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Updated January 10, 2024·
For general use, the Acer Aspire 5 17 offers a lower price and sufficient capabilities for everyday tasks. It's lighter, enhancing its portability, and has a battery life suited for longer use away from power outlets. The MSI Stealth 17 is a high-end, more expensive laptop with a powerful processor and graphics card, more storage, and significantly greater performance for 3D rendering, machine learning, and intensive gaming; however, it's heavier and has a shorter battery life, making it less convenient to carry around. 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 5 17
- Good portability
- Good battery life
Advantages of the MSI Stealth 17
- Very good for general use
- Excellent for engineering and design
- Excellent for gaming and AI
- Very good for software development
- Very good for content creation
- Very good overall display quality
- Good overall build quality
- Best in class speakers
- Excellent keyboard
Key differences
General Use
7.3
8.7
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
266.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
384.0 nits
7.0 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
5.5 Hours
7.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
7.3/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
6.4/10
The MSI Stealth 17 is very good for general use, while the Acer Aspire 5 17 is good.
The Acer Aspire 5 17 offers solid performance for general use with an adequate processor and sufficient RAM to handle everyday tasks, while its light weight and longer battery life enhance its portability. The MSI Stealth 17, on the other hand, boasts a more powerful processor and significantly more memory, along with superior screen quality, but this comes with decreased battery life and increased weight, making it less portable.
Gaming and AI
6.2
9.1
3.7/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
9.7/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
240Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
7.5/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
8.0/10
The MSI Stealth 17 is excellent for gaming and AI, while the Acer Aspire 5 17 is only fair.
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
6.7
9.4
6.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.5/10
3.7/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
9.7/10
8.0 GB
RAM
64.0 GB
The MSI Stealth 17 is excellent for engineering and design, while the Acer Aspire 5 17 is only fair.
The Acer Aspire 5 17 is geared towards less intensive tasks with its standard Intel i5 processor, integrated graphics, and a full HD screen; while the MSI Stealth 17 offers substantial power for engineering and design with a high-end Intel i9 processor, a top-tier Nvidia GPU, and a higher-resolution screen which is crucial for detailed work.
Content Creation
7.2
8.8
6.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.5/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
8.0 GB
RAM
64.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The MSI Stealth 17 is very good for content creation, while the Acer Aspire 5 17 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
7.2
8.5
6.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.5/10
8.0 GB
RAM
64.0 GB
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
7.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
The MSI Stealth 17 is very good for software development, while the Acer Aspire 5 17 is good.
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
8.6
17.3in
SIZE
17.3in
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
240Hz
266.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
384.0 nits
The MSI Stealth 17 has a better screen than the Acer Aspire 5 17 for general use, gaming and AI, engineering and design, content creation, and software development.
If you prioritize clear and vivid imagery for tasks like photo editing or CAD work, consider the MSI Stealth 17, as it offers superior color accuracy and a wider color range, which are crucial for engineering and design. However, if you're mainly browsing the web, streaming, or using office applications, the Acer Aspire 5 17 will suffice, as its resolution and brightness are adequate for such activities, though it falls short for color-sensitive work. For gaming and 3D rendering, neither laptop is ideal since they lack high refresh rates, but keep in mind that the MSI's better resolution and panel quality may still provide a more enjoyable visual experience for less fast-paced games.
Battery
7.0 Hours
5.5 Hours
The Acer Aspire 5 17 has 7 hours of battery life. The MSI Stealth 17 has 5.5 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
Good
Fair
17.3in
SIZE
17.3in
4.6 lbs
WEIGHT
6.1 lbs
0.7in
THICKNESS
0.7in
The Acer Aspire 5 17 has good portability, while the MSI Stealth 17 has only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
6.5
7.8
The MSI Stealth 17 has good build quality, while the Acer Aspire 5 17 has only fair build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$700
$3,899
$0
$1,000
$2,000
$3,000
$4,000
The Acer Aspire 5 17 has a price of $700 and the MSI Stealth 17 costs $3,899.
