Tag Archives: Acer

Acer Launches New Chromebook Plus Laptops: Elevating Performance and Productivity

Acer has just unveiled its Chromebook Plus lineup – the Acer Chromebook Plus 515 and Acer Chromebook Plus 514. These Chromebooks are part of Google’s Chromebook Plus initiative, designed to deliver enhanced performance, improved hardware, and exciting new features that cater to the demands of modern users.

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Google’s Chromebook Plus Initiative builds on its relatively successful Chromebook platform; taking it to the next level. It aims to deliver an enhanced Chromebook experience with better, more powerful hardware augmented by AI features while staying affordable.

A Duo for Elevated Chromebook Creativity

The Acer Chromebook Plus 515 and Chromebook Plus 514 are engineered to provide users with an elevated digital experience. Both models feature cutting-edge processors, high-resolution IPS displays, and 1080p cameras, all framed by sleek narrow bezels that draw you into the vibrant visuals.

These new Chromebooks empower users to unleash their creativity and productivity effortlessly. They come equipped with Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Express, making photo editing and graphic design a breeze. Users even receive three months of Adobe Express Premium at no additional cost. This allows you to enjoy Firefly-powered generative AI features and the precision of Photoshop as well as Adobe Express’s all-in-one capabilities.

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The Chromebook Plus 515 and 514 come with built-in editing tools to simplify photo and video tasks. For instance, the AI-powered Magic Eraser feature in Google Photos effortlessly removes unwanted distractions. When offline, File Sync ensures uninterrupted access to Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides via Chromebook Plus File Manager.

Chromebooks Made for Work and More

The Chromebook Plus laptops offer ample memory and storage for seamless multitasking and content creation. With up to 16 GB of LPDDR5X RAM and up to 512GB of SSD storage, you’ll be ready to tackle any task both offline and online.

Being built primarily for online productivity, the Chromebook Plus 514 and 515 come with Wi-Fi 6E for fast and secure internet connectivity. You’ll also be able to leverage interconnectivity between ChromeOS and Android with Bluetooth 5.1 while an array of ports, including dual USB Type-C ports and HDMI, cover your charging, data transfer, and display extension needs.

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Working on the go will no doubt entail a whole load of video conferencing. These Chromebooks live up to their Plus moniker with top-notch conferencing thanks to the built-in 1080p webcams. These webcams also come with Temporal Noise Reduction (TNR) and Blue Glass lenses. AI-powered tools help enhance clarity, cancel noise, and blur backgrounds, ensuring you always look and sound your best. For added privacy, a physical webcam shutter can be closed during meetings, with one-click mic muting and camera deactivation.

Acer Chromebook Plus 515 – Intel-ligently Built for Work and Play

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The Acer Chromebook Plus 515 harnesses the power of 13th Gen and 12th Gen Intel Core processors (up to Core i7). These specifications offer efficient multitasking and up to 10 hours of usage on its fast-charging battery. The spacious 15.6-inch Full HD display with IPS technology and wide viewing angles ensures an immersive visual experience. Whether you prefer a touch or non-touch display, both options shine brightly even in well-lit conditions.

Acer Chromebook Plus 514 – Ryzen to the Task

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The Acer Chromebook Plus 514 features the AMD Ryzen™ 5 7520 C-Series processor, combining high-performance “Zen 2” CPU cores with cutting-edge AMD RDNA™ 2 integrated graphics. This Chromebook offers rapid boot times and responsive performance for modern productivity and collaboration apps. Its 14-inch WUXGA display boasts a productivity-enhancing 16:10 aspect ratio, making it perfect for professionals and students on the move. The display features an anti-glare coating and IPS technology for crisp, clear visuals.

Sustainably and Sturdily Built

Both Chromebooks are U.S. MIL-STD 810H compliant, ensuring durability against daily wear and tear. They feature an OceanGlass™ touchpad and offer an optional backlit keyboard.

These Chromebooks support Acer’s Earthion initiative. They are sustainably built by incorporating recycled materials, come with sustainable packaging, and have energy-efficient designs that meet Energy Star certification.

Seamless Device Management for Schools and Businesses

For schools, both Chromebook Plus models are available with Chrome Education Upgrade, simplifying device management and providing access to essential teaching and collaboration tools.

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For businesses, the Acer Chromebook Plus Enterprise 515 and Acer Chromebook Plus Enterprise 514 come with Chrome Enterprise Upgrade. These models unlock advanced business capabilities in ChromeOS, ensuring data and application protection, streamlined device management, and easy issue resolution.

Pricing and Availability

The Acer Chromebook Plus 515 starts at USD$399.99 (MYR1,891.81) and will be available in North America and EMEA in October.

The Acer Chromebook Plus 514 starts at USD 399.99 (MYR1,891.81) and will also be available in North America and EMEA in October.

Acer Teases Predator GPUs at MYDCF in Kuala Lumpur; Officially Coming Soon to Malaysia

MYDCF – the Malaysian Digital Content Festival – is underway in Kuala Lumpur! The annual event has kicked off with a showcase of the latest and best that studios in Malaysia have put forward. This year’s event also showcases the works of studios like PlayStation, Bandai Namco, Passion Republic Games and more.

