Model no: AN515-57
From the label description:
15.6" QHD IPS DISPLAY 165HZ SLIMBEZEL
INTEL CORE i5-11400H PROCESSOR
16GB DDR4 3200MHz MEMORY, WINDOWS 11 HOME
NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3060 GRAPHICS CARD
Wi-Fi + BLUETOOTH, 1 HDMI, USB TYPE-C
Instant Rebate EXP. 06/01/24
Not bad considering OW selling 3050 version at $997 https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/812788
999.99
yea inflation must've done its deed, been camping for a good deal since I last bought this for my wife in 2021 but damn they're at the same price and specs
As an IT person of 30+ years im going to post my usual "Dont buy Acer" post and hope someone listens
Is Acer really that low quality. I was planning om buying the Acer Swift Go 14" Ryzen 7 as the specs seem really good for the price. What's the problem with Acer?
generally, very poor qc, but fwiw my wife's exact same model has lasted quite well for a 3 year old laptop (and no maintenance, which fwiw we should blow out the dust), I don't expect it to last more than 2 more years? hopefully a good deal will pop up by then
It's not one of the better options but they're not the doorstops/anchors/paperweights they were in the past.
overall yes, your money is best spent elsewhere. ive shared on here before my experiences with literally pallet loads of Acer gear turning up with faults and the more extreme stories of their monitors self-immolating. A former Acer tech even backed me up last time by calling them shit :)
theyre made to a price point and made to appeal aggressively to (snag) that price point buyer
What's the windows equivalent to a Mac.. my MacBook air lasted me 10 years without a fault.
@maverickjohn: dunno, me personally, im usually an Asus Zenbook user - i dropped mine once, landed on the corner of its stainless case…it barely registered anything had taken place…i was in shock and expecting the worst when i opened it, it just looked at me like id gone soft and said "hold my beer"
@amosmilburn: The cheapest Zenbook is out of stocks at Officeworks and the next best price is $1500. Would it be better to get the HP Pavilion Plus instead? https://www.hp.com/au-en/shop/hp-pavilion-plus-laptop-14-ey0… Do you have any other recommendations for a decent but cheapish laptop under $1400.
@NotReallyaMoneySaver: I know you want a short and quick answer, but thats usually how people make poor decisions
I dont really hand out recommendations for laptops over the internets as every manufacturer has their bad runs (and i dont need the drama), i do try and warn people off brands i have historically seen issues with however
If its someone i know or a client who wants a recommendation ill usually do this:
1) get a budget and usage case
2) find half a dozen options - both within that budget, and just above, because often the best option is above what you think it is
3) do some good research,
- look at reviews
- visit the vendors own support forum
- visit general forums
4) create a spreadsheet and put the major components in a list on one side, then add the machines across the sheet, and then fill in the specs for each component.
5) then ill quickly colour code the cells green for best for that component, red for worst and grey for common specs
6) then ill note any issues or concerns for that machine in notes
7) then ill show the friend/client the excel sheet and ultimately they make the decision
I have almost never picked a laptop for someone unless i can see theyre heading for disaster, and even then ill try guiding them before i get tot hat point
I will never make an impulse buy or let anyone i know do it either, i take my time and suggest others do too
So i'll never usually even recommend a brand to people, ill wander between brands as my needs.usage case changes. Currently my usage case says my old Asus Zenbook 8th Gen (even with its thermal throttling idiosyncrasies) still works perfectly for my usage case, and i have no real desire to wade into the 12/13/4th gen stuff personally as theres no upside for my usage case….i mostly use my desktop for starters, and yes its 8th Gen Intel too and perfect for usage case, i had the option to go spend and go 12th Gen at the time i i saw the feedback and thought "nope, i dont need to spend all that money for possibly even worse thermals and no real gain, ill stick with my traditional hyperthreading and certainty thanks"
Acer is a singular circumstance where i tend to discourage people from buying any of their gear. Every other manufacturer has ups and downs
Never mind brands, then theres architectural changes….the other day someone wanted me to spec out a gaming rig, budget up to $3,500 and for the first time i found myself recommending AMD because i finally got tired of reading of people having to disable E Cores on Intel processors to play games and still having microstutter…and the Intel build architecture having not changed since 12th Gen - its at a dead end
Close to a short answer as youre going to get is that on paper, at first glance, theres nothing alarming in the components list in the Pavillion Plus youre looking at…and you think it would be hard to make a balls up of that, but have they and is it a good computer? Only that research and reviews will tel lyou that, im always a fan of some other person being the guinea pig and coming along and benefitting from that
As for that laptop:
@amosmilburn: That's good enough for me. I want a metal chassis and reliable brand. Since my MBA I actually haven't got another laptop as I'm using iMac/PC. But I want portability.
@maverickjohn: Me too, my 2012 macbook pro still running fine except slow after every time unzip multiple files and battery is definitely dead but I m pluggin in all the time, wants to go back to windows and have some light pc gaming, but too worry on all these recent exceptional Acer deals which everyone went crazy buying, really want something last long like my MB …
It's cheap but don't expect more than couple of years
When I started out in IT support 20 years ago after graduating, I remember opening up an Acer desktop and being shocked to find an ad hoc wiring connection on the motherboard.
It's long time ago though; maybe they've improved their design anyway.
i bought it for the same price 2 years ago
Yep that looks like the exact same laptop I got for $1050
Ah the memories, good ethereum miners!
Like many of us, bought this a couple years ago for about $1150. This thing idles at like 70c in a air conditioned room and will go over 100c when trying to do anything remotely intensive, The 1080p TN panel is garbage and particularly I find it feels visually closer to a 900p monitor, the refresh rate seems to be consistent but that is really the only saving grace for the screen. Battery doesn't last very long even just browsing the web and the keyboard sucks as the keys are the worst kind of membrane. (too tight and shallow)
Its a real struggle to call this a gaming laptop, sure the 3060 can chuck some frames but using this laptop for more than 20 minutes for gaming is a chore. Pretty much use it for gaming only when I have a TV and a console controller handy.
Typing this on a unit from HN purchased about a year and a half ago.
Battery life is absolutely shocking on these things. Basically a desktop PC.
Gaming performance is not great too even when plugged into a monitor via HDMI.
![[WA] Acer Nitro 5 15.6"- i5-11400H, 165Hz QHD, RTX 3060, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, Win 11H - $999.99 @ Costco Casuarina (Member Only)](https://files.ozbargain.com.au/n/48/824148.jpg?h=f6f8f2aa)
Rrp from 2021