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Acer Aspire 5 (15.6" Full HD IPS Display, Ryzen 3 3200U, Vega 3) $549.15 + Delivery (Free with Prime) @ Amazon US via AU

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AMD Ryzen 3 3200U Dual-Core Processor (Up to 3.5GHz)
4GB DDR4 Memory
128GB PCIe NVMe SSD
15.6" Full HD (1920 x 1080) Widescreen LED-backlit IPS Display
AMD Radeon Vega 3 Mobile Graphics
802.11ac WiFi | Backlit Keyboard | Up to 7.5 Hours Battery Life
Windows 10 in S mode
This product is an international product and may require an AU plug adapter

Upgradable Ram and SSD from what I can see.
1080p screen plus seemingly blazing fast cpu for this price bracket.

Update Price decreased from $568.35 to $549.15 (Currency Fluctuation)

Price History at C CamelCamelCamel.

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closed Comments

  • What is the difference between AMD and i5 or i7?

    • -1

      AMD usually competes well but this specific one is only a dual core

      • +7

        So is $1600 MacBook Air (i3)

        • +13

          While your comment isn't technically wrong, the gap between this CPU and the one in a MacBook Air seems significant (although not worth the Apple Tax): https://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i3-10110U-v…

          I think the issue is that saying "dual core" is like saying "four cylinder" when talking about a car engine. It doesn't really tell you very much about the actual performance except for setting some very wide bands.

        • +1

          …his comment asked how it compares to an i5 or i7 though, not i3

          You're correct it compares more closely to an i3 (as is the aim of Ryzen 3). Just needs to be clearly noted it's a dual core, there is some quads in the 3 series on both sides.

          • @[Deactivated]: Comments kind of deviated from the i5/i7's to the i3's from the MacBook Air's comment though.

            All good, the more info the better. Was thinking that the CPU in the Air could be a bit throttled?

    • +1

      AMD sells new products at competitive price.

      i5 and i7 are made by intel who sells rebranded old products at inflated price.

    • +21

      Ok, I'll try to be useful and not just give a throw away answer.

      AMD and Intel both manufacture CPUs that you'll find inside everyday laptops and desktops. 10 years ago, Intel ruled the market, but AMD made some decent, but power hungry CPUs. After that AMD struggled for a few years. Like really struggled to offer a competitive CPU in pretty much any price range. Intel got a bit lazy and started to really just make incremental improvements in all but a few CPU areas. AMD absolutely killed it with their Ryzen lineup of CPUs, which has been out for a few years now and is a really decent option in a lot of use cases. There's still a couple of areas where Intel might have an edge - battery life in low power CPUs is one where AMD is improving, but as far as I'm aware still a touch worse (may not be true of the newest 4000 series Ryzen laptop CPUs, I'm a little out of date). In general, for most gaming applications AMD has become the default choice. For mid-powered laptops (think 4-6 hours batter life, but might be able to run a game or 2 at not horrible settings), they're also pretty viable.

      When it comes to really cheap laptops like this, it tends to be about what you value. Some will have better battery lives, some will have slightly stronger processors, most will have pretty weak screens, keyboards and speakers. With a cheap laptop I'm more likely to trust reviews than specs, since it's all about where they've cut corners. If I'm after a 8-12 hour battery life in a cheapish laptop, I'll probably stick to Intel, but in any other situation I'll consider both and lean towards AMD.

      The CPU in this laptop is pretty low powered. I assume it's fine for web browsing and video watching, because almost everything is, but definitely check out some reviews before committing.

      Also, as mentioned below, you'll probably need to factor in another 4GB of ram. Not 100% necessary, but if you want to use it like a normal person, it pretty much is these days.

      • Ryzen 4000 has better low state power consumption than Intel 10th gen. Ryzen laptops have higher battery ratings than equivalent Intel parts. On Intel 45W H series the gap is more dramatic and Ryzen sips power in comparison. Ryzen 4000, Renoir was built from the ground up to be a mobile chip, and is basically the same in 15W parts and 45W parts whereas for Intel their 45W parts are more similar to Intel desktop parts and only the 15W chips have very low idle power etc

        This CPU is not Ryzen 4000 and is around the power of an i3 but with a much faster GPU. Battery life would probably be worse than an i3

    • This CPU is roughly in between an 8th Gen i3 and i5 in terms of performance. I have used a laptop with this CPU and it was fine for office work. The benefit of this Acer is that RAM and the SSD seem to be easily upgraded. If you are asking about gaming performance of the 3200 APU, the Tech Epiphany YouTube channel has plenty of comparison videos.

      https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FHGgPGABWaM

      • +1

        I couldn't find any 8th gen mobile i3 processor that the 3200U outperformed in terms of CPU performance. I don't know much about low power laptop CPUs though. Looks like it might be close to the absolute lowest powered 4th gen i3s when it comes to CPU.

