Acer Aspire R7 updated with Haswell, stylus support and longer battery life

Acer R7
Flip the Acer R7-572 any way you like

Forget spring - fall can be just as good a time for renewal as any.

Case in point: Acer, which today is out with a refreshed addition to its Aspire R7 notebook line. And yes, this one can flip and turn into different configurations, too.

Among the Aspire R7-572's new features is a fourth-gen Intel Core i5-4200U processor, a battery-saving addition that brings the juicer's total life up to 6.5 hours.

The notebook's 15.6-inch full HD touchscreen display now packs a digitizer, meaning it can support an optional Acer active stylus. Made by N-trig, the stylus is sold separately.

Two times Aspire-d

The R7-572 is the second generation of Acer's Aspire R7 notebook line. You may remember the Star Trek laptop? That's the 572's predecessor.

This go-round, the Windows 8.1 machine has been given more than a better processor, longer battery life and a stylus.

The laptop scored 8GB of memory and a 1TB hard drive. The Full HD display features IPS technology and blazes with 1920 x 1080 resolution.

Users will also find an HDMI port, SD card reader, three USB ports and one converter port for VGA, RJ45 and USB. Dolby Digital Plus and four 2W speakers bring the sound, and because of the notebook's four potential modes, the audio channels automatically adjust when a new shape is formed.

Those modes, by the way, are a notebook, a tabletop pad, a display or in the "Ezel" mode, where the screen floats over the backlit keyboard at varying angles.

The R7-572 also features Intel Wireless Display, or WiDi, which lets users connect to TV wirelessly.

As part of the stylus support, the R7-572 includes a new set of apps called Acer Touch Tools designed ot enhance and optimize the touchscreen experience.

The R7-572 is available exclusively at Best Buy starting today for $899. Acer's active stylus can also be picked up at the retailer, and is priced at $49.

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Michelle Fitzsimmons

Michelle was previously a news editor at TechRadar, leading consumer tech news and reviews. Michelle is now a Content Strategist at Facebook.  A versatile, highly effective content writer and skilled editor with a keen eye for detail, Michelle is a collaborative problem solver and covered everything from smartwatches and microprocessors to VR and self-driving cars.