Acer has announced a new laptop which looks to be targeted at mobile workers and students. The TravelMate B115P (or the TravelMate B115, sans touch screen) is a new fanless laptop powered "the newest Intel Quad core Pentium processor, 8GB memory and 128GB Solid State Disk". The highly portable laptop weighs just 1,190g and measures 21.2mm thick. The Acer TravelMate B115(P) runs Windows 8.1.
Starting with the exterior, looking at the laptop's general appearance, Acer says it is based upon the FlowCurve design. The top cover is a piece of aluminium, which looks good and is said to be "strong enough to withstand everyday use," which is nice to hear. Before we delve inside, other key physical properties of this laptop include its weight of 1,190g and thickness of 21.2mm. Acer neglected to mention the other dimensions or even the screen size, unfortunately. Also we don't have a list of ports and connectors at this time.
Let's look at the component specifications now. (additional info via Tweakers.net)
- Screen: 11.6-inches, 1366 x 768 pixels, touch (TravelMate B115P) or non-touch versions (TravelMate B115)
- Processor: Pentium quad-core based on Intel's Bay Trail platform (possibly the Pentium N3530 with TDP of 7.5 W), fanless
- RAM: 8GB
- Fixed storage: 128GB SSD
- Camera: HD webcam with High Dynamic Range (HDR)
- Input: Full sized keyboard, large precision trackpad, touch screen (optional)
- Battery life: up to 10 hours
This machine will come with Windows 8.1 installed and Acer has supplied a number of software solutions for businesses and education. For example "Acer Office Manager enables small businesses to deploy security policies, monitor IT assets and set maintenance whilst Acer ProShield lets users easily maintain their credentials, data protection and web accounts." Smartphone contact backup and face login are also available. For the education market Acer Classroom Manager (ACM) "allows teachers to improve the efficiency of content sharing and communication by centrally instructing students on their computers". A Student Journal app helps students keep notes and media from lessons.
For general productivity enhacemnent Acer supplies Acer Touch Tools, Acer Screen Grasp, Acer Scrapboard and Acer AccuFinger – to help users tap tiny UI elements that were not designed for fat fingers.
We expect to see the Acer TravelMate B115(P) available to buy in Europe during June. We don't have official pricing but hopes for a Chromebook bashing price might be too optimistic, as a Tweakers.net commenter notes the touchscreen version is listed at Misco Netherlands for €419.00 Excl. VAT.