Part of the show floor of MYDCF is Noizucon, a conference for gamers, cosplayers and more. This show, behind a MYR60 ticket, is also hosting Malaysia’s Finals of Acer‘s Predator League happening there. The 2024 Predator League finals will be happening on the 30th of September 2023 (Saturday) for DoTA 2 while the finals for PlayerUnknown’s Batttlegrounds (PUBG) will be happening on 1 October 2023 (Sunday).

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However, Acer has a little something up their sleeves at the Predator League show floor. Snug among the chaos of the competition and the showcase of Acer’s latest Predator and Nitro offerings was a little surprise – two new graphics cards emblazoned with the Predator logo. The new GPUs on display were the AMD Radeon RX7600 8G OC and the Intel ARC A750.

Predator’s AMD Radeon RX7600 8G OC comes with 1 HDMI 2.1 output and 3 DisplayPort 1.4 output. This supports up to 60Hz refresh rate at 8K resolution for a single display or 4 displays at 4K/60Hz. It comes with 8GB of vRAM with speeds of up to 288 GB/s and clock speeds of up to 2320 MHz. The clock speed can even be boosted to 2725 MHz. The GPU is cooled by a ringed axial fan & blower configuration.

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The Intel ARC A750 that was on display, on the other hand, came with 3 Display Port 2.0 and a single HDMI 2.0 output. It supports the same resolution and refresh rates as the Radeon RX7600. It also has 8GB of GDDR6 vRAM with speeds of up to 512GB/s. For cooling, the Intel GPU card comes with a hybrid setup which employs both a ringed axial fan and a blower fan. Predator has tuned the GPU to support up to 2200 MHz clock speeds.

It remains unclear if the cooling will employ Predator’s Bifrost technology. Acer Malaysia is remaining tight-lipped with the details of the Predator graphics cards. Of note, there doesn’t seem to be an NVIDIA SKU of the Predator GPUs. At the very least, they didn’t tease it at the Predator League in Malaysia.

Pricing & Availability

That said, both of the GPUs on display are already available in the USA. The Predator BiFrost Intel ARC 750 series is retailing for USD$269.99 (MYR1,267.52) while the Predator BiFrost AMD RX7600 8G OC is retailing for USD$289.99 (MYR1,361.40).

For Malaysia, the AMD RX7600 8G OC will be officially priced at MYR1,498 while the Intel ARC 750 will be retailing at MYR1,299. The GPUs will officially be available in October via Acer’s official partners – Just IT, Brightstar and Monaliza.

Acer’s Swift Edge 16 Launches in Malaysia at MYR 3,999 Onward

When someone tells us that they need a laptop that can do everything, we tend to recommend the modern-day gaming laptop. There is a good reason for that. Modern gaming laptops are not the most budget-friendly laptops to get when all you want to do is browse the web or entertain yourself with YouTube, Netflix, or even Amazon Prime Videos. But they are very good at doing everything beyond that too. You can easily play games casually with gaming laptops, they are powerful enough to quickly edit videos when you want to, and they are even perfect for running multiple screens at the same time so that your TV can easily become a multimedia hub for your home.

That does not mean that any other laptops are pretty much useless. Thin-and-light laptops have come a long way. More precisely, processor technology has advanced to a point where even a thin-and-light laptop can easily drive multiple screens and make rather good multimedia hubs on their own anyway. They are even powerful enough to become remote workstations for light video workflow even if you need them to be.

Take the new Acer Swift Edge 16 for example. It is powered by AMD’s latest Ryzen 7 7735U (up to) CPU. That CPU also includes an AMD Radeon 680M graphics baked into the CPU itself making the Swift Edge 16 an entry-level gaming machine more capable than most thin-and-light laptops in the market. Pair those with an impressive 16-inch OLED 120Hz display with 0.2 ms response time comes with more pixels than most entry-level gaming monitors, you have a winner of a package in the Swift Edge 16.

The point of the new Acer Swift Edge 16 though is not its gaming prowess. It can be a casual entry-level gaming machine when the mood takes you, but it is more its productivity capabilities that might really help. Since it is a powerful enough machine with up to 16GB of on-board LPDDR5 RAM, working with editing suites like Adobe Photoshop or even Illustrator is a breeze. With the high-resolution WQUXGA OLED 120Hz display with up to 400 nits of brightness as well, your images can be edited in rather accurate, vivid colours and with maximum details. The DCI-P3 100% colour gamut supported display with VESA DisplayHDR True Black 500 certification should also allow you to enjoy pretty much all sorts of contents from Netflix and YouTube in 4K resolution. Even if you are one of those that prefers to download movies and contents rather than streaming them, you will appreciate the 1TB (up to) SSD storage as well.

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The 4K display is not just good for entertainment though. The expansive 16-inch display allows you to work with multiple documents without having to squint at every word. The Full HD webcam that supports up to 60fps in video capture and Temporal Noise reduction mic should also deliver a video calling experience like no other. You also get to enjoy all of these for up to 9 hours on a single charge, more than a full workdays’ worth of battery life. When you are on your desk with multiple monitors, you can either connect your Swift Edge 16 to the display via the regular HDMI 2.1 port or via USB Type-C port.

