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Aspire 3 Spin 14
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Alienware X17 R2
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What we think

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Updated January 10, 2024·

The Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 is a budget-friendly option with a touchscreen and good portability; it's suitable for general use like web browsing, office applications, and media consumption. It is light, has a decent keyboard, and offers fanless operation, meaning it's silent. On the other hand, the Dell Alienware X17 R2, while more expensive, provides top-notch performance for gaming, 3D rendering, engineering work, and machine learning tasks. It has a high-refresh rate screen for fast motion, superior build quality, and a powerful graphics card, but it is heavier and has a shorter battery life, making it less portable than the Acer. 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
  • Good battery life
Advantages of the Dell Alienware X17 R2
  • Very good for general use
  • Excellent for engineering and design
  • Very good for gaming and AI
  • Good for software development
  • Very good for content creation
  • Very good overall display quality
  • Very good overall build quality
  • Best in class speakers
  • Very good keyboard

Key differences

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General Use

6.5
Aspire 3 Spin 14
Alienware X17 R2
8.2
1920 x 1200
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
250.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
367.0 nits
8.0 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
2.0 Hours
6.2/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
8.1/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
6.0/10
The Dell Alienware X17 R2 is very good for general use, while the Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 is only fair.

Gaming and AI

5.8
Aspire 3 Spin 14
Alienware X17 R2
8.9
3.6/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
9.3/10
1920 x 1200
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
480Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
10.0/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
7.0/10
The Dell Alienware X17 R2 is very good for gaming and AI, while the Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 is poor.

Engineering and Design

5.9
Aspire 3 Spin 14
Alienware X17 R2
9.1
3.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.4/10
3.6/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
9.3/10
8.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
The Dell Alienware X17 R2 is excellent for engineering and design, while the Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 is poor.

Content Creation

7.0
Aspire 3 Spin 14
Alienware X17 R2
8.3
3.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.4/10
1920 x 1200
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
8.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Dell Alienware X17 R2 is very good for content creation, while the Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 is good.

Software Development

6.9
Aspire 3 Spin 14
Alienware X17 R2
7.8
3.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.4/10
8.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
1920 x 1200
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
6.2/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
The Dell Alienware X17 R2 is good for software development, while the Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 is only fair.

Screen Quality

6.2
Aspire 3 Spin 14
Alienware X17 R2
8.5
14.0in
SIZE
17.3in
1920 x 1200
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
480Hz
250.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
367.0 nits
The Dell Alienware X17 R2 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.

Battery

8.0 Hours
Aspire 3 Spin 14
Alienware X17 R2
2.0 Hours
The Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 has 8 hours of battery life. The Dell Alienware X17 R2 has 2 hours of battery life.

Portability

Very Good
Aspire 3 Spin 14
Alienware X17 R2
Fair
14.0in
SIZE
17.3in
3.3 lbs
WEIGHT
6.8 lbs
0.7in
THICKNESS
0.8in
The Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 has very good portability, while the Dell Alienware X17 R2 has only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.

Build Quality

6.2
Aspire 3 Spin 14
Alienware X17 R2
8.5
The Dell Alienware X17 R2 has very good build quality, while the Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 has only fair build quality.

Cost

$418
Aspire 3 Spin 14
Alienware X17 R2
$2,000
Product image
Product image

$0

$500

$1,000

$1,500

$2,000

$2,500

$3,000

The Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 has a price of $418 and the Dell Alienware X17 R2 costs $2,000.
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How the Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 and the Dell Alienware X17 R2 compare to other laptops

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Spec Comparison

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Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14Dell Alienware X17 R2
Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14Dell Alienware X17 R2

GENERAL

Price
$418
$2,000
Release Date
April 1, 2023December 1, 2021
Overall Dimensions
12.6'' x 9'' x 0.74''15.7'' x 11.8'' x 0.82''
Weight
3.31 lbs6.82 lbs
Width
12.6"15.72"
Depth
9"11.79"

INTERNAL

Processor
Intel i3-N305Intel i9-12900HK
RAM
8 GB32 GB
DDR Memory Version
55
RAM Slots
02
Storage
128 GB1024 GB

BATTERY

Battery Life
8 Hours2 Hours
Battery Capacity
40 Wh87 Wh

SCREEN

Diagonal Size
14"17.3"
Display Technology
IPSIPS
Resolution
1920 x 12001920 x 1080
Refresh Rate
60Hz480Hz
Display Brightness
250 nits367 nits

RELIABILITY, APPEARANCE & ACOUSTICS

Build Quality Score
6.3/108.5/10
Portability Score
8.2/106.1/10
Gaming Laptop Appearance
NoYes
Premium Business Laptop
NoNo
Fan Noise Score
10/107/10

HARDWARE FEATURES

Keyboard Quality Score
6.3/108.5/10
Speaker Quality Score
6/109.5/10
Webcam
720p720p
Fingerprint Reader
NoNo
Backlit Keyboard
NoYes
Number Pad
NoNo

CONNECTIVITY

USB Type-A
22
USB-C ports
12
USB-C Charging
YesYes
Display Outputs
24
Thunderbolt Version
N/A4

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."

Dell Alienware X17 R2

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NotebookCheck

Allen Ngo | May 2022
"The Alienware x17 R2 recognizes targets a significantly higher TGP of 175 W for a roughly 30 percent performance boost over laptops running on the ~100 W GeForce RTX 3080 Ti like the Razer Blade 15 or Gigabyte Aero YE5. Similar results can be found through the CPU as well. This single aspect of the Alienware is perhaps the biggest differentiating factor between it and other ultrathin gaming laptops. Of course, the "performance at all cost" approach comes with drawbacks. Power consumption in particular is through the roof and battery life suffers because of it even when on the lowest performance settings."

Get a great deal on the Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 or the Dell Alienware X17 R2

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 Dell

Dell is a highly recognizable American technology company, and is one of the largest personal computer vendor by market share. Their laptops are very popular for both personal and professional use, and they also own the Alienware brand which makes mid to high end gaming laptops. Their premium XPS range of laptops offer great build quality and portability, while Latitude and Precision laptops are known for reliability, repairability and performance for business users.

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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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