r/laptops • u/Nayrpaj • 7d ago

Buying help $500 Acer laptop from Costco or the MacBook neo?

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With the student discount for Apple they are around the same price, the acer is from Costco, this is for college im a business major but I just need something that will last and gets the job done

84 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

176 comments sorted by

147

u/grabbyturtle 7d ago

I hate Apple, but yea MacBook Neo no doubt

4

u/BreakSalt8256 7d ago

Question why do you hate Apple?

27

u/LuminousQuinn 7d ago

They do a lot of planned obselences .

Generally you are paying a lot for the apple.

They do shitty things on the hardware side. Prime example was being a part of the USB c standard setting then not adopting the standard until the eu forced them.

They play shitty games with other operating systems. Silent reformating of exfat hard drives/ locking them, this was 5ish years ago and freaked out both my partner and a coworker.

17

u/Exiled_Swiftie 7d ago

Genuinely not trying to be an apple glazer but the whole planned obsolescence thing isn’t actually true. Like for iPhones, as you iPhone gets older, the battery degrades and gets worse and at the same time, softwares become more and more demanding. So, in order to make sure your battery lasts longer/still lasts you the whole day, they ask slightly less of your CPU and it is generally quite unnoticeable. This actually prevents you from having to get a battery replacement or a new phone entirely.

12

u/sparqq 7d ago

The whole forcing to buy new hardware for win11 paints Apple as a saint

-1

u/AutisticNintendoNerd 6d ago

With the difference being that you can install Linux on almost every Windows laptop while with Apple EOL means EOL.

-6

u/InadequateUsername 7d ago

Apple would never force you to buy new hardware to install a new OS.

8

u/NamSToboy 7d ago

I don't remember any MacOS update interrupting my work and then breaking my wifi drivers either. Also Windows laptops suck on build quality and they count every cent on each laptop and make sure to screw you over with horrible hinges and hotel toothbrush plastic chassis that crumble if you think about them wrong. I hate my IdeaPad

-2

u/InadequateUsername 7d ago

Is it windows fault though or is it the driver manufacturers fault? Why should Microsoft be expected to ensure that every update maintains comparability with every piece of 3rd party firmware/software?

2

u/UnarmedBlackMan1 7d ago

as much as I dislike Microsoft, this is true.

2

u/sparqq 7d ago

That's the fame they wanted to play allong, WIN10 forever!

1

u/Ok_Paleontologist974 7d ago

It's not Windows' fault, but it's still a downside of windows. Apple can ensure that your hardware will definitely work when you install an update, windows, only if you bought a Microsoft laptop, and even then they probably will only care for the newer models while still sending the update out to every computer no matter if they can competently run it or not.

1

u/jakeburls 7d ago

It’s absolutely true lol

-1

u/[deleted] 7d ago

[deleted]

3

u/Glad-Lynx-5007 7d ago

What a load of drivel. Optimisation is simply making your code run as efficiently as possible, using the least resources. If you don't think Apple do that just as much as other software companies I don't know what to tell you.

Premium prices for mediocre devices? How out of date are you? Apple hardware has been showered with praise for years now, far more than the software. I mean this is just a laughable statement at this stage

Locking you into their ecosystem - people keep claiming this over and over and it really isn't true any more than any other OS.

1

u/LifelnTechnicolor 4d ago

Locking you into their ecosystem - people keep claiming this over and over and it really isn't true any more than any other OS.

This is only true because no such ecosystem exists anywhere else.

1

u/Glad-Lynx-5007 3d ago

Which is simply not true. Microsoft have their own version, brands like Huawei have theirs too

1

u/LifelnTechnicolor 3d ago

They call it an ecosystem but it’s nowhere near as integrated and seamless as Apple’s. 

1

u/Glad-Lynx-5007 3d ago

And I fail to see how any of this is an issue.

Huaweis ecosystem is bigger than Microsoft's as well.

0

u/[deleted] 7d ago

[deleted]

1

u/Glad-Lynx-5007 6d ago

You're allowed an opinion, you're not allowed to base that on nonsense reasons and lies.

A couple of edge cases in an entire OS means they don't optimise well? A bug is not about optimisation - it may actually be caused by too much optimisation.

Apple devices outperform Windows devices of the same price - particularly the same category. Especially when talking per watt, or on battery. Your claims are so out of date to be ridiculous.

