Reddit mentions of Acer Aspire 5 Slim Laptop, 15.6 Inches FHD IPS Display, 8th Gen Intel Core i5-8265U, 8GB DDR4, 256GB SSD, Fingerprint Reader, Windows 10 Home, A515-54-51DJ

In the same boat and eyeing a couple deals from walmart. If you have not already, take a look at the Asus Vivobook for $249 if you're will to spend a 100 more totaling at 399.99 - HP Pavilion Laptop is what interests me.

Edit: another to consider is the Acer Aspire 5 Slim Laptop i5-8265U - $399.99

OR

Acer Aspire 5 Slim Laptop Ryzen 3 3200U - $259.99

Good Luck

Is this or this the better option? Same series, but I know nothing about how to decide which is better

I would recommend this [Acer Aspire 5] (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RF2123Z/?tag=bkadamos_alltest-20) because of the following:

• It over great value for money since it comes with 8 GB RAM and 256GB SSD and both are somewhat standards in 600 range so finding them on 500~ range is somewhat a catch.
  
  
  
• It comes with 8th Gen, i5 quad core CPU like you want.
  
  
  
• Slim, sleek high-quality case and the aluminum lid gives the Aspire a premium look.
  
• You can actually rotate the lid back a little beyond 180 degrees, meaning you can lay the laptop completely flat with the lid open.
  
• It is lightweight for its size at 3.97 lbs
  
  
• Comes with backlit keyboard, you also get a dedicated numeric keypad with a somewhat narrow design.
  
• Battery life advertised Up to 7.5-hours Battery Life.
  
  
• Comes with a range of ports, including HDMI, USB 3.1 & USB 2.0.
  
  
• you can upgrade SSD and RAM up to 20GB according to this
  https://www.crucial.com/usa/en/compatible-upgrade-for/Acer/aspire-a515-54-51dj
  
  here is a more detailed review of the Acer Aspire 5
  
  If you want to check similar option make sure to check my post a list of the best general use laptops

In terms of gaming, the HP Pavilion 15-dk0068wm would be the laptop to graph this Black Friday while sales last. It will be able to easily manage all those games that you listed. However, if you want a student laptop (lightweight, long battery life) you might prefer the Acer Aspire 5 which is also on sale.



Here is a list of laptops that are currently on sale for black Friday for more options

This one is pretty good

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RF2123Z/ref=cm_sw_r_wa_awdb_t1_JsgXDb9Q2H8MZ

You may want to consider a laptop instead of a desktop if you do not intend to play graphically intensive games. Even cheap laptops can run any visual novel.

Tbh I'd go for a laptop if you want to spend less than 500 usd. Desktops are expensive because you also need a monitor, mouse, keyboard etc.

Depending on your needs I'd go with a 15.6 inch laptop.

Try to find a laptop with a 8th Gen Intel i3 processor, with 256 GB of storage and 8 GB ram. This should be good for internet and office work while also playing Visual novels.

Something like this is cheap but and with decent performance https://www.amazon.com/Acer-Display-Graphics-Keyboard-A515-43-R19L/dp/B07RF1XD36/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=laptop&qid=1571258070&rnid=2941120011&s=pc&sr=1-3
But if you can spend 500 usd, then something like this will last you longer: https://www.amazon.com/Acer-i5-8265U-Keyboard-Fingerprint-A515-54-51DJ/dp/B07RF2123Z/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=laptop&qid=1571258070&rnid=2941120011&s=pc&sr=1-4


But look around for good deals. Sometimes you can find good laptops for little money.

I found this one: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RF2123Z/ref=psdc_13896615011_t1_B075FLBJV7

any objections?

The quad core CPU of the Aspire 5 would be good for her. The Lenovo ideapa S340 is cheaper but t is new on the market

I asked that because , if you don't plan on gaming, this Acer 5 would be a better system. Better build quality- a little more powerful and better battery life.

I'd go with [this one] (https://www.amazon.ca/Acer-i5-8265U-Keyboard-Fingerprint-A515-54-51DJ/dp/B07RF2123Z). It's a good value for a reasonably light 15" laptop with fast processor and enough ram and storage for typical use. Keyboard is good, build quality isn't business-class, but it should last you through school.

