Acer just announced the Aspire R7, a strange hybrid of a desktop all-in-one, laptop, and a tablet that was previously teased in some promotional Star Trek commercials. It’s honestly really, really weird.
We always expected that Windows 8 would lead to some really strange convertible touchscreen devices, but the Aspire R7 is a whole new kind of crazy. The first thing you’ll notice about the Aspire R7 is that Acer seems to have forgotten how laptops are made. The trackpad sits behind the keyboard, which is a bit perplexing until you realize that Acer doesn’t really want you to use the trackpad at all.
That’s because the Aspire R7 has something called an Ezel hinge that gives the 15.6 touchscreen display an amazing degree of flexibility. You can lie the 15-inch, 1080p touchscreen display completely flat with the device, turning the Aspire R7 into an oversized tablet. You can also angle the display so that it sits flush with the keyboard and covers the trackpad completely. I’m honestly not sure why the trackpad is there in the first place.
As a whole, the Aspire R7 seems to be incredibly well built. It’s made of some type of aluminum-like material, and there’s virtually no flex to the device. On the other hand, it’s very large and very heavy, which means that it won’t be very portable. It’s probably one of the nicest pieces of hardware Acer has ever built. But I don’t know who would use something as crazy as this.
Other key specs for the R7 include:
- Intel Core i5 1.8GHz processor, with Turbo Boost to 2.7GHz
- 6GB Of DDR3 RAM
- 500GB SATA HD, paired with a 24GB SSD
- Intel HD Graphics 4000
- HD webcam with dual mics
- 2 USB 3, 1 USB 2 ports
- 5.3 lbs and 1.1-inches thin
Acer also announced the Aspire P3, an ultra book convertible with a detachable display, and the Iconia A1, a 7.9 inch Android tablet. But it’s the Aspire R7 that stole the show here. It’ll be available for sale exclusively at Best Buy retail locations starting May 17th, and can be pre-ordered now at the Best Buy online store for $999.
(and a friendly shout out to Stefan over at LaptopMemo, who was kind enough to let me borrow his camera for these shots)
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