The best part about all of these is that the thin-and-light laptop only weighs 1.17kg and is just below 13mm thin. Thanks to the advanced TwinAir colling technology exclusively developed by Acer, the thin-and-light laptop should keep up with its thermal demands despite the powerful CPU. It looks unique and elegant too in its Flax White guise.

Price and Availability

The Acer Swift Edge 16 is now available from Acer’s authorized retails and concept stores across the nation in Flax White. It will set you back MYR 3,999 onward. In conjunction with Acer Day 2023, the first 30 buyers of the Acer Swift Edge 16 before the 30th of September 2023 will be entitled to gifts worth up to MYR 948 which includes a Porsche Design wireless mouse, an Austin backpack, and Touch n’ Go eWallet credit. Customers also stand a chance to win the Acer Day Monthly giveaways with a prize pool of MYR 100,000. You can head over to their redemption site to participate. For more information on the Acer Swift Edge 16, you can also head over to their website.

The Asia Pacific Predator League is Back! Malaysian Qualifiers Now Open for Registration

Acer Malaysia has opened registrations for the Asia Pacific Predator League 2024, inviting Malaysian Dota 2 and Valorant eSports teams to compete for the coveted Predator Shield and a slice of the USD400,000 prize pool at the Grand Finals in Manila, Philippines.

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With a substantial local prize pool of RM100,000, the Predator League 2024 Malaysia Qualifier welcomes teams to sign up for Dota 2 and Valorant from 30 August to 14 September 2023 through https://www.planet9.gg/.

The Malaysia Qualifier matches will occur online, while the local finals will take place at Noizucon in the KL Convention Centre from 30 September to 1 October 2023. The victors of the Predator League 2024 Malaysia Qualifier will proceed to the Grand Finals in Manila on 13 to 14 January 2024, where they’ll face off against champions from the Asia Pacific region.

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Since its inception in 2018, the Asia Pacific Predator League has served as a platform for emerging eSports talents in the region. Thousands of teams participate annually, vying for the opportunity to showcase their skills on the global Predator League stage, hosted by Acer. Acer’s consistent dedication to fostering the eSports industry through this yearly event has significantly contributed to elevating players’ careers.

Andrew Hou, President of Acer Pan Asia Pacific Operations, stated, “The Predator League reflects our ongoing commitment to nurturing the gaming community and enhancing their competitive level in the APAC region. The tournament’s global recognition has grown in recent years, and we are thrilled to bring it to Manila, which houses one of the world’s largest and most passionate eSports fanbases. We anticipate incredible gameplay from all participating teams.”

The Predator Helios Neo 16 In-Depth Review – Interstin, Powerful, Quite Heavy

Gaming laptops can be a better buy than most types of laptops out there. There are going to be some compromises. A gaming laptop is larger and heftier than thin-and-light laptops. Since they are heftier, they are less portable too than thin-and-light laptops. They require more cooling and pack more powerful hardware, hence more power demands and larger power bricks.

While they are less mobile, they are powerful devices that can make short work of anything you can throw at them. When the mood takes you, you can play games. If you want to, you can even create content.

Which one do you get though? This one maybe, the Predator Helios Neo 16; Acer’s latest entry into the gaming laptop market.

It will set you back at least MYR 4,899. The one we got sets you back MYR 6,399. Whichever you buy, you get a premium metal chassis that holds a state-of-the-art cooling solution for your laptop.

The price difference between the two Predator Helios Neo 16 models is about MYR 1,500. Is the MYR 4,899 package worth buying? Should you spend the extra? We find out.

Design

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Unlike the Predator Helios 18 and 16, the Neo 16 (as we shall mostly refer to it) has a slightly more complex design at the back of the display. We think that it is to compensate for the lack of external RGB treatment. To a certain extent, we think it is interesting.

That is not to say that the Predator Helios Neo 16 is ugly. We think that the subtle etchings and engravings on the clam add some drama to the laptop. According to Acer, the engravings point to a real location. We have not bothered to find out what they lead to.

The chassis design shares similarities with previous generation Helios laptops. You still get a protruded “tail” of the chassis for optimized cooling surfaces and airflow. Of course, it is also a subtle way of telling the world that it means business. There is also morse code adorning the protrusion that spells either ROTNUERP or PREDATOR (obviously) depending on its orientation.

Inside is the usual affair for gaming laptops. You get an addressable 4-zone RGB keyboard inside. The WASD keys are highlighted with more RGB passthrough, as usual. There is a numpad array too, making this a full keyboard with a large trackpad. Thanks to the arrangement, the main keyboard is pushed further to the left of the device offering a more natural gaming position. Above the keyboard is a familiar air intake perforated grille.

Hardware

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You can get your Predator Helios Neo 16 in two configurations. You can either get it with a 13th Generation Intel Core i5 and NVIDIA’s entry-level GeForce RTX 40 GPU. It tops out at Core i7 and GeForce RTX 4060.