Hi, if you're okay with adding some more storage yourself (it'll cost max $30-35 to add another 256 GB SSD), the Acer Aspire 5 is great for you. i5 processor, 8 GB RAM, and 1080p 15.6" IPS display.

https://www.amazon.com/Acer-i5-8265U-Keyboard-Fingerprint-A515-54-51DJ/dp/B07RF2123Z/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=acer+5&qid=1573875552&sr=8-4 this is the lowest id go for a laptop to run smoothly fl imo you dont need a overkill laptop UNLESS you will be using it as your main driver. if you just use it for school this laptop should be enough, or that i5 would do fine because fl only takes like 8 gigs at most up for one project

If you are returning it, have a look at this laptop it is also 400 dollar. It is a bit short on storage, but if you are just planning to use it for content cunsuming, word and work mostly in the cloud it should do the job.

https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-VivoBook-i3-8145U-Windows-F512FA-AB34/dp/B07RK5M35T/ref=sr_1_6?keywords=laptop+400+dollars&qid=1570962262&sr=8-6

If you have the monney to step up to a 500 dollar budged you have a mutch wider range of laptops to chose from.

This is a accepteble laptop for 500 dollar. https://www.amazon.com/Acer-i5-8265U-Keyboard-Fingerprint-A515-54-51DJ/dp/B07RF2123Z/ref=sr_1_17?keywords=laptop+500+dollar&qid=1570962516&sr=8-17

If you have 550 dollars, want touchscreen and pen support, this is a verry good option.

https://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-Convertible-Touchscreen-Processor-81SS000DUS/dp/B07TWHYTSQ/ref=sr_1_10?keywords=lenovo+yoga&qid=1570962650&sr=8-10

For Windows an i5/8gb with an SSD is going to give you the best basic performance for the price. It's the base standard imo. Although the SSD can be swapped for an HDD which may save you some money.


https://www.amazon.com/Acer-i5-8265U-Keyboard-Fingerprint-A515-54-51DJ/dp/B07RF2123Z/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=i5+8gb+laptop&qid=1568747320&s=gateway&sr=8-3


Decent little Acer one.


https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-Touchscreen-Performance-Bluetooth/dp/B079ZJLMJN/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=i5+8gb+laptop&qid=1568747358&s=gateway&sr=8-4


And a decent little Dell.


For buying new, I would go with Dell as they have good support should something happen.

Possibly - I don't think either are great value to be honest, it's probably cheaper to pick 8GB and upgrade the RAM yourself. You can get similar specs for much cheaper:

https://www.amazon.com/Acer-Swift-Ryzen-Windows-SF315-41-R8PP/dp/B078BC1YL2

https://www.amazon.com/Acer-i5-8265U-Keyboard-Fingerprint-A515-54-51DJ/dp/B07RF2123Z

https://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-330S-15ARR-Laptop-Memory-Platinum/dp/B07HGTFTZB

Honestly, you can still code and do pretty much anything to study computer science. I coded in Python, Java, and HTML on a dual core Core 2 Duo laptop and still got by just fine. I would reccomend an SSD though, it makes it so that when you click on a program it actually opens instantly as opposed to taking 30 seconds to open. You don't need an RTX graphics card or an i7, but I would recommend at least an i5 and some sort of graphics card, but an i3, Celeron, or Pentium will still do just fine. Intel HD Graphics should also be more than enough for any coding applications.

If you want any recommendations for things to buy at certain price points, here you go.

