14 DAY TRIAL // Intel's Haswell central processing units, or at least those in the mid- to high-end market segments, have good enough graphics that no discrete GPU is needed in notebooks. Not surprising really, since Ivy Bridge and even Sandy Bridge did.
So since there isn't any way to differentiate the majority of laptops through graphics now, other areas are getting attention.
In the case of the new laptop from Acer, called M5-583P-6428 and part of the M5 Series, the company put a bit more effort than usual in optimizing sound.
Thus, the notebook ended up with a "powerful sound system" involving Dolby Home Theater v4 audio, four 2-watt speakers (on the front of the laptop) and the Acer Purified technology package.
"The new Acer M5-583P-6428 provides consumers with a great package of leading technology at a very affordable price," said Scott Ledterman, vice president, U.S. consumer sales.
"It's a compelling solution for those wanting the latest and greatest features without breaking the bank."
Spec-wise, the 15.6-inch laptop has a 10-point multitouch panel, a resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels (surprisingly enough), a Core i5 CPU, up to 8 GB of DDR3 RAM (random access memory), an HDMI output, Wireless Display Technology (WiDi, for wireless streaming to HDTVs), a hard disk drive (HDD) of 500 GB storage space, and a PowerSmart battery.
The PowerSmart battery is a long-life 4-cell Lithium Polymer Battery (3560 mAh) that lasts for up to 6.5 hours on a single charge. It should last for up to 4 years without losing its potency and charge life.
Finally, the Acer Instant Connect technology makes the process establishing the link to the Internet four times faster than normal. Meanwhile, Intel Smart Connect constantly refreshes Facebook and Outlook e-mail/social networking websites/apps as long as a Wi-Fi network is in range, whether the PC is in sleep mode or not.
Sales of the new Acer M5 notebook should have already started in the US, for $699.99 / €547.81 – 699.99.