Specifications

Acer Predator Helios Neo 16As tested
Processor (clock)Intel Core i7-13700HX
3.70 GHz 16-core (8x performance cores, 8x performacne cores with Turbo Boost (up to 5.00GHz)
30MB Intel Smart Cache
GPUIntegrated Intel UHD 770
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 8GB GDDR6 VRAM
Display16” WQXGA IPS (2560 x 1600)
16:10 aspect ratio
165Hz
100% sRGB
NVIDIA G-SYNC
Memory16GB LPDDR5
1TB PCIe® NVMe™ 4.0 M.2 SSD
Networking and ConnectionsIntel Killer WiFi 6 AX 1650i
Intel Killer Ethernet E2600
Bluetooth 5.1
2x Thunderbolt™ 4 USB-C®
2x USB 3.2 Gen 2
1x USB 3.2 Gen 1
1x 3.5mm AUX Jack
Battery90Wh Built-in Li-Po battery
330W proprietary barrel plug power adapter
Operating SystemWindows 11 Home 64-bit
MiscellaneousFHD 60p camera
4-Zone RGB Keyboard
DTS:X Ultra Audio
MicroSD Card Reader
DisplayPort over USB-C
2 years On Site Warranty w/ Accidental Damage & Theft

Features

The Predator Helios Neo 16 is not cheap by any means. In fact, in this configuration we have, you are spending a premium for a gaming laptop.

More Useable Rear I/O

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The Predator Helios Neo 16’s power inlet port is at the back of the device, same as its predecessor. This time though, the Neo 16 offers an array of ports out the back. There are two USB Type-C Thunderbolt 4 ports and an HDMI 2.1. That also means that you can either have three monitors connected (two via USB-C, one via HDMI), or use the USB-C ports for other peripherals. Whatever it is, we do appreciate the cable management options that come with rear I/Os.

4-Zone RGB Full Keyboard

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As we mentioned earlier, the Neo 16 gets a full keyboard treatment complete with a numpad section. The numpad section looks squeezed because they are rather narrow. That is not a bad thing though, we still prefer having it than not. There are also a few media buttons on top of it alongside the PredatorSense button, which we appreciate.

We still find that the most annoying part of the keyboard is the power and PredatorSense buttons arrangement. The Neo 16’s power button and PredatorSense buttons are integrated into the numpad arrangement and feel the same as any of the other keys. While the power button sits further away, we might still hit it accidentally while we work on the numpad. The PredatorSense button sits right next to the backspace button, which will get even more accidental launches.

Despite the complaint, we like the keyboard. There is enough key travel and tactility to button presses for some needed assurance. It is also quiet enough that it will not annoy anyone at the workplace or the café. We felt like we could get a long essay and email typed out without too much fatigue.

PredatorSense – Go Eco, Go Quiet, or Go Hard

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PredatorSense is one of the most unique tuning platforms for gaming laptops. The new one offers a mascot figure on the home page, which is a little unnecessary, we think. That aside though, PredatorSense is one of the more useful software you have in the Neo 16.

It allows you to change between preset Eco, Quiet, Balanced, Performance, and even Turbo modes. Each mode selection gives you a slightly different colour to the iconic ‘Turbo’ button at the top left corner of the keyboard. The PredatorSense interface also monitors the laptop temperatures and spools Acer’s 5th generation Aeroblade 3D Fans when needed. The app is also where you change or turn off your RGB lighting schemes.

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NVIDIA’s Advanced Optimus technology allows the GPU to be completely turned off for even quieter operations. That also allows PredatorSense to operate on a single fan (we see an average of 45oC operating temperatures) to keep the laptop quiet in cafés or offices while extending its battery life. When the mood takes you, the discreet GPU kicks in for the extra kick. Obviously with a significant bump in power consumption, you want to make sure that you are plugged in.

The ‘Turbo’ Button – Now the ‘Mode’ Button

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One of Acer Predator’s signatures on all their devices is their ‘Turbo’ button, which is now a ‘Mode’ button. While the old ‘Turbo’ button only offers extra speed and noise from your laptop, the new button switches between preset profiles from battery saving eco mode, all the way to opening the taps the 13th Generation Intel Core i7 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 inside the hull of the Neo 16 and then spool up the metal fans.

We think that the mode switch is a much better use of the ‘Turbo’ button. You do not need to navigate into PredatorSense or the bottom right of the Windows taskbar to switch between power modes. You can toggle through different modes with a single button, saving you plenty of time to work on important things like going through your emails and then straight to killing monsters.

Performance

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This is a proper gaming laptop with a powerful 13th Generation Intel Core i7 CPU paired with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 GPU. Keeping everything cool is an in-house 5th Generation AeroBlade 3D metal fans with what they call Vortex Flow technology. There is a huge power brick rated at 330W to keep up with the hardware’s power demands.

Multitasking & Productivity

For MYR 6,399 you are getting 16GB in the form of DDR5 RAM. That also means that you are getting some of the fastest sets of 16GB RAM you can get on a laptop. We were able to smoothly work with about 20 Google Chrome tabs, five Microsoft Edge tabs, and 10 Mozilla Firefox tabs. You should not have any trouble working with Microsoft Word, or PowerPoint at most times. The sizeable RAM also benefits large Excel spreadsheets.

We use Adobe’s suites of applications including Lightroom and Premiere Pro. In Adobe Premiere Pro, we find that the Neo 16 works well enough even if you are scrubbing through 4K footage. Of course, once you load in all the special effects, transition effects, and colour correction or grading, the program might slow down a little, but you can scrub through the footage relatively smoothly. It took about 11 minutes for us to export a two minutes 50 seconds 4K 30p video from 4K H.264 format video footage.

