The good news is that the typing experience on this Acer is excellent. Cheap laptops often skimp on the keyboard, but that’s not the case here. The keys have plenty of travel and are well-spaced, and there’s not a lot of flex in the keyboard deck that you might see on other budget laptops. Speaking of which, the chassis feels pretty solid overall. The Aspire is a bit thick, but that gives it a sturdiness that keeps it from looking cheap despite the generous use of plastic. It’s not particularly pretty, but Acer gets some style points for the tasteful text logos on the lid. (I’m not sure if it’s a good fit for the Acer laptop.) In fact (For some reason, I was drawn to the “Aspire” text toward the bottom.)
I do have one reservation about durability. When opening the laptop during testing, I gripped the lid in such a way that I felt the back separate from the display bezels ever so slightly. It caught me by surprise and it may have been a fluke how I gripped the lid, but it does make me doubt whether it will hold up to years of use.
For fans of taller displays, the 1920 x 1200 pixel screen has a 16:10 aspect ratio, giving you more vertical space to work with. As a writer, this is my preferred aspect ratio because of the space you get when working on documents, so I’m glad to see it here. However, the screen quality is exactly what you’d expect from a $300 computer, with washed-out colors and terrible viewing angles.
Another area that disappoints is the webcam. Simply put, I wouldn’t buy the Aspire Go 14 if you want to look your best on video calls. The 720p camera is below average, looking dull and washed out. Maybe you should buy a separate webcam?
Photography: Dan Thorp-Lancaster
The port selection is pretty good, with two USB-A ports, one USB-C port, and a full-size HDMI port. Sadly, the laptop charges using a barrel connector, but hopefully the long battery life means you won’t have to travel with the included charger. also Often. It would also have been nice to see an SD card slot for adding more storage.
At this price, you can’t ask for more, and the Aspire Go 14 meets most expectations for a $300 laptop and exceeds them in some ways. Excellent battery life, a great typing experience, and plenty of power for basic tasks make it a decent Chromebook competitor. The one aspect that might kill this laptop for many people is the lack of storage space, though you can carry a USB drive to save documents and other media.
If you don’t need Windows in your daily life, a Chromebook Plus laptop is worth considering as an alternative. You won’t get the same battery life, but you might be able to get a better display and webcam, and these machines are often on sale for under $400.