Acer unveils 'ergonomic' Aspire R7 tablet-laptop-hybrid

Acer unveils 'ergonomic' Aspire R7 tablet-laptop-hybrid
You may remember the R7 from such teasers as Star Trek

As well as its two new Iconia tablets, Acer has revealed the next generation of its laptop line-up, with the hybrid Acer Aspire R7 Ultrabook-cum-tablet leading the charge.

The Acer Aspire R7 is a laptop that features a repositioned keyboard as well as an HD touchscreen that uses a 'revolutionary' "Ezel Hinge" that allows you to flip reverse the screen, lie it flat or let it float above the keyboard.

Apparently that's an ergonomic design, but we'll wait til we get our hands on it to pass judgement.

On the inside, the 15.6-inch notebook is rocking an Intel Core i5 processor, up to 12GB of memory, up to 1TB hard drive or a 256GB SSD.

If you like the sound of the flippable R7, you'll have to wait until the end of June, at which point it will set you back £899.99 (around $1399 / AU$1365).

A hybridge too far

Sticking with the tablet/laptop hybrid theme, the 11-inch Aspire P3 weighs in at 1.39kg and is 19.75mm thin at its thinnest point. It comes with a touch-screen display which you can detach from the casing if that's how you roll.

Acer Aspire P3

Acer's P3 - aspirational

Acer says you can ditch the desktop because the Aspire P3 is powerful enough to be your main computer thanks to the Intel Core i3 or i5 processors, efficient power consumption and full-size chiclet keyboard. You can also opt for a 60GB or 120GB SSD depending on your budget.

The Acer Aspire P3 is out now, and starts from £599.99 (around $933 or AU$909).

Onwards down the ladder, and the Acer Aspire V7 comes in a variety of colours with varying screen sizes, resolutions, with touch, without touch and various processor and graphics options, none of which Acer has been abundantly specific on just yet.

It features the same design as the lower-spec Aspire V5 line-up, but the V7 Ultrabook comes with a 'silky touch' finish on the bottom which sounds… weird.

Anyway, the new Acer Aspire V5 line-up is also slim and light but not quite at the heady Ultrabook standard. They come in 15.6-inch, 14-inch and 11.6-inch versions, with optional upgrades available.

You can go for an HD (1366 x 768) or Full HD (1920 x 1080) IPS screen, Nvidia GeForce or Radeon graphics cards and "a range of" Intel processors.

The Acer Aspire V5 and V7 will be available from the end of May, with the V5 starting from £399.99 (around US$622 and AU$607), and the V7 from £499.99 (about US$778 / AU$758).

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Former UK News Editor for TechRadar, it was a perpetual challenge among the TechRadar staff to send Kate (Twitter, Google+) a link to something interesting on the internet that she hasn't already seen. As TechRadar's News Editor (UK), she was constantly on the hunt for top news and intriguing stories to feed your gadget lust. Kate now enjoys life as a renowned music critic – her words can be found in the i Paper, Guardian, GQ, Metro, Evening Standard and Time Out, and she's also the author of 'Amy Winehouse', a biography of the soul star.