Acer's Skylake lineup includes new entries in its Aspire series of notebooks
Acer's Skylake lineup includes new entries in its Aspire series of notebooks
With Skylake's recent release, it's a great time for buyers who're looking for to upgrade from their older machines to newer, faster and sleeker ones. While manufacturers like Aorus and MSI have buyers covered if they're looking for gaming machines, not everybody wants one.
If you're looking to get a capable notebook that you can use for work (and a bit of pleasure), Acer's new entries in its Aspire line of notebooks might just scratch that it itch.
Aspire V15
Acer's Aspire V15 is one of the new machines that the company's unveiled. Touted as an entertainment machine that can store huge amounts of photos and videos, the machine's NVIDIA GeForce GPU means it can even play modern games on medium and low settings adequately.
The Aspire V15 is a 15.6-inch machine with a Full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels resolution) LED backlit TFT LCD display. Depending on the SKU, it'll either come with an Intel Core i7-6500U (2.5GHz, 4MB smart cache) or an Intel Core i5-6200U (2.3GHz, 3MB smart cache) processors and up to 16GB of DDR3L RAM. All variants will also pack an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 940M (2GB VRAM) GPU for extra horsepower, as well as a 1TB HDD and running Windows 10. Wireless connectivity is done via 802.11ac and it also has Bluetooth 4.0 support.
The units will also have an Ethernet jack, a HDMI port, 2 USB 3.0 ports, a single USB 2.0 port, a VGA port and an SD card reader.
The Aspire V15's just 381.6 x 259 x 23.9 mm and weighs 2.4KG and prices start at $1,098.
Aspire E
Acer's Aspire E series of machines will come in two different sizes; 14-inch or 15.6-inch. Both sizes will come in a variety of colors and feature a textile pattern on its chassis.
Of note, the Aspire E series will also have MU-MIMO support. MU-MIMO or Multiple User, Multiple Input Multiple Output uses multiple antennas at both the transmitting and receiving ends to improve wireless performance, which improves reliability and speed. While most wireless devices are SU-MIMO, MU-MIMO devices allow multiple devices to use the same stream simultaneously, instead of waiting to be served one at a time.
On top of that, the machines will also feature Acer's BluelightShield, which reduces eye screen by reducing blue light emissions from the screen.
Interestingly, Acer has pointed out in their press release that their E series will have a newly-designed chiclet keyboard, which offers solid tactile feedback and increased travel distance so if you've always lamented that mobile keyboards have always been lackluster, you might want to give these new ones a try.
Depending on the SKU, the Aspire E series machines will come with either an Intel Core i5-6200U(2.3GHz, 3MB smart cache). an Intel Core i7-6500U(2.5GHz, 4MB smart cache) or an Intel Core i7-6700HQ (2.6GHz, 6MB smart cache). On the GPU front, machines in the series will either feature a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 920M or 940M (both with 2GB VRAM). The machines will have up to 16GB of DDR3L RAM and up to 1TB HDD storage, with support for 802.11 ac with MU-MIMO support and Bluetooth 4.0.
The units will also have an Ethernet jack, a HDMI port, 2 USB 3.0 ports, a single USB 2.0 port, a VGA port and an SD card reader.
The 14-inch machines will have a size of 343 x 245 x 24.9 mm and weigh 2.1KG, while the bigger 15.6-inch notebooks are 381.6 x 256 x 29.2 mm and weigh 2.4KG. Pricing for the machines start at $899.
Aspire V 13
The last machine Acer's shown off is the Aspire V 13, which comes in Steel Black and Platinum White. Acer claims the machine has an 8 hour battery life, which means its perfect to be carried around for long periods without being charged.
Like the name suggests, it's a 13-inch notebook with a Full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels) LED backlit TFT LCD display, an Intel Core i5-6200 (2.3GHz, 3MB smart cache), Intel HD graphics, 8GB DDR3L RAM and a 1TB HDD. Running Windows 10, the machine will also have support for 802.11 ac and Bluetooth 4.0.
Unlike the others, the Aspire V 13 will have a USB 3.1 Type-C port, though it'll also come with a HDMI port, Ethernet jack, two USB 2.0 ports, a single USB 3.0 port and an SD card reader.
The Aspire V 13 is 327 x 228 x 19.65 mm and weighs just 1.5KG.
It'll go on sale for $1,098.
Source: Acer