Acer Unveils New Notebook PCs, Tablets, Gaming Devices at IFA

Acer rolled out an array of systems, including powerful gaming PCs, notebooks, and a modular PC that enables users to build their systems in Lego-like fashion.

Users can assemble their PCs by building off the main “block”—the M1-601 PC—and attaching other blocks that offer other features, from a portable hard drive and a wireless power bank to a voice block or graphics block.

The foundation of the Revo Build is the main PC, a 125mm by 125mm box that is powered by a Celeron or Pentium chip from Intel and which offers 8GB of DDR4 memory, an SD card slot, High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) port, a DisplayPort and three USB 3.0 ports.

The blocks are connected via pogo pins and magnetic coupling—essentially users can snap them in place, and they are good to go. They’re also just as easy to swap out. For example, if users want more than the 32GB of storage the machine offers, they can connect a block that offers a 500GB or 1TB portable hard drive.

Acer executives announced the company’s gaming strategy in April. At IFA, they began filling out the Predator product line, introducing a range of desktops, notebooks, tablets and monitors aimed at the gaming market.

Among the gaming systems announced by Acer was the Predator 8 GT-810 tablet, powered by an Intel Atom chip and Intel HD Graphics and running Android 5.1.

Acer is refreshing its Aspire V Nitro Series notebooks—both the 17- and 15-inch models—with Intel’s sixth-generation Core processors and Nvidia’s GeForce graphics. In addition, the 15-inch model now has a touch-screen option.

Acer is bringing Intel’s new Skylake processors to the Aspire V 13 notebooks, which also come in two colors—Steel Black and Platinum White.

The company unveiled the Aspire R 13, a convertible system that can be used in six modes, thanks to Acer’s Ezel Aero Hinge, from traditional notebook to tent to flat mode to tablet.

Acer is a leading maker of Chromebooks, and now is offering its first convertible system, the Chromebook R 11. It can be used in laptop, pad, display and tent modes, thanks to a 360-degree hinge, and runs on Intel Celeron chips.

Acer’s new Aspire U5 Series (U5-720) all-in-one system is powered by the latest Intel Core i5 and i7 processors and Nvidia GeForce graphics, and comes with such features as Intel’s RealSense 3D camera.

Also at IFA, Acer unveiled six new Liquid smartphones, with four running Android 5.1 and two running Windows 10 Mobile. They all include such features as Acer BluelightShield for controlling users’ exposure to blue light from the screen and DTS Studio Sound for high-quality audio performance for music and movies.