Afraid of germs growing on your laptop? Acer is trying to address the problem by adding antimicrobial coating to more of its products.
Last year, the company featured the antimicrobial coating in the Swift 5 laptop. Now the PC maker is expanding it to two additional laptops, a tablet, a 24-inch monitor, and even a keyboard and mouse.
We don’t know if the coating can truly protect your health. But Acer’s solution relies on silver ions, a known antibacterial agent, and placing it over the products’ most-used surfaces, such as the screen, keyboard, and trackpad.
Of course, it’s best to regularly clean your devices to keep them germ- and grime-free. But soon you’ll be able to find Acer’s antimicrobial coating in the upcoming TravelMate Spin P4.
The Spin P4 is a laptop convertible with a 360-degree hinge. It comes with a 14-inch 1080p display that also supports touch-screen functionality. Other features include up to 13.5 hours in battery life, Wi-Fi 6, a Gigabit Ethernet slot, and multiple USB-C and Thunderbolt 4 ports.
Buyers can outfit the PC with up to an Intel 11th generation Core i7 processor. Acer says the laptop runs Windows 10, although based on the specs, it should have no problem upgrading to the newly launched Windows 11. Expect the product to arrive in January in North America starting at $1,099.99.
The second product is the Acer Enduro Urban N3, another 14-inch laptop. It will arrive earlier in Q4, but starting at $849.99. In addition, it comes with Windows 11.
The company is marketing the 4-pound product for people looking to carry the device outdoors. The laptop has been tested to be durable against water and dust. And according to Acer, it can also survive drops from up to 4 feet.
“The rest of the device is covered in an ionic silver coating that extends this antimicrobial capability to the chassis, touchpad, buttons, and more,” the PC maker added. Customers can outfit the laptop with an Intel 11th generation Core processor, a dedicated Nvidia MX330 GPU, and up to 32GB of DDR4 memory.
For consumers looking for something even more portable, the company has produced the Acer Enduro Urban T3, a tablet that runs Android 11.
Acer also designed the device to survive the outdoors. Hence, it’s been fitted inside a special casing that can protect it against dust, water, and 4-foot drops to the ground.
The $299 product features a 10-inch 1,920-by-1,200-pixel screen along with a MediaTek MT8385 eight-core processor. “Above the screen sits a front 5MP wide-angle camera, while the addition of a microphone with AI noise reduction and dual-band Wi-Fi makes the Enduro Urban T3 great for video calls and remote learning,” the company says.
According to Acer, the tablet can offer up to eight hours of video playback on a single charge. The product is scheduled to launch during next year’s first quarter.
The PC maker also brought its antimicrobial coating to the Acer VE246Q, a 23.6-inch monitor.
“The monitor’s housing and cover glass is made with recycled plastic that has been coated with a silver-ion antimicrobial agent, offering a 99% reduction rate against a host of bacteria,” Acer says. The display uses a 1080p VA panel that features a 60Hz refresh rate. But the company did not announce price or a launch date.
To round out the portfolio, Acer added the antimicrobial coating to a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse that’s certified to work with Google’s Chromebooks. But for now, it seems the peripherals will only be launching in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa markets next February.
