Category Archives: Computers

Acer Launches the Swift 3 and Swift 5 – Next Generation Ultrabook for the Discerning Working-Class Malaysian

The working environment and requirements today is vastly different from before. Especially in the conditions that we know today, the workspace has really shifted from the office, to home, or to anywhere else you are comfortable. Work has shifted from an office only affair to a remote situation. The key phrase here is “anywhere, anytime”.

But it is not just the working class that has shifted, the classrooms have shifted too. The classroom is not a location anymore. The progress has started since Google introduced their suite of Classroom and learning focused tools, to be fair. But with the conditions now, a classroom can be your own bedroom, or your kitchen, or your dining room, or even the café next door.

Your learning space and workspace is technically wherever you are comfortable with. But that also means that you can change your work environment as you please. If you have a large enough balcony, you can relax and work at the same time. Even at the pool side if you have one. You need to be portable though. That is why you need the ultra-portable Swift series from Acer.

The Acer Swift 5

Source: Acer

The Acer Swift 5 is still the symbol of power and portability in Acer’s stable of devices. It is still the same size and weight of the previous Acer Swift 5 for 2019. There are some differences here though.

The Acer Swift 5 for 2020 packs a one-piece glass protected 14-inch Full HD display up front with integrated bezel instead of the plastic bezel casing of the 2019 version. It is still a touch display too. We think that it looks very cool too, in its 2020 skin. Oh yes, there are some new colours too.

Visually then, the differences are subtle enough that you might not notice. Technically as well, the rest of the Swift 5 is no different from the 2019 version, including its keyboard. Most of the differences are kept within the lightweight 1.05kg body though.

You get a new 11th generation Intel Core processor up to a Core i7-1165G7. The Core i7 is paired to Intel’s latest Iris X Graphics. Technically, the Swift 5 should be able to handle 4K video processing smoothly enough with the combination of the processor and GPU. Just do not expect the Acer Swift 5 to destroy your table with the processing speed.

The Intel Evo platform notebook PC with the new processor allows the Acer Swift 5’s battery to last up to 15 hours on a single charge. The battery is a fast-charging one too, just so that you do not have to be stuck near a wall socket and enjoy the weather at your pool area or balcony.

The Antimicrobial Corning Gorilla Glass covered display ensures that your display stays bacteria free and your fingers clean too when you interact with the touch screen. As we all know, touch screens can be very gross under the microscope. Of course, you will appreciate the 100% sRGB colour gamut too if you need to work with videos and photos.

The Acer Swift 3

Source: Acer

If you need something a little more budget friendly you can get the Acer Swift 3. You do not get the touch screen of the Swift 5 mind you. It is also slightly heavier at 1.2kg, and at 15.95mm, thicker than the Swift 5.

You still get a beautiful IPS display with Full HD resolution though. Within the aluminium and magnesium body construction is still a powerful 11th generation Intel Core i7 (up to). With the powerful new CPU is an Intel Iris X Graphics integrated GPU that should be able to handle even light video editing. With 16GB of RAM (up to) and 512GB off SSD storage (up to), you should not be left wanting more in speed and power from a lightweight and ultra-portable package.

Like the Swift 5, it comes with WiFi 6 technology too for an extra stable and speedy wireless internet connection in your home (if you have a WiFi 6 router). On top of that, it packs 11 hours of battery life and it even fast charges. No, that is not as long as the Acer Swift 5, but 11 hours is still more than a full workday, technically.

Price and Availability

The Acer Swift 3 and Swift 5 is now available at Acer authorised resellers nationwide and Acer official online stores (including Lazada and Shopee). The Acer Swift 5 will be available in Mist Green colour option for now. The Acer Swift 5 will set you back from MYR 3,999.

Source: Acer

The Acer Swift 3 will be available in three colour options to really fit your personality. It is available in Pure Silver, Aqua Blue, and Melon Pink. The Core i7 variant is only available in Pure Silver colour option. The new Acer Swift 3 will set you back MYR 3,299 onward.

Source: Acer

Customers who purchase the Acer Swift 5, Swift 3 equipped with 11th Gen Intel® Coreprocessors before 31 December 2020 will be entitled to redeem free gifts, including up to RM100 worth of Touch ‘n Go eWallet credit and personalized premium laptop sleeves. For more information on the products, you can visit Acer’s website.

Samsung Brings TizenOS to new Lifestyle Smart Monitors with Apple AirPlay 2

Samsung is bringing TizenOS to its popular monitor line up. The South Korean company, Samsung has unveiled a brand new line of innovative Smart Monitors. It touts the new line up as a do-it-all screen that will be able to seamless transition from work to play; perfect for the realities of today’s work and education climate. The monitors can connect to PCs, mobile devices, and even work independently.

The new Samsung Smart Monitor comes in two variations: the 32-inch M7 model and the M5 line-up consisting of 27-inch and 32-inch models.

