Acer announced on Tuesday that its Acer V Nitro Black Edition laptops are coming to North America. These laptops include Intel's Core i7-4710HQ quad-core processor and Nvidia's GeForce GTX 860M GPU with 2 GB of GDDR5 VRAM. The pricing starts at $1,099.
There are actually three models: a 17.3-inch version that will be sold at Amazon, Fry's and MicroCenter; a 15.6-inch model sold only at Newegg; and a 15.6-inch model only sold at Amazon.
The specifications show that the 17.3-inch model will include 16 GB of DDR3 dual-channel memory, a 256 GB SSD and a 1 TB hard drive. There's also a Blu-ray 6x optical drive, a backlit keyboard, optimized Dolby audio enhancement, an SD card reader, an HD webcam (1280 x 720) and a 3-cell Li-ion battery. Ports include one HDMI, one Ethernet, a headphone/microphone jack, a Kensington lock slot, two USB 2.0 ports and two USB 3.0 ports. Dual-band Wireless N and Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity are also included.
As for the 15.6-inch model sold at Newegg, this version will pack 8 GB of DDR3 dual-channel memory, a 1 TB hard drive, no optical drive, a backlit keyboard and the same ports and features offered on the 17.3-inch model save for the three USB 3.0 ports. That said, the only difference between the Newegg model and the Amazon model is that the latter will include an additional 128 GB SSD.
The 17.3-inch model will weigh 6.61 pounds and measure 1-inch thick, whereas the two 15.6-inch models will weigh 5.29 pounds and measure just 0.94 inches thin. Windows 8.1 will be the operating system of choice, presumably the Bing-less version.
In addition to the hardware specs, Acer also revealed that the 17.3-inch model will feature the company's DustDefender and CoolBoost technologies. DustDefender uses a high-speed fan that consists of metal blades, which will remove dust buildup and improve head dissipation. As for CoolBoost, this allows the device owner to make adjustments to the fans' airflow.
The 15.6-inch Acer V Nitro Black Edition sold at Newegg will arrive first in mid-October and cost $1,099.99, followed by the Amazon model in November for $1,199.99. The 17.3-inch model sold at Amazon, Fry's and MicroCenter will cost $1,499.99 when it ships in November.
Follow Kevin Parrish @exfileme. Follow us @tomshardware, on Facebook and on Google+.
