Review Of Acer Predator PT15-51
Akash (Jul 8, 2018)
on Amazon
Acer's new ultra-slim 15-inch Predator Triton 700 gaming notebook is nothing short of innovative. Alongside its mechanical keyboard, the unusual position and design of the touchpad makes for some interesting new looks. Can the Triton 700 in its elegant case combined with a GTX 1080 Max-Q rival the Asus ROG Zephyrus?Acer Predator Triton 700 (Predator Series)ProcessorIntel Core i7-7700HQ (Intel Core i7)Graphics adapterNVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Max-Q - 8192 MB, Core: 1290 MHz, Memory: 2500 MHz, GDDR5X, ForceWare 382.64Memory32768 MB, 2x 16 GB SO-DIMM DDR4-2400, Dual-Channel, both slots occupied, max. 32 GBDisplay15.6 inch 16:9, 1920 x 1080 pixel 141 PPI, AUO B156HAN04.2 (AUO42ED), IPS, Full-HD, G-Sync, 120 Hz, glossy: noMainboardIntel HM175Storage2x SK Hynix Canvas SC300 512GB M.2 (HFS512G39MND) (RAID 0), 1024 GB, NVMe PCIe-SSDs M.2 Typ 2280Weight2.39 kg ( = 84.3 oz / 5.27 pounds), Power Supply: 926 g ( = 32.66 oz / 2.04 pounds)Price;3,00,000After criticizing the design of the Predator 15 and Predator 17, i am happy to find more subtle looks on the Triton 700. We would even go as far as crowning it the most beautiful gaming notebook on the market ? even above the ROG Zephyrus.The area above the anti-ghosting keyboard is visually prominent due to the shiny Gorilla Glass surface that accommodates the touchpad and allows us to peek into the interior where we can see the left cooling fan.The build quality of the case is very impressive. The lid and the top of the Triton 700 are made of aluminium. And although, the (relatively thick) bezels of the display are made of plastic, we subjectively perceive a full aluminium body. 95% of the surfaces blend seamlessly into each other, but it is not perfect, since some elements like the transition between lid and logo are a little too sharp-edged, leaving some space for dust and dirt to collect.Port selectionThe number of ports lives up to the high-end aspirations. The only flaw may be their unfortunate position in the middle of the left and right sides of the device because of the ventilation system that exhausts to the sides and to the back.MaintenanceThe Triton 700 can be opened after loosening 13 screws and can be better serviced and upgraded than the ROG Zephyrus that has only 4 screws. Neither of them has a maintenance flap. After removal of the GX501's base plate, only a part of the fan becomes visible. On the other hand, after opening the Triton 700 from the top (a rare sight for notebooks), the entire interior is exposed. The motherboard is attached to the bottom.SoftwareThe tuning software PredatorSense has received some welcomed improvements and is finally presentable to its competitors. Its UI is clearer than MSI's Dragon Center or Asus's Gaming Center and can be used even by tuning beginners. The home tab gives a general overview, while users can control the color of the keyboard and the left fan in the Lighting tab. There are a number of lighting modes available for the keyboard.TouchpadThe Triton 700 loses a couple of points for its unconventional touchpad. Not only is its position not ergonomical and impractical, its gliding properties are only moderate. Greasy fingers do not glide as well over the glass surface than they would over a plastic surface.PerformanceWith 32 GB of RAM, 1 TB of SSD-RAID, and a GeForce GTX 1080 Max-Q, our tested configuration is obviously intended for the upper high-end segment. The quad-core processor will be sufficient for years and years of smooth performance in most, if not all, applications.ProcessorThe Intel Core i7-7700HQ is the heart of most current gaming notebooks, which does not come as a surprise since it offers enough performance for every imaginable application (including games). Thanks to Hyperthreading, the quad-core CPU allows for up to eight threads in parallel, for which many software programs are optimized.VerdictIn conclusion, the Triton 700 and the ROG Zephyrus seem overpriced and Nvidia's Max-Q policy has its part in it. Bargain hunters who still prefer slim cases need to look elsewhere ? nothing to see here. For gaming enthusiasts who intend to leave their portable laptop mostly on their desk anyway, we recommend thicker notebooks with a regular GTX 1070 or 1080. In the end, the Triton 700 is not accepted in our ?Top 10 Gaming Notebooks? list, but enters the ?Top 10 Slim & Light Gaming Notebooks? hall of fame.
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