There are a couple major differences between gaming laptops and normal laptops, like a MacBook Pro. Gaming laptops have dedicated processors and graphics cards specifically for gaming, and higher-end models have mechanical keyboards. And because they generate more heat during gameplay, they have more powerful fans for cooling. All of these features amount to bigger, heavier laptops, like the beautiful yet monstrous Acer Predator 21x ($9,000). Razer flipped that assumption on its head with the Razer Blade (it’s just 17.9mm wide!) — but today was Acer’s turn.
Acer announced the Predator Triton 700, the company’s first ultra-thin gaming laptop. Acer redesigned its cooling fan technology for a more portable package — albeit one that’s still super powerful, like the rest of the Predator product line. It’s not quite as the thin as the Razer Blade — 18.9mm versus 17.9mm — but judging by Acer’s presentation today, the Triton promises to perform significantly better. (On the 3DMark test, a popular gaming benchmark and graphics card test, the Triton scored 17,000 against the Razer Blade’s 11,139.)
Acer also redesigned the feel and look of the Triton by flipping the locations of the keyboard and the trackpad. Now the keyboard is closer to the player and the trackpad is at the top of the laptop, right underneath the display. The thought is that most players don’t use trackpads anyway.
Other specs include a 5.6-inch FHD IPS display, a seventh-gen Intel Kaby Lake processor, NVIDIA GeForce 10-Series graphics, two PCIe SSDs, and up to 32GB of DDR4 RAM. It also weighs 5.7 pounds. The Predator Triton 700 will be available in August for $2,999.
