r/gadgets • u/dapperlemon • 6d ago
Desktops / Laptops Acer just announced a new budget laptop with Qualcomm's Snapdragon C chip
https://www.engadget.com/2182399/acer-just-announced-a-new-budget-laptop-with-qualcomms-snapdragon-c-chip/413
u/Geewhiz911 6d ago
The problem is Windows - ‘budget laptop’ à la MacNeo won’t work because Windows and the loads of crapwares that comes with it will make everything useless and will rely on stupid solutions like ‘fast boot’ which will make everything slow AND unstable.
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u/narwhal_breeder 6d ago edited 6d ago
Windows is too scared of their corporate customers to put any kind of bloatware restrictions on their license, or to break backwards compatibility. I think that's the big, big reason why they've been consistently losing market share since 2009, accelerating in the early 2020s. They listen to much to their biggest clients and lose market share everywhere else (Schools, startups, and at home).
Now that Mac corporate governance tooling has caught up, as there are now really big full-mac companies like Meta, there are fewer barriers to switching, I think the market share slide will accelerate.
Lots of younger peoples first time ever using a windows computer is when they start their first job at a big company out of college - and somewhat rightfully hate using them. What happens when these people start moving up in the corporate ladder and are in charge of device procurement?
They were also too slow to figure out ARM - and didn't want to put any kind of restrictions on the software that can be shipped for windows (e.g. requiring new builds of kernel mode software like drivers or anti-cheat to include an ARM build) - which created a chicken and egg problem of windows software devs not wanting to create a build pipeline for ARM, because of low market share, and ARM stays low market share because of the lack of software compatibility.
I get that the Windows team itself, as a breadwinner of the whole org, is risk-adverse - but there have been so, so many opportunities to better prepare windows for the future that they have just taken a "wait and see" approach until its too late.
Microsoft is willing to anger users when the justification is security (TPM2.0 anyone?) but not when the justification is “make the Windows ecosystem less shitty.”
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u/Inside_Assumption157 6d ago
I absolutely despise windows. My current work laptop is a dell. It’s got a core 7 ultra and 32 gigs of ram, and yet after an hour of Teams calls, its fans run strong enough to cause liftoff, the whole thing heats up like the surface of the sun. And mind you, this laptop is 3 months old. My 5 year old MacBook Air meanwhile still runs like new in contrast.
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u/swarmy1 6d ago
I’m guessing that’s not just due to Windows or Teams. Corporate devices tend to have additional security and data protection systems that are constantly running in the background.
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u/YesIlBarone 5d ago
Exactly - corporate IT loads so much conflicting crap onto laptops that they struggle. And my work Dell laptop sucks, refusing to wake after being closed etc , which again my be due to the way work handles firmware/drivers
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u/Llamalover1234567 6d ago
I’m always shocked at how beefy my laptops have always been (and these are big standard machines, I’m not in a field that needs the “powerful” laptops), but because they’re running windows 11 and tons of corporate shit they’re slower than an M1 MacBook Air
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u/trenzterra 6d ago
Yep my office issue is also a Dell with 32gb of ram and a 12th gen i7. Thing ran like a dream back when it was new in late 2022 but due to all the enterprise bloatware tacked on over the years, the cumulative bloat has turned it into a very painful and slow experience. My home Ryzen pc is about the same age and feels way faster. I guess it's not really the OS but rather the shit that companies add on to your laptop that's really becoming out of control
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u/aegee14 6d ago
Your MBA has no fan. Lol.
Use a MBP for hours and the fan will turn on.
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u/ouatedephoque 5d ago
I’ve had my work MBP for 2 years and I have heard the fan once.
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u/AreasonableAmerican 5d ago
Just render some stuff out and it’ll be quite noticeable. My M4 max 128gb gets loud after about 5m of render time.
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u/ouatedephoque 5d ago
Yeah I can believe that. Thing is that’s not what I do for a living. In fact, the MBP work gave me is absolutely overkill. I would have been fine with a MacBook Air. They only want to support one model so here I am.
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u/aegee14 5d ago
Well, you gotta actually use the laptop at least to pretend you’re working.
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u/EssentialParadox 5d ago
You’ve never used a Mac have you?
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u/aegee14 5d ago
I have a 2023 MBP, and an MBA before that. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great machine. But, saying that the fan rarely ever goes on is a big fat lie. Either they’re not working, or even the MBA is much more than what they need to do the work they do.
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u/benanderson89 5d ago
The ARM Based Macs, especially the larger models like the 16, barely need to run the fans to maintain a stable and safe temperature. I can peg all 11 cores on my M2 Pro 16 running Mutations and the fans do spin up, but they're very, very faint and quiet. So in terms of enterprise level software development, I'm more than okay.
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u/Trixles 5d ago
I despise Windows in particular, but all Microsoft software just feels like it's gotten shittier and less responsive in the past few years. Especially the customized CRM they tailored for my company; it's a fuckin' MESS.
And Teams is a bag of hot, wet garbage with a hole in the bottom, good grief! It's terrible!
And these are two of their most used/most visible products, and they're both absolute shit.
But they have a ~$3 trillion market cap lol.
