Acer Aspire R7

BY: Elliot Cotton

We’ve seen some weird and wacky hybrids in previous years, but the newly launched Aspire R7 by Acer has gone further out on a limb than most. Its hinge, dubbed the “Ezel”, resembles the central support strut of an all-in-one PC more than a laptop hinge, and it delivers a surprising amount of flexibility.

With the Aspire R7 fully closed, the strut is flush with the lid, with the hinge itself attached to the center rear of the display. It looks odd, but this arrangement allows the screen to tilt back and forth, lift up above the keyboard so it’s floating like a desktop PC monitor, while spinning vertically to face away from you or fold flat, facing up.

While it can, of course, be used as a standard laptop, and positioning the display “normally” like this reveals the Acer Aspire R7’s other party trick its large, glass touchpad is also positioned above the keyboard instead of below it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhBBN4R3OTg

On the other hand, I have concerns about the long-term practicality of this arrangement. While testers were using it on the stand at Acer’s big launch event in New York, they found it difficult to mouse about without resting a palm on the keyboard, inadvertently pressing keys.

The position of the keyboard at the very front of the chassis also means there’s nowhere to rest your wrists while typing. On a hybrid, such as the Sony VAIO Duo 11, this isn’t a massive problem because the keyboard is so thin. On the Aspire R7, however, the front lip of the keyboard rises a centimetre or so above the desk, which makes typing feel distinctly odd.

Also, although this may not be immediately obvious from the photographs, the R7 is a very big machine. The Full HD IPS screen measures 15.6in from corner to corner, and the mechanics of that hinge means it’s a weighty piece of kit, too. Suffice it to say, it isn’t a laptop you’ll be wanting to lug around much and, perhaps in keeping with its all-in-one PC look, it’ll likely stay tethered to a desk.

While innovation is thriving now at an all time high companies are now forgetting the bare necessities and accommodations that all must consumers require. If Acer wants to see the maximum potential of this product they must take into consideration the conformability of their product as it relates to the consumers.