Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 Gaming Laptop | Intel Core i7-13650HX | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 | 16" WUXGA 1920 x 1200 165Hz G-SYNC Display | 16GB DDR5 | 512GB Gen 4 SSD | Killer Wi-Fi 6E | PHN16-71-76H5

My gaming rig was on its way out, with an outdated i5 processor, GTX 1060 graphics card (which I paid too much for used on eBay) and 16GB of RAM, so my partner and I discussed what our next PC purchase would be. After much research, I found that the Acer Helios 300 provided a decent integrated graphics card (3060) that could play older AAA titles on Ultra, and newer ones on either High or Medium with little overclocking using stock settings most of the time. Most recently I played the Diablo IV Beta & the Resident Evil 4 remake on High settings, and it looked great on the 1920x1080 screen.On occasion I do plug it into my 4K LG Monitor, or the 4K TV in the family room via HDMI port or Mini Display Port (and doing so increasing the screen resolution to 3840x2160). At this point, its when the overclocking tool(s) become most advantageous. Yes, the fans are a bit loud, but that's normal for these devices. To combat this I pair either my Apple Airpods Max via BT or my Razer THX headset when gaming on the TV. I also use a cooling mat that has a couple fans on the bottom that help dissipate heat.I've also been using this laptop for school work which it does in a flash on anything Office 365. Webcam and built-in mic are more than enough for Zoom calls and proctored exams. This thing is overkill for school work. (Which is just an added bonus.)I've also done a bit of video editing using Adobe Premiere and it renders video files much quicker than my old PC. I'm not much of a content creator, but I imagine this computer would be great for extensive 4K video or other more complex projects.Finally, this machine has several options for expand-ability and future-proofing. Since purchasing it, I have upgraded the RAM to 32GB and have installed a second SSD drive (using the included adapter that came in the box). And I'm happy knowing that there is an empty M.2 slot available when I decide to install a third hard drive for when I need to.I have no qualms about the price, and believe it was more than fair for what's available on the market today. It's a solid mid-tier gaming laptop that's more than capable with keeping up with newer titles. With chip shortages, supply chain issues, not to mention the folks who do bitcoin mining grabbing up all the graphics cards, which in turn jack up prices to insane amounts, it was a no-brainer to replace my aging gaming rig with this laptop instead of holding out hope for a better graphics card in the future.

This has been my daily driver computer for almost a year now and I've been very impressed. It's handled every game I've thrown at it and more.GPU: I'm going to do this first since this is arguably the most important part. I have the RTX 3060 version. The important thing to note is that this is the MOBILE 3060, which is slightly less powerful than the desktop 3060. It's nearly equivalent in power to a desktop 1070 Ti. I have been playing some pretty intensive games on it over the last year including, most recently, Baldur's Gate 3 on max graphics. I keep the screen refresh rate at 60Hz instead of the 144Hz that you can use because it saves battery while also allowing your GPU to rest a bit while gaming. I've also capped the FPS at 60 directly through the Nvidia app. Same reason there, I don't need 144Hz. In BG3, It keeps a consistent 50-60fps while using only about 50% of the GPU. I also consistently play games from Xbox Gamepass on here on max graphics with very little stutter or issues. All in all, I'm very impressed by what a mobile 3060 can do.Screen: The screen is a very bright, crisp IPS screen that's capable of up to 144Hz. The viewing angle is good and even from the side you can still make out details (albeit a bit dimmer). It gets very bright at max level, almost headache causing, so I personally keep the brightness at about 20%.Battery: Depending on what you're doing, the battery is...fine. If I'm running a game (not recommended on battery), I can get about an hour out of it. But if I'm just using it day-to-day with my settings (60Hz refresh rate, 20% brightness), I can get 3-4 hours of solid use.CPU: I've never had any issues with it multi-tasking or running any app or game. Even when using CPU intensive programs like Handbrake, it will max the CPU but still give you decent performance to continue using it for web browsing and videos.Cooling: The fans themselves are somewhat loud if you get in to heavy duty gaming and I do recommend getting a stand to prop it up to allow for airflow, which drastically helps. There is a physical turbo button which makes the fans go to 100% and are pretty effective at lowering temps but are also loud, so best to only use that with headphones. Under load in BG3, it will run about 60C, which is fairly low. In a more intense game, I have seen it get to 70-75C which is warmer, but still in acceptable range.Overall, I'd recommend giving this a buy if you want a solid gaming laptop but also a daily driver.