Built for Work & Learning

The Samsung Smart Monitor M7 comes with a 32-inch UHD display with 4K resolution. It supports HDR10 and has a 178-degree viewing angle. The M5 Smart Monitor line-up comes with a lower resolution FHD display. That said, it still sports HDR10 support.

Both models come with a variety of connectivity options. The M7, being the higher specc’d model comes with an additional USB-C port which supports data, display and power (65W). Aside from that, the Smart Monitor M7 and M5 share the same connectivity options which include HDMI 2.0 ports, USB 2.0 ports, WiFi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac), and Bluetooth 4.2

Source: Samsung

Running on TizenOS, the Samsung Smart Monitor comes built in with wireless connectivity options that work well with smartphones as well. This includes Tap View, App Casting, and even Apple AirPlay 2. Samsung’s DeX can also work wirelessly with the Smart Monitors.

The monitor is able to work independently without input from a PC or smartphone source as well. When it comes to productivity, users will be able to run Microsoft’s Office 365 suite independently over WiFi.

Seamlessly Adapted for Entertainment

It’s not all work when it comes to Samsung’s new Smart Monitors. The display comes with Samsung’s Smart Hub to for all your content streaming needs. You can access apps such as Netflix, YouTube, HBO without a connection with your PCs or smartphones. You’re able to navigate the interface with the provided remote control or, if you so please, using Samsung’s Bixby voice assistant.

Source: Samsung

The Samsung Smart Monitors also comes with Adaptive Picture. This allows the monitor to intelligently optimize picture quality according to the environment. It will automatically adjust color temperature and brightness according to surrounding conditions to help reduce eye strain. The monitors also feature a special eye-saver mode to reduce blue light.

Pricing & Availability

The Samsung Smart Monitor is now available in United States, Canada and China with availability in other countries coming by the end of November.

The M7 will be retailing at USD$399.99 (MYR1,635.07) while the M5 will be retailing at USD$229.99 (MYR940.148) for the smaller 27-inch variant and USD$279.99 (MYR1,144.57) for the 32-inch version.

Official Specifications

Source: Samsung
Source: Samsung

Dell Pulls Out of Retail in Malaysia & Singapore

You know the year has been a tough one when it forces a titan like Dell to consider leaning up its operations. The company well known for its laptop and desktop offerings to consumers and businesses is entering a transition phase to withdraw itself from retail in Malaysia and Singapore – two of the most tech forward markets in the Southeast Asian region.

The company will halt supply of its products to partner retailers in Malaysia and Singapore. This will come into effect immediately. The information surfaced via a tip to Malaysian online portal, LowYat.Net.

When contacted for a comment on the situation, Dell Technologies representatives clarified:

  1. Dell Technologies has announced plans to transition out of the retail market in Singapore and Malaysia. Customers will still have access to the full complement of our products and services through Dell direct.
  2. Dell will honour contractual commitments with our partners and customers, and our team is on hand to work with our partners to coordinate a seamless transition. We anticipate the transition to be completed by the end of January 2021.
  3. Dell’s service and customer support is not affected by the transition.

That said, Dell products will continue to be offered by retail partners until current stock sells out. Come 2021, consumers interested in purchasing Dell and Alienware desktops and laptops will have to go to Dell’s official online store at dell.com.

AMD’s Big Navi Launches! The RX 6000 Takes on the World!

AMD’s Ryzen 5000 series launched just a few weeks ago wowed the world with not just improved performance. It wowed the world by beating Intel in their own game. With their new Zen 3 architecture, they somehow managed to catch up to Intel’s gaming prowess in their processors and now team Red is an even better CPU choice for creators around the world. Even we want an AMD Ryzen build for our gaming PCs now.

In that launch as well, they teased something else that we all knew was coming along. They teased their new AMD Radeon RX6000 series GPUs. In their demo from the Ryzen launch, the GPUs look to be very promising too running Borderlands 3.

Still, nothing compares to the real thing, and so AMD launches their AMD Radeon RX6000 platform. The internet world calls the new GPU “Big Navi”, as a succession to the Navi based Radeon RX 5700 and RX 5700 XT. AMD also thinks that this new GPUs will take the fight to their biggest GPU competitor, NVIDIA and their new platform, Ampere.

Source: AMD

Here are the headline figures; 80 compute units clocked at a maximum of 2,250MHz (Boost Clock) with 128MB of cache, 16GB of GDDR6 RAM, all at 300W power draw. Welcome to RDNA 2 on AMD’s Radeon RX 6900 XT. Welcome to the new standards in gaming GPU.

AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT

Source: AMD

As mentioned, the headline figures are quite impressive. This is a comparable GPU to NVIDIA’s RTX 3090, if you need the nearest comparison baseline. There are some interesting figures from the headline figures you see above though.

For one, AMD’s Radeon RX 6900 XT is only using GDDR6 technology while the NVIDIA card works with a GDDR6X technology which is, in theory, faster. The AMD card also has less RAM at 16GB compared to 24GB. The AMD card’s GDDR6 RAM also only features a 256-bit memory interface, and its direct competitor uses a 384-bit interface.