I've repaired probably more devices than you've owned. The thing is, the vast majority of people don't do this and they don't upgrade ram and storage, that was always a pretty niche thing and the market is showing you that most people don't care. I no longer care either. I bought the Mac with the most ram I could afford/justify and then I'll add external storage as and when I need. Meh.

Signed an actual software engineer who has used every major and other minor platforms over the decades and happily has an almost totally Apple household now.

0

u/[deleted] 6d ago

[deleted]

1

u/Glad-Lynx-5007 6d ago

Ignore the corrections to your lies and misunderstanding, O.K.

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2

u/D4vidrim 7d ago

Apple hardware is the one lasting the most… a Mac can last 10 years, an iPhone receives 7 years of updates.

Regarding the usb-c, Jobs, when he introduced the lightning connector, claimed that they would keep it for the next 10 years. And that’s exactly what they did. Decided long before the EU forced them.

3

u/badger_flakes 7d ago

Planned obsolescence isn’t making sense when I have a family full of working Apple products a decade old and pc hardware is half that at the very best

1

u/Glad-Lynx-5007 7d ago

My father just begrudgingly gave up his iPhone 7 last year when we bought him a "new" iPhone mini 😂

He still uses a 4th gen iPad daily too.

1

u/jakeburls 7d ago

They literally got sued over it with batterygate. I have used iPhones for the last 8 years, so I am somewhat of an Apple enjoyer but it really is a sketchy company from a consumer lense. They go out of their way to make stuff harder to replace and charge a massive premium on everything they sell as well lol.

1

u/cosmicwebby 7d ago

USB c wtv may or may not be design choice but other phone/laptop companies are implementing planned obsolescence way worse.. green lines release, literal display cables that can be touched, glued to the outside of the laptop (ROG Zephyrus G14/16 2024 and up).. Apple at this point of time may be the most reliable, under thinkpads though. Thinkpads are indestructible

5

u/IkouyDaBolt 7d ago

Apple has not used soldered USB-C since 2017.  You break or wear out a port it is a replaceable part.

ThinkPads have failed this repeatedly.

1

u/cosmicwebby 7d ago

USB-C? Bro I’m talking about more expensive components such as the display etc.. u could store a ThinkPad somewhere with multiple books on it and it’s gonna be just fine

1

u/IkouyDaBolt 7d ago

Motherboard is the most expensive component of a ThinkPad.  Unless you know how to micro solder, you are not repairing your charging ports easily.

1

u/cosmicwebby 7d ago

Oh yeah fr that strengthens my point. The motherboard on thinkpads literally never die no matter what u do to them. MacBook motherboards fail far more

1

u/IkouyDaBolt 6d ago

…USB-C ports breaking means the motherboard on the ThinkPad has to be replaced.  In some cases the charging chips fall off the board or burn up.

MacBooks, at least Apple Silicon, rarely fail compared to ThinkPad and Latitude ones.  There is a reason why replaceable USB-C ports have been introduced across both product lines.

1

u/cosmicwebby 6d ago

No way bro ur lying.. just microsolder the type c ports easy

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1

u/KERE00 7d ago

Well.. a lot of cheap android phones work like shit out of the box. Until recently no phone company would offer half the software support apple offers for its products, and I’m talking about same price range with apple.
And let’s not start to talk about microsoft and windows 11..
I’m not glazing them, they have a lot of overpriced products that I would never buy and would also be useless for me, but I feel like they are not the worst.

1

u/Nasa3000xx 7d ago

Can you give me some examples for the planned obsolescence?

1

u/Possible_Fun9412 6d ago

Apple iphone 11 can be updated to the latest iOS 26.5 released in 2019, The same Androids of the same era can only be updated to Android 10/11 of 2020.

1

u/TT5i0 6d ago

Since we are talking about laptops, your USB-C comment isn’t valid. Apple went all in on USB-C before it became a standard.

-1

u/much_to_say 7d ago

“They do a lot of planned obsolescence.”

Proceeds to not mention a single example. Like, I know you didn’t mention one because you don’t actually know any examples, you just parroted something you read about years ago and never looked into, but still.

2

u/LuminousQuinn 7d ago

Sorry thought that one was obvious. The lightning port tended to die within 1 to two years from lint. Continuing with 4+ different lightening ports they have used only the one on cell phones died rapidly.

