Acer held its inaugural next@acer event in New York yesterday. A long procession of products was launched including new members of its Aspire laptop ranges, Aspire Switch range, Chromebook range and the industry's first curved Nvidia G-SYNC gaming monitor.
The global press conference was held at the 4 World Trade Centre in New York and a brief overview of event highlights is given on Acer's PR page here. I will focus on the PC and PC gaming products below.
Acer 2-in-1 devices
Acer expanded its Switch 10 series, which is a budget range aimed at students and families. These lightweight portables now offer six eye catching colour options, up to 12 hours of battery life and a redesigned latch-less hinge mechanism. A new 11.6-inch Aspire Switch also incorporates the new hinge and more powerful processor options. All the new touchscreens are protected by Gorilla Glass.
You can read more about various Aspire Switch models, coming this summer, and the specifications on offer here. Acer also introduced the Aspire R 11 convertible laptop, the Acer Iconia One 8 Tablet and Android 5.0 based Acer Iconia Tab 10.
Acer Aspire V and E and ES series laptops
All these laptop ranges have been expanded. The Aspire V 15 provides metallic aesthetic cues with a textured aluminium top. This 15-inch full HD screened laptop can be configured with one of the Intel 5th gen Core processors and an Nvidia GeForce 940M series GPU. Up to 16GB of RAM and a 2TB HDD / 1TB SSHD can be specified. Rounding off the Acer Aspire V 15 spec it offers a DVD-RW drive and a backlit keyboard.
The Aspire E series offers a multitude of textile pattern colour options with 14-inch, 15.6-inch, and 17.3-inch displays. This range also uses the latest 5th gen Intel processors and Nvidia GeForce 940M series GPUs or AMD Radeon R8 and R6 dual graphics, up to 16GB RAM and 2TB HDD/ 1TB SSHD storage options.
The Aspire ES series, covers the 'essentials'. These laptops will be produced in five screen sizes from 11.6-inch to 17.3-inches. Again these use the latest Intel processors and you can choose from Celeron and Pentium models. Aspire ES models can be kitted out with up to 8GB RAM, 1TB HDD storage and an optional DVD-RW drive.
All the new laptops feature BluelightShield, effectively lessening eye strain by reducing blue light emissions from the screen. You can read more about Acers new Windows laptops here. It also announced a new 15.6-inch Chromebook.
Acer XR341CKA curved G-SYNC monitor
Last but not least Acer announced the curved Acer XR341CKA, a 34-inch 21:9 UltraWide QHD (3440 x 1440 pixels @ 75Hz) IPS display. This monitor includes the stutter and screen tearing minimising Nvidia G-SYNC technology. It also boasts a pair of 7W DTS sound enhanced speakers and an aluminium constructed stand.
Acer's new gaming monitor offers 178-degree viewing angles, 100 per cent of the sRGB colour gamut and more immersive viewing than a flat screen. Users can adjust the monitor display using 6-axis colour controls, see on screen refresh rate states and choose from three aiming reticules. A red ambient light confirms that G-SYNC is activated. Physical adjustments of tilt (-5° to 35°) and height (130 mm) are available with the stand.
The Acer XR341CKA has DisplayPort and HDMI inputs and a built-in USB 3.0 hub. It will be sold for US$1,299 and arrive in Europe in August priced at €1,399. Further details about this monitor are available here.
