Trying to decide between Acer and Asus.

I'm currently trying to decide between Acer Nitro 791G and a Asus G751JL, money is a factor for me so if I can get a deal on the Asus for same price as the Acer then I'd very likely go for the Asus because it has better specs.

I've never owned a Asus laptop before and have owed four Acer laptops in the past, Acer's hardware and customer service has been very good to me (this is because I can service my own laptops when out of warranty); I've not had any problems with Acer laptops, so don't make brand a thing when suggesting opinions.

VN17 Nitro 791G:

17.3" 1080p IPS
i7-4720HQ
GTX 960M
8GB DDR3
6.6 Pounds (educated guess, 3 cell internal battery weighs 1/2 pound)

Likes:

Design, weight, standard keyboard layout, more familiar brand of me personally, easier upgrade process to Windows 10 (Acer laptops do not use any proprietary drivers eg. ATK power related drivers, keyboard layout drivers), no hardware issues other than a slightly weaker WiFi signal due to placement of second antenna, unlocked BIOS available

Dislikes:

Pricey with weaker GPU, weaker WiFi signal, only M.2 SSD + 2.5" HDD combination (M.2 SSD's are over priced)

G751JL:

17.3" 1080p IPS
i7-4720HQ
GTX 965M
16GB DDR3
8.4 Pounds (educated guess, 8 cell internal battery weighs 1 pound)

Likes:

GTX 965M (30% faster than 960M), better cooling and less noisy, choice between M.2 SSD or 2.5" SSD + 2.5" HDD combination, Republic of Gamers Forum (basically community support), Price

Dislikes:

Weight (I only use the laptop at home but I will move it around the house very often), keyboard layout (numlock key replaced is stupid idea), upgrade process to Windows 10 may be tricky (G751 requires some proprietary drivers), minor hardware issues with left USB ports not being able to power external hard drives and the sound/speakers are slightly off balance (has been improved with newer drivers but not fixed entirely)

Final thoughts:

I'm not a hardcore gamer but I certainly wouldn't mind a GTX 965M (nothing higher though, IMO GTX 965M is only worth $100 premium over GTX 960M), I like to use my laptop on the bed a lot and thus like thinner/lighter less heat and noise gaming laptops (Asus GTX 965M version is not that bad in terms of size and weight considering the GPU performance and cooling), I'll be removing the internal battery after 3 months of usage to reduce weight (I always plug in my laptop and don't need to travel with them), laptop memory size difference between the two laptops means nothing to me since I plan on upgrading/downgrading to 8GB DDR3-1866 anyways which is perfect for my needs, I'm big on price for hardware thus if a deal on the Asus is the same price as the Acer I will likely go with the Asus, both laptops are ranked top 3 @ Notebookcheck.net Acer being 3rd for multimedia and Asus being first for gaming (with GTX 980M).

 

I think you've answered your own question here (if it even was a question). You know Asus is better - it's just the matter of if you are able to find a decent deal on it or not. If not than it's Acer.

I have to agree on the "pricey" bit as far as Acer is concerned - I'm looking at 15" notebooks and Nitro is significantly more expensive than Lenovo Y50 (the revised one with better screen).
It gets to the point where Y50 with Core i7 a 128GB SSD + 1000GB HDD costs $9 less than Acer Nitro with Core i5 and no SSD (only 1000GB HDD). This is a bit ridiculous.

Acer might have gone overboard with pricing...

 

Thanks for the reply anyhow it helps regardless, so if I do end up with ROG because the deal is better than I don't feel guilty about abandoning Acer and making a bad call.

Also the reason why I posted this thread in the Acer section of the forums is because the Acer Nitro is my first choice however a deal on ROG would be very hard to pass up, if I were to post the thread in the Asus section of the forum Asus/ROG fanboys will try to take a big dump on the Acer brand and thread.

 

That's true. Asking about Acer will always get you unfavorable answers. Acer is to blame for that though - even though they stopped making cheap rubbish notebooks around 2009, people still remember them.
It's very easy to tarnish one's reputation but a lot harder to rebuild it.

I will or would (depending on an outcome) feel even worse about abandoning Acer since I am a moderator assigned to this forum and it would be better if I had an Acer myself...

 

Asus has designed some interesting models lately. Build quality is as much hit-or-miss as any consumer laptop, since they are built by the same manufacturers. At one time Pegatron did all of Asus work but even that company's QA is average at best. If you get a good one ... you get a good one. Service is the big difference. I have had FAR better experiences with Acer depot service versus Asus service in the US. Then again, that Asus has better specs and what are the odds that you will need warranty service. Buy from a place with great return policy and make sure you're 100% satisfied before the manufacturer warranty kicks in.

 

Acer has better QA than ASUS (I'm talking about production flaws, like touchpad not installed 100% flush and so on).
Acer has better service facilities than Asus.

Asus is (in general) slightly better built, but heavier/thicker.

I currently have an Acer nitro black edition (GTX960M) and an asus 551JM (GTX860M) and overall I'd pick the asus, but not by a large margin.

Asus has better touchpad/keyboard.
Acer is lighter/thinner.
Asus has service panel to easily replace memory/HDD/wifi. Acer has not.
Asus has better cooling and more silent cooling despite only having 1 fan while acer has 2.
Acer has way better speakers.
Asus has a very low, slightly noticeable coilwhine at left side of palmrest, bit annoying in completely silent room.

 

The Asus 551JM/X is a really good 15.6" laptop, it would be my first choice if I were to get a 15.6" but the same does not apply for the Asus G771JM/X which is the 17.3" version of the G551 everything is pretty much the same except the CPU throttles at 85 degrees celcius and thermal policy is hard coded in the BIOS with no fix despite complaints in the ROG Forum.

I really like the Nitro as a 17.3" thin and light weight laptop but I passed up on a very sweet deal for it and I'm now playing the waiting game...it's not like I really need a laptop upgrade but Pascal looks to be too long a wait.