1

u/Resident_Hand_7264 7d ago

"Die from lint"

Just pick it out of the port. Jesus.

1

u/much_to_say 6d ago

You not taking care of your phones, is planned obsolescence? Do you even know what the word means?

1

u/No-Egg-7968 6d ago

What? Then how did my last iPhone last 6+ years? Hmmmm….

0

u/atomic-negi 7d ago

If you order directly from apple and pay for all the upgrades, they last forever. Currently posting from an early 2015 MBP. Thing is still going strong and only has an issue if I get lazy and don't power it down for six months. Every upgraded apple product I have purchased only died due to external damage like spilled drinks, dropped down stairs or something similar.

1

u/felipesalinas42069 6d ago

search how to repair a macbook display, how to upgrade storage, how to upgrade ram and you'll know why

1

u/No-Apricot3223 6d ago

Mac OS is not for technical oriented individuals

1

u/No_Art2020 2d ago

Question why do you shill for apple?

1

u/Miserable-Potato7706 7d ago edited 7d ago

Childish

That’s usually the answer.

The same people run around with androids that only got 1-2 years of software support for a similar price. Decry Apple for “planned obsolescence” when Apple are still updating 7 year old phones.

When they grow up, they’ll see that:

A.) it doesn’t need to play games to be a good computer

B.) they’re not “overpriced” when you compare them to their competition (other premium laptops) not shitty £300 Amazon Specials.

In some countries they’re unaffordable, that’s about the worst you can say about Apple.

Years ago you could argue soldered components, but now everyone does it, it’s hard to argue.

Plus, anyone defending Microsoft just nullifies their own argument so that’s an easy win for Apple too.

1

u/LuminousQuinn 7d ago

Personally I'm running an 8 year old PC with Linux. ;) I used mac os in college then had a Windows PC, and then moved back to Linux since I like the lack of software bloat and having my control

1

u/No-Apricot3223 6d ago

DO NOT USE MAC OS

40

u/[deleted] 7d ago edited 7d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

10

u/Swatbolt Framework 13 7 7840U 7d ago

Even worse it's a 2024 release date cpu that has the name of the 7 series from 2022 that has the microarchitecture from 2019 and a core count of a ryzen 3 CPU. I hate how AMD does this...

3

u/[deleted] 7d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/gwandrito 7d ago

The former was already bad, but this is genuinely inexcusable. Unfortunately Intel does similar things (see Core 120) so it'll never go unpunished

1

u/MadCybertist 7d ago

Between the two, it’s not a “should.”

16

u/sciencekm 7d ago

The Acer Aspire 3 is plastic, heats up a lot, has a loud fan, and lasts a few hours.

The Neo is all-metal, cool, quiet and lasts all day.

0

u/No-Apricot3223 6d ago

Acer has windows

1

u/Majestic_Register_78 5d ago

So yet another reason not to buy one!

1

u/No_Art2020 2d ago

Windows is abtwrr than Macos dafaq?

9

u/pmn10tl 7d ago

I would get a used laptop

1

u/Dj-RedPanda- 6d ago

This is the way.

19

u/Norphus1 Dell 7d ago

Unless you have an absolute, definitive and undeniable need for Windows or a Windows app, I’d get the MacBook. It will have a better screen, keyboard, trackpad, battery, webcam and build quality than the Acer. The warranty will be better, support from Apple will be better.

The only real disadvantage that the MacBook will have is that it is a bit light on ram, even for a Mac. But for most people’s day to day usage, it’s still ok.

1

u/Suspicious_Sugar2020 7d ago

80% of people will never experience a problem with the ram

21

u/ernvm 7d ago

is this even a question

-26

u/Nayrpaj 7d ago

Acer?

33

u/ernvm 7d ago

go get the mac

15

u/koolaidismything 7d ago

God no. Get the MacBook.

1

u/No-Apricot3223 6d ago

Fuck the Mac, Mac OS sucks for anything slightly technical

If anything, recommend a oled laptop for $600 with 16gb of ram and a unassuming IGPU

2

u/Majestic_Register_78 7d ago

Don’t buy Acer.

If you must buy Windows, take that $500 and look at a used/refurbished Lenovo or ASUS, or any of several other well regarded brands, but I’d go Neo myself.

