For its 30th anniversary, Acer Malaysia brings a new Spin to their product line-up
By Tan Jee Yee February 10, 2020
- Slimmer, lighter Spin 3 comes with Wacom AES stylus for sketching
- TravelMate P614 is part of Intel’s Project Athena with features to match
“2020 is a very significant year for us because we are celebrating Acer Malaysia’s 30th anniversary. As we look back through the challenges, triumphs, innovations and successes, one thing stood out: we are truly humbled by the support and trust that our customers have shown us,” says Acer Malaysia director of consumer business, product and marketing Johnson Seet.
Seet was speaking at Acer Malaysia’s 30th anniversary celebration, which also saw the Malaysian debut of some of Acer’s CES 2020 line-up. Chief among this is the Acer Spin 3, the company’s new convertible laptop, as well as the TravelMate P614, a portable laptop for professionals.
The new Spin 3, announced in CES 2020, features a slimmer and lighter design than its predecessor (about 16% slimmer and 12% lighter, according to Acer Malaysia senior product manager Jeffrey Lai). This 14-inch laptop weights 1.5kg at a 16.9mm thinness.
What’s unique about the Spin 3, of course, is its 360-degrees hinge that allows users to fold the screen all the way back. Users can use it in a variety of modes – either fully flat over the back of the keyboard as a tablet, or propped up like a tent.
The screen is a 14-inch touchscreen with Full HD display, which works with the Acer Active Stylus that uses Wacom AES (active electrostatic) to provide 4,096 pressure levels. The stylus charges itself when kept in the storage dock – Lai says that a mere 15-second charge can provide 90 minutes of writing or sketching.
This laptop comes with 10th Gen Intel Core processor, which provides better graphics on top of better battery optimisation. This is paired with 512GB of PCIe NVMe SSD storage. The variant with Intel Core i5 and 8GB RAM is priced at RM3,199, while the Intel Core i3 version with 4GB RAM goes for RM2,699.
[US$1 = RM4.14]
Both variants will be available in March, where there’ll be a promotion whereby purchasers of the first five units at the Acer Concept Stores and Acer Official Online Stores will receive an Urbanista Sydney portable Bluetooth speaker worth RM219.
Pro on the go
The TravelMate P614, on the other hand, is a laptop developed as part of Intel’s Project Athena, an innovation program by the chipmaker to aid laptop makers to build next-gen laptops that are thinner, lighter and more powerful.
Power here entails the battery life, too. The P614 boasts a whopping 20 hours of battery life, alongside a fast-charge function that recharges up to 50% within 45 minutes.
As for the design, the TravelMate P614 went through MIL-STD810G and 810F military durability tests, which is to ensure that the laptop can handle real-life situations, drops and dusts. The chassis is made out of magnesium-aluminium alloy, which helps keep the laptop at 1.1kg in weight and 16.6mm in thickness.
The laptop is powered with up to 10th Gen Intel Core i7 processor, 8GB of DDR4 RAM, optional NVIDIA GeForce MX250 graphics and up to 1TB of Gen 3 x4 PCIeSSD storage. While the screen can’t be flipped as much as the Spin 3, the TravelMate P614’s screen has a 180-degree hinge design so professionals can lay the display flat while collaborating and sharing.
The laptop also touts some security features, including the option to log into the laptop using Windows Hello via the fingerprint reader embedded on the power button, or through the IR webcam that doubles as a facial recogniser. The camera shutter can be physically closed too – good news for those who don’t want to use tape.
An integrated Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0 chip is meant to deliver hardware-based protection for passwords and encryption keys. On top of that, the laptop’s pre-loaded Acer ProShield includes a suite of security and management tools that help safeguard sensitive data.
The TravelMate P614 comes in two variants as well. The higher-end version, which has a 10th Gen Intel Core i7 processor, 1TB SSD storage and NVIDIA GeForce MX250 graphics, prices at RM6,299. The Core i5 version with 512GB SSD storage goes for RM4,899.
All the display options
Acer Malaysia also saw fit to introduce a new range of monitors. First off is the CB242CK monitor, which features VESA Certified DisplayHDR 400 and 99% sRGB wide colour gamut. This is a 34-inch UltraWide QHD monitor that comes with an ergo-stand that allows users to tilt, swivel and adjust the height to their preferences. It prices at RM1,699.
For gamers, the Predator XB273UGS monitor is a 27-inch IPS WQHD display featuring a 165Hz refresh rate. This is a VESA Certified DisplayHDR 400 display as well, and prices at RM2,199.
Acer also introduced four new Nitro monitors of varying display sizes, including the Nitro XV273X 27-inch Full HD monitor that can be overclocked to 240Hz refresh rate. This one goes for RM1,499.
More unique, however, is the Acer C250i, which the company bills as the world’s first auto-portrait LED projector. This portable projector doesn’t quite look like a projector at all – it looks more like a decorative sculpture with a lens on it. It can project at Full HD resolutions and allows both Android and iOS devices to connect to it wirelessly.
The auto-portrait feature kicks in when you stand the projector vertically instead of horizontally, and the image will correct itself to the right side up. It’s good for video calls on the phone that you need to enlarge. Considering that it packs a 9,000mAh battery and built-in Bluetooth speakers, the C250i is designed for projections on-the-go.
The Acer C250i is available immediate on Acer official stores and prices at RM1,699.
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