Microsoft’s Surface Laptop Studio may have felt like the future, but the Acer ConceptD 3 Ezel was the past — as in, the first to market with a pull-forward laptop design. And right now, the powerful Acer ConceptD 3 Ezel is way, way cheaper than Microsoft’s Surface Laptop Studio.
For Black Friday, Acer is selling the ConceptD 3 Ezel for $869.99 via Amazon, 42 percent or $630 off of the normal $1,499.99 purchase price. The version of Microsoft’s Surface Laptop Studio that we reviewed cost $2,699. In other words, you can buy the ConceptD 3 Ezel, a laptop that’s very similar to the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio, for 66 percent less!
Is it worth it? At this price, absolutely. While we didn’t review the ConceptD 3 Ezel directly, we put the ConceptD and the Surface Laptop Studio head-to-head as part of our Surface Laptop Studio review — and the ConceptD 3 Ezel came out on top on most tests, save for 3D performance. There, the Surface Laptop Studio’s Core H35 i5-11300H CPU/ RTX 3050 Ti GPU overcame the Core i7-10750H CPU / Nvidia GTX 1650 Max-Q GPU inside the ConceptD. This is primarily a creative machine (and even includes a pen!), but it will do just fine as a general laptop or for light gaming.
Mark Hachman / IDG
(Maybe you’d like something with a bit more oomph in the GPU department? Consider the $699.99 Acer Nitro 5, on sale for $250 off for Black Friday instead. Acer’s budget gaming laptop includes an Intel Core i5-10300H processor and Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 graphics behind a 144Hz 1080p screen.)
The ConceptD uses a pull-forward design where you can simply pull the screen forward, supported by the hinge, either for inking or an in-your-face perspective on streaming media. You can also fold it flat, too. We would definitely characterize the Surface Laptop Studio as a more refined experience, with a smoother hinge. But the ConceptD is sturdier — and, as the price certainly indicates, a heck of a lot cheaper. Grab it while you can, though, as there are limited quantities available.
As PCWorld’s senior editor, Mark focuses on Microsoft news and chip technology, among other beats. He has formerly written for PCMag, BYTE, Slashdot, eWEEK, and ReadWrite.