$300 Laptop: https://www.amazon.com/Acer-Display-Graphics-Keyboard-A515-43-R19L/dp/B07RF1XD36/

$500 Laptop: https://www.amazon.com/Acer-i5-8265U-Keyboard-Fingerprint-A515-54-51DJ/dp/B07RF2123Z/

$700 Laptop: https://www.amazon.com/Acer-Aspire17-3-i5-7200U-802-11ac-Bluetooth/dp/B01N9YH4WE/

For a desktop, you can build anything that fits your budget, but build it with an SSD, an i5/Ryzen 5, and at least a 1050 ti if you want good performance and to be able to do anything you like software wise.

https://www.amazon.com/Acer-Aspire-i5-8250U-GeForce-E5-576G-5762/dp/B075FLBJV7/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&linkCode=ll1&tag=laptologist05-20&linkId=ad8ab16b036ea2a32d9871bf2e11bedc&language=en_US

​

https://www.amazon.com/Acer-i5-8265U-Keyboard-Fingerprint-A515-54-51DJ/dp/B07RF2123Z/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&linkCode=ll1&tag=laptologist05-20&linkId=7a89f7d4ed283fcf2d88fa7e2f2cc481&language=en_US

​

https://www.amazon.com/Apple-MacBook-13-inch-display-dual-core/dp/B07K1WRY8H/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&linkCode=ll1&tag=laptologist05-20&linkId=5c6d544b31bac3162d8d303251323191&language=en_US

​

https://www.amazon.com/Dell-XPS9570-5632SLV-PUS-Traditional-Processor-Win-Memory-256GB/dp/B07MH94QFB/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&linkCode=ll1&tag=laptologist05-20&linkId=556cd3eb060642afc258b8dbca364fb4&language=en_US

​

Hay más baratas que cumplan esos requerimientos btw.

Te dejo un thread relacionado

https://www.reddit.com/r/SuggestALaptop/comments/85xevt/best_laptop_recommendations_2018_guide_for/

It's not touchscreen but it's pretty solid, I reccomended it to a friend doing CS and he got it on prime day, he hasn't extensively used it yet since school hasn't started but he said it seems solid.

Acer Aspire 5 Slim Laptop, 15.6" Full HD IPS Display, 8th Gen Intel Core i5-8265U, 8GB DDR4, 256GB PCIe NVMe SSD, Backlit Keyboard, Fingerprint Reader, Windows 10 Home, A515-54-51DJ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RF2123Z/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_4COrDbNWHT470

This one is much better bang for your buck.

I am not personally a fan of Acer for laptops, and would shop around a bit for other brands. Try to find a laptop with thunderbolt, or at the least USB C charging. Then you can just carry 1 charger for your phone and your laptop. Otherwise the specs of the Acer I just linked are pretty good.

Thanks, I appreciate that. 1 sounds necessary and 2 good, 3 and 4 arent big for me. I also am hearing SDD is necessary! Would you mind checking these two out? This is what I'm thinking about getting, but I dont see any reason not to get the cheaper one here. https://www.amazon.com/Acer-Aspire-i5-8250U-GeForce-E5-576G-5762/dp/B075FLBJV7/ref=cm_wl_huc_item

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RF2123Z/ref=psdc_13896615011_t1_B075FLBJV7#HLCXComparisonWidget_feature_div

Is this a dope laptop for an old 35year old? https://www.amazon.com/Acer-i5-8265U-Keyboard-Fingerprint-A515-54-51DJ/dp/B07RF2123Z?ref_=Oct_DLandingS_PC_c0dd5009_2&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

I've been working with a imac mid 2010 since 2010 and it's starting to gimp out on me... The above seems like a good deal, right? Has that super NVMe SSD from the future and shit?

Acer Aspire 5 Slim Laptop, 15.6" Full HD IPS Display, 8th Gen Intel Core i5-8265U, 8GB DDR4, 256GB PCIe NVMe SSD, Backlit Keyboard, Fingerprint Reader, Windows 10 Home, A515-54-51DJ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RF2123Z/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_UXJpDbQP3C2E2

I think I'll be fine with 8gbs ram https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07RF2123Z/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_2?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

Trying to get a laptop for my little cousin as Xmas present, these are the tree I've narrowed it down to. He'll be using it for school work and probably some light gaming.

Any thoughts on what would be the better choice? It would be greatly appreciated!

