Acer revealed a wide range of new PCs and peripherals at its Next@Acer press conference today, including a notebook co-designed with Porsche and new entries in its creator (ConceptD) and business (TravelMate) lines.
The (Literal) Porsche of Laptops: Premium Car, Meet Premium Notebook
The Porsche Design Acer Book RS will no doubt turn heads, a rare coordinated design effort with a luxury-car brand to create a sleek portable laptop. This machine will weigh just 2.65 pounds and feature a carbon-fiber lid and a diamond-cut metal chassis.
The Porsche Design Acer Book RS will feature up to an 11th generation Intel Core i7-1165G7 “Tiger Lake” processor, a dedicated (albeit low-end) Nvidia GeForce MX350 GPU, and 8GB of memory. Alternatively, it can be configured with a lesser Core i5-1135G7 processor with Intel’s own integrated Iris Xe graphics and 8GB of memory.
Storage comes in the form of a 512GB or 1TB SSD. As for ports, the slim laptop will include USB Type-C with support for the emerging Thunderbolt 4 standard, as well as more ordinary USB Type-A. Other features include Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth, and a fingerprint scanner for secure sign-ins.
The display is a 14-inch IPS touch panel with a full HD (1080p) native resolution. The battery is rated for up to 17 hours, though we’ll have to put that to the test ourselves when review units become available.
The laptop will be available for sale in December starting at $1,399.99.
TravelMate Updates Mean Business
Moving on to business, Acer also showed off three new TravelMate laptops: The TravelMate P2, the TravelMate P4, and the TravelMate Spin P4. Each of these has eSIM-enabled 4G LTE connectivity and meets MIL-STD durability standards for business travelers.
The TravelMate P2 and P4 are standard clamshell notebooks that come in a variety of configurations. The P2 comes in either 14- or 15-inch screen sizes, though the P4 is only available at 14 inches. While they are fully powered business laptops, portability is important for both. The P4 weighs 3.19 pounds and is rated to last for up to 15 hours on a battery charge, while the P2 weighs 3.5 pounds at 14 inches (3.9 pounds at 15 inches) and can last up to 13 hours.
The P2 scales from Intel’s 11th generation Core i3 processors up to Core i7, while the P4 starts at Core i5 and scales up to Core i7. Each also uses Nvidia’s GeForce MX graphics, but different flavors: The P2 includes the GeForce MX330, and the P4 the GeForce MX350. Connectivity features for both include Wi-Fi 6 and Gigabit Ethernet.
The TravelMate Spin P4, meanwhile, is very similar to its P4 sibling, but adds in a 2-in-1 hinge design. It can transform into tablet mode and supports a stylus. It weighs in at 3.3 pounds.
That’s not the only difference, though, as it can support a Core i3, i5, or i7 processor (like the P2). It also does not utilize Nvidia GeForce MX graphics, instead leaning on the Iris Xe integrated graphics. Fortunately, we found Iris Xe to be a good match for GeForce MX offerings in our testing.
The TravelMate Spin P4 also features Wi-Fi 6 and Gigabit Ethernet, and lasts up to 13.5 hours on a charge, according to Acer.
The TravelMate P4 and TravelMate Spin P4 will be available in December starting at $1,199.99 and $999.99, respectively. The TravelMate P2 will be available in March 2021, starting at $799.99.
Calling All Creatives: The ConceptD 7 and ConceptD 300
Finally, we have new PCs for graphics pros and other content creators. This includes the ConceptD 7 and ConceptD 7 Pro laptops, as well as the ConceptD 300 desktop.
The two premium laptops are high-end 15-inch machines that can take Intel Core i5 or Core i7 processors, up to 16GB of memory (upgradable to 32GB using two SO-DIMM modules), and up to 2TB SSDs in RAID 0. Both also feature 4K displays.
Where they differ is in the graphics department: The ConceptD 7 features Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 2080 Super (Max-Q) GPU, while the ConceptD 7 Pro boasts Nvidia’s Quadro RTX 5000 (Max-Q) or Quadro RTX 3000 GPUs. The latter are more squarely aimed at professionals with demanding 3D workloads in areas such as engineering, modeling, and animation.
These laptops weigh in at 4.6 pounds and should last up to seven hours off the charger, according to Acer. They also feature support for Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth.
The Concept D7 will be available in December starting at $3,299.99, and the ConceptD 7 Pro will launch in the same month, starting at $3,499.99.
Last but not least, the ConceptD 300 desktop features a unique look, with a wood-paneled top and an attractive, rounded white chassis with a black geometric front panel.
It is, of course, made for creative professionals as well, so the components are no slouches (though they don’t hit the top of Intel’s CPU or Nvidia’s GPU offerings). You can equip this desktop with a 10th-generation Core i5 or Core i7 processor, up to 64GB of memory, and up to a 1TB M.2 SSD and a 4TB HDD.
On the graphics front, the ConceptD 300 can be outfitted with one of three graphics choices: the Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Super, a GeForce RTX 3070, or a Quadro P2200. The case and motherboard include expansion for one PCI Express x16 device, one M.2 SSD, and one M.2 WLAN module.
Pricing and availability for this system were not yet shared. Check back to PCMag for full reviews of these systems as they become available later this year and early in 2021.
