Acer—one of the leading names in computer electronics has launched a brand-new lineup for 2020. At the recently held “next@acer virtual press conference” in Taiwan, the company unveiled a list of notebooks, desktops, and monitors. The announced devices are aimed at users across the spectrum, ranging from students to gamers and content creators.
More Chromebooks
Almost 9 years ago, Google revealed the very first commercial Chromebooks to the world at Google I/O 2011. One of the Chromebooks came in the form Acer AC700. Much has changed since then. But the market continues to grow. By 2019, 17 million Chromebooks were shipped with 20 million units expected to be sold in 2020 (pre-coronavirus).
As such, Acer hopes to expand its current lineup of Chromebook offerings with the new Acer Chromebook Spin 713. Part of Intel’s Project Athena, the Chromebook Spin 713 is equipped a 13.5-inch convertible 2K IPS display and a military-grade (U.S. MIL-STD 810G compliant) aluminium chassis. That means accidentally dropping your laptop will not give you a heart attack.
The Chromebook Spin 713 also houses two USB 3.1 Type-C ports, one USB-C display port, one USB 3.0 port, one HDMI port, and one microSD card reader. On the inside is a 10th Gen Core i7 processor, along with up to 16 GB DDR4 SDRAM and up to 256 GB of PCIe NVMe SSD storage. Furthermore, the Chromebook’s fast-rechargeable battery claims 10 hours of usage as per Acer.
For businesses, the Acer Chromebook Spin 713 comes with the Chrome Enterprise upgrade option as well. According to the General Manager, Notebooks, IT Products Business at Acer, James Lin, “Acer’s new Chromebook Spin Enterprise 713 will help businesses accomplish more, while delivering what IT management wants – security, ease of deployment, manageability, and a solid return on investment.”
But the 713 is not the only new Chromebook from Acer. The Acer Chromebook Spin 113 is also a convertible laptop, but one that is designed to cater to students for schoolwork and everyday projects. As such, the 113 model houses a Mediatek MT8183 processor and a battery with up to 15 hours of use on a single charge. Additionally, the 1kg weight means that the Chromebook Spin 113 will be portable-friendly.
The rugged Enduro
Alongside the Chromebooks, Acer has also added a series of rugged notebooks and tablets to its arsenal. The Enduro aims to offer a lineup of products for first responders, field and industrial manufacturing workers on the job. The endure N7 for example, is MIL-810G and IP65 certified and is built with shock absorbent material. Furthermore, the N7 is packed with two batteries where one is a 10-hour hot-swappable battery and the other a built-in bridge battery.
Equipped with an 8th Gen i5 processor, the N7 also packs Trusted Platform Module 2.0 and a fingerprint sensor for increased security. Furthermore, the Acer Enduro Manageability Suite looks to make it easy to deploy services or system configurations across many devices.
In contrast the N3 rugged notebook aims to balance between durability and portability. Along with the MIL-STD 810G and IP53 certifications, the N3 weighs just short of 2kg (1.985kg). On top of its unique water-resistant Aquafan, the internals boast security mechanisms like the Discrete Trusted Platform Module, AEMS, and password-protected HDDs. Battery life gets a slight upgrade compared to the N7, at 13 hours of use.
The processor takes the shape of a 10th Gen Core i7 with 32GB of DDR4 RAM. Optional features will let users power the N3 with an Nvidia MX230 and 512GB PCle Gen3 NVMe SSD.
In addition to the N7 and N3, the Enduro lineup also features a couple of rugged tablets. The T5 and T1 tablets are both MIL-STD 810G and IP54 certified 10-inch (T1 is 10.1 inches) Windows tablet. T5 tablet is housed with a 7th Gen Core m3 processor and a 10-hour battery. The T1 on the hand could turn into a laptop with an optional keyboard. Also, unlike the T5, the T1 is equipped with an Intel Celeron processor and 64GB of eMMC storage.