HP Pavilion Laptop 15.6" Full HD Display, AMD Ryzen 5 3500U, AMD Radeon™ Vega 8 Graphics, 8GB SDRAM, 1TB HDD + 128GB SSD, Horizon Blue, 15-cw1068wm

Acer Aspire 5 Slim Laptop, 15.6 Inches FHD IPS Display, 8th Gen Intel Core i5-8265U, 8GB DDR4, 256GB SSD, Fingerprint Reader, Windows 10 Home, A515-54-51DJ

Lenovo™ IdeaPad™ S340 Laptop, 15.6" Screen, 10th Gen Intel® Core™ i7, 8GB Memory, 256GB Solid State Drive, Windows® 10 Home, Onyx Black, 81VW0020US

Esta notebook

Sí, igual me parece que la vamos a comprar allá, puede que viajemos estas vacaciones.

(Also wrote in r/SuggestALaptop)

Looking for a reliable laptop that can handle lots of Chrome tabs. Not kidding, this is important! I oftentimes have 20+ tabs open!

Right now, I'm planning on getting the Acer Aspire 5 for $510 on Amazon, but with Black Friday, I thought I would check with the experts first in case I'm missing something awesome.

I'm coming from the Dell Inspiron 13 7368. I enjoyed it a lot, but after 3 years, it is failing a bit. Would also like this to last around 3 years if possible.

• Total budget and country of purchase: $550, USA or Germany
  
• Do you prefer a 2 in 1 form factor, good battery life or best specifications for the money? Pick or include any that apply. Battery life is the most important to me by far. I prefer no touch screen but it isn't that important. Basically would like to
  
• How important is weight and thinness to you? Pretty important. I've been using ultrabooks for a few years now so I prefer them light and thin.
  
• Which OS do you require? Windows, Mac, Chrome OS, Linux. Windows, no chromebooks please
  
• Do you have a preferred screen size? If indifferent, put N/A. 13-16 inches
  
• Are you doing any CAD/video editing/photo editing/gaming? List which programs/games you desire to run. Lots of google chrome for netflix, amazon prime video, youtube, reddit etc is my main use. I'll play jackbox on occasion, too. Not too much gaming or anything intense.
  
• Any specific requirements such as good keyboard, reliable build quality, touch-screen, finger-print reader, optical drive or good input devices (keyboard/touchpad)? An SSD is a must and would like 8GB+ RAM. Good battery life greatly appreciated. Backlit keyboards, fingerprint readers, and usb-c ports would be nice but not necessary.
  
  Thank you all so much! (Also cross-posting to r/LaptopDeals)

Sorry I was trying to multitask this morning...


Aspire 5 for $509.99

Vs


Lenovo ThinkPad L340 for 599.00

I recently bought the Acer Aspire 5 A515-54-51DJ I paid a little over $500 for this laptop and have been enjoying it. Its given me no problems, and its very fast. The only downside to this this model in particular, is that it only has 256GB of SSD. But from what I've been told, the SSD is a big contributor to its speed. So I decided that I could just buy a 2TB External Hard-drive from amazon for like 60-70 Dollars and still have a sub $600 laptop that is just as capable as a different laptop thats twice the price.

The Laptop:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07RF2123Z/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Budget: $500 tops

County: USA

Screen: 15.6"

Res: No pref

Touch: No pref

Weight: No pref

Friend asked me to recommend something no more than $500 for his wife to take some online courses. I see a lot of recommendations for the Acer Aspire 5 Slim Laptop A515-54-51DJ, $550 total breaks his budget. Still gonna suggest he get it, but I was wondering about something under $500. Looks new without reviews, but any opinions on the ASUS VivoBook 15 Thin F512FA-AB34? If he says "No way I'm going over $500" I thinking that one or maybe the cheaper Aspire 5 slim A515-43-R19L. Anything else I should send his way?

Thanks in advance!

Links for reference....

$509 A515-54-51DJ https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07RF2123Z/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

$400 F512FA-AB34 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07RK5M35T/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

$330 A515-43-R19L https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07RF1XD36/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_2?smid=A1J1GCINBY6DVN&psc=1

Are you talking about this laptop?

Linux Mint 19.2 beta works on it just fine. Fingerprint reader does not work, but audio, suspend, touchpad and everything else does.

Never mind, you're talking about the AMD version. I have the version linked above.