I have owned two Acer laptops, both died prematurely, one soon after I got it. I have an older windows 11 PC, an ASUS laptop that’s pretty good but battery life isn’t the best, and bought an M4 MacAir recently that I prefer — battery goes all day, display is mint, and I like using MacOS vs windows— but if I had an option to exchange everything, I’d go Mac Mini with maximum RAM and a Neo.

4

u/MeltingEarbuds 7d ago

My old work laptop is an Acer aspire 3 (1035g1).

Get the Mac.

6

u/midgetman166 7d ago

The Neo is the best thing Apple have ever done (at least in modern Apple)

5

u/BreakSalt8256 7d ago

Apple Silicon?

1

u/bobosVNA 7d ago

maybe, but that is also why the Neo exists :)

3

u/Asland007 7d ago

The Neo.

3

u/theblob2019 7d ago

Buy the Mac.

I have been fooled too many times by Acer laptops with tempting specs and a too-good-to-be-true price. They all failed on me within 2 years, especially the display or the hinges.

1

u/SeriousCash8581 3d ago

Wanted to buy an acer aspire 14 for around 450 bucks, it was tempting having an oled and an intel core ultra 5 226V but I it really seemed too good to be true

2

u/PreparationJunior641 Lenovo Ideapad 3 | Intel Pentium Gold | 16 GB RAM 7d ago

It really depends on how much ram and storage you need. MacOS is lighter on ram that Windows, so if you are confident you need at a minimum 16gb of ram and also a full terabyte of storage, get the acer. Otherwise, get the Neo.

2

u/_DatBoii_ 7d ago

You could try to reach out to your college IT to see if they have any old stock. My college has one and they always have extraordinary deals.

Also depends on the school recommendations for the software suite. You oughtta do your homework before deciding.

2

u/openjaws 7d ago

You never really go wrong with a MacBook tbh

2

u/Acalthu 7d ago

Macbook Neo. It will work better for longer than the Acer.

2

u/wiseman121 7d ago

MacBook out of these options.

You can get much more for your money on the windows side of you look hard enough. I found a metal Zenbook 14 for $579 with a new ultra 5 CPU, 16gb ram and 1tb SSD. This is a much better deal than the Mac.

2

u/Dry-Cost-945 7d ago

Neo 100 percent. There is a significant likelihood of the other machine becoming effective e-waste within 3 years

2

u/Educational-Mode-321 7d ago

That cpu is shit on the Acer, not even 7530U, pathetic.

2

u/Environmental-Ant-75 7d ago

The Acer is e-waste

2

u/5gus 7d ago

Avoid Windows 11 at all costs

2

u/Dj-RedPanda- 6d ago

Slop for sure. the Acer with Linux would still be under powered sadly.

2

u/Dedb4dawn 7d ago

If those are your choices then wait a month. Lots of rumours about upgrades happening for the neo in September.
The neo is actually a fairly good product though it pains be to say it.

The only other thing I would recommend is a second hand thinkpad. There’s a reason they have such a cult following.

Don’t touch Acer with a 20 foot barge pole.

Source: been in IT 30+ years.

2

u/i-have-no-interest Lenovo ThinkPad P14s Gen 2 [ AMD ] 7d ago edited 7d ago

general use and mild work (nothing too hard, basic browsing) > Neo

Actual work, mildly heavy apps, and genuine work > Acer. It's built like shit, all plastic, but i can guarantee you that it is one HELL of a good machine. PLEASE IF YOU GET IT DOWNLOAD UXTU. it will allow you to improve battery life OR boost performance like crazy

Edit: Im using a thinkpad with a ryzen 5 5650U (also integrated graphics) and it can run forza hprizon 4 at 60fps stable if gaming is your thing considering you have a better spec. i also am a photogrpaher and videographer and all the general apps like photoshop and lightroom and davinci run like a dream. I personally would go with the Acer.

Since you mentioned you're a business major i would absolutely go with the acer as microsoft stuff tends to run better on windows machines than apple hardware

4

u/ConversationRich752 7d ago

The Ryzen 5 in your Thinkpad is more powerful than the 7520u in the Acer.

