Acer reveals new Windows 10 portables

Acer has unveiled two new portable devices at their Windows 10 Global Press Conference event in Taipei yesterday. The Aspire Z3-700 and Aspire R 14 have been designed to pack in functionality at a low cost compared to recent hardware announcements such as Microsoft's Surface Book and Dell's XPS range.

Both of the devices feature Cortana functionality and Acer's BluelightShield technology, which claims to reduce eye strain by limiting blue light emissions from the screen.

The Aspire R 14 convertible notebook has been refreshed with a new hairline-brush metallic finish to better suit Windows 10. It's 360-degree dual-torque hinge has also been redesigned to more easily go between the notebook's four modes: tent, tablet, laptop and display. The laptop will pack the latest from Intel and will be available in different configurations.:

Intel Core 6th generation (Skylake) i7-6500U or i5-6200U
10-point multi-touch capacitive, 14-inch display at 1920 x 1080
Up to 8GB of DDR3L RAM
128GB, 256GB or 512GB SSD
802.11ac with MU-MIMO wireless technology
18.5mm thick, 4.19 pounds (1.9kg)
Up to 9hr battery life
Available in North America, Europe, Middle East & Africa by late October starting at $599 and €799.

The Aspire Z3-700 is a portable all-in-one PC with a large 17.3-inch, 1080p screen that doubles as either a tablet or a notebook. However the large display comes at a cost, the battery lasts only 5 hours, which may be too little for some. Here are the specs:

Intel Pentium N3700 or Intel Celeron N3150/N3050
10-point multi-touch capacitive, 17.3-inch display at 1920 x 1080 (Stylus compatible)
Up to 8GB of DDR3L RAM
15.6mm thick, 2kg weight
32GB, 60GB, 128GB or 256GB SSD; or a 500GB HDD
Up to 5hr battery life
Available by end of 2015 in Europe, Middle East & Africa, starting at €599. It does not appear to be coming to North America.

The two new Windows 10 devices are the latest in many recently released by Acer, including an ultra-affordable 'Cloudbook', a high-end all-in-one, and even a modular PC with easily stackable 'blocks' of components.

Source: Acer & Microsoft, Tom's Hardware