(Dead) Walmart - $399 Acer Spin 3, Convertible 14" FHD IPS Touch, Thunderbolt, Intel Core i5-1035G1, 8GB RAM, 256GB NVMe SSD, W10

[tcsenter]

Walmart - $399 Acer Spin 3, Convertible 14" FHD IPS Touch, Thunderbolt, Intel Core i5-1035G1, 8GB RAM, 256GB NVMe SSD, W10

I can't find a better deal on these features/specs. Appears to be an honest $75+ cheaper than competing models or even on this particular model from other resellers. What makes this deal are Convertible (a.k.a. 2-in-1, Flex, or Flip) 14" IPS touchscreen, Intel Core i5 instead of Celeron or Pentium, 8GB RAM (soldered LPDDR4) and 256GB NVMe SSD (upgradeable) where many others are still 4GB and 128GB. There are 2 x M.2 2280 slots, one populated by the shipped SSD, one available for second SSD. Also bundles a sleeve/bag and active rechargeable (capacitor based) stylus.

I'm in for one and scheduled to receive it on the 30th, will report back.

 

[gibster]

At this price, there are better options available... https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/asus-vivobook-14-f415ea-ub51-14-laptop-computer-400-mc.2603239/

 

[tcsenter]

Except the ASUS is not convertible or 'flip 2-in-1 feature' and no touchscreen. I thought I highlighted the importance of those features to this deal, for those interested in them...

 

[igor_kavinski]

For me, the soldered RAM is the only deal breaker.

ctx_clock Benchmark - OpenBenchmarking.org

That CPU is the champ in that benchmark and should hopefully do really well in virtualization workloads. With 64GB RAM, it could have made a great VM test machine. I suppose one way to offset the limited RAM to some extent is to replace the NVMe SSD with an expensive Optane SSD.

 

[tcsenter]

I suppose one way to offset the limited RAM to some extent is to replace the NVMe SSD with an expensive Optane SSD.

There are TWO internal M.2 2280 NVMe slots (according to two reviewers), so you can just add-in a second SSD. I updated my OP.

 

[tcsenter]

Received yesterday and have been playing around with it, setting up Winders and applying updates. Comes with Windows 10 Home, not S mode. MFG date of May 2021, the SP314-5x series was introduced in early 2020, so safe to assume this is excess inventory that Acer is trying to unload in favor of newer designs/models.

There are two M.2 2280 NVMe connectors (RAM is soldered), with Intel Optane ready chipset and firmware (UEFI). ~8 hour battery runtime is much more believable than Acer's advertised 11 hour. Have not tested the stylus (doubt it will ever be used). 720P webcam is typical for laptops below $500 range, nothing special there. Speakers are also typical. Thunderbolt 3, Intel AX201 Wifi 6, regular HDMI (I do not like the mini or micro ones), two USB 3.1 ports (one higher amp for charging), Micro SD slot, fingerprint reader!

IMO this was the best deal I've gotten in a while. Even the shell/case, while plastic, is more rigid than almost anything you'd see below $500. As sturdy as my sister's $600 Dell Inspiron 14 (non-touch, non-convertible) from 2020. I would get another but July 4th sales are coming and might bring an even better deal, e.g. door buster type