Acer's New Noteworthy, Over-The-Top Gaming "Laptop"

Discussion in 'hardware' started by hawki, Apr 28, 2017.

  1. hawki

    hawki Registered Member

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    Acer Predator 21 X

    Price a mere $9,000

    Weight only 18 lbs (26 lbs including AC power adapters)

    Among it's unique specs is EYE TRACKING TECHNOLOGY in it's 22" curved screen -- Eye tracking handles natural eye movement so you spend less time jostling analog sticks and swiping mice - Where you look is where you aim -- With infinite screen, the camera follows you as you look towards to edge of your display; rotating to give you complete situational awareness..."

    Acer page with it's awesome main features:

    https://www.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/predator-series-features/predator21x

    PC Mag Review:

    http://www.pcmag.com/review/353325/acer-predator-21-x

    Guaranteed to be found under hedge fund managers' family Chrismas trees in December.
     
  2. Rasheed187

    Rasheed187 Registered Member

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    No thanks, it's ugly as hell!
     
  3. hawki

    hawki Registered Member

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  4. Bill_Bright

    Bill_Bright Registered Member

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    IMO, there's no such thing as a good gaming laptop. They can pack the power of a good gaming PC into a tiny laptop case, but they cannot pack the cooling. Yes, this thing has 5 fans but for small fans to move a sufficient amount of air, they have to spin really fast. That means noise - and lots of it.

    And laptops are not made to be opened up for easy and thorough cleaning.

    28lbs? o_O That's luggable, not portable.

    One novel feature I think is nice is the fans periodically reverse direction to blow out the dust in those air paths.
    No, but for that money, they should get 4K.
     
  5. Peter2150

    Peter2150 Global Moderator

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    Have to disagree Bill. I had a Sagar gaming laptop for 3 years. and the packed in the power, but it also had the cooling. The thing probably had 4 pounds of copper piping and it did indeed have adequate heat removing capability
     
  6. Bill_Bright

    Bill_Bright Registered Member

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    I look at it this way. If a top quality mid or full tower ATX case is challenged to provide good cooling to the innards inside, how can a compact notebook case - even a big notebook case?

    I am not saying you cannot get good game play from a "gaming notebook". You can. But contrary to what the makers want us to believe, notebooks do not make good "desktop replacements".

    Notebooks were created for the road warrior - computer users who need to take their computers with them whether that be for work travel, or for students going from home to class to class and back to home. That's why the biggest push in notebook technologies is to make them lighter and thinner, and have longer battery run time.

    These high-end gaming notebooks are not light, not thin, and unless you lug around a car battery, don't have a long run time. This Acer ran for just 2:05. And you still cannot easily open them up for thorough cleaning like you can by removing the side panel of a PC case. Then of course, you can't swap out keyboards, change monitors, and your other upgrades are very limited too - if possible at all.

    The only advantage I see to buying one of these is you can easily lock it up in dorm closet.
     
  7. hawki

    hawki Registered Member

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    LOL :)

    IMHO I don't believe that Acer designed the Predator 21 X with the goal of a new profit center. I think they did it as a "showcase/flagship" to strut their stuff to grab a larger market share in the gaming market sector with their far less pricey but still awesome desktops. Acer has always given a big bang for the buck in the low to mid-range gaming sector.

    Fact is you can get the same innards in a tower built by Origin, Maingear, Falcon Northwest, etc. for between 4k-5k USD or less -- half the price of the 21 X.

    As a practical matter, nobody "needs" a machine with those specs other than those who crave fps bragging rights.
     
    Last edited: Apr 29, 2017
  8. Bill_Bright

    Bill_Bright Registered Member

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    I bet you are right. And I see nothing wrong with that (except they may raise prices on other products to recoup their R&D costs). The thing about flagship products is the advanced features typically, eventually trickle down to the lower lines. And that's a good thing.
    Or for an even bigger warm fuzzy, you can build it yourself customized specifically for your own needs and desires.
     
  9. xxJackxx

    xxJackxx Registered Member

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    Too much. If any computer was any kind of an investment it would be easier to consider something that may take me years to pay for. Next year this will be last year's outdated junk. :eek:
     
  10. Bill_Bright

    Bill_Bright Registered Member

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    I don't see how any computer designed as a "gaming" system could be considered an "investment" - unless you got paid well for playing games. And that is not likely. A computer used for work or even school can be an investment if it increases your productivity.

    Next year? How about next month? ;)

    It has always been this way in high-tech consumer electronics. Back in the day when audiophile quality electronics was reaching the masses, you did your research, bought the latest and greatest you could afford, then cancelled your subscriptions to Stereo Review, Audio, Stereophile, HiFi and Stereo Review magazines because next month's issue would show the upgraded replacement for the product you just spent a small fortune on. :(

    That said, with computer technologies, the improvements over previous models are often charted in fractions of just 1 second. Or at worst, a few seconds, but not minutes. Typically only something you would see on paper and benchmarks, not in real-world observations.
     
  11. hawki

    hawki Registered Member

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    The Acer Predator 21 X is so portable it comes with it's own custom suitcase :)

    https://cnet1.cbsistatic.com/img/i-92cqxkCE2u57j372Z0PzicsDU=/1170x0/2017/04/20/9da60577-228c-4f79-ba7e-230194eccc69/acer-predator-21-x-40.jpg

    Not sure if they made room for the power adapters.
     
  12. roger_m

    roger_m Registered Member

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    I guess when you spend (waste?) $9,000 on a laptop you need to all you can to protect it :) That's a pretty deep case, so I'm guessing there is room for them to go under the laptop.
     
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