acer Predator Helios 300 Gaming Laptop, Intel Core i7-9750H, GeForce GTX 1660 Ti, 15.6" Full HD 144Hz Display, 3ms Response Time, 16GB DDR4, 512GB PCIe NVMe SSD, RGB Backlit Keyboard, PH315-52-710B

GAMING: Witcher 3 - I can comfortably (with turbo mode ON, otherwise GPU hit 90+ C) play on maximum/high settings, with the GPU (and CPU) being well within acceptable range. Very smooth game play (At least 60fps, although I don't know how to get an FPS counter in it [Steam FPS counter doesn't work in it]). OW/BL2/Other FPS - No turbo mode required, maximum settings, easily hits 144fps. TV/YOUTUBE/MUSIC: Screen is great, obviously. Sound is fine. WORK/SCHOOL: It is quite on idle, but a bit of noise with multiple tabs/Word docs. open - but with a professor talking or other students typing, was never a concern. But sometimes I did feel a bit obnoxious in the library. But only a bit. With earbuds in, can't hear any laptop fan noises (with turbo on, ofc, it's a different story). BUILD QUALITY AND KEYBOARD: I can hold and handle the laptop anyways I want - it's that solid. Feels premium to me. It does, as shown in Jarrod's video, get your grubby finger prints all over it, and plus the kind of gamery (still low key) logo on the front + the big vents, PLUS the bit of fan noise, it may not be for you if you're doing office work in a very quite environment, around other people. The KEYBOARD is fantastic! It is sturdy, with zero noticeable flex. I do a lot of typing, and coming from the great Mac keyboard, this keyboard is still GREAT. Dedicated turbo key is nice, when I use it (looking at you, Witcher 3). Keyboard/laptop does have some sharp edges and very infrequently do need to shift my wrists (but again, it's really not a problem). Trackpad is, like the videos show, sufficient, but not very good. BATTERY: I only game with it plugged in, and have not had any problems yet. When I take it with me to class, I get it to like 50% ish after a 2hr class, with multiple tabs (whatsapp, amazon, gmail, and of course word docs) open. To be very safe, I would say three hours of use without battery, but even that is probably on the lower end. CAMERA: It's fine, lol. Nothing special. Gets Zoom done fine. OVERALL: Great laptop for both gaming and work. Easily hits 144fps, great laptop (no flex), sturdy build, decent charge. But, like every gaming laptop, can be rather loud, has a bad trackpad, beefy charger, slightly gamery look. A lot of good competition out there now (Razorblade 15, new HP Omen 15, Lenovo Legion, etc), but the keyboard on the Helios 300 is the best, so it seems to me. Also, it has the most reviews so is the most reliable at the moment. Very satisfied with my purchase. You will be too.

I received the laptop a couple weeks ago, and so far it's great! I'm relatively familiar with computers but by no means a whiz, and I'm a moderate to heavy gamer. Pros: -Love the feel of the keyboard, very quiet and able to adjust the backlight colors in 4 separate zones -Powerful fans keep the laptop cool even during heavy gaming -So far can run everything I need -Beautiful screen display quality -Decent speakers, great audio quality with headphones -PredatorSense is a helpful interface for controlling temperatures, performance, lighting, etc. -The built in numeric keypad is a huge plus -3 USB slots unlike a lot that only come with 2 -USB-C slot + HDMI as well -Easy to add additional storage -Webcam is great quality Cons: -Screen casing is plastic and I can see why some reviewers have had issues with it bending/breaking easily -Bevel on the screen is a little thick given that it's a modern laptop -Power plug in is located in the middle of the left side, a little odd and out of place in my opinion -Fans are definitely loud even when using basic applications, but not obnoxious and definitely not noticeable with decent headphones -Speakers are located on the underside so sound can be a bit muted if on the wrong surface -A bit bulkier than other laptops but to be expected with all of the hardware it's packing and the sturdy base design Overall, can't believe how much I got for $1,200. This thing is a beast and can handle everything I throw at it, with some very minor setbacks that aren't worth the extra $1,000+ you'd pay for something "better."

EDIT 2/14/23: Still going strong today. I wonder if anyone is still looking at reviews for this? Regardless, I think I would happily buy a Helios again based on my experience with this one. EDIT 9/4/2021: Wanted to say that this is still going strong a year later. For the price, it was (still is) definitely an unbeatable computer. The newer Helios models have RTX instead of GTX like this one but this computer is more than enough for me. EDIT 6/9/2020: Little late on the update! The second machine I received has been fine. It can render videos quickly and has better battery life than I expected. EDIT 4/3/2020: I received the replacement and at least got through the setup with no problem. I’ll update this again in a month as my final statement on this product. If it has any issues at all, it’ll be getting returned and I’ll never buy Acer again. I can say that the screen is beautiful, the sound is great, and the keys have a lovely soft type to them. The real test will be in how it works though so I will be putting it through the real test this month with intensive video editing and gaming. Check back for an update! I got this, plugged it in to charge a while, then sat down to set it up. No problems as I went through the Windows 10 setup until... The screen went black. The port where the power source was plugged in wasn’t lighting up. Just a total brick. Completely puzzled! I wrote in to Amazon CS and a replacement is already on the way and I’ll be returning this one. I really hope this was just one stroke of bad luck because for the few moments I got to see the screen and type on the keyboard, it was a lovely experience. REALLY hoping for better luck with the replacement. It’s due to arrive Saturday. Predator came so highly recommended that I’m willing to give the replacement a chance because I was thrilled with the look but i can’t really use a paperweight that’s quite that expensive.

