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The Acer Switch Alpha 12 is an affordable Surface clone with liquid cooling (Updated)

By Koh Wanzi - on 5 Jul 2016, 4:43pm

The Acer Switch Alpha 12 is an affordable Surface clone with liquid cooling (Updated)

The Switch Alpha 12 features closed-loop liquid cooling, a first for a device in its class.

Updated on 5 July 2016: Updated article with details on local specifications and price.

Originally published on 22 April 2016:

If you’re a PC manufacturer today, it seems almost de rigueur to have a 2-in-1 hybrid with a kickstand and detachable keyboard. And while Acer may have been a little late to the game, it’s finally acting on that memo with the Acer Switch Alpha 12, a veritable Surface Pro clone with liquid-cooling built in.

The device is based off the Aspire Switch 12 S that was unveiled at CES earlier this year, but it has been beefed up with more powerful hardware and a new design. Instead of the Switch 12 S’s Intel Core M processor, the Alpha 12 now features a sixth-generation Core i7-6500U processor, and supports up to 8GB of LPDDR3 RAM and a 512GB SSD.

The 12-inch touchscreen IPS display has a resolution of 2,160 x 1,440 pixels, and it will work with the optional Acer Active Pen stylus. It attaches to the backlit keyboard via a flexible magnetic hinge, which is reminiscent of what we’ve seen with the Microsoft Surface Pro 4.

But in the crowded hybrid market with so many competitive players, the Switch Alpha 12 has to do something special to stand out. As it turns out, Acer’s way of doing this is by implementing quite an innovative liquid cooling solution. What’s even more interesting is that it is also a fanless design, which is practically unheard of on a non-Core M device.

Some reports have characterized the Surface Pro 4 as having liquid cooling, but that was a hybrid system that is really better described as a compact vapor chamber that evaporates liquid stored in the heatpipes to help dissipate heat.

On the other hand, Acer’s design is quite different. The company calls its cooling solution LiquidLoop, and it’s a proprietary closed loop liquid cooling solution that is – wait for it – powered by heat generated by the device when it is in operation. The coolant passes through the loop over the processor, and the gas within the loop expands as it absorbs the heat produced by the chip. This expansion propels the coolant through the circuit, resulting in a cool and truly silent hybrid.

However, the Switch Alpha 12 isn’t intended to be a premium device, and as The Verge noted, its brushed aluminum lid looks and feels cheap, and its kickstand isn’t as slick as Microsoft’s offering. It will retail locally at a starting price of S$1,498.

Source: Acer

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