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Budget Pick

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186 reviews

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The Apple Pick

Consumer Reports · Best Laptops for College Students

Best MacBook

RTINGS · The 7 Best Laptops

#14 most mentioned

Reddit · r/laptops

Best Windows Laptop Under $300

RTINGS · The 4 Best Laptops Under $300

Great portability

Strong performance with M1 processor

Up to 12.5 hours of battery life on a single charge

High quality case and good panel

Good optimization for macOS

Great value for money

Powerful i5 quad core CPU

8GB of RAM

256GB SSD

Slim and sleek design

Not suitable for those who need more multitasking power or storage space

Windows laptops offer more performance at a lower price point

No significant design updates since 2018

Not suitable for heavy gaming

Battery life could be better

No dedicated graphics card

Verdict

The Apple MacBook Air (2020) is a great choice for those looking for a highly portable laptop with strong performance. It features an M1 processor, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of solid state storage. The battery life is also impressive, lasting up to 12.5 hours on a single charge. However, the base model may not be suitable for those who need more multitasking power or storage space. Additionally, some Windows laptops offer more performance at a lower price point.

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.

Reviews by Topic

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

Battery Life

All it needed was a totally new keyboard and faster processors

2GHz to get something done and then ramp it back down to 1.1GHz to preserve heat and battery life. This is a pretty normal strategy now.

Negative

2 years ago

theverge.com

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

3 years ago

reddit.com/r/AMDLaptops

Performance

Verdict – The Core i3 is the better choice for everyday tasks

There are also noticeable advantages in terms of the emissions, and especially the fan is much quieter with a slower maximum speed. This means the i3 MacBook Air is quieter for longer periods of time, even when you stress it.The MacBook Air with the dual-core i3 processor is the better device for basic workloads. The subjective performance impression is very good in these scenarios, the fan is quieter, and you can still enjoy the good display as well as the improved keyboard

Neutral

2 years ago

notebookcheck.net

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.”

4/5

2 years ago

theverge.com

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Apple MacBook Air (2020)