Heres a nice laptop for around 500 usd https://www.amazon.com/Acer-i5-8265U-Keyboard-Fingerprint-A515-54-51DJ/dp/B07RF2123Z/ref=zg_bs_565108_8?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=SMQCZ55Q2MCKHAACC13P

Hi! The cheapest laptop I can think of that will run CAD is the Acer Aspire 5.

If you want a more robust option, look at the MSI GL63 and wait for the price to drop during BF/CM. This model was on sale for $550 at the start of September, so I'd expect a similar price on BF.

out of those this will have the best battery life .

https://www.amazon.com/Acer-i5-8265U-Keyboard-Fingerprint-A515-54-51DJ/dp/B07RF2123Z is the intel version better value than this?

ok i think im gonna go with this for the wife. unless there is something better in the 400-500 price https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07RF2123Z

and for me trying to decide between this 3 unless there is something better:

https://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-Ideapad-i5-9300H-Processor-81LK00HDUS/dp/B07VC55LF5



https://www.amazon.com/R5-3550H-Processor-Graphics-FX505DT-AH51-Keyboard/dp/B07VBK4SYS

​

https://www.amazon.com/Acer-Display-i5-8265U-GeForce-A515-54G-5928/dp/B07TJ21K7T

What about this one https://www.amazon.com/Acer-i5-8265U-Keyboard-Fingerprint-A515-54-51DJ/dp/B07RF2123Z

This is pretty good for its price.

Check out this Acer Aspire 5 Slim Laptop

Thank you very much! This indeed looks solid. I'm deciding between the Aspire 5 and the three below:

• Lenovo Flex 5 81CA001WUS - $529
  
• Lenovo IdeaPad S340 81N8001LUS - $449
  
• Dell Inspiron 15” 5584 (Certified Refurbished) - $468
  
  Would you mind giving your thoughts?

Well if not for the budget I would've gotten this one instead. However I'll wait until Black Friday sales and settle with one of them.

https://www.amazon.ca/Acer-i5-8265U-Keyboard-Fingerprint-A515-54-51DJ/dp/B07RF2123Z/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=acer+aspire+5&qid=1568705977&sr=8-3

So this is also the slim? That explains why the reviews page takes me to the slim.

The two 'Most Helpful' reviews on Amazon disparage this laptop. One point of concern I noticed is the noise level, which is a priority for me. Do you have experience with this device? Is it only good 'on paper'? There are complaints about the Wi-Fi card and processor as well

https://www.amazon.com/Acer-i5-8265U-Keyboard-Fingerprint-A515-54-51DJ/dp/B07RF2123Z This was a good one I found, a cheaper option I found was https://www.amazon.com/Acer-Display-Graphics-Keyboard-A515-43-R19L/dp/B07RF1XD36

I would consider the first one since it’s better hardware, probably last you longer

I have a couple others that I have found. Would you recommend either of these?

https://www.amazon.com/Acer-i5-8265U-Keyboard-Fingerprint-A515-54-51DJ/dp/B07RF2123Z

or

https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-Laptop-Certified-Refurbished/dp/B07L49KKXZ

What do you think about the differences between the E 15 you listed and the Acer Aspire 5 Slim?

Just to me -- looks like the graphics card is better on the one you listed, but the CPU is better on the slim. Price difference is $90. Any other thoughts?

How’s this acer aspire 5 slim laptop? Considering it for the i5 8th gen which I heard was pretty good for school and the laptop seems all around solid(not planning on playing intensive games on this). However I read some reviews that the fans are loud in this computer and the battery life can be bad. Does anyone have any experience with this laptop? Would you recommend it?

https://www.amazon.com/Acer-i5-8265U-Keyboard-Fingerprint-A515-54-51DJ/dp/B07RF2123Z/ref=asc_df_B07RF2123Z/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=343224652930&hvpos=1o3&hvnetw=g&hvrand=10223341475487524253&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9008450&hvtargid=pla-758968714045&psc=1&tag=&ref=&adgrpid=71764766791&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=343224652930&hvpos=1o3&hvnetw=g&hvrand=10223341475487524253&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9008450&hvtargid=pla-758968714045&utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf

If you have a Costco membership than the Ideapad S340 is probably one of your best options. Costco offers an extended warranty on electronics that's amazing, and they have a 90 day return period, no questions asked, in case you change your mind.