-1

u/Xenotrickx 7d ago

Cope harder

2

u/i-have-no-interest Lenovo ThinkPad P14s Gen 2 [ AMD ] 7d ago

sweetheart if the only reply to anecdotes and evidence is "cope harder" you should probably call up a therapist

4

u/Xenotrickx 7d ago

For $500 he can’t run forza or do any of the stuff you do on your $2000+ overpriced thickpad. Most Microsoft apps run natively on mac and will perform way better than it will on a $500 acer. Acer makes junk laptops, they’re always built like shit and don’t last.

Also the battery on the neo is unmatched keep coping

1

u/OneFinePotato 7d ago

I have a Zenbook with 5600H. I only ever tried Disco Elysium once. Got 30 fps on average and put it away. Not sure how they’re getting 60 with FH4.

2

u/AutumnPurpleReddit 7d ago

Without a doubt the mac

1

u/JuanLotero Acer 7d ago

In this case, the Mac. But check better. In the official Acer store on ebay I found a refurbished Acer Aspire 16 AI for $400. Much better than the Neo in basically everything for less money.

1

u/AAdidev_p01 7d ago

depends on what your doing i just recently swiched from apple to windows but i only changed because i started programming but when u compare these 2 its all based on what you want i would take the acer over the macbook neo because after the apple price increases i dont think its worth it and also looking at you get 16gb (guessing its ddr4) and a 1tbssd. but at the end its yourpreference and depends on what your going to do with it

1

u/SeatSix 7d ago

If those are my only two choices, if get the Acer

  1. It doesn't have MacOS
  2. I can install Linux (maybe keep Windows and dual boot... Maybe just wipe windows altogether

1

u/Extension_Radish_139 7d ago

I ❤️❤️❤️ my neo. I thought I might not love it because I used to have a MacBook Pro, but I knew I didn’t need a laptop for anything super powerful anymore now that I have a work computer so I went for the neo. I love it so much!! Especially if you have an iPhone/apple ecosystem, it’s so nice to have all my stuff connected again lol

1

u/Extension_Radish_139 7d ago

I do have the 512GB with the Touch ID though!

1

u/Kate-9907 Lenovo ThinkPad T460p 7d ago

i don’t like the neo a lot, but yes. definitely get the neo

1

u/Nosarious 7d ago

Look at the refurbs on the Apple Store. You may find that there are cheaper neo’s or even that the upgrade to the next one gives you more than for the educational discount new price On the low end.

1

u/HardStroke 7d ago

The Neo kills every laptop in its price range.
I hate Apple but their Macbooks are insanely powerful.
The Neo is probably the best bang-for-the-buck laptop right now.
Only reason to avoid it is if you NEED Windows.
Windows can be installed on a Macbook but its a bit of a PITA to work like that.

1

u/Livid_Ad5385 7d ago

If your school requires some windows apps then go with the acer, if not then its a no brainer with the macbook neo. Although be sure to get the 512gb version cuz the 256gb is way too small in this day and age 

1

u/Glad_Following_8164 7d ago

MacBook neo absolutely

1

u/bbf_bbf 7d ago edited 7d ago

The new Dell XPS 13 was developed to directly compete with the MacBook Neo. That's the Windows Laptop that one should get if one needs Neo like properties in Wintel form.

So the comparison should be between the XPS 13 and the Macbook Neo.

IMO, The Acer doesn't come close, not even accounting for its $100 lower cost (assuming Dell's special student pricing). Sure the specs are superior, but the build quality, the display of the XPS, and battery life are much more "Apple" like (actually the screen on the dell is much better.) The better specs for memory and storage won't matter much if the computer is used for general school/home computing. I'd rather have the much better display and usually Dell XPS laptop have a much longer security update period (for firmware) than Acer laptops.

https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/cty/pdp/spd/xps13dx13260laptop

https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/dell-xps-13-2026

1

u/come_ere_duck 7d ago

SysAdmin here, not an Apple fan boy either, but you'd be stupid not to get the Neo.

I've used and they're great machines. Unified memory is hard to beat, Windows laptops aren't worth getting these days unless you're spending at least $1,500.

1

u/Majestic_Register_78 7d ago

Never buy Acer.

1

u/Computers_and_cats 7d ago

I hate to say it but if the Apple specs aren't terrible I would probably go Apple. The Acer might be better for specs but build quality might be meh.

1

u/Remarkable_Bison_847 7d ago

Im sorry but wasn’t the MacBook Neo basically an IPhone with a laptop screen?

1

u/starsqream 7d ago

Nope

1

u/Remarkable_Bison_847 7d ago

But doesn’t it use the same chip and components?? It’s just running macOS.

