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As for the touchpad, the surface is made of plastic, but it doesn't have that rough texture that tends to lend a distinctly "budgety" feel. Other models allow for multicolor lighting that is customizable by zone. Our tester unit, sold on Amazon, has only blue key backlighting as an option. It has a balanced amount of key travel with a satisfying bounce, making for a pleasant typing experience. Both are surprisingly good, particularly the keyboard. Last but not least for the physical build: the keyboard and touchpad. At this price, it's a win if the screen isn't a demerit, and the Helios 300 provides a serviceable display with useful gaming features.
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A matte finish cuts down on annoying reflectivity. It's roughly what you'd expect from an average laptop, with fine sharpness and colors, no more and no less. Visually, the picture is good enough, if not remarkable.
#Acer predator helios 300 2018 1080p#
These are gaming-focused features, and the 1080p native resolution is the right pick for the graphics chip (more on that below). It features a 144Hz top refresh rate, as well as a 3ms response time with overdrive. The resolution is 1080p/full HD (1,920 by 1,080 pixels), and it's a high-refresh gaming panel. The display nestled between those bezels is average-quality. It's a partway transition, versus what we have seen on many other (admittedly, often pricier) systems. The new Helios 300's side bezels are pretty thin, but the top and bottom ones aren't. Trimmer bezels let manufacturers fit traditional-size screens into smaller overall footprints, and, of course, they also look sleeker. The screen bezels on this laptop are thinner than those on most gaming laptops of the past few years, but not as thin as they come.
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It includes very similar internal components the extra money gains you much better portability. Our Editors' Choice among midrange gaming models, the $1,699 MSI GS65 Stealth, measures just 0.69 by 15.1 by 10.2 inches and 4.4 pounds. The Y530 was just $1,029 in our test model and had a slightly nicer design, but since we praised that system for its size, the Predator earns the same kudos. Our last-generation Editors' Choice, the Lenovo Legion Y530, came in at 0.95 by 14.4 by 10.2 inches and 5.1 pounds, very close to the Helios 300. The Dell G5 15 SE, a less-expensive budget gaming laptop, measures 0.95 by 14.3 by 10.8 inches and weighs 6 pounds, a heftier proposition. In fact, it stacks up nicely to the competition. Again, for the price: a "good enough" build. It's not overly slim or too thick, nor is it particularly light or heavy, for a 15.6-inch-screened gamer. The dimensions are a similar compromise: The body measures 0.9 by 14.2 by 10 inches (HWD) and weighs 5.1 pounds. The screen bezels and the underside are plastic, so you don't get a super-premium, wraparound-metal feel, but it's fine at this price. The chassis itself is sturdy, with a metal lid and keyboard deck that adds a quality touch. They're pretty small, though, and some teal muscle lines moderate the look.
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The lid is the most partisan part, with the word "Predator" and a logo dripping gaming attitude. Acer went with its relatively new black-and-teal color scheme-an improvement on the overdone red-and-black combo used in the 2018 model, to my eyes-and opted out of any flashy, garish aesthetic choices. The Helios 300's design isn't quite premium-laptop quality, but it's visually restrained, and physically solid for the price.
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