For everyday tasks, the Acer Aspire Go 14 offers excellent value with its budget-friendly price, solid performance, and impressive battery life, making it a great choice for general use on the go. Its screen is also well-suited for typical office or browsing activities. However, if you're looking for a laptop that can handle more demanding tasks like gaming, 3D rendering, or machine learning, the MSI GP66 Leopard is the better option. It comes with a powerful GPU and CPU, though at the cost of portability due to its heavier weight and bulkier design. The MSI's higher price tag also reflects its superior performance capabilities for intensive tasks. Consider the Acer for its lightweight, long-lasting, and cost-effective nature for general use, or the MSI for its robust performance in specialized, high-demand applications. 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 Go 14
Very good portability
Good battery life
Very good speakers
Advantages of the MSI GP66 Leopard
Good for general use
Good for engineering and design
Good for gaming and AI
Good overall display quality
Very good overall build quality
Very good keyboard
Key differences
General Use
6.7/10
7.5/10
1920 x 1200
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
280.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
362.0 nits
9.0 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
5.0 Hours
7.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.0/10
8.2/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
6.8/10
The MSI GP66 Leopard is good for general use, while the Acer Aspire Go 14 is only fair.
PerfectRec’s General Use Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for general productivity, web browsing, streaming, video calls, and running a wide variety of apps and programs.
Gaming and AI
5.8/10
7.8/10
3.5/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.7/10
1920 x 1200
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
144Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
8.0/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
6.5/10
The MSI GP66 Leopard is good for gaming and AI, while the Acer Aspire Go 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
6.2/10
7.9/10
4.1/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.4/10
3.5/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.7/10
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
The MSI GP66 Leopard is good for engineering and design, while the Acer Aspire Go 14 is only fair.
PerfectRec’s Engineering and Design Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for graphic design and 3D rendering work.
Screen Quality
6.7/10
7.5/10
14.0in
SIZE
15.6in
1920 x 1200
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
144Hz
280.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
362.0 nits
The MSI GP66 Leopard has a better screen than the Acer Aspire Go 14 for general use, gaming and AI, engineering and design, content creation, and software development.
PerfectRec’s screen quality scores take into account various important factors that are relevant for different use cases.
Battery
9.0 Hours
5.0 Hours
The Acer Aspire Go 14 has 9 hours of battery life. The MSI GP66 Leopard has 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
Very Good
Fair
14.0in
SIZE
15.6in
3.2 lbs
WEIGHT
5.2 lbs
0.7in
THICKNESS
0.9in
The Acer Aspire Go 14 has very good portability, while the MSI GP66 Leopard has only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
7.4/10
8.0/10
The MSI GP66 Leopard has very good build quality, while the Acer Aspire Go 14 has good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$350
$1,400
$0
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
The Acer Aspire Go 14 has a price of $350 and the MSI GP66 Leopard costs $1,400.
The MSI GP66 Leopard and Acer Aspire Go 14 are both good for content creation.
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
7.0/10
7.2/10
4.1/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.4/10
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
1920 x 1200
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
7.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.0/10
The MSI GP66 Leopard and Acer Aspire Go 14 are both good for software development.
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.
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How the Acer Aspire Go 14 and the MSI GP66 Leopard compare to other laptops
"The MSI GP66 Leopard is a good budget high-performance gamer. The MSI also does a lot right outside of the pure performance despite it's low price. For example, the adaptive cooling system really surprised us positively, even in Extreme Performance Mode. And the display is not a budget panel either, but at least outshines the competition in terms of brightness. Of course, you also have to accept a few compromises in this price category. These include the Leopard's poor battery runtimes and the less than optimal build quality, which is also noticeable in the more complicated maintenance."
Get a great deal on the Acer Aspire Go 14 or the MSI GP66 Leopard
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.
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Joe Golden, Ph.D
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Joe is an entrepreneur and lifelong electronics enthusiast with a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Michigan.
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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.
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Laptops Expert
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