Entertainment & Gaming

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While it is a Predator gaming laptop, it is not necessarily made for high-end gaming like Acer’s Predator Helios 16 or Helios 18. That does not mean that you will enjoy your games any less.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 is not a high-end GPU, it is considered an entry-level gaming GPU. It is still a potent GPU though, made for modern gaming with support for modern hardware. It supports ray tracing technology and DLSS 3.0 upscaling technology. The Neo 16 also features HDMI 2.1 that offers support for 8K displays at 60fps. We think that the laptop can cram a Mini DisplayPort but it might not be too useful.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 is a capable GPU. You are not going to get anywhere near the Neo 16 display’s 165 frames per second (fps) capabilities at QHD resolution when you play the latest AAA titles at the highest graphics settings. If you adjust your expectations a little, you are going to get a great gaming experience still.

We tested the laptop with Need for Speed: Unbound, F1 2022, Cities Skylines and Death Stranding. In Need for Speed Unbound, we left the game at high settings and got 90 fps. In F1 2022, at the same settings, we got 120 fps, while in Death Stranding, we got about 90 fps on the same preset. While playing Need for Speed: Unbound we found that the average temperature of the Predator Helios Neo 16 is kept at about 70oC. This, we think, can be attributed to the liquid metal thermal paste paired with their proprietary cooling solution.

Battery Life

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One of the things we are most impressed with is the Neo 16’s battery life. In our test, we left the Neo 16 on Balanced mode and then eco mode when unplugged, we had a few tabs of Mozilla Firefox tabs open alongside a Microsoft Word document open. We played music through Spotify’s web player on its speakers most of the time. We played a couple of videos on YouTube from time to time.

We managed to get nearly four hours of use time with the Neo 16 in eco mode before the battery percentage hit 20%. In eco mode, your RGB is turned off by default. You still can turn on RGB from PredatorSense if you want to. You technically can push your Neo 16 into high-performance mode on battery power to tank your battery life.

Display & Audio

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You get a 16-inch WQXGA (2,560 x 1,600) at 16:10 aspect ratio. It is not Mini LED or OLED display, like some other laptops. Instead, you are getting an IPS panel which might seem like a compromises.

While IPS panels do not boast colour saturation and HDR like OLED, they are cheaper. That means that you are not necessarily paying a huge premium just for a slightly better display. IPS panels tend to be a little faster than standard OLED displays today too, making them a little more suitable for competitive gaming, if that is what you are into.

You lose out on colour contrast, local dimming, and the inky blackness that OLED displays can offer, but you are not giving up a lot. IPS displays are still much brighter than regular VA or TN panels and offer colour reproduction far superior to other LCD technologies. With up to 100% sRGB colour gamut, you still get highly saturated and impressive colour contrasts over regular LCD panels and at a super-fast refresh rate at 165Hz.

On games like Need for Speed: Unbound and F1 22, we appreciate the extra world information we can see on the 16:10 aspect ratio. Even with games like Cities Skylines or RTS titles like Age of Empires IV, we appreciate the breadth of things we can see on the screen. We think that open world games like Red Dead Redemption II benefit most since the HUD is less obstructive.

Like Acer’s many laptops, the Predator Helios Neo 16 comes with DTS:X certified audio. There are two down-firing speakers at either side of the Neo 16. The two speakers are not the most powerful speakers you can find on a laptop. They offer rich mid to high tones at medium volumes. We think that the speakers are happiest when you set it to 80% and below. There is no subwoofer to work with low-end power and detail tends to suffer. While it is fine to game on the laptop, the speakers do leave a little more to be desired.

The Predator Helios Neo 16 – Definitely a Heavy Hitter

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The Predator Helios Neo 16 that we have here will set you back MYR 6,399. You are paying for the most modern CPU and GPU combination in the form of the 13th Generation Intel Core i7 and NVIDIA’s latest GeForce RTX 4060 GPU. While it is a lot of money, on paper, the Helios Neo 16 looks more like the value choice of gaming laptops.  

Where most gaming laptops offer Full HD resolutions at this price range, the Helios Neo offers a WQXGA display. You also get 1TB SSD with the Neo 16 where some offers half that storage. Unlike most gaming laptops, you get liquid metal thermal paste for better heat management.

It is a productivity warrior if you are a creator since with enough horsepower under the covers to get your creative work done quickly. The display is even accurate enough for you to do your colour grading with, or a quick photo edit. There is enough storage space to store not just your video workflow but also all the games that you want to take on the road.

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It packs enough grunt for you to play most AAA titles on-the-go. You are getting decent enough performance to enjoy your games wherever you set up. If you want, you can even connect 4K monitors to it for more immersive gaming experiences. A decent pair of gaming headphones should also add to the immersion.

It does not look like a typical gaming laptop for 2023. The cover design can be somewhat flashy. We think it looks interesting in a good way. It is not the most handsome thing out there, but it has its charms.