The AMD Radeon is clocked faster though at about 2GHz in base clocks and a maximum of about 2.2GHz in maximum clock. Even its base clock is much faster than its direct competitor’s 1.7GHz boost clock. All of that while drawing 300W, 50W less than its competitor.

There are differences in the cards, which are quite expected. Which card might perform better in different situations can be arguable as well thanks to the differences in specs. From the presentation by AMD’s Lisa Su though, the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT is more powerful that its direct competitors in up to 4K gaming conditions. Oh yes, the NVIDIA RTX 3090 is no longer the most powerful GPU in the world. NVIDIA is no longer the only choice when it comes to high-performance gaming. Did we also mention that the RX 6900 XT is the same size as the RX 6800 XT?

AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT

Source: AMD

To be fair, we should have started with this GPU since AMD started their presentation with this card. It is just one step down from the all-powerful and mighty AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT. It features mostly the same headline figures with 8 less compute units, bringing a total of 72 Compute Units.

That does not mean that the RX 6800 XT is a huge compromise over the almighty RX 6900 XT. It is less powerful thanks to less Compute Units. But it is still more powerful than its closest competitor the NVIDIA RTX 3080.

How do we know? We do not. We can only take the words of AMD as truth for now, until independent reviewers pick up the cards to test out.

AMD Radeon RX 6800

Then they brought out a slightly more budget conscious choice of the AMD RX 6800. This consumes less power than the big RX 6800 XT at 250W, 50W less. But that is also because it is clocked at a lower speed.

The AMD Radeon RX 6800 is clocked at about 1.8GHz at the base and pushes 2.1 GHz at maximum clock. It also has 128MB in Infinity Cache (like the RX 6800 XT and RX 6900 XT), and 16GB GDDR6, also like its bigger brothers. But it has 12 less Compute Units compared to the RX 6800 XT at 60 Compute Units.

RDNA 2

Source: AMD

The new AMD Radeon RX 6000 series cards come with what AMD calls the RDNA 2 architecture technology. What does it mean for you? It means a 65% performance increase from the RX 5000 series of Radeon GPUs (RDNA). But that is still a little general, to be honest. The RX 6800, for example, is more powerful than the NVIDIA RTX 2080Ti, and even more powerful than AMD’s older Radeon RX 5700 XT. The RX 6800 is also a very different GPU compared to the RX 5700 XT. In fact, the RX 6800 XT is twice more powerful than the RX 5700 XT

So the only way to measure this difference is in the performance of other computational capacities. For example, memory access. While the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT has a smaller memory bandwidth at 256-bit and less memory at 16GB of RAM and 128MB in cache (a very fast cache, if I might add), it could outperform its closest competitor. That is thanks to something they call Infinity Cache.

The Infinity Cache, in an oversimplified form, is basically a memory sharing technology. That is an oversimplification to the technology. To say that the GPU can draw some compute power via accessing a super-fast cache is still oversimplifying it. But that also means that AMD could get up to twice more memory bandwidth from just 128MB cache, 16GB RAM, and a 256-bit interface compared to 384-bit 24GB RAM system while also drawing less power.

Source: AMD

Mind you, you might get even better performances if you are using an AMD Ryzen 5000 CPU paired to the Radeon GPU. This one is called Smart Access Memory, which is also another word for memory access sharing between an AMD Ryzen CPU and an AMD Radeon GPU. This also means that there is an even higher memory throughput from the PC to give workloads more speeds to work with. That might mean a bigger performance boost on games or other workload processes.

But having both AMD’s CPU and GPU does not just add performance on your screen. It helps you improve your competitiveness in games. With AMD’s Radeon latency boost combined with FreeSync, it reduces your input lags up to 40ms. This also means that in games like Counter-Strike, or Dota2, or Valorant, or even Overwatch, your clicks converts to an action even faster and more instantly.

There is more to RDNA 2 as well. It supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, which is quite expected. But more than that, it works with DirectX to enable Ray Tracing and something called Super Resolution. We are guessing that it is AMD and Microsoft’s version of DLSSS technology.

All these are under the surface though. On the surface, there is a new control app for the AMD GPUs. On that new app, there is something called RAGE mode for the GPUs. This is a one-click overclock mode built-into the GPUs. You do not even need to know how to overclock to under-volt GPUs or CPUs to do this. You just needt to hit RAGE mode and let the GPU rip apart every game you play.

Pricing and Availability

The AMD Radeon RX 6800 will be available from 18th November 2020 onward for US$ 579 (MYR2,407.81). The Radeon RX 6800 XT will be available also on the same day onward for US$ 649 (MYR2,698.91). The more powerful and extreme AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT will be available 8th December 2020 onward for US$ 999 (MYR4,154.41). These are extremely attractive prices compared to its competitors. These prices are also for reference cards from AMD and may not reflect the prices of Radeon GPUs from OEMs.