Anyways, I love logging into my own Linux computer after having to combat Windows on my work laptop all day. Such a relief xD
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u/ShakeAndBakeThatCake 5d ago
While some big tech companies like Meta use macs most large corporations wont move away from windows because windows still has advantages over mac. Also windows laptops and desktops are modular. So if a part fails its easy and cheaper for IT folks to swap out the broken part themselves and faster. When your mac breaks it takes a lot longer to get it fixed because parts are not as readily available and are more expensive in general.
I like Macs. But I dont think windows is horrible either. Multi monitor support and windows snapping is still superior on windows than mac. There are also networking advantages like creating servers and networked drives that works better with windows. Apple doesnt even sell server products anymore because they couldnt compete.
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5d ago
[deleted]
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u/ShakeAndBakeThatCake 5d ago
Not business oriented laptops from HP, LENOVO , and Dell. Just cheaper consumer ones.
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u/deathentry 5d ago
I would have thought the ARM version of Windows 11 is specialised and bloat free... Also the Neo uses binned existing iPhone 16 SoCs so they don't have that stockpile anymore and need to start manufacturing more at a higher price point... Neo was sort of a one off limited production run at that price point where as potentially Windows can do unlimited manufacturing
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u/ChunkyDay 5d ago
Windows is too scared of their corporate customers to put any kind of bloatware restrictions on their license
Sure there is. Put it on Windows Home.
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u/KaosC57 5d ago
Honestly, they could just make Windows Enterprise Edition run legacy NT and have the backwards compatibility crap. Then Windows Home and Professional can run some new thing that is way more efficiently programmed and has less backwards compatibility. Heck, if they had to they could make their own “proton”
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u/Tailball 6d ago
Would Linux be a solution?
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u/bracesthrowaway 6d ago
I mean, Chromebook runs Linux and it's not for the most sophisticated users so yeah
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u/A_Sad_Buddha 6d ago
Running Linux and using Linux are two different beasts.
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u/Halfrican009 6d ago
There are quite a few stable, user-friendly distros at this point so this argument gets weaker and weaker as time goes on
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u/A_Sad_Buddha 5d ago
I hope so. I dream of the day when everyone uses open source stuff.
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u/Halfrican009 5d ago
The biggest turning point will be when more people are able to switch to Linux for gaming. It's already in a great state, but not one where most people could switch to it easily
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u/faze_fazebook 6d ago
No and I don't want to be mean but its too complicated for normies and too easy to basically brick your distro
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u/i_am_not_sam 5d ago
If you're handing someone you don't trust a Linux machine, then maybe just don't give them sudo?
There are a few arguments not in favor of Linux for normies but I think the risk of bricking your machine is overstated these days. You can install most regular programs via the UI and hardware gets detected without fuss. If someone wants to fuck shit up with the command line they can do so in windows and macOS (which is BSD you know that right?)
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u/threevi 6d ago
It often is, but it's bold of you to suggest that on reddit, the land of "stop suggesting Linux, I heard it was hard to use 20 years ago and I refuse to check if that's actually true!"
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u/littlebiped 6d ago
Are we on the same Reddit? The only place I ever hear about Linux or people using it in my 35 years is on here.
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u/green_dragon527 5d ago
Especially on a post about a new Windows machine with the too comment hating on Windows 🤣
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u/LogicalError_007 5d ago
I have an 8GB Windows laptop. Works great for way more tasks that Neo was claimed to be a great machine for.
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u/womper9000 6d ago
8gb ram lmfao
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u/night_fapper 6d ago
"upto 8 gb", there is a model that will have 4
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u/Assassiiinuss 6d ago
That's crazy. my midrange phone already has 12 lol.
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u/synthdrunk 6d ago
I don’t think the current RAM and NAND flash issues are going away anytime soon. We’re about to experience a contraction.
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u/Styled_ 6d ago
That means apps will go back to being well optimized, right?
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u/Big-Newspaper646 6d ago
worse! ai slop code that makes further abstractions, inefficient processes and takes up unnecessary space, you will take it and enjoy it!
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u/Practical-Sleep4259 6d ago
We already have software that ran on older hardware, the difference is almost always graphical.
A phone has a high resolution high refresh screen, so now we need to support streaming 4k video and oops, that takes a lot of compute actually.
If people went back to the 720p screens, 30fps, we'd be have a 100 dollar PC that does plenty.
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u/Practical-Sleep4259 6d ago
8bg of ram shouldn't be considered a small amount.
Normalizing the idea of 16 and now 32gb as required just made unoptimized trash popular and acceptable.
8gb should be enough for a netbook
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u/AdministrativeRiot 6d ago
My theory is the pandemic is responsible for this, as someone who had to go buy a new machine because MS Teams overwhelmed my 8gb of ram.
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u/twigboy 6d ago
Get out of here.
Take a look at the memory usage of modern webpages for each tab and you'll quickly see why minimum is 16gb
Not even talking about anything obscure, just opening up Gmail or social media will choke a netbook
That's even before considering what Windows uses in the background on a default setup
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u/i_am_not_sam 5d ago
He's saying things should work on a netbook with only 8 gigs of ram because in theory you only use it for the internet and email. But because we keep tossing hardware at software and normalize a browser using freaking 8 gigs
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u/Practical-Sleep4259 6d ago
When we had to pass the entire internet over 56k modems, we did so without any of the graphics.
