MBA 11 vs Acer V5-171-6679

volvik said:

There's obviously some unresolved cost issue in my mind about my intended MBA 11 purchase (i-5, 8 gb RAM & 256 SSD....$1399.00)

My recent googling came up with this Acer model which is also an 11.6" unit with the identical i-5 3317U CPU, Ivy Bridge chipset, HD4000, 8 gb RAM, SD slot, 3xUSB (2.0 & 3.0) and HDMI.

Now admitted is that it's a 500gb 2.5" HD and plastic as opposed to aluminum case....but at $590 I'm having a bit of a problem getting my head around the difference in price between the two.

Is it just me? 😕

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One has good build quality and holds value for years while the other doesn't have as good quality and definitely doesn't hold its value.

There are a few things that contribute to the price difference. Here are my thoughts below.

1.) Materials and Build Quality - build quality and engineering in the Air is superior to the Acer. I've yet to find a windows Track pad i actually like. (Mind you, this could be spectacular, i wouldn't know since I haven't touched the Acer myself, so this is just speculation based on popular trends).
2.) One runs Windows and the other OS X. With it being the only computer running OS X (Sans a Hackintosh), they can price it a bit more. I don't think this rolls up into the cost all that much, but i'm sure it's in the calculation some how. I also find that OS X has a better shelf life than Windows. I had a windows laptop i bought when XP first came out and by the end of it, i couldn't use it any more since XP got so bloated. My Rev A Macbook has Snow Leopard on it and it's still buzzing along just fine.
3.) SSD. SSD's cost more than hard drives especially at the bulk level.
4.) Support. This is the big one. You need a replacement or help, you get it with Apple since they bake it in the price. I've got my Macbook serviced and got warranty parts even though my I was outside of warranty since it was pretty clear it was a manufacturing defect. Good luck calling Acer to fix stuff. It's always hit or miss when you call OEM's. This is what you are mainly paying for when you look at the price difference.

I'd like to be as unbiased as possible but I say go with the Acer. The only thing the Macbook air has over it is OSX and to be honest, those days of Windows being a pain are over. I'm on an Acer V5 also. It's the 11.6 inch model that looks like a macbook (color scheme). It only has a quad core A6 processor and some AMD HD graphics but it runs great for $399. I can play 1080P video without a problem and the touchscreen combined with Windows 8 is actually really neat. I have owned plenty of mac devices in the past and the whole mac v pc debate is really down to the operating system nowadays as other companies have caught up to apple in the design field.

Current Lappie:

http://us.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/model/NX.M8WAA.001

OrangeInc said:

I'd like to be as unbiased as possible but I say go with the Acer. The only thing the Macbook air has over it is OSX and to be honest, those days of Windows being a pain are over. I'm on an Acer V5 also. It's the 11.6 inch model that looks like a macbook (color scheme). It only has a quad core A6 processor and some AMD HD graphics but it runs great for $399. I can play 1080P video without a problem and the touchscreen combined with Windows 8 is actually really neat. I have owned plenty of mac devices in the past and the whole mac v pc debate is really down to the operating system nowadays as other companies have caught up to apple in the design field.

Current Lappie:

http://us.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/model/NX.M8WAA.001

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This thread is 6 months old..thanks for coming in to peddle Acer, though.

I searched google for acer v5 vs macbook air 11 to read some articles, I came across this article and the posts were interesting so I commented.

Your comparing $600 computer to a $1200?