First Look at the Porsche Design Acer Book RS – A Star is Born

The Porsche Design Acer Book RS launches at Next@Acer. Underneath the light all-metal and carbon fibre construction is a powerful 11th Generation Intel Core i7 (up to) and an NVIDIA GeForce MX350 GPU (up to). You get up to 16GB of RAM and 1TB of SSD storage. The Porsche Design Acer Book RS will also come with its own Travelpack RS ECCO Palermo Leather sleeve and pouch and its own exclusive Porsche design Mouse RS.

The new Notebook is made to be lightweight, yet sturdy, and powerful. The design harks to Porsche’s sports car and racing heritage. Porsche Design employed their know how and expertise in lightweight materials and construction to keep the all-metal chassis with carbon fibre top body an anorexic 1.25kg. At 15.99mm thickness also, it is not exactly a bulky package.

Inside the body is a 14-inch Full HD IPS display with 99% sRGB coverage. That also means near accurate colours. DTS Audio ensures that its speakers are powerful enough still to entertain even the most demanding users. It even features the Unibody hinge design to make typing a more comfortable experience on the Porsche Design Acer Book RS.

The Porsche Design Acer Book RS will be available in the North American, EMEA, and China very soon. Prices for the Book RS start at US$ 1,399.99 (MYR 5,801), EU€ 1,799 (MYR 8,851), and RMB 14,999 (MYR 9,345) respectively. If you opt for the top specced Book RS, it will set you back US$ 1,999.99 (MYR 8,287), EU€ 2,399 (MYR 11,803), and RMB 19,999 (MYR 12,461) respectively. The Porsche Design Mouse RS can be bought separately of course, it will set you back US$ 109.99 (MYR 456), and EU€ 99 (487) respectively. The Travelpack RS can also be purchased separately at US$ 329.99 (MYR 1,367) and EU€ 299 (MYR 1,471) respectively. No word on availability and pricing for Malaysia just yet.

[Next@Acer] Acer’s New Monitors Are Easy on The Eyes

At Next@Acer 2020, Acer has also introduced new monitors for business and home users: the eye-friendly Acer B248Y, the HDR-capable Acer CBL272U and the Acer BL270 with virtually no side-bezels.

Acer B248Y – Work All Day, Every Day

Acer claims that this B248Y is an ergonomic monitor that was designed with various pain points that is often faced by users at work in mind. The monitor is equipped with various features that aim to make your eyes more comfortable even in prolonged working environments, such as Acer LightSense and Acer ColorSense.

The two technologies combines in the display to automatically adjust the screen brightness and color temperature. The adjustments are made for a more comfortable experience with the display depending on the environment. The monitor’s Full HD (1980×1080) IPS display sits on something they call Ergostand. The Ergostand, as per Acer, is a flexible stand that allows for ever more flexibility in adjusting the display to your liking.

The B248Y’s built-in docking station turns the monitor into a workspace in its own right. The RJ45 and USB Type-C 100W PD ports allows you to clear up plenty of clutter on your desk. The ports also means that you can choose to work from home or the office at anytime without worrying too much about moving the items, or even clearing a new space for the monitor. You can also daisy chain multiple monitors for a larger screen real estate, if that is what you need. There is also an adjustable Full HD webcam to let the users find the perfect angle for camera feed. That, and you do not need to spend extra on a webcam.

Acer CBL272U – QHD Goodness

The Acer CBL272U is a 27-inch TUV/Eyesafe certified monitor with QHD 2,560 by 1,440 resolution, Delta E<1 color accuracy and 99% sRGB gamut coverage. It is an IPS panel which also means that you can look at it from nearly any angles with its 178o viewing angle. HDR10 means that any compatible video content looks superb on the display. All this means your eyes will just start to water at the sight of the display. Not because it hurts, just because it is so good. C

It is not just an eye-watering, colour attack for your eyes though. It is also built with a number of eye-friendly features. BlueLightShield Pro, for example prevents harmful bluelight especially for extended period of use. With Acer’s proven ComfyView anti-glare technology and low-dimming capability, enables the monitor’s brightness to be turned all the way down to 15% for night-time use. In that case, the monitor will not blind you even when you view it in total darkness.

Acer BL270 – Thin, Thin Bezels

Source: Acer

Dreaming of having a two-monitor set-up that looks like a single large monitor set-up? The Acer BL270 is a certified FHD 1920×1080 monitor with thin size bezels that taper off, this is what making the two monitor be placed virtually seamlessly side-by-side. This clean and powerful monitor is perfectly designed for any business environment. The flexible stand allows you the ability adjust the height, swivel and pivot perfectly according to your preferences. You can also use the display to mirror your smartphone’s content via Acer’s Smart Console App.

Price and Availability

Despite the monitors powerful features, the price is seem to be reasonable. Three of the monitors: B248Y, CBL272U and BL270 will be available in North America starting with price of US$ 329.99 (RM 1,369*), US$ 299.99 (RM 1,245*) and US$ 229.99 (RM954*.11) respectively. As usual, exact specifications, prices, and availability will vary by region. No word on availability or pricing in Malaysia just yet. These are perfect monitors for our work from home set up though, so we are hoping to hear something soon.