We think that a price difference of MYR 1,500 is large enough to warrant spending less at MYR 4,899, we do think that the MYR 6,399 option is much better in the long term. The MYR 4,899 package is still worth getting, but you are giving up a lot of horsepower for it. If you do have the extra money to spend, you should get the Neo 16 in its Core i7 and GeForce RTX 4060 guise, it is worth those extra pennies.

Acer’s Powerhouse Thin & Light – the Swift X 14 – is Now Available in Malaysia with Prices starting at MYR5,999

Acer’s Swift lineup has carved out a niche for itself thanks to its long legacy of literally being some of the thinnest and lightest laptops available on the market. However, that changed with the introduction of their Swift X laptop. The new generation of Acer Swift laptops was now supercharged as creator powerhouses with top-of-the-line discreet GPUs and cutting-edge displays. The new legacy continues with the Swift X 14 which comes with NVIDIA’s latest RTX 4050 laptop GPU.

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The Swift X 14 was announced earlier this year at Acer’s next@acer event alongside CES 2023. The laptop continues to build on the Swift lineup’s heritage of strong, durable builds and portability. The new Swift X 14 comes in at only 1.55kgs with a 17.8mm thickness but comes packed with up to a 13th Generation Intel Core i7 H series processor and up to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 GPU. The combo unlocks numerous possibilities for creators with support for Ray Tracing and even high-performance 3D rendering. Oh, did we mention…? It’s also a certified NVIDIA Studio device. This allows you access to NVIDIA’s most optimised Studio drivers which are specially tuned for graphical and video work with programs like Blender and the Adobe Creative Suite.

It’s not only got the power, but the Swift X 14 also comes with a redesigned chassis that holds a 29% larger battery, a 14-inch 2.8K OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, VESA DisplayHDR TrueBlack 500 and 100% DCI-P3 coverage and a totally redesigned thermal setup. The redesigned thermals improve heat dissipation by 7.16%.

Aside from that, Acer’s Swift X 14 comes with support for up to 32GB of LPDDR5 RAM, 1TB SSD memory and a complete array of ports including a HDMI port and numerous USB ports and a microSD Card reader. Also part of the package is a 1080p FHD webcam with Acer PurifiedVoice and PurifiedView technology with AI noise reduction.

Pricing & Availability

The Acer Swift X 14 is currently available in stores and on the Acer e-store. Prices for the laptop start at MYR5,999.

Press Release Swift X 14 Banner

Official Specifications

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The Acer Predator Triton 14 – the New Word for Thin-and-Light Powerhouse for Everything 

Powerful gaming laptops are known to be quite large and bulky in nature. There is a good reason for that. Since a laptop is meant to be mobile while packing everything you need in a PC, there is always the concern of space within the hardware to pack enough cooling for the heat producing components inside. Gaming laptops, inevitably, pack more powerful components than regular laptops. That also means that the cooling requirements are a lot more than before requiring larger more powerful fans inside a laptop that adds plenty of heft to it.  

Computing technology has progressed so much today that a gaming laptop today is vastly more powerful, and more purpose built than ever before. With more power comes more heat, which also needs a larger, heftier solution than before. But cooling technology has also improved so much that the cooling solutions today are much more efficient than before.  

All these things culminate in a thin-and-light gaming solution like we have never seen before, basically the Acer Predator Triton 14.  

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The Acer Predator Triton 14 is a new thin-and-light gaming laptop from Acer’s gaming skunkworks division reimagining the ultra-portable thin-and-light laptop for productivity. It is created not just for gamers in mind, it is created for the creative professionals, content creators, and even the accounting professionals who just have a knack for gaming in their down time. It weighs just 1.7kg, which is no lighter than a regular thin-and-light laptop. For a gaming laptop with powerful internal though, it is a big deal. It is also only 18.9mm thick, which is also no thinner than a regular laptop, but it does pack a lot of power underneath with optimal cooling solutions.   

Within the all-metal body construction is a powerful 13th Generation Intel Core i7 that is paired with up to NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 4070 GPU for laptops for maximum performance. You can fit the Predator Triton 14 with up to 32GB of LPDDR5 RAM operating at 6,000 MHz transfer speeds and up to 1TB of PCIe NVMe Gen4 SSD for smooth and fast operations in both gaming and productivity situations.  

The powerful components power Windows 11 through an impressive 14-inch WQXGA (2560 x 1600) IPS display. The display offers 100% coverage of the DCI-P3 colour gamut to cater to even the most demanding creators or creative professionals on the road. For when the mood takes you, the display also offers 165Hz for a smooth butter like gaming experience. With Intel’s Killer Wi-Fi 6E AX1675i modem inside the Predator Triton 14, it can go wireless and still play games online as if it was connected via a LAN cable – smooth, stable, and speedy. There is even a Full HD webcam that offers AI-enabled features like Purified View for improved images, automatic framing, advanced background blur, and gaze correction for video calls.  

To keep everything cool and running at its best is Predator’s latest and most advanced cooling system ever. The 5th generation AeroBlade 3D fans are made of metal and to be as thin as possible to maximize airflow (Vortext Airflow), to cool the heat transfer components to keep temperatures manageable. The new Triton 14 is also equiped with Liquid Metal thermal grease for even more efficient cooling for better performance in the long run.  