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How the Acer Aspire 5 17 and the MSI Stealth 17 compare to other laptops
Spec Comparison
 |  | |
| Acer Aspire 5 17 | MSI Stealth 17 |
GENERAL | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | |||
$700 | $3,899 | ||
Release Date | |||
Release Date | April 1, 2023 | May 1, 2023 | |
Overall Dimensions | |||
Overall Dimensions | 15.8'' x 10.1'' x 0.71'' | 15.7'' x 11.2'' x 0.79'' | |
Weight | |||
Weight | 4.61 lbs | 6.17 lbs | |
Width | |||
Width | 15.83" | 15.65" | |
Depth | |||
Depth | 10.1" | 11.16" | |
INTERNAL | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Processor | |||
Processor | Intel i5-1335U | Intel i9-13900H | |
RAM | |||
RAM | 8 GB | 64 GB | |
DDR Memory Version | |||
DDR Memory Version | 5 | 5 | |
RAM Slots | |||
RAM Slots | 0 | 2 | |
Storage | |||
Storage | 512 GB | 2048 GB | |
BATTERY | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Battery Life | |||
Battery Life | 7 Hours | 5.5 Hours | |
Battery Capacity | |||
Battery Capacity | 50.3 Wh | 99.9 Wh | |
SCREEN | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Diagonal Size | |||
Diagonal Size | 17.3" | 17.3" | |
Display Technology | |||
Display Technology | IPS | IPS | |
Resolution | |||
Resolution | 1920 x 1080 | 2560 x 1440 | |
Refresh Rate | |||
Refresh Rate | 60Hz | 240Hz | |
Display Brightness | |||
Display Brightness | 266 nits | 384 nits | |
RELIABILITY, APPEARANCE & ACOUSTICS | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Build Quality Score | |||
Build Quality Score | 6.5/10 | 7.8/10 | |
Portability Score | |||
Portability Score | 7.3/10 | 6.5/10 | |
Gaming Laptop Appearance | |||
Gaming Laptop Appearance | No | Yes | |
Premium Business Laptop | |||
Premium Business Laptop | No | No | |
Fan Noise Score | |||
Fan Noise Score | 7.5/10 | 8/10 | |
HARDWARE FEATURES | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Keyboard Quality Score | |||
Keyboard Quality Score | 7/10 | 9/10 | |
Speaker Quality Score | |||
Speaker Quality Score | 6/10 | 9.5/10 | |
Webcam | |||
Webcam | 1080p | 1080p | |
Fingerprint Reader | |||
Fingerprint Reader | No | Yes | |
Backlit Keyboard | |||
Backlit Keyboard | Yes | Yes | |
Number Pad | |||
Number Pad | Yes | Yes | |
CONNECTIVITY | |||
|---|---|---|---|
USB Type-A | |||
USB Type-A | 2 | 2 | |
USB-C ports | |||
USB-C ports | 1 | 2 | |
USB-C Charging | |||
USB-C Charging | No | Yes | |
Display Outputs | |||
Display Outputs | 2 | 3 | |
Thunderbolt Version | |||
Thunderbolt Version | 4 | 4 | |
Shopping
Acer Aspire 5 17
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Dig into reviews and images
NotebookCheck
Marcus Schwarten | March 2021
"The Acer Aspire 5 17 laptop shows the expected strengths in the test. Besides the usual high build quality, the configuration convinces in most benchmarks and tests. The combination of CPU, GPU, and RAM is absolutely sufficient for the everyday office and browsing tasks of a laptop. It also renders the odd game passably if the requirements aren't too high. We liked the matte display in the test as well as the fairly manageable dimensions despite the screen size. It can also be used outdoors, even if it's certainly not a laptop designed for mobility."
MSI Stealth 17
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Dig into reviews and images
NotebookCheck
Mario Petzold | April 2023
"The MSI Stealth 17 Studio is a laptop with a quiet RTX 4080 for almost every occasion. The MSI Stealth 17 Studio is equally capable of high-level media processing and playing current games. It remains pleasantly quiet, even if a few percentage points of power have had to be sacrificed in the process. But, it is not quite perfect: To some extent, the Stealth 17 is well thought out. It packs tons of graphics power and high-end components in a slim case. The laptop's cooling system can be set such that, noise-wise, it doesn't even reach low volume. However, small flaws cloud otherwise exceptionally positive impressions."
Get a great deal on the Acer Aspire 5 17 or the MSI Stealth 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.
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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