*Based on approximate exchange rate of US$ 1 = MYR 4.14 as of 21/10/2020

[Next@Acer] Porsche Design Acer Book RS Unveiled

Remember when Porsche, a German car manufacturer decided that designing cars is not enough anymore? Remember when they started designing things like a smoking pipe, and even smartphones? Remember when they introduced a new notebook PC called the Porsche Design Book One? Oh yes, that was quite special.

That Book One looked like something you could pull out of a spaceship. The detachable display gave it that illusion that you actually pulled it out of the USS Enterprise (Star Trek, does not matter which version and build). The brushed and polished aluminium look gives it that extra zest and drama that it stood out from regular notebooks. Of course, it has the price to match.

In reality, the Porsche Design Book One is already outdated. In the world of modern PCs, the Porsche Design Book One is an antique piece that belongs to the museum. We would not call it a modern art gallery material either. This reminds me of a quote I heard once that “art can have no purpose other than itself”.

Fast forward to 2020, and Porsche Design is back into designing notebook PCs. Of course, they cannot do it by themselves, they are not PC makers. They have to either rely on a third-party manufacturer, which could mean that they make cool looking notebooks that does not work properly, or they could go to a partner that has been making notebook PCs forever and make a really good notebook PC that fits the Stuttgart’s stature. They did the latter; just in case you forgot to read the title.

Welcome to the Porsche Design Acer Book RS, a combination of Porsche’s know-how in beautiful and functional industrial designs using the most exotic of materials, and Acer’s expertise in making reliable and powerful PCs. What you get is a notebook PC that is not just reliable and functional in any situation, but also a sight to behold.

We will save our opinions on the looks and design for our review (if they ever release it for review, that is). The Porsche Design Acer Book RS does not just have a name that is mouthful. It has the design to keep your mouth open too.

All-Metal & Carbon Fibre

It is constructed in metal in all completeness. The metal chassis not only gives it that super polished and high-quality look. It makes it a bit more sturdy than regular notebooks with plastic chassis. It is not just all-metal chassis though; the body is CNC milled to Porsche’s standards of precision. That also means that the single metal frame body is stronger than you think. It has that Unibody Hinge mechanism that lifts the keyboard a little bit too, to make typing a little more comfortable.

Then there is the top cover that is made of carbon fibre. This is not some plastic that is dipped in carbon fibre Plastidip or even a sticker on cheap plastic panel. It is not even Carbon Reinforced Plastic (CRP). It is actual carbon fibre that you see and feel on top of the Book RS.

What that means is that the notebook is not only strong, but light as well. It weighs just 1.25kg at 15.99mm thick. While that is not the lightest, not thinnest you have seen a notebook PC, it is not exactly heavy. You also need to consider that this is fully constructed in metal. For that reason alone, we consider the Porsche Design Acer Book RS is light. The Book RS’ weight department, no doubt, has received some clever know-how from Porsche Design’s lightweight metal construction earned from their car manufacturing sibling, Porsche.

Power Packed – Like a Porsche Sports Car

Did we ever mention that Porsche also makes some of the world’s most desirable sports cars? Must have escaped us. The Porsche Design Acer Book RS is made with internals that matches its looks as well, just like a Porsche should.

The Porsche Design Acer Book RS packs Intel’s 11th generation Core i7-1165G7 (up to) paired to NVIDIA’s discreetly powerful GeForce MX350 GPU (up to). The combination of that not only allows the Porsche Design Acer Book RS to go through multiple documents, emails, and even excel sheets like a champ. It allows the device to edit videos even. It can even be your gaming rig if you really want it to be. Of course, we would refrain from running AAA titles at full chat.

Thanks to the 14-inch Full HD IPS display and DTS Audio, the Porsche Design Acer Book RS is as much an entertainer as it is a work partner. The IPS display is also a touch display with 100% sRGB. That also means that you can see colours accurately and whatever you might put on the display looks good. This is a true all-rounder, just like a Porsche.

Still Mightily Practical

Practicality is also a Porsche special. In that department, the Porsche Design Acer Book RS has a storage capacity of up to 1TB in PCIe Gen3 NVMe SSD format. That comes with up to 16GB of RAM as well, to keep everything chugging along nicely. That and the WiFI 6 connectivity should make the current work from home situation a breeze. It could even last you through the day with a quoted 17-hours in battery life. It is practical, just like a Porsche should be.

Of course, we cannot forget that Porsche is still a premium brand. As true as the “poor man’s Supercar” moniker, Porsche still deals with premium cars attached to a deserving prestige. Their cars are in no way made cheaply. They are made to the most stringent of standards.

The Book RS embodies that with what you get in the box; the Travelpack RS. You get three premium ECCO Palermo Leather sleeve, pouch and attachments, alongside a matching wireless mouse that is the Mouse RS. The magnetic pouch cover doubles as a mousepad to protect your mouse from wear and tear. One pouch is even big enough for the mouse and two types of chargers that comes with the notebook.