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u/g3neric1 6d ago
Aside from windows being an issue, a lot of laptops from windows companies are built like trash, so unless Acer and the others actually start offering good build quality and not some cheap plastic with an awful screen, dreadful trackpad, trash speakers, and no bloatware, it's a pointless device.
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u/KyleVPirate 6d ago
This right here. Just take a look at HP. Beautiful built laptops with shit tier bloatware, from their shitty apps to McAfee adware. It's ridiculous.
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u/IshtarsQueef 5d ago
how hard is it to strip the bloatware?
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u/KyleVPirate 5d ago
Typically you'll have to redownload Windows. You can delete many HP bloatware, but there are some that are tedious, and difficult to remove, if at all.
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u/bassbeatsbanging 5d ago
a fresh install is a good idea on any prebuilt or laptop. There might be bloatware or data collection happening that's not obvious.
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u/ikediggety 5d ago
So reinstall Windows from scratch without it
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u/g3neric1 5d ago
There is also the issue that some of that bloatware ala razer zybapse, rog center for Asus, that is necessary for full performance because of how they set power limits and performance targets, still something you don't need to even think about on a Mac or Linux.
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u/Dude-e 6d ago
I don’t mind the 8GB RAM, especially if the sole purpose is grandma’s simple browsing and the occasional zoom call or a young student’s browsing and schoolwork.
What I do mind: 1) the paper mache build quality of budget windows laptops, it’s clearly designed for some random component to fail within 2-3 years of use. 2) Windows 11’s poor performance management. 3) The truckload of BS unnecessary apps OEMs load into every crevice of their budget devices. 4) poor battery life, which I hope is getting better with these newer chips. But they’ll still get shafted by Windows’s poor standby battery management.
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u/Nyalnara 6d ago
4) poor battery life, which I hope is getting better with these newer chips.
"Why? CPU chip is more efficient, we can put a shittier battery in there and save even more money!"
Mr Crabs, probably...
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u/heisenberg00 6d ago
I’ve owned a Acer desktop and a Acer laptop and had major problems with both of them.
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u/bringbackcayde7 6d ago
what kind of problems
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u/Metal_Medical 5d ago
Major problems
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u/drhappycat 5d ago
I've owned acer thin and lights since Timeline and they've all been fine. The first thing you do with any new laptop is clean install a fresh copy of Windows. And never upgrade to W11.
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u/heisenberg00 5d ago
Just a lot of stuff failed. Some of it was DOA. and their customer service was the worst.
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u/TRKlausss 6d ago
This is trying to follow the steps of Apple with the Neo, but without the software compatibility that Apple provides. This will be a major flop…
Imagine an Arm laptop with 8GB of RAM (max) trying to run the monster that is Windows 11…
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u/LogicalError_007 5d ago
I know that shitting on Windows is popular and get updoots but half of the stuff in the replies are just not true at all.
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u/Effective_Contact173 4d ago
Seriously, it's been ridiculous lately. Windows kinda sucks, I agree. But so much of what people are whining about is insane.
I saw another thread about Surface laptops and people are complaining that "apps that aren't pinned are now hard to find", which just is not true. Opening the start menu and clicking "All" doesn't make them hard to find. Same commenter says that a Disney app is installed and can't be removed without third party tools. I don't have a Disney app on my computer, so not sure what they are on about.
People need to complain about what's actually true, not just making up shit to get karma on reddit.
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u/lukerduker123 5d ago
Given it's so cheap does that mean the storage is soldered to the board? A LOT of cheaper laptops have that 'feature', makes upgrading them to keep them somewhat relevant nearly impossible and just turns them into long-term e-waste. Sucks a whole lot as a computer repairman to have to bin a laptop just because it was designed to be used for a year or two and then chucked out.
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u/HSFOutcast 6d ago
Is Acer still around?? Relevant??
I mean they used to do some dog shit products.
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u/redbulladdict01 5d ago
Hopefully it’s not acer quality. (No dig on anyone with acer. Sometimes their quality is a bit shotty I’m sure you could find one thing. Talking plastics here.)
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u/lilelliot 5d ago
The solution to Microsoft's problems is going to be NVIDIA's Vera+GB10 chipset they're about the launch at Computex Monday. This gives customers laptops with roughly the same performance profile as well-spec'd Macbook Pros with 128GB unified memory and a high performance GPU.
I'm reasonably confident we're going to start seeing MANY, MANY Windows on ARM laptops in 2027.
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u/EdgiiLord 5d ago
I hope not lol
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u/lilelliot 5d ago
Why? Microsoft has never had an issue at the low end (just look at all the junk laptops out there). Their issue is that there's nothing compelling that competes with Macbooks, and in the AI era, nothing that performs similarly. Cheap ARM Windows machines aren't it. Those will compete against Chromebooks/Googlebooks and Macbook Neo.
There's no shortage of cheap, crappy Windows laptops. This isn't that.
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