Review on 🎮 Acer Predator Helios 300 Gaming Laptop PC, 15.6" FHD IPS with 144Hz Refresh Rate, Intel Core i7-8750H, GeForce GTX 1060 6GB, 16GB DDR4, 256GB NVMe SSD, Aeroblade Metal Fans PH315-51-78NP by Marcus Britton

Chances are you're a bit computer savvy if you've tried all kinds of laptops and come across this guy. If you're new to buying computers, I'll walk you through some of the features, what they mean, and what I think they're worth. If not, scroll down to read my final thoughts. For the newbies, here's the breakdown: SCREEN: 144Hz 1080p IPS display. 144Hz means 144fps. Most laptop screens run at 60Hz, while better ones run at 120Hz. 144Hz is fast. IPS displays are good for wide viewing angles and color reproduction. I'm surprised to see a 144Hz IPS display on a gaming laptop as historically IPS was only used for graphic design. 1080p is Full HD and is more than enough for gaming on a 15-inch screen. 4K is overkill, especially on a budget. A 27-inch 1080p 144Hz IPS display goes up to $300. I would value the display on this laptop at $150. GRAPHICS: Nvidia gtx1060. I wouldn't buy a laptop without a graphics card and it has to be NVidia. The 1060 is excellent value for money and handles 1080p games well. 1070 and 1080 are more suited to 4K gaming, making them overkill rather than overpriced. 1060 should be able to connect to a 4k TV and play games at 4k, but they will likely look better at higher settings at 1080p on the same 4k TV. A desktop GTX 1060 still costs around $300. Processor: Intel i7-8750h. That's a beast. 6 cores with hyperthreading. It supports Ultra HD resolution without graphics card. I won't bore you with all the details of how monstrous this is. Bottom line, this is a top processor. The desktop i7-8700 costs just over $300. RAM: 16GB of DDR4 memory should be enough for pretty much anything. Keep a hundred screens open in your browser and play games with Photoshop. Who cares? You could get more, but that would be overkill for a budget slot. That amount of RAM for a laptop costs around $150. Storage: 256GB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD. Lots of letters, right? This is perhaps the fastest type of drive on the consumer market. This isn't a huge block in your laptop, it's a small card that plugs into the motherboard. It's fast! No more PTSD every time you restart your computer. 256 GB is enough for Windows and a few large programs like Photoshop. I do not recommend this as a drive, only as an OS/large software drive. That's the problem. This is the only drive in the laptop. You can easily install a second drive in the slot on the bottom of the laptop. It takes 3 minutes. I would recommend a Western Digital hard drive. Installed 256GB m.2 drive costs $120. However, adding another drive adds $100, bringing the laptop's price up to $1,300 (it's $1,200 now). Gimmicks: 1 USB 3.1. (Type C), 1 x USB 3.0, 2 x USB 2.0, 1 x HDMI 2.0, SD card reader. (no thundercat port) High end laptops have more bells and whistles like extra ports and other fun stuff. It comes with the basics and most people don't need more than that. Keyboard: Red backlit, side numeric keypad. Can't change colors. View of the basic keyboard. This saves the overall cost of the laptop and I can live without that ringing or whistling. FINAL THOUGHTS: Add up the estimated monetary value of the display ($150), GPU ($300), CPU ($300), RAM ($150). and storage ($120) we have a base cost of $1020. I can't easily review the motherboard, battery, laptop case, power cord, and other small parts, but assuming all of those parts add up to $300, this laptop costs about $1,300. It sells for $1200 so it's good value for money. Biggest advantage in the price range: Other similarly priced laptops offer similar specs, but not many can boast a 144 Hz IPS display. Some competitors operate at 120 Hz, which is no joke. M.2 NVMe is a must when considering other competitors. Other than that, most of the laptops in this pool offer the same general specs (CPU, GPU, RAM). PROBLEMS: Audio: The sound is poor. The speakers sound good when held close, but they're nowhere near ear level, so all the sound is drowned out by your knees. I usually use my headphones, but there are plenty of Bluetooth speaker options these days too. Materials: The case is durable. Part metal, part plastic. The grease from your fingers is clearly visible throughout the laptop. Wear (do not) wear vinyl gloves when playing. You may need to clean it frequently. Overheating: All gaming laptops get hot. In fact, most of the other laptops I've tried to buy have been heavily criticized for being hot as hell. Those not criticized for doing so were criticized for breaking the hinges. I bought this one because it was considered more durable and cooler than other gaming laptops. I haven't had any major issues with this laptop, but others have suggested increasing the fan speed if you're playing a hardcore game. Invest in a cooling pad. Overheating this laptop to the point of failure will be very difficult.