Acer Aspire Vero AV15-53P-77V9 Intel Evo Green PC | 15.6" FHD IPS 100% sRGB Display | Intel Core i7-1355U | Intel Iris Xe Graphics | 16GB LPDDR5 | 512GB Gen 4 SSD | Killer Wi-Fi 6E | PCR Materials

Was upgrading from a 10+ year old HP Pavilion that took ages to power on much less most tasks. Searching for a laptop was not easy and I was not expecting to pick the most sustainable option but the specs looked good and the price was great, so why not?! Now let's look at the pros and cons.PROS:+Keyboard is backlit and TACTILE. Has good depth and travels nicely. (R and E keys are backwards/green which doesn't bother me, and if anything is a fun quirk)+Texture of computer is very nice and I love the gray color with the yellow/white/black specks throughout, gives it character. Looks fantastic and I've had people think I was using a Macbook at first glance? Definitely doesn't look like one after closer examination but people looking for a possible dupe, this one is sleek! Also no fingerprints all over, since the texture is great at hiding them.+Screen is a matte texture which I prefer and it looks great! I am totally ok with not having a touchscreen but I understand this could be make or break for some people. Screen looks good and I have no problems watching 1440p videos!+Quick and easy setup out of the box+Battery life is solid for me, 4-6 hours multitasking/playing music, miles better than the <2 I had from my old PC.+Feel like I might run out of space quickly with the 512 GB SSD but upgrading to a 1 or 2 TB is very easy, according to a YouTube tutorial. Like only a few minutes to change it and minimal things to unhook/move.+Touchpad is nice and smooth, able to be replaced if needed and the buttons are tactile enough. I did opt to include the Vero mouse and sleeve when purchasing and I am actually a big fan of the mouse. Sleeve is nice too!+Downloaded Steam and Fallout New Vegas just to see how it could handle games, I only play PC occasionally and it ran buttery smooth. I'm sure it can handle a stronger game engine but definitely nothing too taxing. Wouldn't recommend AAA games from this gen but apparently it can play Elden Ring at a low FPS.+Price is fantastic and I was shocked at how low the price was with the specs it had.CONS (Moreso points I am "eh" about) (Could be better could be worse):-While the screen is nice, some textures/shadows could look better but really not a bad screen at all. Sometimes when opening a new window on a screen the window will display a strange pixelated shadow, but that doesn't bother me. Not sure if an Acer problem or a specific problem from my laptop.-Speakers are on the bottom of the PC so sound could get lost if not on a surface. I've had no complaints listening to videos/music while sitting at a desk, using the desk stand included in the box helps throw the sound a little more. I do opt tot use my bluetooth headphones more and set up was quick and easy.-Numerical keyboard is a little small but once you get used to it, its a non issue.-No SD card/CD DVD port but has an LAN/HDMI port which is a solid trade off. SD adapters are thankfully not pricey, neither are disk drives.The time I've had with this laptop is short but I have really enjoyed it since purchasing. I find myself enjoying being on my computer more and I am not sure how I made it this long without upgrading. Once offsetting the little bit of bloatware it comes with, it runs like a champ. The overall character of the shell of the laptop is so enjoyable and I find myself looking at the design. It has charm and that is VERY rare in a PC in 2023.While I found it to be a chore to power on my old PC, it is WAY harder to get me to turn this one off! Highly recommend.

UPDATE:I've been using it for about 3 months now. Problems are mostly Windows 11 issues. It occasionally drops the wifi service. The router is fine (all our other devices have internet) and research indicates this is happening quite a bit on Windows 11. There are other similar types of issues with trying to use multiple displays, etc, that seem to be more on the Windows side. In fact, I thought the machine had fried on me last night but it turns out to be a Windows update thing. (The laptop got so hot I had to be careful how I handled it. Had to move it next to an AC vent and it took 3+ hours before it would boot up again.)The camera and display leave something to be desired and it would be nice to have a second hdmi port for my 2nd tv monitor, but (as mentioned below) this is just a temporary machine for me. For the price point, this is a good deal. That said, if it responds to the next Windows update in similar fashion, I'll add to this review. Hoping that was a one-time nightmare.***Original review...It's time to invest in a high end laptop again so I bought this unit to decide if I want to go back to Windows or stay with Mac. (The kids will use this for homework in the fall.) While the built in display is not greatest, I am pleasantly surprised by its performance. I'm not taxing it by running a lot of heavy applications but it can keep up with both Chrome and Edge simultaneously open, each with lots and lots of tabs open, several spreadsheets, Discord, Telegram, RDP, PuTTy, mail, calendar, Adobe Reader and Pro, Scrivener, Notepad, Visual Studio Code, and Zoom or Webex - all at the same time. (I've got the Intel i7 with 16GB RAM.)

This is a good computer in the $500 to $600 range. The screen is crisp and bright, the keyboard is backlit and comfortable, and the trackpad is decent. Feels more expensive than $500 and will be fine for everyday things like youtube, web surfing, office docs, etc. The design is appealing and you can easily access the internal components of the computer.I would suggest upgrading to 24 gigs of RAM by simply swapping out the 8 gig ram stick. (The other 8 gigs of RAM are soldered to the motherboard, unfortunately.) I also upgraded to wifi 6e as well. Everything was very easy to install and I had a nice boost in performance.The upgrades will cost you between $50 to $100 and will take 15 minutes to install/configure. Items I used RAM and wifi card are linked below.https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08C511GQH?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09WQSNMCT?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_detailsLastly, the computer has a good selection of ports, HDMI, USB-C, ethernet, USB 3.0 x2, and a single USB 2.0. More than enough for most users.

I am very satisfied with my purchase, and even after a year and after I dropped it a few times, it works perfectly and didn’t lose price and performance

I don't usually write reviews, but after experiencing this laptop for just a week, I could not believe how well it performs for a $500 machine. I don't use it as a laptop, per se, but Remote Desktop into it from my Mac to do software development. I upgraded the RAM to a total of 24 GB and the SSD to 2 TB. But even before the upgrade, this machine is usually silent (though there are a few times the loud fan kicks in). I do need to say that, with the Windows 11 version that came with it, the fan did kick in more often than I'd like, but after updating to the latest version of Windows 11, the machine completely changed, and became silent and much faster.Overall, I am so happy with the performance of this laptop, that I bought a second one.