Acer Aspire 15.6" Go Silver

A budget touchscreen laptop that's fine for the basics but chokes on multitasking. Buy it for light use, skip it if you plan to keep it past the warranty.

The Ryzen 5 7520U is a decent little chip for everyday tasks, and the 512GB NVMe SSD means boot times and app launches feel snappy. But 8GB of LPDDR5 RAM is the bottleneck here. Open a dozen browser tabs and a couple of apps, and you'll feel it start to wheeze. The integrated UHD Graphics are fine for video playback but gaming is a non-starter, our database puts it at 11/100 for gaming, which is basically a polite way of saying don't even try. The 65Wh battery is a pleasant surprise though, you should get a full workday out of it.

The MacBook Air M4 and Surface Laptop 7th Edition are in a completely different league, both in performance and price, so they're not really fair comparisons. The more relevant matchup is against the Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen 7, which offers better build quality and reliability for a similar price, though you'll likely lose the touchscreen. The ASUS Zenbook UX3405CA is also worth a look if you can stretch your budget, it's lighter and has a much better display. The Aspire Go's main advantage is that touchscreen and the low entry price, but you're trading away durability and future-proofing to get it.

At $440, the Aspire Go is a mixed bag. You're getting a touchscreen, a decent processor, and a big SSD, which is more than most laptops offer at this price. But the 8GB RAM and questionable reliability score make it feel like a gamble. If you just need a basic machine for school or light office work, it's a reasonable deal. If you plan to keep it for more than a couple of years, spend a bit more on something with 16GB of RAM.

The Acer Aspire Go is a budget laptop that tries to punch above its weight with a touchscreen and a Ryzen 5, but it's held back by 8GB of RAM and a display that's just okay. The one thing to know? It's a fine basic machine for web browsing, email, and light office work, but don't expect it to handle anything demanding. At $440, you're getting a lot of screen real estate and a touch panel, which is rare at this price, but the corners cut are pretty visible.

If you're looking for a laptop that can handle gaming, heavy multitasking, or creative work, this isn't it. Go get a Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen 7 or spend a bit more on an ASUS Zenbook instead. The Aspire Go is strictly for light, everyday use.

The Acer Aspire Go is a serviceable budget laptop for basic tasks, but the 8GB RAM and poor reliability score make it hard to recommend without reservations. If you need a cheap touchscreen laptop for light use and don't plan to push it hard, it'll do the job. But if you can spend even $100 more, you'll get a machine that lasts longer and handles multitasking without choking.