Acer R7 Two-axis deformable this evaluation

Acer Aspire R7 Evaluation

After the listing of Microsoft Windows 8 System, we have seen more and more mixed design notebook products in the market, including many flat/notebook two products, with unique screen design deformation, making the traditional PC market more dynamic. Recently, the well-known PC manufacturer Acer also joined the field, the introduction of a dual-axis screen Aspire R7 deformation, can adjust the screen angle, and have a variety of use patterns, there is no doubt is a unique design eye-catching innovative products. Of course, the evaluation of such laptops is often polarized, so the design of the Acer Aspire R7 is truly innovative and a good experience to use, together with the evaluation content to test it.

Acer Aspire R7 Key parameter information:

Screen: 15.6 inch, 1080P (1920*1080 pixel) LED backlight touch screen

Processors and graphics cards: Intel Core i5-3337u processor with 1.8GHz frequency, Intel GMA HD 4,000 set Cheng Xianka

Memory and hard drive: 6GB DDR3 1600MHz memory, 24GB SSD+500GB 5400 SATA Hard Drive

Operating system: Running Windows 8 System (64-bit)

Wireless network: 802.11b/g/n wireless network, Bluetooth 4.0

Interface: 2 USB 3.0 connectors, 1 USB 2.0 connectors, 1 HDMI output, DisplayPort interface, card reader, headphone/Microphone jack

Weight: 2.5 kg

Price: from USD 999 (RMB 6128)

Exterior design

There is no doubt that the overall design of the Acer Aspire R7 is unique in that it places a 15.6-inch screen on a floating shaft. The design seems to draw on some desktop machines or large laptops, such as HP's 20-inch workstation HDX, but Acer Aspire R7 has a touch screen that makes it easier to operate. In addition, the Acer Aspire R7 screen not only enables horizontal adjustment, but also flips the screen back to the rear of the fuselage, making it a tablet, which we call Kiosk mode, and you can refer to Lenovo Yoga or Dell XPS 12 products.

One advantage of Acer's Aspire R7 is that, in standard notebook mode, the screen is slightly higher than the face and is similar to some desktop machines so that you can get more comfortable reading and not feel a neck ache as you would with a traditional notebook. As a result of this design, the keyboard and touchpad are also optimized, and you can see that Acer Aspire R7 does not seem to have a traditional notebook design, the keyboard is translated to the bottom of the fuselage, and the touchpad is designed on top of the keyboard, very alternative. Given that there was no such design before, I suspect that some users may find it difficult to accept such a usage experience.

There is also a less humane part, turning the screen of the Acer Aspire R7 into flat mode, you will find that the screen is not completely flattened because of the design of the screen shaft, and while this tilt angle brings a good text input experience, it's hard to actually carry it like a regular tablet. And the weight of the 2.5 kg is also somewhat biased.

Actual use of feelings and functions

In fact, the first time I saw Acer Aspire R7, feel its design inspired by the latest "Star Trek" movie, the unique hinge design so that its screen can be freely adjusted, flip, when used as a traditional notebook, and even a touch of desktop-all-in-one taste, it will feel very suitable for enterprise users; But it doesn't seem to be practical for ordinary consumers. In addition to the flexible screen rotation design, Acer Aspire R7 's body texture is also good, is a superb style of high-end 15-inch computer. The fuselage is fully aluminum alloy and strong enough, but the weight of 2.5 kg is obviously not very light, it is not suitable to carry or commute to use.

I like the way Acer Aspire R7 's screen hinges are in the normal notebook, because you can get a sense of how you feel about desktops, and you can adjust them to a higher screen angle. However, the peculiar touchpad and keyboard design is really a bit of a headache, although Acer claims that the keyboard is closer to the user and makes typing feel more comfortable, but if you want to use the touchpad, you have to keep your arm dangling for long periods of fatigue. Obviously, the Acer Aspire R7 seems to be better placed on the desktop, using the mouse to operate, rather than in a mobile environment.