Price and Availability 

The Acer Predator Triton 14 is now available at Acer’s eStore and official stores on Shopee and Lazada. You can also get your hands on one from select Acer Concept stores throughout the nation. Purchases made before the 16th of July 2023 are entitled to free gifts worth MYR 699 that includes an Acer Nitro VG270E 27-inch gaming monitor and a one-year license for Trend Micro’s Antivirus. More on the Predator Triton 14 can be found on their website.  

The New Acer Aspire Vero 14 Now Comes in Blue for Just MYR 2,599

To be fair, the title is a little misleading. It is true that the Vero variant of the Acer Aspire laptop now comes in a different colour scheme that we think looks much better than just plain grey with some yellow spots here and there. We sort of undersold it as just another Aspire Vero though. It is Acer’s latest Aspire Vero that also comes with modern hardware.

Inside the new Aspire Vero 14 is Intel’s latest 13th generation Core i7 (up to) processor that you can rely on to bring you to the new age of computing. Alongside the powerful CPU is also up to 16GB of RAM for you to work with a lot of Google Chrome tabs at the same time, and up to 512GB of SSD storage for quick access to all your apps and folders and offering almost instant boot times for your Windows 11.

You get a 14-inch Full HD IPS display on the Aspire Vero 14 of 2023, which is nothing much to shout about, but still, something you can appreciate. It is not the fastest or the most colour accurate display, but it does look good still for work or even entertainment purposes.

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This being a Vero product, you can bet that its chassis is partly made of plastic. In fact, this Aspire Vero contains more plastic than before. The chassis now includes about 40% PCR (Post-Consumer Recycled) plastics whereas the older model only includes 30%. They claim that this reduces their CO2 emissions by up to 30% too in their production. They also claim there are no rigidity or structural penalties even when they introduced extra plastic materials to the chassis.

The new Aspire Vero also features something called OceanGlass™ for their trackpad. It is not really glass though, as the name suggests. Rather, it is a blend of different types of Ocean Bound Plastics (OBP) to mimic a smooth flat surface that we are used to on the trackpad. While The chassis offers a different colour to before, Acer claims that the chassis is paint free, and that the blue colour of the Aspire Vero 14 is the organic colour of the plastic blends.

To get even more out the Aspire Vero 14, Acer designed the chassis to use a standardised set of screws for serviceability and reparability purposes. It ensures that users can easily access the internals to not just upgrade the hardware, but also to repair and replace malfunctioning ones as much as possible so that the Aspire Vero 14 can last even longer. They even use packaging made of 100% recycled paper and up to 90% recycled cardboard. The packaging is also designed with extra purpose in mind as an ergonomic laptop stand.

To minimise electronic waste even further, Acer programs something they call the VeroSense. It is an integrated suite of management apps that helps user take control over the Aspire Vero’s power consumption and dissipation. The suite of apps optmises the Aspire Vero’s battery power consumption to ensure a long-lasting battery life and, in effect, extends its shelf life.

Price and Availability

The Acer Aspire Vero 14 laptop is now available from Acer’s authorized resellers, Acer eStore, and their official stores on Shopee and Lazada. The Aspire Vero 14 also comes with Microsoft Office 2021 Home and Student edition pre-installed. It will set you back MYR 2,599 but if you do purchase your Aspire Vero 14 before the 30th of September 2023, you can trade in your old devices for up to MYR 500 in cash rebate. The accepted devices include tablets, laptops, desktops, and AIOs even if they are not working. More on the Acer Aspire Vero 14 can be found on their website.

Acer Launches New TravelMate Laptops and Veriton Desktops – More Plastics, yet More Sustainable, More Durable 

Building laptops made for businesses is a rather straightforward process. The recipe is simple – build it like a tank for durability, ensure that it’ll last an entire business day on a single charge, ensure that the hardware is protected against any possible cyber-attacks and mishaps, make it powerful enough for all kinds of workload, and make it easy to work with for the IT department. All these things are plenty easy to achieve with modern technology.  

That is not to say that laptops and desktops that are made for business use cases are boring. Take the TravelMate and Veriton line-up that Acer just launched in Malaysia today, for example. Instead of using the usual all-metal material that is rather popular these days and is proven to offer durability like no other, they chose to make them differently.  

Acer TravelMate Series 

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The Acer TravelMate series for 2023 is made up of the TravelMate P2, P4, and P6. Of course, with the TravelMate series laptops, you get a selection of display options between 14-inch and 16-inch (TravelMate P2, P4), or a 14-inch 2.8K OLED (P6). You also get to choose a convertible (TravelMate P4 Spin), for extra flexibility. All of them come with a 16:10 aspect ratio displays for added productivity and visibility on your display. If you really need, you can even spec your TravelMate business laptop with a discrete GPU in the form of NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 2050.  

They are all powered by Intel’s latest 13th Generation Intel Core with vPro technology for that extra layer of protection for your data. You get up to 1TB of storage and 16GB of DDR5 RAM. Of course, these can be easily upgraded by your IT department when required. All of them also comes with Windows 11 Pro as standard. Obviously, they need to offer stable, reliable connection everywhere you choose to work from and thanks to WiFi 6, networking will not be an issue. The Travelmate P4 and P6 also comes with Windows Hello biometric security measures to both protect your work and data from prying eyes. 