Price and Availability

So far this is the only Porsche Design collaboration product that has been announced by Acer. As per Acer, there are no further plans just yet on other collaboration products with the premium Stuttgart based brand. At the same time, Acer could leverage on their partnership with their partnership with Alfa Romeo Formula 1 team as well, like when Acer had a very interesting Ferrari branded string of products. We were told as well that there are no plans yet in that department.

The Porsche Design Acer Book RS will be available in the North American, EMEA, and China very soon. Prices for the Book RS start at US$ 1,399.99 (MYR 5,801*), EU€ 1,799 (MYR 8,851**), and RMB 14,999 (MYR 9,345***) respectively. If you opt for the top specced Book RS, it will set you back US$ 1,999.99 (MYR 8,287*), EU€ 2,399 (MYR 11,803**), and RMB 19,999 (MYR 12,461***) respectively. The Porsche Design Mouse RS can be bought separately of course, it will set you back US$ 109.99 (MYR 456*), and EU€ 99 (487**) respectively. The Travelpack RS can also be purchased separately at US$ 329.99 (MYR 1,367*) and EU€ 299 (MYR 1,471**) respectively. No word on availability and pricing for Malaysia just yet.

*Based on approximate exchange rate of US$ 1 = MYR 4.14 as of 21/10/2020

**Based on approximate exchange rate of EU€ 1 = MYR 4.92 as of 21/10/2020

***Based on approximate exchange rate of RMB 10 = MYR 6.23 as of 21/10/2020

[next@Acer] Acer ConceptD 7 & 7 Pro Gains 10th Gen Intel Processors & a New Compact D 300

Acer’s ConceptD laptops have carved out a unique niche for the company in addressing the unique needs of creators. In fact, Acer was one of the pioneers of the “made for creators” moniker when they announced their first ConceptD line up a little over a year ago. In their line up, they introduced the ConceptD 3, 5, 7 and 9 laptop lines, 300, 500 and 700 desktops and professionally calibrated displays. The line up was center stage at next@acer as the company announced updates and a new addition.

ConceptD 7 & 7 Pro Get Cool Updates

First up, the Acer ConceptD 7 and 7 Pro got a small bump in performance with an upgrade to the 10th Generation Intel Core i processors. The laptops were previously sporting the 9th generation Intel processors. Aside from that, the ConceptD 7 and 7 Pro retain the options for the NVIDIA RTX 20 series graphics or RTX QUADRO graphics.

In addition to the updated internals, the ConceptD 7 and 7 Pro are the first laptops to come to market with Acer’s new Vortex Flow cooling technology. The company has created its own fan design which is able to move 26% more air through the laptop allowing it to cool more efficiently. It is also quieter which sound levels reaching less than 40dBA.

ConceptD 300 Brings Big Performance in a Small Form

Acer also introduced their compact, 18L ConceptD 300 desktop. The small desktop packs a punch in a mid-tier form factor for those looking for a more compact solution. It continues to have ConceptD’s now signature design language which marries eye catching wood accents with a sleek white body. It’s small enough to fit on the table.

It comes with a 10th generation Intel Core i processors and is paired with up to 64GB of DDR4 266MHz RAM. This is complemented with up to quick 1TB M.2 SSD memory and up to 4TB of HDD memory. The ConceptD 300 will also be equipped with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX3070 Graphics card.

Pricing & Availability

The ConceptD 7 and 7 Pro will be available starting October 2020 in Europe, the Middle East and Asia with prices starting at EUR2,899 (MYR14,265.44) for the ConceptD 7 and EUR3,699 (MYR18,202.09) for the Pro.

North America will be getting it in December 2020 with retail prices starting at USD$3,299.99 (MYR13,673.92) for the ConceptD 7 and USD$3,499.99 (MYR14,502.65) for the Pro.

The ConceptD 300 will be available in Europe, the Middle East and Asia in November 2020 with prices starting at EUR1,299 (MYR6,392.42). China will be getting the desktop slightly earlier in October with prices starting at RMB12,999 (MYR8,099.68).

Official Specifications

Source: Acer

Google Assistant Is Now Integrated Deeper Than Ever With App Actions

It is completely fair and not overstating to say that the Google Assistant has become one of the Google’s most important products. While people are still fantasizing of contact-less computing experience, which is still not realized by most people, Google Assistant has already worked its way into the society through variety of products like the Google Home and Chromecast. Google Assistant, we can safely say, has become a big part of plenty of people’s lives.

Google has added several new features to the Assistant this year, making it better and more helpful to users. The virtual assistant is now gaining the ability to open up, search, and perform general tasks across your favorite apps. As long as you have an Android phone that is Assistant-enabled, you will be able to open and search within Android apps just by calling; “Hey Google,” or “Okay Google.”

Google has kicked off this deeper integration by partnering with over 30 of the top apps on the Google Play store. Here a list of some of the apps such as Nike Adapt, Nike Run Club, Spotify, Snapchat, Twitter and of course more.

Source: Google

The new integration will allow you to do things that need several taps in the apps themselves. For instance, apps like Nike Run Club can be easily accessed without needing users physical input. This can be huge time saver.

