Acer Nitro V ANV15-41-R93X, Ryzen 5 7535HS, 8GB, 512GB SSD, RTX 3050, Black

A 165Hz screen trapped in a budget body with too little RAM and a GPU that's already showing its age. Buy it only if it's dirt cheap and you're handy with a screwdriver.

The Ryzen 5 7535HS is a capable 6-core chip, but it's paired with just 8GB of DDR5, which is a bottleneck in 2025. The RTX 3050 with 4GB of VRAM lands in the 75th percentile for GPUs in our database, which sounds okay until you realize modern games are hungry for more than 4GB. The 165Hz screen is genuinely nice for fast-paced shooters, but you'll rarely hit those frame rates in anything demanding. The 512GB SSD is fine for a few games, but you'll be uninstalling to make room sooner than you think.

The Lenovo Legion 5i 83F00008US is the obvious step up if you can stretch your budget, with better build quality and a more powerful GPU. The ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 GA403WR-G14.R95070TI is in a different league entirely, but it's also a lot more expensive. If you're dead set on staying under CAD 1000, the Nitro V competes with older HP OMEN models, but the OMEN Transcend 14-fb1023dx is a better long-term bet despite the higher price. The MSI Raider RAIDERGE6814247 is overkill for this comparison, but it shows what you're missing if you go too cheap.

At CAD 900 for an open-box unit, this is a tough sell. You can find new laptops with similar specs for not much more, and the reliability concerns make the open-box gamble even riskier. If you can snag it for CAD 700 or less and add another 8GB of RAM yourself, it becomes a decent budget rig. Otherwise, keep looking.

The Acer Nitro V ANV15-41-R93X is a budget gaming laptop that gets the basics right but cuts some serious corners. The 165Hz display is the star here, giving you smooth motion in esports titles, but the 8GB of RAM and 4GB RTX 3050 mean you'll be tweaking settings more than you'd like. It's a solid entry point if you catch it on sale, but the open-box status and weak reliability scores make it a gamble.

If you're looking for a laptop that can handle modern AAA games at high settings, this isn't it. Go get a Lenovo Legion 5i or save up for an ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 instead. If you need a laptop for video editing or AI work, the 4GB of VRAM and 8GB of RAM will frustrate you daily.

The Acer Nitro V ANV15-41-R93X is a classic case of a laptop that looks good on paper but stumbles in the real world. The 165Hz screen is a genuine highlight, but the 8GB of RAM and 4GB VRAM hold it back from being a true gaming machine. If you can find it cheap and don't mind upgrading the RAM yourself, it's a passable entry point. For everyone else, save up a bit more and get something with 16GB of RAM and a better GPU.