Everything mentioned above is rather expected though, especially for laptops made for businesses. What is less expected is the build material you get with the Acer TravelMate series. While the TravelMate series’ various chassis are made mostly from metal materials, Acer has also managed to make entire laptops with up to 30% of PCR plastic materials into the build. The trackpad found on the laptops are made of 100% OceanGlass material, or ocean bound plastic (OBP) materials.  

To keep the devices running as long as possible in between service intervals, Acer has innovated on the cooling system a little bit. The TravelMate series offers something called the Acer Dust Defender. It is a clever fan system that ensures that the laptop can deliver as much performance as possible, as long as possible without any thermal throttling issues. The clever system automatically spins the fans in a counter-clockwise manner to disperse any accumulated dust to an outlet port every 6 hours to keep the fan build-up to a minimum even in extended use cases.  

Acer Veriton Series 

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When you need something more beefy, more permanent, and even more compact for your workspace, you need the Veriton series desktops and All-in-One (AIO) PCs. The Veriton S and Veriton X series are compact performers in their class for all kinds of work and industrial environments. The Veriton Z sereis and Vero Mini are also perfect for any sort of office space requiring a more integrated solution. For more the professionals that needs more processing power, the Veriton K8 series.  

For the compact performers, you get to spec your Veriton PC with up to a 13th Generation Intel Core i5-3400 CPU with the vPro platform for added security. You also get up to 512GB in SSD storage and up to 8GB in DDR4 RAM for your compact Veriton desktops and AIO. Of course, all of them comes with Windows 11 Pro as standard.  

For the Veriton K8 series, you get to work with up to an Intel Xeon E-2226G processor and pair that to up to an NVIDIA Quadro P620 2GB GPU to boot. You also get up to 256GB of SSD storage with slots for expansion and up to 8GB of DDR4 RAM also with expansion slots. All of the Veriton devices comes with a 3-year on-site warranty.  

Price and Availability 

The Acer TravelMate P2 series of laptops starts at MYR 3,249, while the TravelMate P4 and P6 series starts at MYR 4,559 and MYR 6,799 respectively. The Veriton S series starts out at MYR 3,309, while the Veriton X series will set you back at least MYR 2,749. The Vero Mini and Vertion Z series AIO starts at MYR 3,499 and MYR 4,699 respectively. For the beefy Veriton K8 series, you want to set aside at least MYR 4,599. All of the Acer products that has been launched are now available from Acer’s authorised dealers across the nation, the Acer eStore, and Acer’s official stores on Shopee and Lazada. 

The Acerpure Aqua WP1 Launches in Malaysia for MYR 3,599 – Nope, That’s It, It’s Plug and Play 

Water purifiers are a necessity at home these days. In fact, water dispenser units with water purifying feature is quite indespensable in a modern home today. While regular water filters does the job well enough, the tap water you get through the pipes in Malaysia still contains contaminants that might be harmful to your bodies. Water dispenser units with water purifying features are an investment though. It is not just the water purifier unit you are getting, you are also getting piping work done for it, you are also buying into maintaining the water dispenser unit. In short, there might be other headaches in getting a water dispenser unit than the unit itself. 

The Acerpure Aqua WP1 is not like any other water dispenser unit. It is pretty much a plug-and-play solution for water dispensing purposes. You can even call it portable if you really want.  

The only thing the Acerpure Aqua WP1 needs is a power source, not a piping work. While you technically can get piping work done with the Acerpure Aqua WP1, the water dispenser comes with an 8.7-litre water tank that can be filled with any sort of liquid, at least according to Acer. In that case too, your Acerpure Aqua WP1 can be installed anywhere in your house or office as long as there is a power socket. In case the 8.7-litre tank gets empty, there is also a 3-litre tank internally that holds purified hydrogen water. Unlike other water dispensers as well, the Acerpure Aqua WP1 does continuously consumer electricity to keep a constant water temperature.  

The Acerpure water purifier packs a 3-step RO filtration system that filters out unwanted substances from liquids in the tank to ensure that you are getting the healthiest and cleanest consumable water possible. The SGS Water Quality Test certified water purifier has been proven to remove substances as small as 0.0001um such as bacteria, virus, and residual chlorine. The dispenser also features a real-time TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) water quality monitor. There is also a smart wash button that automatically flushes and cleans the water when the TDS level rises.  

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The Acerpure Aqua WP1 is also designed with easy maintenance in mind. The intuitive display offers status monitoring for its PCF, RO, and GAC filters. The machine will notify you when the filters needs replacing. Thanks to its design, replacing the filters can be done by users, as long as you have spare filters. Filters can be purchased from Acer’s eStore, Acerpure official stores, authorised dealers and Acer Flagship online store on Shopee. 

The Acerpure Aqua WP1 will set you back MYR 3,599 and you can get your hands on one from any of the options mentioned above. It only comes in white colour though, so if you have black kitchen, it might stand out a bit. If you do purchase your Aqua WP1 before the 14th of August 2023, you are entitled to an extended 5-year warranty, an Acerpure Cool C1 air purifier, and an Acerpure Premium. More on the Acerpure Aqua WP1 can be found on their website.