        I love those lowest powered 4th gen i3s, I use one every day and I get 8 hours of battery life out of a 4 or 5 year old laptop, so I'm not saying that's a bad thing.

        In terms of GPU performance as shown in the video you linked (you can see the games are mostly GPU bound) …. sure, but I'm just not sure that's the right metric to evaluate this laptop.

        • +2

          The AMD Ryzen 4000 CPUs in laptops are the current generation. They are much faster than Intel 10th gen in the majority of cases. They also consume less power than the Intel CPUs. Where Intel had the advantage in mobile, with battery life, it is no longer the case with the launch of AMD Ryzen 4000.

        • +1

          I still use a HP laptop with i3-4030U, really good CPU for what I have paid back then and even did some Ansys simulations with that.

  • +6

    Latest Ryzens are better in multicore performance (games,video editing etc) plus cheaper.

    • thank you mate

      • +2

        The Ryzen 4000 series for laptops by the way. The one on this deal isn't that good.

      • Just to remind you this one is Ryzen 3
        Ryzen 5, 7 and 9 are in the market right now.

  • +1

    Windows 10 in S mode

    This just confuses the cr@p out of people. I have seen several adds on Gumtree where sellers are asking ridiculous prices because "they paid a professional computer expert $180 to upgrade pc to Windows 10 home from s mode"

    • +7

      Yeah, but they know what they've got. No lowballers or realistic offers need apply.

  • Dual core fyi

  • Seems like a nice deal given the price point and 1080p IPS. Probably good for light web browsing and video streaming. It might struggle a bit handling multiple heavy web pages, or large word documents/spreadsheet etc.

  • +1

    S Mode? Can you wipe it and install a Linux distro on this? I had a cheap Win10 Acer laptop once… I couldn't even change the BIOS settings to boot from a USB drive.

  • -3

    This computer is already out-of-date

    • +11

      Can you show me an 'in date' laptop for $500 and something?

      • +3

        $500 is a tricky territory in laptops
        it is considered normal to pay $1k and up for a decent machine, and $500 usually means this is bottom of the bargain bin

        if you can only spend $500 you can't go retail or you will buy some unfathomable crap

        you're better off combing eBay and various renewed-kind sites where used business grade hardware is sold. there you can pick up something that will be built better than this laptop, last you longer, easier to upgrade, and might still have warranty attached

        but if you go down that path for $500 you're looking at a 8th gen i5 based workhorse like Latitude 3490 or 5490, or maybe a ThinkPad T480. honestly though it's going to be still much better than this laptop.

        this is not a path for everyone

        so you're better off adding a bit more and buying a brand new decent performer on one of eBay sales for $900+ from Dell for example

        cheaping out on laptops isn't a good thing unless you know what you're doing

        • Agree most of your opinion mate. In this price range I prefer a used thinkpad and it's easier to upgrade. But now can't find a $500 T480 in the market…

          • +2

            @spiritzero: pretty much a lottery. I still use the Latitude 3490 I got from one of the deals early this year for $300 (but that was gen8 i3). LTE, spare 2.5 sata slot, 2 ddr4 ram slots, nvme slot, large battery, usb-c charging.

            I work on it, take web meetings over LTE, game Half Life 2 in high settings and still have warranty till February. and can extend it easily

      • I gave it a crack and there are options in the late $600 range that are more viable, specifically I'm looking at things like the RAM, SSD, a lack of a USB-C port, and requirement for an AU adapter.

        However, the CPU seems alright I guess, and if you could bump up the RAM to 8GB ($70), I would be doing so as soon as I got the laptop.