For all the apps that support Google Assistant, you can simply create a shortcut phrases for it and it will perform whatever preset actions for you. Nike’s Adapt training shoes could be a great example. Through Google Assistant, could create a preset action command and get your shoes to automatically tighten itself on your feet. All done via Google’s voice command, something that dreams are made of.

Source: Google

The new usefulness is a major advance towards Google offering a totally without hands processing experience. While Android 11 previously included some genuinely incredible voice control openness choices, this adds much greater usefulness to the Google Assistant.

Google says the Assistant will be able to work with more apps in the near future. You could be a part of this exciting future though by creating these shortcuts and allow developers to map users’ intent to get Google Assistant to integrate with their favourite apps. Stay tuned and be excited for more fantasy acts.

EVIS Smart Desk In-Depth Review: My Back is Happy

You can agree with us when we say we can never find a comfortable position on any desks. It seems that no matter what normal desk you function out of, you can almost never find the right height. This is why, when an interior designer designs your kitchen for you, they measure your height so that your kitchen counters can be tailored to your height. Of course, also to make sure you can reach the higher floating cabinets.

That is the kitchen though, not the working desks. You go to the office and most tables are at a standard height, and that is annoyingly uncomfortable sometimes. If you are anything taller than average height, the regular office tables are too short for you. Anything below the average height, the table is too tall for you.

Of course, with shorter statures, you can adjust the height of your chair most of the time to solve the problem. If you are just slightly taller than average, the regular office chairs are also just about adjustable enough to ensure that you have the right postures. But you cannot work standing up, in that case.

Bad seating and unsuitable table heights (even chairs, actually) will lead to bad posture which leads to plenty of problems in your body structure too. You get a bad back, because you are either hunched all the time, or you are just straining to look at your monitor. It can even lead to carpal tunnel syndrome because your wrists are resting at very awkward positions. In both cases, your productivity dips, because you are more often fatigued than not. That is just one of the reasons you want to ensure you have the right posture while you work.

You might not be able to change anything in your office at this point though. You cannot possibly ask your boss to buy a table just for you too, you may not own the company. If you are the owner of the company, you might be able to choose your own table. Still, it is quite unreasonable for you to change a table every time you feel uncomfortable, these are not exactly cheap stuff.

You are now working at home most of the time though, no thanks to the current pandemic situation. Your company also realises that your productivity does not change when you work from home. In fact, in some cases, you are more productive than ever. You do not need to brave through the morning traffic, which saves you an hour of sleep. You do not need to brave the traffic home, so you spend less time on the road, and save on fuel. You tend to eat right too, when you have a significant other, or when you live with your family. You are more relaxed at home, so your thought processes tend to be a little better.

You forgot one thing though, your table is still not the right height, and you tend to keep moving your workplace around the house. You tried working on the sofa, that is too comfortable and uncomfortable at the same time, productivity dips. Your dining table: you need to eat, and it still is not the right height. Your old office table; what old office table?

Time for you to buy a new working table at home. You need it to be perfect, and flexible enough so that you can work sitting, or standing. You need the EVIS Smart Desk.

Design

The EVIS Smart Desk is, well, a desk that looks like any other office desk. When we say an office desk, we are referring to the more modern interpretation of what an office desk should look like though. Just a plain wood surface with two or four legs. In the case of the EVIS desk, there are two rectangular stalks on each side they call legs, and two huge rectangular feet just slightly narrower than the surface. While traditional tables require up to four leges to hold the weight of the table on each corner, trust me this is as sturdy as it gets.

The unit we have for review is their standard Walnut top. The Walnut top feels like solid wood (it is MFC by the way), and that also means high-quality. On top of the table, in the bottom left corner, there is some white graphics to show you where to put your smartphone. That is the wireless charger built into the table, a nice touch considering most smartphones (flagships mostly) have wireless charging built-in there days. There is also a small latch on the table for your cables to come out of from.

If you buy the table from them too, you can opt for a tray that they put under the latch to hold an extension cord for the table. That extension will ensure that your wireless charger has power, and that you do not have to pull your cable and hair just to get power to your monitor, your PC, or desk lamp.

Of course, there are different colours for the top. You can even choose to get an L-shaped table. We are told also that you can customise the size and shape of the top if you really need. The motors can lift up to 120kg, they say.

The legs, as we mentioned are rectangular in shape, and steel in material with built-in motor. If you look underneath there is a rectangular bar that runs across the length of the table too, to connect the legs underneath and two bars that holds the width of the table to hold the four corners. You do There is a housing for the electronic motor and there is the controller that juts out of the bottom right corner of the table, away from your central seating position. Apparently, you can choose between white or black for the legs.

Work Sitting Down, or Standing Up – Whatever You Need

You can adjust the table from the minimum height of 660mm, which is perfect maybe for your kids, all the way to 1,310mm (1.31m) tall. There is no reason for you to put the table at that height unless you are working standing up as a 2-meter tall human being. You even see the exact height on the adjustment or control panel. You now know your perfect working table height.