Another really good choice is the Lenovo Thinkpad L480 for $500. It'll have better build quality than your other choices, but unfortunately has an HDD rather than an SSD.

The Acer Aspire 5 from Amazon is also really solid. Pretty good jack-of-all-traits considering its price with good specs, a good display, and a good battery life.

Was actually wondering how this Acer Aspire 5 (not a ref link, just goes to Amazon) might compare to the one you recommended? This one's a little closer to my price point.

I suppose you are going to be doing a lot of writing so I really do not recommend a laptop with only 1366x768 resolution screen on a 15.6" laptop. I recommend something with a 1080p screen to see more on the screen at once... things will be smaller, but sharper compared to 1366x768.

For $510 you can buy the following Acer Aspire 5 Slim laptop with a quad core i5-8250u, 1080p screen, 8GB of RAM and 256GB SSD. At 4lbs it should be easy enough to carry around. While it claims 9.5 hours of battery life that is usually an exaggeration, it might last that long if you simply turn it, decrease the screen brightness to the lowest setting and walk away. It's probably more like 5.5 to 6 hours with light usage. Read the user reviews to see if anyone comments on battery life.

https://www.amazon.com/Acer-i5-8265U-Keyboard-Fingerprint-A515-54-51DJ/dp/B07RF2123Z/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=i5-8250u&qid=1567041414&s=gateway&sr=8-4

​

If you want to play some games from time to time or you want a smaller 14" laptop, then the ASUS VivoBook F412DA seems to be a good deal with it's specs... no reviews. It has an AMD quad core Ryzen 5 3500u APU, 8GB of RAM, 256GB SSD and a 1080p screen for $479. It has a Radeon RX Vega 8 graphics core which is roughly similar to a nVidia 940m dedicated GPU from 2015. It's nowhere near as powerful as a GTX 1050, but considering it is integrated that is pretty impressive. The above laptop has an Intel UHD 620 integrated graphics core which is a bit less powerful than a nVidia 920m. It can play some light games, but not as well as the Vega 8. The Ryzen 5 3500u itself is probably 10% less powerful than the i5-8250u. Not that big of a deal

https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-VivoBook-F412DA-14-Laptop/dp/B07W7PWTL5/ref=sr_1_18?keywords=ryzen+5+3500u&qid=1567042210&s=gateway&sr=8-18

​

Quad core CPUs are "in fashion", but if you want to save money you can drop down to a dual core processor. They are still fine for typical usage like watching videos and surfing the web, and still okay for playing light games.

So as an example then, here's this Aspire 5 Slim:

https://www.amazon.com/Acer-i5-8265U-Keyboard-Fingerprint-A515-54-51DJ/dp/B07RF2123Z

Which if Intel was charging $297 just for the chip alone, we know there's not much room for everything else plus markup, plus shipping, etc. It's entirely too cheap for that.

We do know, however, that special deals with Microsoft knocks down pricing of Windows 10 Home, and we know that integrations Acer offers to their partners may give them kick-backs. Buying at scale gets them good deals on the rather mediocre panels and SSDs they tend to stuff in here. And RAM, half of which is soldered.

There's also the fact that the Core i5-8265U is about a year old, that Intel churns out quad cores like butter these days, and it's clearly being heavily discounted in products today. But at launch it was probably close to, or right on, the $297 mark, wouldn't you agree?





Here's where I think Ark pricing has value and isn't meaningless:

1. The pricing is set at what it would have cost for OEMs to buy a tray of 1000 out of the gate. Probably not Pegatron, but most other OEMs. The average price charged to all OEMs in totality will probably come very close to the tray pricing because we all know Intel likes to maintain high ASPs. And money.
   
2. The price never changes to later reflect economies of scale that bring the price down for Intel and OEMs.
   
3. It's easy to compare products to one another and estimate how much they could have affected the BOM based on their specifications and original tray pricing.
   