        As for the rest, it seems like the laptop will keep up for now until things like USB-C and a small SSD become a bigger issue. :D

  • +1

    waiting for the 4GB RAM is useless brigade to come out…

    • +4

      4GB RAM is useless

      • Most people who are looking at this would factor in an extra 4GB ram upgrade for around AU$40-$50,

        and possibly even upgrading the ssd and still ends up a good value laptop.

        • And Australian adaptor as well.

          • @koolchamp81: Yep. Although some of us have one already or one of those Xiaomi Power strips that work well and would be safer too. I would get an AU lead that then plugs into the adaptor/3 pin clover ( if that's the set up ) for ease of use, and many people would have a spare floating around somewhere.

          • @koolchamp81: It probably just needs you to use an Australian Clover leaf target than a US one. They are dead common and used on pretty much every laptop (and lots of other things)

  • +2

    people should be aware that the hinges on the aspire range are highly likely to break after 3 years of constant use- from personal experience + tonnes of complaints online

    • -1

      Wall mount the screen then…

  • +4

    I had a bad experience with Acer, low build quality.

    • +1

      this. Acer, my friends, should be made illegal. I serviced a few and they are a landfill stuffer

  • +3

    4 gb ram is so 2010. Chrome alone needs 6.69 gb of mem

    • I have so many tabs open people get anxiety from looking at it. Currently, it's 53, and Chrome is using 2.5gb ram

      • It's not just chrome, right now I only have chrome opened, maybe around 50 tabs as well and 80% of my ram is being used. I've got 8gb so I clearly couldn't do this with 4gb

  • Pretty weak cpu but it comes with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050

    • 1050 is a different, more expensive version. It retails around 640usd in the current climate, since there isn't a refresh. The nitro is what people will look for when it comes to entry level gaming, at 730usd.

  • +1

    listing says it's

    Ryzen 3 3200U
    Ryzen 3 2200U
    Vega 3 Graphics
    GeForce GTX 1050 Graphics

    Sounds great.

    • +4

      There's no way there's a GTX 1050 in this

  • Sad it doesn't have usb c charging, but we can't have everything…..

    • As far as I know, Acer only have Gen2 on their higher end devices.

      Cheapo Aspires only have Gen 1. This sucks as older products from say Lenovo used Gen 2 for like 2yrs now.

      • +1

        It's just battery life wouldn't matter so much if I could use a USB-PD charger to give me extra hours…. But, realistically I don't need a laptop atm….

        • +2

          Agree with wanting usb C PD charging port.

          I personally would not buy any laptop or tablet any longer that can not be charged via USB C PD, so handy to have as an option.

          • +1

            @ozhunter68: Same. All these factors add up to the price drop here probably.

            • +1

              @Skinnerr: Yeah, laptops are struggling a bit in the market competing against tablets/convertibles/2 in 1's with 360* hinge as well as newer models with usb C etc.

              The market is still big for these more basic laptops below AU$600-$700 but getting squeezed on all sides ( especially to make them thinner and lighter lol ).

  • +1

    Acer build quality is rubbish. No thanks.

    • Aspire Switch 11 died after 2 years and was never dropped nor thrown.

      • +1

        Is throwing laptops common?

        • It's a 2 in 1, I never throw it onto the couch when I'm done with it.

    • +1

      yes it is

    • The build quality of this laptop is actually quite good for the price. It's slim and it has an aluminium top cover.

      • Talk to me after a year or two.

    • You're a sample of one. Any industry reports that back you up?

  • I bought 2 of these earlier this month for 525-550 from Amazon AU. Think they were heaps better for the price..

    https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/aw/d/B07L3PJJVM?psc=1&ref=ppx_p…

    • That was a good deal for those specs. Also older model but this has a better looking hinge design

      and after reading the review got clarification on hhd and has both a 128 ssd as well as a 1 tb spinner.

      Is the screen an IPS? At least it's FHD, is the quality and viewing angles ok? Also what sort of

      battery life are you getting from real world use? Your review on Amazon lol ?

      • +1

        they will be 90% desk bound, MS office/outlook/chrome by my staff.

        dunno if its IPS, viewing angles seem fine.
        battery life maybe 3-4hrs.

        i personally use a X1 carbon, was $2.5k. is the HP only 20% good as my carbon… no way!
        yeah my review.. my first review.. i was so impressed by this laptop.
        wouldve bought another 2x if they were the same price-ish

        • +1

          Thanks for taking your time to reply. You certainly got a bargain with that model and ideal as

          mostly desk bound office/study units with the ease of portability and option as a mobile laptop.

