Enthusiasts of resource-intensive games prefer to buy a desktop computer rather than a laptop. The reason is simple – mobile hardware constantly lags behind PCs. It has always been this way. But manufacturers have studied their many years of experience and decided to fill the empty niche. The Acer brand introduced the best gaming laptop Predator.
The specs of the novelty simply delight gamers. A powerful processor, large memory capacity, and top gaming graphics card from nVidia. The laptop is available in two versions – a 17-inch with a 4K display, and a 15-inch with Full HD resolution. But more on that in order.
Best Gaming Laptop Predator
The package includes the laptop and a charger with an 180-watt power supply unit – that’s all. Some fans of the brand even suggest including a gaming mouse. By the way, store sellers often run promotions like “buy a laptop – get a mouse as a gift”.
Externally, the gaming device does not differ from older versions of the Triton series laptops. No decorations, a thin case, beveled edges on the case. Only the radiator ribs are painted blue. Also, a Predator logo has been added to the metal lid of the device, which is illuminated by blue LEDs. Overall, the laptop is compact – only 2.1 kg with a thickness of 1.8 cm. A sturdy construction and excellent hinge operation keep the display in any position.
Interfaces and Multimedia
The DVD-Rom drive along with the card reader has disappeared. For gamers, the number of interfaces for connecting multimedia devices is much more important. Gigabit network port, USB 3.1, Type-C, HDMI 2.0, and audio jacks. There is even space for LED indicators, which no longer shine in the eyes when the laptop is charging.
Bluetooth 5.0 and Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac modules add convenience to operation. An integrated webcam is available. For complete happiness, support for 4G is missing.
Input Devices
Fans of full-sized keyboards are left without a numeric keypad and additional multimedia buttons. For Action and RPG games, the keyboard will do, but fans who like to send commands via scripts will need to connect their favorite device via USB.
The keyboard itself is comfortable. Membrane technology, short but stiff key travel, rough surface, and a small indentation for the finger – quite comfortable for gaming and typing blindly. The arrow block is also full-sized. If you install the proprietary Predator Sense utility, an additional control panel is activated (the rightmost row of buttons). The manufacturer offers management of the cooling system, overclocking the graphics card, and customizing the keyboard backlight.
The touchpad is large, sensitive, and supports multitouch. There are no complaints about its operation, but the appearance is slightly disappointing. On both sides of the touchpad, there is space – they could have added some proprietary “fancy” features for controlling the laptop.
Best Laptop: Display
For the 15-inch version, the standard Full HD resolution. Matte screen, IPS display – classic for gaming laptops. But the manufacturer did not stop there and equipped the device with a 144 Hz screen. Some may see it as a luxury, but in a dynamic game with 60 frames per second, the quality will be immediately noticeable. The response time, according to developers, is 3 ms.
Technical Specifications of the Laptop
Top-tier hardware – that says it all. A 6-core Intel Core i7-8750H processor, running at 2.2 GHz and capable of overclocking up to 4.1 GHz (Turbo Boost). 32 GB of RAM (2 sticks of 16 GB). Two WD SSD drives of 512 GB each. And an NVIDIA RTX 2080 Max-Q graphics card. As of early 2019, there is no game that could “load” such a configuration.
For budget-conscious buyers, Acer released the Lite Predator laptop with an Intel Core i5-8300H. Variations of the lightweight version are available with 8 and 16 GB of RAM, 256 or 512 GB SSD, and RTX 2060 or 2080 graphics cards.
Cooling System and Battery Life
With cooling of heating components, everything is in order, but the laptop hums like an airplane during takeoff. For gaming, it’s better to use headphones, otherwise, you won’t hear the stereo sound from the speakers. It’s good that the manufacturer took care of users and provided access to the cooling system for cleaning the laptop. Removing the bottom cover of the device makes it easy to clean the best gaming laptop Predator. However, access to components is limited. To replace the drive or memory, you will need to disassemble the entire laptop.
Considering the top-tier hardware, the device is quite autonomous. At full brightness and under load, the laptop lasts up to 3 hours on battery. If you reduce the backlight to 50%, you can squeeze out another half hour. The Li-poly battery has a capacity of 5400 mAh (84 Wh) with four cells.
