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Aspire 3 Spin 14
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Nitro 17
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What we think

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

The Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 is a budget-friendly, lightweight, and portable laptop with a touchscreen, suitable for general use and silent operation. It offers lower performance with an Intel i3 processor and basic graphics, making it less suitable for intensive engineering tasks or gaming. Conversely, the Acer Nitro 17 is pricier but packs a more powerful AMD Ryzen 7 processor and Nvidia RTX 4050 graphics card, which is better suited for gaming, 3D rendering, and engineering software. It also has a larger screen but is heavier, which reduces its portability. Both have similar battery life for typical usage. Choose the Aspire 3 Spin 14 for affordability and portability or the Nitro 17 for higher performance in demanding applications at the expense of portability and higher cost. 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 3 Spin 14
  • Very good portability
Advantages of the Acer Nitro 17
  • Good for general use
  • Good for engineering and design
  • Good for gaming and AI
  • Good for software development
  • Good overall display quality
  • Good overall build quality
  • Very good speakers
  • Good keyboard

Key differences

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General Use

6.5
Aspire 3 Spin 14
Nitro 17
7.8
1920 x 1200
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
250.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
280.0 nits
8.0 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
8.0 Hours
6.2/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
7.0/10
8.1/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
5.5/10
The Acer Nitro 17 is good for general use, while the Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 is only fair.

Gaming and AI

5.8
Aspire 3 Spin 14
Nitro 17
7.4
3.6/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.3/10
1920 x 1200
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
165Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
10.0/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
6.7/10
The Acer Nitro 17 is good for gaming and AI, while the Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 is poor.

Engineering and Design

5.9
Aspire 3 Spin 14
Nitro 17
7.9
3.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.9/10
3.6/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.3/10
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
The Acer Nitro 17 is good for engineering and design, while the Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 is poor.

Content Creation

7.0
Aspire 3 Spin 14
Nitro 17
7.8
3.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.9/10
1920 x 1200
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Acer Nitro 17 and Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 are both good for content creation, though the Acer Nitro 17 is somewhat better.

Screen Quality

6.2
Aspire 3 Spin 14
Nitro 17
7.4
14.0in
SIZE
17.3in
1920 x 1200
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
165Hz
250.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
280.0 nits
The Acer Nitro 17 has a better screen than the Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 for general use, gaming and AI, engineering and design, content creation, and software development.

Portability

Very Good
Aspire 3 Spin 14
Nitro 17
Poor
14.0in
SIZE
17.3in
3.3 lbs
WEIGHT
6.8 lbs
0.7in
THICKNESS
1.1in
The Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 has very good portability, while the Acer Nitro 17 has poor portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.

Build Quality

6.2
Aspire 3 Spin 14
Nitro 17
7.4
The Acer Nitro 17 has good build quality, while the Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 has only fair build quality.

Cost

$418
Aspire 3 Spin 14
Nitro 17
$970
Product image
Product image

$200

$400

$600

$800

$1,000

$1,200

$1,400

$1,600

The Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 has a price of $418 and the Acer Nitro 17 costs $970.
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Key similarities

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Software Development

6.9
Aspire 3 Spin 14
Nitro 17
7.4
3.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.9/10
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
1920 x 1200
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
6.2/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
7.0/10
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers Acer Nitro 17 to be good for software development, while the Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 is only fair.

Battery

8.0 Hours
Aspire 3 Spin 14
Nitro 17
8.0 Hours
The Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 has 8 hours of battery life. The Acer Nitro 17 has 8 hours of battery life.

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How the Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 and the Acer Nitro 17 compare to other laptops

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Spec Comparison

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Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14Acer Nitro 17
Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14Acer Nitro 17

GENERAL

Price
$418
$970
Release Date
April 1, 2023May 1, 2023
Overall Dimensions
12.6'' x 9'' x 0.74''15.8'' x 11.6'' x 1.1''
Weight
3.31 lbs6.83 lbs
Width
12.6"15.77"
Depth
9"11.59"

INTERNAL

Processor
Intel i3-N305AMD Ryzen 7 7735HS
RAM
8 GB16 GB
DDR Memory Version
55
RAM Slots
02
Storage
128 GB1024 GB

BATTERY

Battery Life
8 Hours8 Hours
Battery Capacity
40 Wh90 Wh

SCREEN

Diagonal Size
14"17.3"
Display Technology
IPSIPS
Resolution
1920 x 12001920 x 1080
Refresh Rate
60Hz165Hz
Display Brightness
250 nits280 nits

RELIABILITY, APPEARANCE & ACOUSTICS

Build Quality Score
6.3/107.4/10
Portability Score
8.2/105.6/10
Gaming Laptop Appearance
NoYes
Premium Business Laptop
NoNo
Fan Noise Score
10/106.8/10

HARDWARE FEATURES

Keyboard Quality Score
6.3/107/10
Speaker Quality Score
6/108/10
Webcam
720p720p
Fingerprint Reader
NoNo
Backlit Keyboard
NoYes
Number Pad
NoYes

CONNECTIVITY

USB Type-A
23
USB-C ports
12
USB-C Charging
YesYes
Display Outputs
23
Thunderbolt Ports
00

Shopping

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Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14

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Rtings

Olivier Martin, Ryan Lim, and Yannick Khong | November 2023
"The Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 is okay for school use. It feels reasonably well-built, and its compact design makes it easy to carry around. The battery lasts around seven hours of light use, so you only have to plug it in for a short time to get through a typical school day. The overall user experience is so-so; the display looks sharp but dim, and the touchpad is fairly responsive, albeit small."

Acer Nitro 17

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PCMag

Mark Knapp | October 2023
"The Acer Nitro 17 isn't an exceptional gaming laptop; it's kind of chunky even among 17.3-inch notebooks, with a lackluster keyboard, and it doesn't outperform comparably priced machines. But there's a lot to like about it, including a good array of ports, a screen that's sharp and bright for work and play alike, and battery life that soundly beats the competition. All this comes at an affordable price. If size and weight aren't big concerns, you'll find the Nitro 17 a dependable big-screen gaming rig. If you crave higher quality, consider a slight step down or up in screen size with the Lenovo Legion Slim 5 Gen 8 or Alienware m18 respectively."

Get a great deal on the Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 or the Acer Nitro 17

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.

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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.

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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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