Big laptops are nothing new, but with the recent trend towards smaller and thinner designs across the PC industry, it’s rare to see one that’s truly massive. It’s even rarer to see a manufacturer proud of that fact – but the Acer Predator 21 X is clearly an exception.
Why? Well, check out the name. The 21 stands for 21 inches – that’s how wide the curved display is. Yes, that’s right. The display is curved. It also offers 2,560 x 1,200 resolution, which works out to about 135 pixels per inch. It even supports Nvidia’s G-Sync adaptive refresh tech, for buttery smooth gameplay regardless of framerate.
IFA 2016: LG is showing off a monster 38-inch ultra-wide monitor at IFA
If it sounds a bit crazy, that’s because it is a bit crazy. Most gamers are not going to need a 21-inch monitor built into a laptop. But if you do, the Acer Predator 21 X is the only game in town. It’s even bigger than the 18-inch behemoths sold by Alienware, MSI, and others.
There’s more to the Predator 21 X than the display. Acer has also packed it full of the latest hardware. Aside from the obligatory Intel Core quad-core processor, the system also has not one but two GTX 1080 video cards in SLI, alongside up to four solid state drives. In practice, all of this hardware should make the system as fast, or faster, then many high-end gaming desktops.
Oh, and it has Tobii’s eye-tracking hardware, too. It enables eye-based control in games that support it – which, frankly, isn’t many, although Deus Ex: Mankinded Divided is on the short list.
While technically a laptop, this obviously isn’t a system you’ll be using in Starbucks (well, we’d hope not). Acer says it weighs about 6 kilos, and it’s nearly twice as wide as a typical 13-inch laptop. It simply won’t fit in a standard backpack.
Acer hasn’t set an exact release date for the Predator 21 X, or a price, though a press official did go on record that it will be “very, very, very expensive.” That’s to be expected. In truth, most gamers won’t have need for a system this quick, or large – but if you want the ultimate LAN rig, or just feel like showing off, this may be what you’ve been waiting for.