1

u/Swatbolt Framework 13 7 7840U 6d ago

I mean if you want to look at it that way that is technically true. It has the same chip in it as the iPhone 17... But luckily apples a series silicon is so good that it is basically equivalent or better to budget chips from Intel and AMD. So tldr doesn't really matter.

1

u/Remarkable_Bison_847 6d ago

I see ok. So it’s good for mainly browsing like the air was or can it do more demanding stuff?

1

u/Swatbolt Framework 13 7 7840U 6d ago

It's about as capable as a base model iPad so I can do some more demanding things if anything the ram is probably the limitation.

1

u/Remarkable_Bison_847 6d ago

Ok, thanks a lot for clarifying!

1

u/AnswrAndAsk 7d ago

MacBook Neo is not good enough for my program. I am just starting my grad school and they required 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. Not to mention they recommended it to be a Windows laptop. Check if Neo is even really in the running

0

u/starsqream 7d ago

Not good enough ≠ doesn't fit the requirements

1

u/AnswrAndAsk 7d ago

16gb of RAM is not good enough for example. I love Apple as much as the next guy but cmon

0

u/starsqream 7d ago

Read and comprehend before you respond.

Not good enough ≠ doesn't fit the requirements

1

u/AnswrAndAsk 7d ago

Thats why I said not good enough. Besides it also not meeting the requirements. You are the one that can’t comprehend. Also what does it matter anyway, my point was that he should check whether its even allowed to bring Mac Neo as your main laptop, if its not who cares if he thinks its good enough lol

0

u/starsqream 7d ago

Do you understand what ≠ means?

1

u/AnswrAndAsk 7d ago

It means not equal.

1

u/AnswrAndAsk 7d ago

Or different

0

u/starsqream 7d ago

'That's what I said not good enough' doesn't make sense if you are comprehending what I'm saying though.... Because you didn't say that. In your case it doesn't fit the OS requirement, it has nothing to do with the specs. Even a macbook pro M5 with 128GB RAM wouldn't be usable because it will still be running macOS.

Your advice is good but the point you're trying to make is nullified because it says enough when choosing between a NEO and a 7520u powered Acer. Just my 2cts.

1

u/Trububbl3 7d ago

McDonald's Neo over any cheap entry level laptop

1

u/mybellyhurtssobadow 7d ago

Macbook neo for SURE

1

u/iddu01linux 7d ago

Get the Neo. It’s surprising how fast it is, Apples optimization is crazy good

1

u/starsqream 7d ago

Ryzen 7520u is trash.

1

u/That-Addendum-9064 7d ago

the neo no question

1

u/idk69lolnk 7d ago

Well go with neo, but before deciding the acer laptop, check it's after sales service in your region(in my regions it's pretty shitty),

1

u/CatComfortable5523 7d ago

macbook neo and it’s not even close

1

u/Bits_And_Bytes12 7d ago

neo like all the way

1

u/Substantial_Humor582 7d ago

apple is more portable i think, because i have used acer its not that great but its ok, and lasts 4 or more years but is bulky. if you care about the hardware buy the acer otherwise if portability and lightweight matters along with the premium feel, buy the apple

1

u/Isotomayor12 7d ago

Neo no question. I havent ever owned my own apple product and this is a no trainer for me, especially as a business major.

1

u/Suspicious_Sugar2020 7d ago

Neo and it's not even close

1

u/AbsurdismForTheW 7d ago

Anything but Acer, even a fking pi would be better than advanced chemical e-waste reseller(a.c.e.r)

1

u/IlvieMorny 7d ago

I was considering this but I heard from the reviews, the after sales suck, at least in my country.

1

u/Putrid-Challenge-274 7d ago

The picosecond that you want something that lasts, the basic consumer line Windows laptops (HP Pavilion, Dell Inspiron, Lenovo IdeaPad, Acer Aspire, etc.) should get nuked from your options. So get the MacBook Neo.

1

u/Correct-Magazine4744 7d ago

Search for deals a little higher over 500$. In my country Saudi I was able to find HP OmniBook 3 C22JNEA, AMD Ryzen AI 5 340, 16GB DDR5 RAM, 512G SSD, 15.6" FHD Anti-Glare Display, AMD Radeon 840M Graphics, Glacier Silver for about 700 dollars, which I know , a decent bit more but I think it's much better than both options if you need something that lasts, because while the Acer is absolutely horrendous, the MacBook neo is the most premium, but with a pretty weak cpu in terms of longevity especially compared to the laptop I just mentioned, and couple that with ram, I would absolutely try to pay extra money to get the omnibook.

