When purchasing a new computer, most of us focus on certain key elements to guide our buying decisions. How much the computer will cost, how much memory it has, and its size can be common considerations depending on your PC needs. However, we don’t always consider which computer brand is ranked more favorably over others as a key decision point. Perhaps we should because, according to 2025 data from the American Customer Satisfaction Index, the most disappointing computer brand is Acer.
Acer has been around for about half a decade. It sells computers and computer accessories including laptops, gaming monitors and keyboards, desktop computers, tablets, headsets and audio components, and more. As of the time of this writing, Acer’s website is featuring an Aspire 14 AI Laptop for $1,049 and an Acer Iconia Tab M10 Tablet for $180. Those prices aren’t so bad.
There is a lot to consider when buying a computer, but next time you are in the market and see an Acer brand, look beyond just the price tag and features. Unfortunately, Acer has a reputation for hardware not lasting and poor customer support for repairs. However, Acer’s lower price point may make up for those issues.
Common customer complaints about Acer
On the American Customer Satisfaction Index, Acer is rated at the bottom of a list of 11. Brands like HP, Apple, and Dell top the list for customer satisfaction. Acer has a 75% score for customer satisfaction compared to HP’s 83%. On Acer’s Better Business Bureau (BBB) page, it only has one out of five stars as rated by customers.
On the customer reviews written on the BBB, a common complaint is about hardware longevity. There are many comments about various hardware pieces breaking down and having extremely poor repair experiences with Acer’s team. Regarding Acer taking care of repairs, reviews say that the “screen burnt out in just over a year. I fixed that on my own dime because Acer would not cover”, that after sending in their laptop for repair a customer received “the WRONG lap top back”, and that after a swelling battery in which Acer wanted the laptop sent to it, the company has “had it for almost 2 weeks and refuse to say what they will do”.
Discussions about Acer on Reddit also bring up cheap materials, hardware that breaks down, and poor warranty support for broken products. However, commenters also point out that you get what you pay for and say that Acer is considered a cheaper to mid-range computer brand. The specific product you buy can have an impact on performance, as even one Acer computer made our list of the 10 best laptops of 2025.
Why Acer might not be all bad
As Redditors pointed out, Acer is not an expensive computer brand. The saying goes that you get what you pay for, and if you purchase something cheaper it may break down easier than something much more expensive. Some problems with computers also aren’t entirely the brand’s fault, as there are plenty of common mistakes you can make that can ruin your computer.
When you look up Acer products on Amazon, plenty of them have at least four out of five stars in customer review ratings. Perhaps this can be explained by people being more likely to leave a quicker review on Amazon and only going to the BBB in the long-term once something breaks down. While the 75% score from the American Customer Satisfaction Index puts it at the bottom of the list of brands, that still is not a catastrophically low score.
From personal experience, both my husband and I have Acer laptops. The batteries stopped charging quickly in about six months, so now we both have them plugged in quite often to keep them running. His fan also is breaking down and needs to be replaced. But they have met our basic computer needs for five years. If you are looking for something affordable and simple, Acer may be a good bet. Just be wary of what could go wrong with the hardware in the long run.
