At 144Hz, the Helios 300 can display many more frames per second, at least in instances when the hardware is capable of pushing that high (usually dependent on the game being played). 60Hz is the standard for most machines, and anything higher is generally exclusive to more expensive laptops or displays. Impressive for this price range (the most expensive 15-inch model of the Helios 300 caps out at $1,399.99) is the Helios 300's 144Hz high refresh rate display. This is a typical trait of IPS panels and matters especially if you game in a group and tend to have spectators peering over your shoulder. It's also viewable even when you're not looking at the laptop straight-on. The screen has a matte finish, so, even in bright lighting conditions, you won't get a lot of glare from the surface. The 15.6-inch in-plane-switching (IPS) screen on the Acer Predator Helios 300 has a native resolution of 1,920 by 1,080 pixels. (Reflecting the sound off the hard surface amplifies the perceived volume level.) All in all, the sound is crisp enough for a laptop at this price point. On a proper desk or other hard surface, however, they sound about the same as an upward-facing speaker grille, because of the way the laptop is elevated off the desk by the rubber pads. With the laptop pressed into your lap, these speakers will naturally sound muffled. ![]() ![]() The speakers are to the left and right of two rubber anti-skid pads on the underside of the laptop. Many laptop designs feature speaker grilles positioned forward of their keyboards and in front of their displays. The speakers on the Acer Predator Helios 300 sound decent, but the fact that they're down-firing doesn't do them credit under some circumstances. Esports fiends and competitive gamers wouldn't give any touchpad the time of day in a proper match. That's fine, though, because if you're gaming on a laptop, you're more than likely going to pair it with a gaming mouse, anyway. It feels better than most gaming-laptop touchpads, due to the slight bounce you get when you press it all the way down, but it does not have the physical left and right clickers that some new machines, such as the Lenovo Legion Y530 ($749.99 at Lenovo), do. The touchpad, meanwhile, is plastic-surfaced. The keys have more bounce than other gaming-laptop keyboards I've tried, such as the one on the Asus TUF Gaming FX504G. The Predator Helios 300 has a standard chiclet-style keyboard layout. (Your mileage may vary, of course I see far more gaming laptops than most people.) Seeing how much thought went into the curves and edges of the Predator Helios 300's design, I would have liked a more original, or at least a different, palette. It has become so common among gaming laptops these days as to border on cliche. Tastes vary, but I'm not a big fan of the red-and-black color scheme. The design theme carries over to the lid, which is decorated with a series of textured black triangles at the forward edge. Also adding flair is the shiny metal edging around the keyboard. While the underside of the system and the bezels around the display are plastic, the outer lid and the deck that surrounds the keyboard are all-metal, giving off a cooler, more premium feel than the rest of the machine. The chassis measures 1.1 by 15.4 by 10.4 inches (HWD), and it weighs 5.95 pounds. Likewise, the WASD keys and the touchpad are outlined in red for the sake of visibility. The rear exhaust, too, is bordered in red plastic. The lid, for instance, bears two crimson streaks etched on either side of a gray-metal Predator logo. It's a midrange, mostly black gaming laptop that's been embellished with red accents. In appearance, the Helios 300 isn't too much of a departure from the Asus TUF Gaming FX504G ($829.99 at Amazon) I reviewed just before it. (We're fans, for the most part.) What's Black and Red and Gray All Over?Īcer offers the Predator Helios 300 in versions with 15-inch and 17-inch screens the model for review here is the former. ![]() So the Helios 300's advantage centers on whether you prefer its keyboard layout, color scheme, and build quality. ![]() The catch: Some competing models will, too, for around the same money, and many have better battery life. With its GeForce GTX 1060 graphics, the Helios 300 will run most any game you throw at it with agility. It's designed for speed, whether for casual rounds of Fortnite or pushing your machine to its limit by tethering it to a virtual reality (VR) headset. Among them: Acer's Predator Helios 300 (starting at $1,099.99 $1,299.99 as tested, in its 15-inch version), built around muscular Intel "Coffee Lake" eighth-generation CPUs. Don't want to-or can't afford to-shell out kilobucks on a gaming laptop? Today's midrange GeForce-based models fill that void.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |