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Aspire 1
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Modern 14
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What we think

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The PerfectRec laptop team Learn more
Updated January 10, 2024·

The Acer Aspire 1 is significantly less expensive and offers a larger 15.6-inch screen with a budget-friendly Celeron processor, suitable for basic tasks and silent operation. The MSI Modern 14, while costing more, comes with a more powerful Ryzen processor, quadruple the storage, and quadruple the RAM, housed in a compact, lighter frame with a smaller 14-inch higher-quality display, making it more suitable for intensive tasks, frequent travel, and better overall performance. Give Feedback

this description is based on the product variant with some specs and product variant with some specs. At the time of writing, the variant with some specs cost some dollars and the variant with some specs cost some dollars.
Advantages of the Acer Aspire 1
  • The Acer Aspire 1 has no clear advantages over the MSI Modern 14.
Advantages of the MSI Modern 14
  • Good for general use
  • Good for software development
  • Good for content creation
  • Good overall build quality
  • Very good portability
  • Good speakers
  • Good keyboard

Key differences

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General Use

5.8
Aspire 1
Modern 14
7.2
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
TN
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
200.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
311.0 nits
6.0 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
6.0 Hours
6.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
7.0/10
7.5/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
8.6/10
The MSI Modern 14 is good for general use, while the Acer Aspire 1 is poor.

Engineering and Design

5.5
Aspire 1
Modern 14
6.6
3.4/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
5.6/10
3.5/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
3.6/10
4.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
The MSI Modern 14 is only fair for engineering and design, while the Acer Aspire 1 is poor.

Content Creation

5.9
Aspire 1
Modern 14
7.2
3.4/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
5.6/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
4.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
TN
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The MSI Modern 14 is good for content creation, while the Acer Aspire 1 is poor.

Software Development

6.1
Aspire 1
Modern 14
7.1
3.4/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
5.6/10
4.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
6.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
7.0/10
The MSI Modern 14 is good for software development, while the Acer Aspire 1 is only fair.

Screen Quality

5.2
Aspire 1
Modern 14
6.4
15.6in
SIZE
14.0in
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
TN
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
60Hz
200.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
311.0 nits
The MSI Modern 14 has a better screen than the Acer Aspire 1 for general use, gaming and AI, engineering and design, content creation, and software development.

Portability

Good
Aspire 1
Modern 14
Very Good
15.6in
SIZE
14.0in
4.1 lbs
WEIGHT
3.0 lbs
0.7in
THICKNESS
0.6in
The MSI Modern 14 has very good portability, while the Acer Aspire 1 has good portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.

Build Quality

5.5
Aspire 1
Modern 14
7.0
The MSI Modern 14 has good build quality, while the Acer Aspire 1 has poor build quality.

Cost

$243
Aspire 1
Modern 14
$525
Product image
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The Acer Aspire 1 has a price of $243 and the MSI Modern 14 costs $525.
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Key similarities

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Gaming and AI

5.6
Aspire 1
Modern 14
6.0
3.5/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
3.6/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
60Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
No
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
No
10.0/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
8.7/10
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers MSI Modern 14 to be only fair for gaming and AI, while the Acer Aspire 1 is poor.

Battery

6.0 Hours
Aspire 1
Modern 14
6.0 Hours
The Acer Aspire 1 has 6 hours of battery life. The MSI Modern 14 has 6 hours of battery life.

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We’re constantly working to improve.