Gamers rejoice
It is hard to talk about computers without gaming. Almost every manufacturer has their own dedicated line for gaming devices. Among them, Acer’s Predator lineup is a popular choice. The announcement from Taiwan also comes with new updates to some of the models. These include,
Predator Helios 700
- 10th Gen Intel Core i9-10980HK or i7-10875H processor
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER or RTX 2070 SUPER GPUs
- Predator PowerGem, a new thermal solution
- Acer CoolBoost Technology, a vapor chamber and two Acer custom-engineered 4th Gen AeroBlade™ 3D fans
- 2933 Hz memory (max 64GB)
- Additional Thunderbolt 3 port
- Fast PCIe NVMe Solid State Drives in RAID 0
- 17.3-inch 144 Hz FHD IPS display with NVIDIA G-SYNC
- Updated keyboard with MagTek mechanical switches for the WASD keys and a set of new racing keys
Predator Helios 300
- 10th Gen Intel Core H-series processors
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 GPU (overclockable)
- 240 Hz 15.6-inch FHD IPS display
- Supports up to 32 GB of 2933 MHz DDR4 memory, two PCIe NVMe SSDs in RAID 0 configuration and up to a 2 TB hard drive
- Acer CoolBoost Technology and 4th Gen AeroBlade™ 3D fans
Predator Triton 300
- 10th Gen Intel Core H-series processors
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 GPU
- 240 Hz 15.6-inch FHD IPS display with a possible 144 Hz refresh rate
- Supports 100% of the sRGB color space with 300 nits brightness
- Supports up to three M.2 SSDs
- Acer CoolBoost Technology and 4th Gen AeroBlade™ 3D fans
Nitro 7
- 10th Gen Intel Core H-series processors
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 GPU
- Supports up to three M.2 SSDs
- Supports up to 1 TB in RAID 0 configuration and up to 32 GB of DDR4 2933 memory
ConceptD, for the creators
Additionally, Acer also unveiled the ConceptD, a series targeting creators across the board. For instance, the ConceptD 3 Ezel convertible notebook focuses on mobility, or more accurately creators on the move. As such, its 14-inch (or 15.6-inch) FHD PANTONE-Validated touchscreen display covers 100% of the sRGB color gamut and has a delta E<2 color accuracy. The ConceptD Ezel also includes,
- Active Stylus with 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity
- 18 hours of battery life
- 10th Gen Intel Core i7-10750H or 10th Gen Intel Core i5-10300H processors
- NVIDIA Quadro T1000 (ConceptD 3 Ezel Pro) or GeForce GTX 1650Ti GPUs
- 1 TB of PCIe SSD storage
The ConceptD 3 notebook follows a similar offering with a few specification differences such as, NVIDIA Quadro T1000 (ConceptD 3 Pro) or GeForce GTX 1650Ti GPUs, and 20 hours of battery life.
The ConceptD 100 desktop is one that looks to cater to professional creators and multimedia classrooms. The desktop computer is powered by a 9th Gen Intel Core i5 processor and NVIDIA Quadro GPU. Further, the ConceptD 100 houses a 32GB DDR4 RAM and supports up to 256 GB of ultrafast SSD Storage.
There is more
The announcements do not end there. Acer also unveiled the Swift 5, the company’s laptop that looks to address productivity together with ultra-portability. Although it’s 14.95 mm thick and weighs a little under 1kg, the Swift 5 does not compromise on specs. It has a 14-inch FHD IPS touchscreen display with a 10th Gen Intel Core i7 processor. The Swift 5 also comes with an optional NVIDIA GeForce MX350 GPU. The 65Wh battery is equipped with a fast charger capable of giving off 4-hour usage with only 30 minutes of charge, whereas a full charge could go up to 12.5 hours.
Finally, Acer also announced a few additions to its gaming monitors and ConceptD monitors like the CP5 along with accessories such as the Orion 3000/9000, Cestus 350 mouse, and the Gaming Chair x OSIM.
So, there you have it. All the highlights from Acer’s next@acer virtual press conference. Which of these products will you be going for? Let us know in the comments below.