small, obivously, but compact, lightweight and a fast machine. Would recommend!

Looking to buy a laptop great for trading?

Focus on a good, spacious, high resolution screen. My dad, for example, uses a investing/trading platform that’s web-browser based, so it’s been helpful to have a touchscreen to easier expand or contract the graphs.

Positive

reddit.com/r/SuggestALaptop

Size

Again, not even as loud as my old laptop so it doesn't bother me at all. WEIGHT: This is so lightweight! My old one was a bit heavy and clunky, so I appreciate the fact this is so light. The downside of that is that the casing does feel cheap. Like it might not survive getting dropped on the carpet

Is this laptop for you?

Needs a bigger battery (only got 8.33 hours of battery life with 40% brightness and light use) P.S. You can disable adaptive screen brightness in the settings

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