What is nice about this kind of motorised movement is that there is no preset height built into the table, which also means you can fine tune the height just for yourself. Since there is a memory function via the control (store up to 4 custom height), you can even set your custom height and forget about it. Every time you get to the table, just press the preset number and you are ready to go. If you need to work standing up, just set the table to your preferred height, get the board to memorise it, forget, use it again the next round. Give it a few seconds, and you are ready to go.

Since there are four available custom preset memory too, you can either share the table with your significant other or have four different functions built to your table. In that case, if you only have room for one table in your house and you need the table to be your workspace, dining table, kitchen top, and even your bar table, the EVIS Smart Desk is perfect. Which also means that this EVIS Smart Desk will be perfect for a studio apartment, you might want to get a larger top though, so that you can comfortably seat four.

Finely Controlled

As mentioned, the controller or height adjustment board is placed on the bottom right corner of the table. It just out just slightly but not enough to be a distraction when you move in and out of your table. Thanks to the rounded corners as well, it should reduce the risks of wire snags or even tearing you a new hold on your shirt or pants. In that case, the module will not even hurt your skin.

While it is meek, it is quite a powerhouse in your hands. You cannot detach it from the table though, mind you. But that also means that there are less wires to worry about.

The buttons seem to be made of glossy plastic, which is technically fine by us. It looks quite premium when it is new and fresh. It smudges easily though thanks to the gloss finish. In this case, we might prefer a slightly more matte treatment to the plastic. While it may not look as premium, it might stand smudges and age better.

Still, under the plastic is also a digital display that tells you the specific height of the table at the time in mm. That information can be quite useless, but hey at least you can tell your office manager that you want the table at the exact height when you make it to the big leagues and they need to make a table for you. That, or when the office finally agrees to buy new table for you.

It is also simple enough to work with, as we mentioned. You probably will only ever use the M button a handful of times in the lifetime of the Smart Desk. That is the memory trigger function, and a long press should trigger it to memorise the height, and all you need to do next is press one of the four buttons to store that height for future use. The table does take about 10 seconds to reach minimum to maximum height though, so you might want to keep that in mind if you are sharing the table with a toddler and you are over 2m in height.

Wireless Charging

We have to inform you at this point that not all EVIS Smart Desks come with Wireless Charging Ability out of the box. It is an optional extra that will set you back MYR 590 (including cable management option). To be fair, that is not a small amount of money on top of the MYR 3,499 that you are already spending on the table.

Look at it this way though. The cable management option comes with that tray that we talked about earlier and an extension cord to give you a sort of peace of mind. You see less cables hanging out of the table too, for a cleaner look. The tray itself is not a cheap aftermarket part in the stores, mind you. Then there is the wireless charger itself.

The 10W wireless charger is, admittedly, not the fastest wireless charger out in the market. You can get a decent fast charger in the market for probably less than the MYR 310 extra EVIS is asking for. But you are going to live with a charger that sits on top of the table, not one sitting within the flat surface of the table. Of course, you can install that wireless charger under the table on your own, but the amount of work that goes into that is quite mind boggling. You also risk destroying your find top.

An Investment for Your Work Set-up

Like we mentioned earlier, there is a chance that you might not be able to change the table in the office currently. If you have not started on a working at home set up though, now is the right time to do it. The EVIS Smart Desk in standard size (1,500mm x 750mm x 25mm), in full retail price will set you back MYR 3,499 at least. With the cable management and installation assistance, the table will set you back MYR 3,979. Add the Wireless charger and you are paying MYR 4,289 (cost of our review unit). For that money also you are getting a 3-year (frame, mechanical and electrical parts) warranty for the product.

If you want, you can make it a little bigger at 1,800mm x 800mm x 25mm for MYR 100 extra. If you need it to be moved around at home, you can add wheels to the legs at MYR 200. An extra year in warranty is another MYR 250. An L-shaped option is an MYR 500 extra, to compensate for the extra surface and extra leg (MYR 300 for wheels, also for extra leg).

For that same money too, you are getting an all-in-one table that can do it all. You are getting a work surface that can lift you to the ceiling to change a light bulb if you must (we are not encouraging this, though they guarantee this will lift 120kg easily). You are getting an elegant wireless charging solution. You are also getting great posture so you feel great and you can be even more productive.

Your boss will be happier since you are more productive. When you become more productive at work, you have more time to spend at home with the family or whoever you want to spend your time too. With great posture as well, you live a healthier life, with less back pains, or shoulder aches. You sleep better too, as a result of that. You spend less going to the Chiropractor to correct your posture, so you save some money in that too. Best of all, you get a desk that works for you, a custom desk that is made only for you, in whatever situation you want to work in. It is premium, yes. You deserve nothing less though.

You can buy the EVIS Smart Desk from EVIS’ own website, or you can head to their showroom in Ikon Connaught, Cheras. Of course, EVIS makes other office furniture like chairs and even monitor stands. You can find all that in their website.