Acer who are back delivering profits in Australia is set to roll out several new PC products in an effort to capitalise on a new found demand for stylish PC products.
Among the new range are two new Acer gaming notebooks that will take on the Dell Alienware brand, new touch screen Chrome notebooks, a new compact Chrome OS-based desktop computer small enough to be hidden behind a monitor on VESA mount as well as an award winning Ultrabook which is already on back order in markets where it has already been launched.
A major supplier to Harvey Norman, Officeworks, Dick Smith and JB HI Fi Acer is set to introduce the Aspire V Nitro notebook series with a 15- and 17-inch display screen among them will be a Black Edition that Acer hopes will set these notebooks apart from other gaming notebooks.
 Click to enlarge |
The new Aspire V Nitro notebooks will ship with fourth-generation Intel Core processors, with discrete GPU options up to the Nvidia GTX860M on the Black Edition. A 2×2 802.11ac Wi-Fi provides superior wireless connectivity, the company said. Each notebook will have an In-Plane Switching (IPS) display with resolution up to 1920×1080. Storage options will include hard drives up to 1TB or up to 256GB SSDs.
Acer said that the new notebooks have a metal chassis and a “nanoimprint lithography” unique, textured finish. Inside, the notebook keys will be backlit with by red LEDs. An 8-watt amplifier will drive four internal speakers.
 Click to enlarge |
There is also a special metallic fan that will apparently be more efficient at carving up dust and blowing it out the notebook’s vents.
The Black Edition will also include a special “turbo mode” that can be manually activated, Acer said. Revving up turbo mode enables 19-percent faster fan speed, and 11-percent lower CPU/GPU temperatures, the company said.
Chrome
The new Chromebox CXI is a compact Chrome OS-based desktop computer that has a Haswell-based Intel Celeron processor clocked at 1.4GHz, it ships with 16GB of SSD storage with SD card expansion, and a choice of 2GB or 4GB of RAM.
Acer has also built in Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, and Gigabit Ethernet connectivity, HDMI and DisplayPort video out, a combination audio jack, and four USB 3.0 ports, two of which remain powered when the Chromebox is switched off, allowing it to be used to charge connected mobile devices.
Acer who are a major supplier to education departments and schools in Australia believe that that their new Chrome offering will appeal to both large enterprise organisations like Woolworths who recently ordered several thousand Acer Chrome notebooks because they looking for improved efficiency and want to lower costs.
The new Chromebook CXI, boots in eight-second making it suitable for large numbers of users.
A Powerwash setting lets IT teams remove all data stored from the device, returning it to factory settings, while the web-based Google Management Console will help deploy apps to multiple Chrome OS devices remotely, with apps being automatically updated every six weeks. A 4GB version is expected to sell for around $300 and a 2GB version for sub $250.
Acer Australia will also release their highly popular S7 Ultrabook that several reviewers have given a 5/5 rating.
Paul Taylor writing in the UK Financial Times said of the new Acer S7 “This is one of my favourites because of its superb screen and spectacularly thin design”.
Acer Australia CEO Darren Simmons said “We are back delivering profits and we are confident that our new products will appeal to both consumers and business customers. Acer have worked hard this year to deliver a new generation of products that are powerful, functional as well as stylish”.
He added “The brand and the product range has undergone a massive overhaul doing the past 12 months as the PC industry transitioned. Our pedigree of being a leading manufacturer of components as well as a manufacturer of finished products gives Acer an advantage, as we can respond quickly to change taking place in the marketplace. The new products are among the best we have ever launched”.
