Asus N751JX or Acer Aspire VN7-791G ?

[nicdavis]

Asus N751JX-T7009D

CPU: 2.6 GHz i7-4720HQ (Haswell)
RAM: 16GB DDR3 1600MHz
GPU: nVidia Geforce GTX950M 4GB
SSD: 256GB
HDD: 1TB @ 7200 rpm
DISPLAY: 17.3" 1080p IPS display
BAT: Li-Ion 6 cell

OTHER FEATURES:
Aluminium build
Bang & Olufsen audio
Free external sub-woofer

PRICE: $1,680

VS.

Acer Aspire VN7-791G-75LQ (V Nitro Black Edition)

CPU: 2.6 GHz i7-4720HQ (Haswell)
RAM: 16GB DDR3 1600MHz
GPU: nVidia GeForce GTX960M 2GB
SSD: 256GB
HDD: 1TB @ 5400 rpm
DISPLAY: 17.3" 1080p IPS display
BAT: Li-Ion 3 cell

OTHER FEATURES:
Dual cooling fans
Dolby Digital Plus Home Theater (4 speakers)

PRICE: $1,900

==================================================
"TO 'ASUS', OR NOT TO 'ASUS'? THAT IS THE QUESTION."

PERSONAL OPINION
ASUS
- not the prettiest laptop ever, but much better looking than the Acer
- there's a really big difference between the top aluminum design and the plastic bottom. The bottom really looks like it's from another (cheap) laptop compared to the top and lid. I would have appreciated more a full body aluminum build. Such a shame!
- I don't like that it's pretty thick
- although it's still laptop audio, I hope the B&O system lives up to it's name sufficiently
- I like the 'white' lighting of the keyboard
- I think Asus is a better laptop maker than Acer
- free sub-woofer included with laptop. Although given the perspective of mobility, I don't know how often I'll be using it

ACER
- I like the design, it makes it look slimmer than it actually is. The feel of the materials is not bad, no hyper-premiumness, but Okay
- I don't like the overall simple, dull, black look - opposite to it's kinky 'V Nitro Black Edition' name
- I don't like the red lighting of the keyboard (we're not all 14 y.o. gamers)
- the grey bits - hinges & surroundings - are NOT aluminum, they're only painted plastic (that was a disappointment! - tells a lot about Acer, IMO)
- I do like the dual fan cooling, although I heard it's really noisy! But I don't know how efficient it is or IF it's such big of a difference to the Asus's singe fan cooling. Reason for this: 1. Cooling is important to performance; 2. Comfort (I always have warm/hot & sweaty palms, summer or winter and I absolutely HATE a hot laptop)
- I like that it has the USB ports towards the back and not towards the front where ALMOST ALL stupid laptop manufacturers put them and they always stand JUST in the way of your hand cause that's exactly where your mouse & pad are going to be


BOTTOM LINE(S)
These two are pretty much the only options I could find at these prices, not counting the really ugly laptops which I have no interest in. I would pick the Asus because of it's looks even over a SLIGHTLY higher specced Acer. The problems my conscience is having are:
#1. I'm not satisfied with both of them entirely for various reasons, among the top of which would be the stupid, ugly, cheap looking, idiotically wide frame of the display on both models. I would have liked a glass-over from edge to edge like the Asus ZenBook has or the Acer Aspire Ethos for example. WHAT IS THE POINT of producing big, premium laptops and not throwing at them THE ABSOLUTE BEST you can?
#2. I care more for looks, design, materials & build quality than for performance. Although, if the performance difference is big, I MAY BE considering the slightly less prettier one
#3. Should I even spend this much? Or, go for a little lower specced model of the both around $1,200-$1,300. And HERE's where the tricky part is cause they vary sooo much! And it's random. For example: an Acer with an i7-4710mq, 16GB of RAM, a 2GB GTX 860M and an Asus that has an i7-4710hq, 12GB of RAM, a 4GB GTX 850M. The price tag on both is almost the same, the Acer JUST has the upper hand on the Asus, performance wise, but I like the look of the Asus better... uuugh! I can't take it anymore! See what I mean? (see #4)
#4. I don't quite do gaming, I'm only tech & performance ADDICTED and I like mobility (see #3)
#5. I don't care for upgrades/upgradeability. Only thing I would probably do within 1 year or so is upgrade to a M.2 cause I heard they're faster
#6. I will keep the laptop for maybe 4-5 years
#7. Deadline is around 2 weeks. Reason, I'VE HAD IT with my old laptop! We had a great time together! It has a good soul! But an old, old body... It sometimes can't keep up with me. The relationship is squabbling and it's time to move on.
And a final but NOT SO RELEVANT #8. Although I don't quite do gaming, although it would not really facilitate my living in ANY way, BUT ONLY because I'm tech & performance addicted, I would definitely buy an ABSOLUTE LATEST specced 17.3 or 18.4 $5,000-$7,000 Alienware. Despite the fact that the looks don't quite convince me, it's tooooo gaming orientated. I really do hope that SOME manufacturer one day builds a really powerful BUT REALLY BEAUTIFUL 17.3 or 18.4 laptop.

I will really appreciate ALL your opinions & comments! Thank you & release me from this pain!

 

[viveknayyar007]

Hello nicdavis

If we leave alone the looks for a while (that we'll discuss later), the Asus laptop still has better specifications like 4GB for GTX950M, 7200 RPM HDD and Li-Ion 6 cell battery. There are the remarkable differences that would definitely give you good performance.

Now for the looks, it looks like Asus has better looks as compared to Acer if the fact that Asus is a bit bulky is ignored.

About the worth, it is solely up to you if you want to invest that kind of money in buying a laptop, and of course, if you think that your daily tasks can be done by going for a cheaper laptop, you should go for it.

If you are not much in gaming, I think you would be happy with Asus for another 4-5 years.

Hope this helps. Good Luck!!

 

[nicdavis]

Hello nicdavis

If we leave alone the looks for a while (that we'll discuss later), the Asus laptop still has better specifications like 4GB for GTX950M, 7200 RPM HDD and Li-Ion 6 cell battery. There are the remarkable differences that would definitely give you good performance.

Now for the looks, it looks like Asus has better looks as compared to Acer if the fact that Asus is a bit bulky is ignored.

About the worth, it is solely up to you if you want to invest that kind of money in buying a laptop, and of course, if you think that your daily tasks can be done by going for a cheaper laptop, you should go for it.

If you are not much in gaming, I think you would be happy with Asus for another 4-5 years.

Hope this helps. Good Luck!!

Thank you for your reply!
I had some trouble finding a better specced Asus, but it also comes with the price tag. Which is high, but I am willing to sacrifice nonetheless! It will reduce my budget to 0, but if I can afford it I will take it.
Battery life is critical, so yeah, a + for the Asus there. I recently heard the Acer's battery can't even hold for an hour, which is absolutely stupid, frankly.
The GPU difference you mentioned is not actually acurate, if you don't mind me saying. The GTX 960M's memory may be 2GB but it's GDDR5, opposed to the 950M's DDR3 (if I'm not mistaking). And although the 950M has 4GB of memory, the 960M has a higher clock speed, higher memory bandwidth and better fps rate. This only plays with my conscience cause I know it is better, but in real life... I don't need the extra GPU performance. The 950M is more than enough for what I'll be using the laptop for.

One last thing that put my thought on the move again is another comment from a user on a different forum. Who said and I quote "new machines are only weeks away so I would keep shopping". And it got me thinking. But I have NO IDEA what or when new machines will be arriving. Will need help with this! Cause I might just find a better deal or a more beautiful laptop or both. Maybe even a 5th gen i7 (Broadwell).