The Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 offers better portability owing to its lighter weight and longer battery life, suitable for general use with a touchscreen, and is more budget-friendly. On the other hand, the MSI Raider GE66 has superior performance suitable for 3D rendering, machine learning, and engineering tasks with its higher-end processor and graphics card, but it's less portable and has a shorter battery life, and comes at a higher cost, making it more suited for intensive gaming and heavy duty tasks. Consider your primary activities and balance between mobility, battery life, and performance to decide which laptop fits your needs. 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 MSI Raider GE66
Very good for general use
Very good for engineering and design
Very good for gaming and AI
Very good for software development
Very good for content creation
Very good overall display quality
Very good overall build quality
Good speakers
Excellent keyboard
Key differences
General Use
6.5/10
8.3/10
1920 x 1200
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
250.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
300.0 nits
8.0 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
6.0 Hours
6.2/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
8.1/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
6.8/10
The MSI Raider GE66 is very good for general use, while the Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 is only fair.
The Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 is built with a lower-end CPU and graphics, less RAM, and a smaller battery compared to the MSI Raider GE66, which has a high-end CPU, greater RAM, and a powerful dedicated graphics card, making the MSI more suitable for demanding tasks and multitasking. However, the Acer is lighter and has a longer battery life, making it more portable for everyday tasks and travel, but with reduced performance for heavy-duty applications.
Gaming and AI
5.8/10
8.5/10
3.6/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.8/10
1920 x 1200
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
240Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
10.0/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
6.2/10
The MSI Raider GE66 is very good for gaming and AI, while the Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 is poor.
PerfectRec’s Gaming and AI Score strongly emphasizes graphics processing capability, while also taking into account other factors that impact suitability for gaming and AI work.
Engineering and Design
5.9/10
8.9/10
3.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.1/10
3.6/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.8/10
8.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
The MSI Raider GE66 is very good for engineering and design, while the Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 is poor.
The Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 has a lower-end CPU and graphics, less RAM, and lower screen resolution which makes it adequate for basic engineering tasks, whereas the MSI Raider GE66's high-end CPU, powerful GPU, larger memory, and superior screen quality allow for very demanding engineering and design work. While the Acer offers better portability and silent operation.
Content Creation
7.0/10
8.3/10
3.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.1/10
1920 x 1200
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
8.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The MSI Raider GE66 is very good for content creation, while the Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 is good.
PerfectRec’s Content Creation Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for photo editing, video editing and other content creation tasks.
Software Development
6.9/10
8.0/10
3.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.1/10
8.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
1920 x 1200
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
6.2/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
The MSI Raider GE66 is very good for software development, while the Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 is only fair.
PerfectRec’s Software Development Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for software developers.
Screen Quality
6.2/10
8.4/10
14.0in
SIZE
15.6in
1920 x 1200
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
240Hz
250.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
300.0 nits
The MSI Raider GE66 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.
If you value a pleasant visual experience for everyday tasks and productivity, the Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 offers adequate resolution and brightness but may not dazzle you with its display. On the other hand, the MSI Raider GE66's screen excels in providing sharp, bright images, making it a strong contender for demanding engineering software and design work thanks to its superior color accuracy covering a wide range of color spectrums. However, neither laptop is ideal for gaming or 3D modeling due to lower refresh rates, which are crucial for smooth motion and quick visual feedback in fast-paced games and interactive 3D environments.
Battery
8.0 Hours
6.0 Hours
The Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 has 8 hours of battery life. The MSI Raider GE66 has 6 hours of battery life.
Battery life estimate is based on a mix of common use patterns. More portable and higher performing laptops tend to have less battery life.
Portability
Very Good
Fair
14.0in
SIZE
15.6in
3.3 lbs
WEIGHT
5.2 lbs
0.7in
THICKNESS
0.9in
The Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 has very good portability, while the MSI Raider GE66 has only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
6.2/10
8.5/10
The MSI Raider GE66 has very good build quality, while the Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 has only fair build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$418
$2,499
$0
$1,000
$2,000
$3,000
$4,000
The Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 has a price of $418 and the MSI Raider GE66 costs $2,499.
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."
"The MSI Raider GE66 12UHS notebook passes with flying colors. The GE66 is a high-end notebook with strong performance. The keyboard and trackpad are still very good and score well with precise inputs as well as high build quality. Thanks to a new liquid metal cooling solution, the Intel Core i9 12900HK brings a performance increase of around 50 percent over the predecessor's Intel Core i9 10980HK. The installed graphics card in our device delivers up to 30 percent higher frame rates than the RTX 2070 Super in the MSI GE66 10SFS."
Get a great deal on the Acer Aspire 3 Spin 14 or the MSI Raider GE66
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.
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
109,395
Recommendations made
23,703
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.