If the past year has taught us anything, it’s that laptop designs are changing, but Acer thinks they still have room to change, with a machine being unveiled that is more than just clamshell, with the ability to make your screen position change completely.
Announced in New York over the weekend, the Acer Aspire R7 is a new type of machine that has been designed like a traditional open-and-shut laptop, but comes with a completely different type of screen hinge.
Rather than just open or close like a clamshell notebook, Acer’s R7 features the “Ezel hinge,” which allows the display to be moved into different positions, such as closer to the keyboard at a different angle, flattened like a tablet, or pushed against the back of the hinge itself so the screen sits on the other side from where it normally sits.
“With the Aspire R7, Acer has redesigned the notebook with an approach that’s based on how people interact with their PCs and devices,” said Acer’s Michael Birkin, Chief Marketing Officer.
“Its progressive design redefines the computing experience, so whether consumers are touching or typing, the R7 adapts to allow consumers to create, browse and share content in ways they never have before.”
The Aspire R7 is the company’s first machine with that special hinge, and will use a 15.6 inch Full HD (1920×1080) touchscreen, as well as some high powered innards to make it more than your typical touch-based computer.
As such, you’ll find an Intel Core i5 processor inside, as well as up to a 1TB hard drive or 256GB solid-state drive, up to 12GB RAM, and some connectivity options including HDMI, SD card reader, USB ports, audio, and some wireless support over Bluetooth and WiFi.
“Acer believes touch will be crucial to the new computing experience,” added Birkin.
“There is nothing on the market so powerful and versatile which enables such easy video and picture editing or enjoying a movie on a big display. As a powerful full-featured 15.6-inch notebook, the Aspire R7 enables a unique functionality in a design that makes more sense for a human, touch-enabled world.”
No pricing has been announced in Australia or America (where it was announced), but representatives for Acer in Australia are telling us that mid-June is the likely timeframe for a release in Australia.
