Ah laptops. Pretty much everyone these days from your grandma to your second uncle’s cousin daughter’s twice removed toddler needs one these days, be it for work, play or just to watch the latest Netflix K-drama that everyone’s been talking about.
But laptops are usually also not cheap. In fact, the lower your budget, the harder it is to find a decent enough laptop that won’t break the bank but still decent enough to actually use on a day-to-day basis. As such, we’re going to take a look at some of the best laptops you can find for around RM3,000 in Malaysia, starting off with…
Acer Swift Go 14
Now I’ve actually already reviewed this laptop a couple weeks ago, so the Swift Go 14 from Acer is going to be the one that I have the most experience with on this list. And while it’s not perfect, it’s hard to argue with what it offers at its price. Officially starting at RM3,199 but available for as low as RM2,699 at time of writing on places like Shopee, the Swift Go 14 is actually the latest reincarnation of what used to be called the Swift 3 lineup.
For that much money you’re getting a sleek looking aluminium chassis, something that’s not always very common at this budget. That houses a 14-inch, FHD IPS display in a 16:9 aspect ratio with 300nits of brightness, while under the hood we’d recommend you look for the Swift Go 14 with an AMD Ryzen 5 7530U processor as the Ryzen 7 model will almost certainly be over your budget. You should also try and get one with 16GB of RAM, while a 512GB SSD is standard across all models.
The Acer Swift Go 14 also has a reasonable amount of I/O, with two USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 ports, two USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 ports, a HDMI 2.1 port and a 3.5mm audio jack, while a 50Wh battery keeps the lights on. Overall, having already tested it out myself, I do have to say that it’s a pretty solid, no-nonsense laptop with in a decent aluminium chassis that should be just fine for your regular day-to-day use.
Acer Aspire Vero 14
If on the other hand you’re more into getting a unique looking laptop while also helping the environment, the Acer Aspire Vero 14 is another option for you. While you lose out on that sleek aluminium chassis, what you get in return is comfort in knowing you’ve done your part for the environment, as the Aspire Vero 14 is built with 40% post consumer recycled plastic, leading to a 30% reduction in carbon emissions during the production process.
Officially starting at RM2,599, we’d highly recommend you look for the more powerful Intel Core i5-1335U powered option instead, which comes with 8GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD too at a recommended retail price of RM3,099. You’ll also find a 14-inch, FHD IPS display similar to the one of the Swift Go 14, along with a 50Wh battery. As for I/O you get two USB-A Gen 1 ports, a USB-C Thunderbolt 4 port, a HDMI 2.1 port and a 3.5mm headphone jack.
Huawei MateBook D14 2023
If you’re adamant on a metal chassis and also want to find a laptop with a taller 16:10 aspect ratio, then Huawei’s refreshed MateBook D14 for this year might do the trick for you, albeit at a slightly higher RM3,199 starting price. The latest iteration of the MateBook D14 comes with a 14-inch, IPS display pushing a 1920 x 1200p resolution along with 300nits of brightness.
However, you will have to make do with slightly older hardware under the hood, as the MateBook D14 comes with a 12th Gen Intel Core i5-1240P processor with up to 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. It does have a larger 56Wh battery, along with a HDMI port, a 3.5mm headphone jack, a USB-C 3.2 Gen 1 port, a USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 port and a USB-A 2.0 port.
Asus Vivobook 15
If size matters to you, then you can take a look at the Asus Vivobook 15, which was recently refreshed for this year with a RM2,999 price tag. It offers a larger 15.6-inch IPS display, with a standard 16:9 aspect ratio pushing a 1080p resolution along with 250nits of brightness.
Under the hood there’s a 13th Gen Intel Core i5-13500H with 8GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. I/O is fairly standard with a HDMI 1.4 port, a USB-C 3.2 Gen 1 port, two USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 ports and a 3.5mm audio jack. A 42Wh battery keeps the lights on and do note it uses a barrel plug for charging.
HP Pavilion 15
Available for as low as RM2,899 on Shopee, the HP Pavilion 15 is mostly quite similar to the Vivobook 15 before this, with a 15.6-inch, FHD IPS display capable of 250nits of brightness. However, the key difference here is that it runs an AMD Ryzen 5 7530U processor instead, along with 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD.
You’ll also find the standard assortment of I/O here, with a HDMI 2.1 port, two USB-A 3.1 Gen 1 ports, a USB-C 3.1 Gen 2 port along with a 3.5mm headphone jack. It also uses a barrel plug to charge and you might use it more often than the other laptops on this list, thanks to its 41Wh battery being the smallest one so far.
Acer Aspire 7
Lastly if you’re looking for a gaming laptop at this budget, then your choices are going to be a bit more limited, though that’s not to say that there aren’t any options whatsoever. Acer had recently not only refreshed the Acer Aspire 7, but also slashed the price down to RM3,199. Admittedly that’s still over our budget, but if you can snag it on a discount, it does offer one thing our other entries on this list lack: a discrete graphics card.
The Acer Aspire 7 comes with an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650, which should be capable for light gaming and eSports titles too such as Dota 2 and CS:GO. There’s a 12th Gen Intel Core i5-12450H here too along with 8GB of RAM that can be upgraded as well as a 512GB SSD. Its also the only laptop on our list with a 15.6-inch, FHD IPS display capable of a 144Hz refresh rate.