   Based on the pricing and specifications, there are things I can point to and confidently say to someone that the reason why a 1065G7 isn't just adding $16 to the BOM is because it also needs faster RAM, a different BGA design, look at that the configurable frequencies (which affect heatsink design), here's a CNVi card, yadda yadda.
   
   "But the i5-8250U and 8265U are the same price, why is this notebook with the latter chip launching at a higher price?" Well it has more PCIe lanes, the chipset changes, and there's a few other things I can point to to show where the BOM could be affected.
   
   When someone pointed out to me that using the Ark pricing for products already into the tail end of their lifecycle was wrong, I changed how I looked at it and how I was referencing those prices. I now only think of it as a tool to compare products at/just before launch, not years down the line. Ark tray pricing for a i7-8850H today is definitely not relevant, but when its successor comes along I can go back to look at the tray pricing and specifications, and then look at the historical price products that launched with it to make an educated guess where a new notebook with [X] chip might fall.
   
   
   
   
   That's essentially my entire argument here. Ark pricing isn't meaningless or pointless. It has meaning and value in the right context. No products have launched with an i7-1065G7, so that tray pricing is as good as anything we have for now to figure out where products using it might be priced.
   
   So for reference:
   
   https://www.reddit.com/r/hardware/comments/cmeptl/intel_10nm_chip_gets_mixed_reviews/ew4cgl9/
   
   https://www.reddit.com/r/hardware/comments/cmeptl/intel_10nm_chip_gets_mixed_reviews/ew4dp38/
   
   Are Ark prices still meaningless, and do you still think I know nothing about Intel pricing?

$500 is actually a pretty healthy budget if you are in USA. I bought a laptop with AMD Ryzen 4 core, 8 threads, 8GB RAM, 1080p IPS display, SSD + HDD, etc for about that price and this was in India where the taxes are insane.

This Acer Aspire looks perfect for your needs and it's $510. I simply can't find anything wrong with this considering the price point. I doubt if you can get anything much better than this at this price.

https://www.amazon.com/Acer-i5-8265U-Keyboard-Fingerprint-A515-54-51DJ/dp/B07RF2123Z/

• Latest Intel i5 8265U, 4 core, 8 threads (Better than Macbook Air, lol)
  
• 8GB RAM
  
• 256GB SSD
  
• 15.6 inch 1080p IPS display
  
• 1.8kg
  
• Quite nice port selection.
  
  This is honestly as good as it gets for the price. I am currently using Acer Swift 3 for web development and it's been a breeze. This is very similar to what I have, except this has a plastic body, that's about the only difference.
  
  I see a few issues in the top 2 reviews so I will address them.
  
  

1. Fan noise : Could be an actual problem but most probably was a problem with the BIOS. Update your BIOS and Acer should have fixed it in the newer updates. A low powered 15W laptop shouldn't be noisy at all under normal workloads. Probably a bug.
   
   
2. Some guy mentioned that YouTube is playing slow. I call bullshit. On a similarly powered laptop I can play YouTube VP9 videos on CPU at 1440p and this is on Linux without VP9 codec suppoort. This laptop does have VP9 codec support, so it should play youtube videos under the GPU, hence even 4k should be achievable with little CPU usage. It is most probable that the guy has some malware eating up his resources in the background. There is no reason why laptop with 8th gen i5, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD should perform slow. Dude's software is probably whacked.
   
   
3. The laptop probably comes with a lot of bloatware. That's pretty much a given in this price range. I recommend either doing a fresh re-install of the Operating System or trying to manually remove the bloatware yourself. These laptops are subsidized to some extent because companies like McAfee/Norton/Cyberlink, etc pay these companies money to install these software by default. Most people don't bother removing them and hence experience slowdowns because of excessive bloat running. Please do wipe these for your sanity. This will be a problem with almost all laptops in this price range.
   
   ---
   
   All in all, that's as good a machine as you can find in this price range. Most machines in this price range either compromise on RAM, use shitty TN display panels or give the user a hard drive. Acer is the only manufacturer delivering a pretty powerful package overall.
   
   I highly recommend this laptop.

