All New Acer: Swift 5 and 3, new Aspire line, Dual-Xeon Predator and VR viewers

There are so many innovations presented by Acer at the IFA in Berlin: VR viewers, gaming systems of the Predator series with new NVIDIA RTX GPUs and the renewal of the line of portable systems that now include some of the most subtle and lightest products in the world.

Acer Swift 5 and Swift 3

Swift 5 is, according to the company, the 15-inch notebook to ensure the world’s lightest supremacy, with its 990 grams of weight. It is a remarkable result, especially when adopting a 15.6-inch diagonal display, another based on IPS panel, with a Full HD resolution of 1,920×1,080 pixels and with touch controls.

The screen-to-body ratio is 87.6%, and the display folds 180 degrees. Result achieved thanks to the use of materials such as magnesium and lithium for the body, which makes it possible to create a lightweight and thin but equally robust chassis.

Under the body, we find Intel Core i7 8565U and Intel Core i5 8245U processors (Whiskey Lake, presented by Intel on the evening of 28 August) focused on energy saving to ensure high operational autonomy. As for the other features, we find up to 16GB of RAM and an SSD up to well 1TB with PCIe NVMe interface.

The operating autonomy should reach 8 hours in the version with Core i7 CPU. As for the connectivity ports, we find a second-generation USB 3.1 Type-C and two USB 3.1 TypeA ports, and finally an HDMI port. Network operations are ensured by a 802.11ac Gigabit 2×2 module.

The availability of Acer Swift 5 is scheduled for November.. Acer also offers a 14-inch version of Swift 5, which beyond the form factor has the same characteristics of the older brother: it will be available in the first quarter of 2019.

The Acer Swift 3 line has been updated with new 13.3 and 14-inch form factor models. The 13-inch Swift 3 features a Full HD display and introduces a new 4G LTE connectivity option, along with Intel Core i7 8550U, Core i5 8250U and Core i3 8130U and up to 8GB of DDR4 and up to 512GB of memory, NVMe PCIe type SSD storage. The declared autonomy is 13 hours, while the weight stops the balance needle at 1.3 kilograms.

The 14-inch version weighs a little more (1.4kg) and comes with Intel Core i7 8656U, Core i5 8265U and Core i3 8145U, up to 8GB of DDR4 RAM and up to 512GB of SSD PCIe storage space NVMe. The presence of an NVIDIA GeForce MX150 GPU is indicated on the graph, while the other technical specifications remain unchanged.

There is also a variant of the 14-inch model that maintains the same hardware features but offers a slightly larger chassis, which can accommodate a 2.5-inch storage unit for those who have special needs in terms of data to be transported.

The 13-inch Swift 3 laptops will be available in October. Same starting price for the 14-inch models, but availability scheduled for January 2019.

Acer Aspire: renewal for the whole line

At the IFA in Berlin Acer announces a renewal of the Aspire line, starting from the All-in-One Aspire Z 24. This is a PC designed, says Acer, for families and the ” modern living room ” : the destination of use is that of a system for connectivity and everyday applications: web browsing, social media, movies and casual gaming.

Built around a 23.8-inch diagonal screen (IPS panel and Full HD resolution), the Aspire Z 24 shows an elegant design with metal support and ultra-thin frame. Inside we find the eighth-generation Intel Core i7 / i5 / i3 processors, up to 16GB of DDR4 RAM, SSD up to 256GB (and Intel Optane 32GB) and HD up to 2TB and GeForce MX150 or Intel UHD Graphics 630 and 610. There is also an 8x DVD-RW optical drive.

Acer Aspire 7 is instead a high-performance laptop designed for those who are using the laptop for content production. The models presented are characterized by a 15.6-inch display with Full HD or 4K resolution depending on the version.

The processing heart of this system is always embodied by eighth-generation Intel Core processors, in particular, it will be possible to choose the Core i7 8705G or Core i5 8305G versions, while the graphic sector is entrusted to a Radeon RX Vega M GL solution with 4GB of memory video. To complete the hardware platform, there are 16 GB of RAM and 512GB PCIe NVME SSD in RAID 0 configuration. The weight is 1.5 kg.

Acer Aspire 5 is proposed as a multimedia system designed more for the use of content: 15.6-inch IPS display with Full HD resolution, Intel Core i7 8565U, Core i5 8265U or Core i3 8145U, up to 32GB of DDR4 memory ( with support for Intel Optane 16GB), 128 or 256GB SATA and HD SSD storage up to 2TB and NVIDIA GeForce MX150, MX130 or Intel UHD Graphics 620 video card. All in a 1.8kg system and autonomy up to 7 hours.

Finally, Acer Aspire 3, designed for productivity, study and casual gaming and with an eye for portability thanks to the 14-inch form factor. The display is Full HD while we find under the body Intel Pentium or Intel Celeron and AMD series-A processors. Available configurations include up to 8GB of DDR4 memory, solid-state storage or HDD (up to 256GB in the first case, and up to 1TB in the second) and even DVD optical drives.

The availability of Acer Aspire Z 24 is scheduled for October, while Aspire 5 and Aspire 3 will be available from December starting, respectively. No information, for now, regarding availability and prices of Aspire 7.

Acer Predator X

Physically, Predator X has the appearance of a normal gaming computer, with the usual assortment of grids, vents, LEDs and the inevitable Predator logo of Acer’s famous line of gaming computers. But what is inside Predator X is much more interesting: two Intel Xeon processors and up to 12 ECM DIMM slots for RAM.

With this solution, Acer intends to provide a disproportionate computing power, even too much for a traditional player. This station is mainly addressed to those who must perform important rendering applications, to those who have to develop new-generation videogames or other multitasking workloads. Like many of this year’s Acer ads at IFA, there’s still no price or full list of specifications. The company confined itself to saying that Predator X will go on sale starting next winter.

Acer OJO 500

Acer presented a new version of its Windows Mixed Reality viewer at the IFA in Berlin, after being one of the most active producers with the first generation of devices based on Microsoft technology.

Acer OJO 500 is characterized by a more modular design than the first version, with the aim of meeting, especially the operators of public places or museums that need to replace the parts of the viewer several times a day because they are worn by the continuous use of visitors.

OJO 500 can be used with a rigid or soft belt, with the second machine washable. The mask on the headset can be moved, so as to allow easy removal of this part and check what happens in the surrounding environment. Acer also includes an integrated interpupillary wheel (IPD) to adjust the distance between the display and people’s eyes. This type of configuration should guarantee any type of user to see clear and clear images in the various contents.

Compared to the first version, it improves the field of vision up to 100 degrees thanks to two 2.89-inch LCD displays (2,880 x 1,440). The device also equips a headset that allows you to listen to audio without wearing headphones; although it is still possible to use the latter in case the first type of audio is not sufficiently involving.

Full details on Acer news can be found on the official company page.