Since existing members of the Aspire V Nitro Black Edition family of high-end multipurpose laptops are already phenomenal choices for both gamers and business users, Acer decided to merely update them for CES 2015.
That said, the “new and improved” V17 Nitro brings at least one unique trait to the table; Intel RealSense technology. Demonstrated exactly one year ago at the previous Consumer Electronics show, RealSense has come full circle, and is ready for primetime at last.
The technology enables gesture control in ways Kinect can’t even begin to dream of, with an advanced 3D camera that lets you browse the web, navigate applications and play games without putting a finger on the notebook’s keyboard, touchpad or external peripherals.
Just perform “natural movements” in the cam’s range, and you’re good to go. RealSense also makes 3D scanning and printing possible, the former needing no third-party hardware and the latter of course requiring a 3D printer.
The Nitro V17 also offers a 1080p display. This isn’t quite as impressive as the 4K screen available on the already released Nitro V15, but it’s still more than sufficient for a laptop. In fact, it may be a better match for the hardware, as 4K sucks down battery and makes even simple games demanding.
A fourth-generation Intel Core i7-4710HQ Haswell processor comes standard alongside an Nvidia GeForce GTX 860M GPU and up to 16GB RAM. Depending on your budget, you can have a 128GB or 256GB solid state drive, with Blu-ray and DVD super multi drives also offered on request. Dual-band wireless 802.11n Wi-Fi is standard.
Dolby Digital Plus Home Theater surround sound with two eight-watt speakers is part of the package no matter the configuration. So is DustDefender, a noise-decreasing, heat-reducing dust removal system. There’s no word on pricing yet, but clearly, you should expect some sort of a premium over the current model, which goes for $1,300 with a 128GB SSD.
