The Amazon Prime Day sale ends now, but if you act quickly, you can still get a 34 % reduction on the Navigator Plus PC, which is the cheapest I’ve ever reviewed, Acer Aspire 14 AI. Additionally, there is a$ 2,500 discount at Costco, but you have to be a Costco member to get it. &nbsp,

What are the main takeaways of CNET?

The Acer Aspire 14 AI is priced at$ 500 at Costco and$ 550 at Amazon.
• The Intel Lunar Lake CPU has great performance for the money, and its battery life is longer.
• You won’t be wow-struck by the show and design.

The price of laptops is rising, and Acer’s Aspire 14 AI looks better as they do. &nbsp,

It cost$ 700 at Costco when I reviewed it in April, making it the least expensive Navigator Plus Desktop I had ever reviewed. Strong forward two decades and the price of the Navigator Plus PC is now the cheapest and best value, with$ 550 at Amazon and$ 500 at Costco.

Acer makes the right decisions to offer the Aspire 14 AI at such a low cost, providing a well-rounded notebook with contemporary parts. This is not a cheap notebook with dated components. It comes with the most recent Intel Core Ultra Series 2 processor ( codenamed Lunar Lake ), which offers excellent battery life, competitive application and AI performance, and a design that isn’t all that dissimilar from Acer’s more expensive Swift laptops. One of the best affordable devices of 2025 is the Aspire 14 AI’s no-frills but future-proofed offer.

My practice with the Acer Aspire 14 AI

It’s nice to know that when it arrives, you’ll have a system that’s built for it, even though I’m still waiting for the criminal AI app to make a computer AI CPU a necessity. &nbsp,

The Aspire 14 AI meets the minimum requirement for Microsoft’s Navigator Plus PC software cheers to its Intel Core Ultra 5 CPU, which has a 40 trillion operation per minute neural control system. Its AI computer can outsource AI workloads to its NPU, keeping the CPU and GPU free for whatever main task you’re trying to accomplish, such as consistently producing Windows Recall images, blurring backgrounds for movie calls, and producing life translations.

Any computer should always have future-proofing, especially in a budget type, where it’s not always a given. When shopping for a low-cost notebook, be cautious because many of the items on offer are older and have components from previous generations that have been discounted in an effort to stock up for the newer ones.

The Aspire 14 AI hung with the more pricey Navigator Plus Devices I tested during testing. Its performance on our software, graphics, and AI metrics wasn’t all that dissimilar from that of its more expensive competitors. Although its integrated Intel GPU doesn’t offer much in the way of 3D gaming, the same can be said for any Navigator Plus PC, when I’ve never come across one with dedicated graphics.

With the Aspire 14 AI, you can avoid the costly computer pitfalls of purchasing a device with obsolete or soon-to-be-outdated components. Additionally, you can ignore the ghost of the Creaky Plastic Monster. The Aspire 14 AI has aluminium top and bottom panels and just a plastic keyboard deck, compared to some low-cost laptops with plastic enclosures. The console board feels rigorous and flexes without bending or flexing like other less expensive plastic. You’d had to look carefully to show this computer apart from one of Acer’s popular Swift devices because it’s a solidly constructed one.

The specifications

• Intel Core Ultra 5 226V CPU
• Ram: 16GB LPDDR5-8533&nbsp,
• Graphics: Intel Arc 130V
• Storage: 1TB solid-state travel
• Display: 14-inch 1, 920×1, 200-pixel reach Firewall LCD
• Jacks: 2x USB-C Thunderbolt 4, 2x USB-A USB 3.2 Gen 1, HDMI 2.1, duo sound
• Wi-Fi 6E and Mobile 5.3 Network
• Weight: 3.05 weight
• Battery life: 18 days, 56 days
• Microsoft Windows 11 Home functioning system

Best Prime Day Laptops Specials

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Notice Then

CNET’s purchase advice

The Aspire 14 AI’s best feature is the lack of a low, weak following system and a contemporary CPU that offers the performance required for the laptop to function as your primary computer. Additionally, the Aspire 14 AI can run for about 19 days on a single command thanks to its advanced AI abilities, and thanks to its efficient Intel Core Ultra CPU.

Actually, the only things that scream “budget laptop” are the uninspired design and well display. The 16GB of RAM and the imposing 1TB SSD make up the rest of the item, which is more expensive than the budget. When shopping for a$ 700 laptop, you typically want 8GB of RAM and a 256GB or 512GB SSD.

There are a few different Copilot Plus Computers you may check out if you want to spend a little bit more. The Asus Zenbook A14 has an ultralight but inflexible enclosure with a beautiful OLED display, and the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 is a winner thanks to its soft, strong design and amazing haptic touchpad. Additionally, both have longer battery life than the Aspire 14 AI.