This laptop is a fantastic budget gaming laptop. The SSD boots right up very quick load times, the GTX card is very capable for almost all gaming needs. I have been playing COD Warzone and it runs extremely smooth, the fans do get loud and after a while they REALLY start pushing hot air out the side to where you can feel it on your mouse hand if youre close enough, I think this is a good indicator of how well its cooling. The one issue that lots of reviewers mentioned and its very true, is that the battery life is abysmal, I can play COD for about an hour unplugged, even just sitting there on the homescreen it will only last maybe 3 hours. i get it with all these powerful features it does use a lot of power, but if you think youll have enough battery for a 4 hour flight this isnt it. BUT with how incredibly well it runs my games, i can forgive it i still give it 5 stars even with the terrible battery life because this is clearly a gaming laptop and it doesnt pretend to be anything else. The custom LED lighting for the keyboard is pretty slick, you can give it different light profiles for different games. The monitor is really impressive for a laptop, even high movement gaming looks fantastic with no perceptible lag. The wireless card is very fast i get about 85-90% wired speeds even with a few walls between the router. Overall im very impressed and I absolutely recommend this laptop for anyone looking for a great gaming rig. Also, its upgradable, it comes with a hard drive expansion kit, and everything can be taken out and upgraded for future proofing.

Pros: 144 FPS is really nice. Graphics and GPU are great for Warzone and RL. I’ve had no problems with gaming or internet browsing. Cons: The bloatware, just remove it so you have extra space. Norton is annoying. The battery will last maybe 3 hours, seemingly no matter how much or little you are doing. The fans get loud and it gets hot, I plan on getting a cooling pad. After three weeks of use it works as it should. I study and play rocket league primarily so I’m not asking a ton from it. One thing I noticed is that the FPS drops automatically to 60 if the charger isn’t connected. Maybe I need to go into settings. I also had to adjust the brightness and wear blue light glasses because it put a higher strain on my eyes than just playing with a console with a tv. Overall, I’m very happy I got this and I think it will last a while. Very sturdy, very buff graphics and gpu, and spot on price for a solid budget friendly, higher performing gaming laptop.

Great laptop, runs smooth and no issues.

This has been a really great laptop, no issues with it, it runs top tier games at full graphics quality without a hitch and with other programs running in the background. The one tiny problem I did have was with the printing wearing away on a single key on the keyboard, and I contacted Acer support and asked them to send me a new keyboard and they did! Also in case you've had horror experiences with the battery replacement process on other gaming laptops, I checked before I bought this one and the battery is really easy to replace. The keyboard is designed in a way that I think will keep small particles from getting stuck under them, and the keys are easy to replace if you have the same problem I did with the printing wearing off. It's also really nice to have a keyboard with a full numpad on a laptop.

The value of this laptop can't be understated. There are no real weaknesses here. The only notable problems people may have with it are the fan noise while gaming and the lack of "silent" fan operation when not gaming. You won't notice the idle whirl of fans unless you are in a completely silent room with no music or headphones in play. Besides that, the gaming performance is top-notch. Handles all games on high with zero problems at 60+fps. The notoriously poorly-optimized Cyberpunk ran at medium-high for me with 60-70fps. Solid. The trackpad is good, well-positioned. The keyboard has good travel and is fairly quiet. I bought this primarily for the keyboard and screen, which most laptops are bottom-tier these days on both fronts. The numberpad is nice, I wish there was a way to fit the 0 key two-wide, but that's not important, just typist quirks. The screen is plenty bright for any indoor situation, does fine outside under indirect sun, thanks to the lack of glossy coating. The 144hz is nice for older games or some buttery-smooth indy sidescrollers. The weight of this laptop is obvious, but not unbearable. I like the fact that this laptop doesn't feel cheap. The plastic shell on the bottom is hard and strong. If I dropped this thing like a complete fool, I think it would survive 2-3 feet without a break--maybe a chip or dent. Overall, for me, this laptop is unbeatable in this price range. With the reviews of higher-end laptops, it sounds like you'd be wasting money for 5-10fps difference if you look at. Remember, there's only so much you can do within the power limits of a laptop.

This is first time in my life I am reviewing something and also the first time in my life I order something online over a $1000 value, and also the first time I order something from Amazon and have no regret, I got my order 12 days before the promising time, so huge thanks to Amazon my machine is all good and I am happy with your service. I have nothing to say about Helios 300 because I did my 6 months research before getting this machine so all good, highly recommend to those who have a little small budget. Thank you for reading this long review :)

6 years ongoing working without any issues

Product delivered as described, good value!

Runs games like Deep Rock Galactic, Metro Exodus and GTA V on max settings with ease. Only problem I had with this laptop though is the MaxAudio Driver that comes with the laptop and a few of the audio settings. I found a fix for this, but whenever I went into YouTube and started playing a video, the audio driver would turn on my web camera which isn't really necessary and a bit weird. I fixed this by ticking the option to not allow any external apps to use my webcam. I also had to find out how to disable "enhanced audio" that came default with it because it sounds horrible. It was pretty frustrating having to look all of this up as I hadn't had any of these problems in the past with new laptops. Other than that though this laptop is great.

This laptop really give me hard time. Randomly shut down with or without Blue Screen. Hanging at gameplay like few minutes after start up and restart again. I was told that it's under international warranty but can't go to the local service center for repair. They told me to send it back to USA or Canada. My opinion, don't buy Acer predator and this will be my LAST Acer product.