I am changing my review because the vendor compensated for shorting me half of the Ram. Check to make your they send you the right amount!Pros:Well built. Lots of aluminum (Some plastic too…)Great hardware for the money! this thing is quite fast.Best version of windows since windows 7 (Still not near as good as Linux)Matte screen for less glare and easier reading.Huge screen like laptops ought to havedecent key strokeCons:Flat keys are a bad idea. Typing is nothing like a thinkpad.why offset the touch-pad to the left? Really guys?the power plug is weirdThe fan is noisy if you run it in windows. I flashed in Linux Mint and never had a problem again.Sometimes it ships with half the RamIf you want a 17 inch laptop that is well built and fast, then this ought to to be at the very top of your list. If you like apple keyboards then this is an easy transition. If you like good keyboards like thinkpads then you will have some getting used to. If you are left handed then the touch-pad people thought of you. Overall I am very happy with my purchase and impressed with what I got for the price!

Let me start out by saying that this is a great computer for the price. It is NOT a computer for power gaming or professional video editing, but for real people doing real work and enjoying less INTENSE gaming it is great!Now, before I bought this I asked a couple of questions on here regarding upgrading. I got one answer from someone allegedly associated with Acer saying that “The internal components such as the wifi card are not upgradeable on the laptop products.” Not so. Within 90 minutes of receiving this I had:1. Replaced the 512GB NVMe with a 1TB (Acer) NVMe,2. Added a 2TB SATA 3 SSD,3. Increased 8GB the RAM to 20GB,4. Replaced the 2230 PCIe WiFi card with an Intel AX210 for WiFi 6e, and5. Installed the Linux Mint 20.3* operating system.Now, I admit that I have been a “computer person” for 40+ years, but these upgrades were quite simple.This is my second Acer computer in less than a year. I find that Acer, in general, has good value for the price. Both of my Acers run Linux (one dual boots with Windows) flawlessly and it was VERY easy to install. For the price this machine is quite powerful, and my upgrades (ALL obtained here on Amazon) just make it even more so. I play mid-level games (even at age 60+ :), I do “office things”, I program, and I even do some video editing and transcoding. Everything is very smooth. The display is VERY good for an IPS LCD (I wasn’t looking to spend a small fortune for OLED), the keyboard is good and even the touch pad is quite responsive. I like it. I am well satisfied with this purchase and will likely continue to purchase Acer product.I have had only a single issue with Acer. My other Acer has warnings about not leaving it plugged in once the battery is charged. I did in fact slightly damage the battery. I haven’t tried leaving this one plugged in, although I didn’t find any warnings with this one. (But, really, an overcharge protection circuit is a really cheap and simple thing; why not include one?) At any rate, contrary to Acer’s opinion, the batteries are easily replaceable.* If you want to put Linux Mint 20.3 on this computer, you will want to install the “Edge” version, or know enough about Linux to upgrade the kernal, to get full hardware support for this machine.

for my purposes like excel, word, browsing, social media, blogging, light photo-editing, and other non-intensive (non-gaming) activities, this laptop is great. it’s fast, 0 to 60 in 10 seconds (the fingerprint reader helps rather than using the password). it’s quiet; it’s replacing an old dell inspiron 15 which had become a constant whir of fan and hard drive so that the acer feels almost eerily quiet. i did due diligence and the big bang of cpu, graphics, fhd, ram, ssd, wifi 6, backlit kb, and fpr beats anything out there (there’s an asus vivobook that’s comparable for a little more and was the last competitor in the running). who knows what the build quality will give me for years of usage but if it’s half-decent, it shouldn’t become obsolete in just a few. my only complaint as of now is the ever-so-slightly crooked ‘full hd 1080’ sticker on the left-bottom bezel of the screen, but i’m an ex-qc guy whose eye has been spoiled by too many close inspections. but if anything else wrong appears (knock wood), i’ll edit this review. UPDATE 9/27/21 So I have discovered a quirk which could possibly be a problem if allowed to be one. When the unit is in sleep mode while plugged in (charging), the fan will turn on and apparently stay on while charging. I didn’t check to see how long. And I’m not sure how hot the unit actually is. The laptop is fine when shut down and charging. It is also fine when on and in use while charging (in fact, the fan is never on for my particular usages except when first booting it up from shutdown). But if, for example, the unit is plugged in while in use, and I simply shut the cover, causing the unit to go into sleep mode, the fan will turn on. It’s not a big deal to me. I still give it five stars. I have been able to adapt. But I thought it worth mentioning.