How the Acer Aspire 1 and the MSI Modern 14 compare to other laptops

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Spec Comparison

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Acer Aspire 1MSI Modern 14
Acer Aspire 1MSI Modern 14

GENERAL

Price
$243
$525
Release Date
October 1, 2022October 1, 2021
Overall Dimensions
14.3'' x 9.4'' x 0.78''12.7'' x 8.7'' x 0.63''
Weight
4.19 lbs3.08 lbs
Width
14.3"12.68"
Depth
9.4"8.74"

INTERNAL

Processor
Intel Celeron N4500AMD Ryzen 5 7530U
RAM
4 GB16 GB
DDR Memory Version
45
RAM Slots
01
Storage
128 GB512 GB

BATTERY

Battery Life
6 Hours6 Hours
Battery Capacity
36.7 Wh39 Wh

SCREEN

Diagonal Size
15.6"14"
Display Technology
TNIPS
Resolution
1920 x 10801920 x 1080
Refresh Rate
60Hz60Hz
Display Brightness
200 nits311 nits

RELIABILITY, APPEARANCE & ACOUSTICS

Build Quality Score
5.6/107/10
Portability Score
7.5/108.7/10
Gaming Laptop Appearance
NoNo
Premium Business Laptop
NoNo
Fan Noise Score
10/108.8/10

HARDWARE FEATURES

Keyboard Quality Score
6/107/10
Speaker Quality Score
5.4/107/10
Webcam
720p720p
Fingerprint Reader
NoNo
Backlit Keyboard
NoYes
Number Pad
YesNo

CONNECTIVITY

USB Type-A
33
USB-C ports
01
USB-C Charging
NoYes
Display Outputs
11
Thunderbolt Ports
00

Shopping

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Acer Aspire 1

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Dig into reviews and images

CNET

Joshua Goldman | May 2020
"There are no surprises and nothing's extraordinary here but this laptop's price. For those in need of an inexpensive Windows laptop for undemanding tasks, though, the Acer Aspire 1 offers just enough to get the basics done and a larger screen to do them on."

MSI Modern 14

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Dig into reviews and images

Rtings

Alexander Tozzi, Ryan Lim, and John Peroramas | October 2023
"The MSI Modern 14 is okay for school use. It's very compact, so it's easy to carry around. It has a sharp display, a spacious keyboard, and a reasonably large touchpad. Its Intel 13th Gen CPU and integrated graphics can handle general productivity tasks like text processing and web browsing; however, don't expect to do anything intensive like 3D modeling or physics simulations. Unfortunately, the battery lasts less than five hours of light use, and the display doesn't get bright enough to combat glare."

Get a great deal on the Acer Aspire 1 or the MSI Modern 14

About Acer

Acer is a prominent Taiwanese electronics brand which makes a wide range of laptops, with multiple product lines catering to personal use, gaming, and business use. They are renowned for having exceptional value for money, as they frequently offer good specifications at a lower price than other manufacturers.

About MSI

MSI, also known as Micro-Star International, is a Taiwanese technology corporation. MSI is known for their wide range of gaming devices. Their series include the entry-level Cyborg/Thin and Sword/Katana series, the mid-range Bravo/Delta and Crosshair/Pulse series, and their high-end Vector, Raider, Stealth, and Titan GT series. At every performance level, MSI offers a variety of devices with varying balances between performance, battery life, weight, and price, making them a solid option to consider at every price point.

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Why trust us

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This information was produced and vetted by the PerfectRec laptops team. We are a product research and recommendation organization that meticulously reviews and evaluates the latest laptop information and makes it digestible for you.

By the numbers

380
Laptops evaluated
48,640
Laptops stats compiled
13
Proprietary Laptops ratings developed
109,095
Recommendations made
23,638
Consumer hours saved

About the laptop team

Joe Golden, Ph.D

CEO and Laptops Editor
Joe is an entrepreneur and lifelong electronics enthusiast with a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Michigan.

Jason Lew

Staff Expert & Software Engineer
Jason is a staff expert and software engineer that has been making laptop recommendations for 7 years and moderates one of the largest laptop subreddits.

Chandradeep Chowdhury

Staff Expert & Software Engineer
Chandradeep is a staff expert and software engineer and expert in televisions and monitors. He’s been making monitor recommendations for ten years.

Craig Russell

Laptops Expert
Craig is a UK-based laptops expert. Craig works in IT, where he recommends and supports laptops and PCs for clients and has been recommending laptops on Reddit for five years.

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