Assuming the laptop only undergoes normal wear and tear, what’s the lifespan for a laptop like this?

And what’s the difference between the on you linked and the one below?


Acer Aspire 5 Slim Laptop, 15.6" Full HD IPS Display, 8th Gen Intel Core i5-8265U, 8GB DDR4, 256GB PCIe NVMe SSD, Backlit Keyboard, Fingerprint Reader, Windows 10 Home, A515-54-51DJ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RF2123Z/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_9qHuDbYZDBDWZ

Acer Aspire 5 Link

So even with dedicated graphics and 16 gb of DDR3, do you think something like https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RF2123Z/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_AlvzDbMYJKBQ8 would be better?

Edit: changed laptop link

I'm looking for the best laptop around $500 that offers durability and productivity and the best I've found is this ASUS VivoBook 15 (AMD 3500U, 8GB ram, Vega 8 GPU). Are there any other laptops that I should look at before pulling the trigger?

​

The other option that I was looking at was this Acer (i5-8265U, 8GB ram, integrated gpu).

> Best specs for price, large harddrive space,

In terms of specs for price, this guy is an incredibly easy recommendation: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07RF2123Z

​

However, it doesn't come with too much storage. In 2019 you'll want an SSD as your boot drive at the very least. It should be relatively to upgrade the SSD in this laptop if you genuinely do need more capacity. For $110, you can turn those 256 GB into 1 TB of storage: https://www.amazon.com/Crucial-MX500-NAND-2280SS-Internal/dp/B0784SY515

​

This would result in a $620 total price tag, and for a laptop with 8 gb ram/i5 8th gen/1 tb ssd storage, that's quite good.

1. the difference between the flex 14 and the s340 is
   
   the s340 isn't a 2-in-1 nor is it touchscreen.
   
   
   it has the same intel processor that is in lenovo 6 which like I said is slightly better than the amd one in the flex 14.
   
   
   It has a larger 512gb ssd.
   
   
   it seems to be capable of being charged with a regular usb-c cable.
   
   
   it has a worse screen with a lower resolution of 768p vs 1080p in the flex 14.
   
   
   and its slightly more expensive.
   
   
   ........................
   
   
   
   2.If you want something that's not a 2-in-1 or touchscreen I would recommend the acer aspire 5 $509:
   
   
   
   Acer Aspire 5 Slim Laptop, 15.6" Full HD IPS Display, 8th Gen Intel Core i5-8265U, 8GB DDR4, 256GB PCIe NVMe SSD, Backlit Keyboard, Fingerprint Reader, Windows 10 Home, A515-54-51DJ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RF2123Z/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_YDIoDbRP6M3V8
   
   
   
   there is also a model with a discrete graphics card that has better graphics than the flex 14 for $559:
   
   
   Acer Aspire E 15 Laptop, 15.6" Full HD, 8th Gen Intel Core i5-8250U, GeForce MX150, 8GB RAM Memory, 256GB SSD, E5-576G-5762 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075FLBJV7/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_iNIoDbKQ1BN61
   
   
   
   
   there is also a model with 12gb of ram and 512gb ssd for $599:
   
   Acer Aspire 5 Slim Laptop, 15.6" Full HD IPS Display, 8th Gen Intel Core i5-8265U, 12GB DDR4, 512GB PCIe NVMe SSD, Backlit Keyboard, Fingerprint Reader, Windows 10 Pro, A515-54-51DJ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VQPM71V/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_vOIoDbPRRRSKE
   
   
   
   ..........
   
   
   
   the dell inspiron 15 5000 ($589) is also good with a the same processor as the acer and 12gb of ram instead of 8gb.
   
   it also has a touchscreen display and larger 1tb hard drive, but no ssd so it will take longer to boot up and load windows and applications.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RF2123Z

This doesn't have much to do with building a PC, but I can't seem to find a similar subreddit that is as active as this one is to get some input.

I've had my eye on this laptop for a long time now, and even now with some pre-BF deals and the ads I have seen for BF prices, this laptop still seems like it is the best bang for your buck.

I was just wondering if someone can give some input or maybe share a similar speced and priced laptop.