          As far as laptops go, you certainly get the most bang for your buck spending $400-$700 when getting

          units such as yours or the one listed here on a good sale/reduction/clearance, hence this one is a

          top seller in US. That's why we love OzBargain.

  • Could this play older gen games like starcraft 2? Don't need ultra settings, but need no bottlenecks.

    • Yes, it should be fine to play starcraft 2. I played it on an AMD Phenom II X4 965 CPU that came out in 2009. I even used a weaker graphics card than the one in this laptop. Minimum specs on blizzard website say it needs 2GB RAM to run which this laptop has 4GB

      https://us.battle.net/support/en/article/27575

  • Good uni or high school laptop for someone who has a stronger PC at home, though it would be really nice if it had 8GB of RAM.

  • +3

    It should be illegal to sell a brand new computer in the year 2020 with less than 8GB of RAM.

    • I'd happily use a kde distro on it with a tab suspender plugin for chrome.

      • +2

        Okaaay… and for the rest of the population who buy this laptop or another pc with only 4GB RAM and wonder why its so slow and have never heard of kde distro or tab suspender plugins?

        • +2

          or stupid workarounds.

  • What are the chances it has 2.5" SATA slot hidden away? Unlikely probably.

    Edit: Watched a teardown video. There is a 2.5" SATA slot in there!

  • Is that AUD or USD?

    • AUD

  • So …Buy or not buy ??? Hmmm …

  • What are the limitations of windows 10 in s mode

    • Restricted to programs from the app store. HOWEVER an upgrade to the full version of Windows 10 is free in the app store and takes only seconds to apply.

      • I have a 10 year old i3 laptop that runs very smoothly with an ssd for everyday tasks, would this be the case for a computer like this

  • +2

    Excellent budget laptop. I bought it 1 year ago for about $500. Not sure what the competition is like now, but 1 year ago, you couldn't get a better priced laptop on Amazon for its specs. Upgraded the RAM to 16gb as I got a good deal on a pair of 8gb sticks (either another 4GB stick or 2x 8GB is recommended for dual channel). Also put in a 1TB SSD as it has a 2.5" HDD caddy. Slim and light for a 15.6", great IPS screen, slim bezels, and a backlit keyboard to boot. You can upgrade Windows S to the full version for free yourself in just a few minutes. The only con is that it doesn't have an SD card slot.

    I don't game on PC anymore, but the Ryzen 3 allows me to run my older games just fine. I can play Company of Heroes at 1080p on medium settings at around 30-40 fps. HL2 runs maxed at 1080p 60fps+. You can get Tomb Raider (reboot) to run medium/high at 60fps at 720p. Yooka Laylee and the Impossible Lair runs at 60fps at 720p. So it basically runs games on par with my old Asus G51 gaming laptop which had a GTX 260m, i.e. it will play Xbox 360/PS3 gen games just fine.

  • Never ever but an Acer laptop, they die just after a year..

  • Showing AUD$1379??? Seems overpriced for what it is at THAT price.

    • That's because it got Ozbargained and probably sold out on Amazon US/AU. The price your seeing is from a 3rd party seller called "Worldwide Dealer"on the Amazon site.

    • Back in stock…

  • mine arrived last week. So if you want to know something let me know. I upgraded the ram and put 1tb sata drive for storage.

  • I got the same one 3 months ago. After testing all good I added 8GB ram to make it 12GB and replaced the nvme drive with 256GB drive. There is also another slot for extra sata drive but I did not test if it would fit though.

    So far it is good for daily work. I like the IPS screen more than another HP laptop with VA panel bought recently. Btw the power supply cord is US standard. You will need an adaptor.

    Its quality is better than my other 10 years old acer. The backlit keyboard is a plus too.

    • +1

      Yes the 2.5" drive does fit fine. Screws included with the packing carton.

  • wow.. this machine is amazing for the price!
    upgraded to 16GB ram and 500gb M2 SSD + 500GB SATA ssd.
    the SATA connection did throw me a bit for 2min ;)

  • Anyone got a link for an AU cord or is it only worth just using a travel adapter?

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