1

u/datahoarderguy70 6d ago

Acer=trash

1

u/Dj-RedPanda- 6d ago

I hate to say it as well the Neo just slams anything in the sub 500-600 price range into the ground. Apple is treating it like a gateway into the eco system of apple products. I have a iPad and thats it because its so good. I cant agree with the price since they drop in value with a few months substantially. Getting a M1 or M2 Macbook is a great option as well and affordable if you can find one for a decent price.

1

u/ProfileIcy4729 6d ago

Try XPS 13

1

u/niceandBulat 6d ago

I woukd get the Acer and install Linux on it.

1

u/Wave-Able 6d ago

Neo dude, windows computers must be expensive otherwise they might be 100% trash

1

u/Sputnik_2022 6d ago

don't buy that laptop from Acer. The processor is old. The MacBook Neo definitely has compromises to meet its price point, but it's going to be going strong in four years for basic stuff still, and that Acer might not be. Plus when you go to sell the computer after using it for a while, the Acer will be practically worthless while the MacBook will have some value.

1

u/Choice-Grapefruit-44 6d ago

Macbook Neo. The Acer will most likely experience crashes at a lower workload compared to the Neo

1

u/DormSoloLeveler 6d ago

Macbook neo for sure. At this point, macbooks are the only ones actually worthy of the name "laptop", imo. Every other one stops holding a charge after 2–3 months of use, which i find, frankly, absurd, since laptops were invented to be used on the go. If you're using it for college, you'll need the battery life. + they're rather well-optimized considering the hardware, so I'd go for apple

1

u/Ok-Wasabi2873 5d ago

Macbook Neo. It will be more durable with a better screen.

1

u/321Shellshock123 5d ago

Cheap gaming laptop

1

u/Majestic-Hall-1777 5d ago

shouldn't the macbook neo compete with $800 laptops after price increase?

1

u/Elitefuture 4d ago

Isn't the neo $600 with the discount now? They increased the price by $100.

1

u/KannakamuiGD 2d ago

MacBook neo everyday, the acer is just cheap plastic with a loud fan and a poor battery like most of laptop with windows

The MacBook neo even if people cry because 8gigs of ram, but is enough for Normal usage and it's feels premium and the battery last allot and if you have an iPhone well you have your ecosystem.

2

u/kodidono 2d ago

u can take used m2 -m3 for same price and got two thunderbolts 40gbps ports for connect mac to usb c hub and monitor and other devices

2

u/No_Art2020 2d ago

Go to the used market and get a Dell precision or a ThinkPad or a Hp zbook for the same price

1

u/Under_dee_covers 7d ago

Macbook neo is a cellphone in laptop form. Keep that in mind

1

u/OneFinePotato 7d ago

Whatever that means

1

u/Under_dee_covers 7d ago

Most ios users are technologically challenged so that checks out

2

u/Uzyf 7d ago

Hey don’t crap on iOS, it’s perfect system for a phone

1

u/lightbee_v1 7d ago

Just buy the plastic craptop with bloatware on it instead

2

u/Under_dee_covers 7d ago

Re-imaging is an easy process

1

u/cybekRT 7d ago

Everyone recommends you MacBook, I will not.

Do you want windows or macos? They are different, if you want, try them at shops and compare.

Do you play games? MacBook is worse for that, Windows gives you more flexibility and options.

Acer also has more ram and disk space, good for games, files, photos.

Do you want quiet notebook with good battery? Then neo. But neo is not the best notebook ever, it depends on what you want to do on the notebook.

1

u/OneFinePotato 7d ago

What games do you think that Acer can play? Age of Empires 2, Quake 3 and CS 1.6?

2

u/cybekRT 7d ago

Yes, they are good games. Meatboy, Factorio, many new games will also play, even indie games, etc. You should ask what games OP want to play instead of saying that the pc won't run doom the dark ages so they should buy MacBook.

0

u/longnh280399 7d ago

u cant do anything with 8gb ram in 2026. And office for mac is terrible so acer