You may have seen the so-called "flat pattern" in the Acer Aspire R7 's publicity photo, and found that most of the pictures were taken from the front, but when you get to the real machine there are some strange things that Acer seems to be deliberately concealing. The curved screen hinges make the screen not completely flat, probably formed a 5-degree angle, although it may be more conducive to touch or typing operations, but to make the original thick fuselage thicker, the basic does not have the portability of tablets, it looks more like a gimmick to increase the function.

Acer Aspire R7 's screen display is excellent, with 1920*1080 pixel Full HD resolution, visual angle is good, and touch the corresponding speed is also very ideal. Entering the Windows 8 desktop will find the interface a bit crowded because, in addition to conventional system applications, Acer has added a wealth of pre-installed content to Aspire R7, including many third-party software such as ebay, Chacha, and its own Acer cloud storage and image classification software.

interface, performance, and endurance capabilities

Although the fuselage design is more alternative, but Acer Aspire R7 also has a traditional laptop interface design, including HDMI and DisplayPort video output interface, 3 USB interface, where USB 3.0 can be shutdown when the charging function. Currently, the 999 dollar (about 6128 yuan) version of Acer Aspire R7 offers a relatively reasonable configuration, including an Intel Core i5 processor, 6GB of RAM, and a 24GB SSD+500GB hybrid hard drive, as well as 1080P Full HD display.

In terms of performance testing, in order to facilitate comparison, we also joined the other three similar laptops, of which Sony Vaio fit SVF14A15CXB has 1.8GHz main frequency of the Intel Core i5 3427 processor, 8GB memory, Intel 4,000 set Cheng Xianka and 750GB Toshiba 5400 rpm, Dell XPS 18 is equipped with 1.8GHZ main Core i5 3337U processor, 6GB memory, intel® 4,000 set Cheng Xianka and 32GB SSD+500GB 5400 turn mixed hard disk; The final HP TouchSmart Sleekbook has 1.8GHz-frequency AMD a8-455m APU processors, 6GB memory, AMD Radeon HD 7600G graphics and 750GB hard drives.

Multimedia multitasking performance test (higher score better)

Photoshop Graphics Performance test (the lower the score the better)

By contrast, the overall performance of Acer Aspire R7 is very mainstream and always at the middle level. For daily use, low voltage Core i5 processor running multitasking, web surfing, high-definition video playback without any problems, touch operation is also relatively smooth. Of course, without a stand-alone video card, Acer Aspire R7 's overall game performance is weak and basically unable to run a large 3D game.

Video playback battery performance test (the higher the score the better)

Finally, in terms of endurance, Acer Aspire R7 is able to achieve about 4 hours of video playback, which is the equivalent of Sony's 14-inch midrange notebook and Dell XPS 18 desktop tablet, not particularly good. But given the heavy fuselage of Acer Aspire R7, most of the usage scenarios should still be fixed on the desktop, so it's acceptable.

Evaluation Summary

There is no doubt that Acer Aspire R7 is a highly featured notebook/tablet hybrid, and we can feel the good intentions of Acer to integrate different designs and functions to change the way people use their computers to change their lives. But admittedly, sometimes too-avant-garde ideas are temporarily unacceptable to ordinary people, and Acer Aspire R7 's overly alternative keyboard and touchpad designs do not work well in the actual experience, and there is much room for improvement. In addition, the flat pattern is more like a design that is imposed to add a function, and it is hard to get a good tablet experience.

On the bright side, however, this 15-inch notebook does have a very flexible screen-sizing perspective, which provides a great deal of flexibility for traditional applications such as office and Internet access. Plus the mainstream configuration, exquisite fuselage workmanship and reasonable prices, but also an excellent family, office notebooks.

Advantages:

· Flexible screen Design

· 1080P Full HD screen

· Configuration Mainstream, reasonable price

Disadvantages:

· Keyboard and touchpad locations are too alternative

· Flat mode is not working well