We get our hands on ACER’s thinnest gaming machine yet

ASUS’ monopoly on skinny, powerful gaming notebooks is over, as Taiwanese rival ACER has officially released their own Max-Q design notebook, the Triton 700, in the Philippines today. The Predator Triton 700 is equipped with the same Max-Q tech that NVIDIA uses to shrink their top-tier GTX 1080 GPU to fit thin and light notebooks, and should give the other Max-Q equipped gaming laptop present in the local market a run for its money.

ACER Predator Triton 700 specs

• Intel 7th Generation Core i7  7700HQ processor
• NVIDIA GTX 1080 GPU with Max-Q technology
• 32GB of DDR4 RAM
• 2  x 512GB of SSD 2D NVMe in Raid 0 config
• 15.6-inch full HD 120Hz IPS Display
• 4 USB ports, 1 USB Type-C port, Ethernet port, HDMI, DisplayPort
• WiFi, Bluetooth, mechanical keyboard, Gorilla Glass 5 touchpad

Initial impressions: not as elegantly designed as the competition, but it gets the job done

While their competitor went for a pretty slick-looking hinge setup with their offering, ACER is sticking to the tried and tested formula when it came to their Max-Q notebook. No expanding hinges here – just solid and elegant industrial design that gives the Triton 700 an understated gamer look, making it look like a sleeper than anything else.

The lid of the notebook holds the Predator logo and is backlit blue to differentiate the Triton 700 against other less powerful Predator products in their lineup. The notebook is made out of aluminum, giving it a more premium feel.

Despite having a GTX 1080 GPU in its chassis, the Triton 700 is only 18.9mm thick, making it no thicker than a regular ultrabook. Once you open the lid, you’ll see the 15.6-inch IPS display that runs at 120Hz for buttery-smooth gameplay.

The notebook is big enough for a full QWERTY keyboard with a numpad, and ACER has managed to stuff in low-profile mechanical keys into the chassis as well. There’s no trackpad at the bottom, instead it’s been re-located to the top.

Can’t see it in the photos? That’s because it’s been integrated into that Gorrila Glass 5 enclosure that shows off the AeroBlade fan that cools the notebook when in use.

Just like any top-tier gaming notebook, the Triton 700 has LED lights scattered across the body that you can customize to whatever color you want. 

Because of the Triton 700’s size, there’s plenty of plugs and ports available: there’s four regular USB ports available on the notebook (one on the right, three on the left), one USB Type-C port, Ethernet port, as well as a full size DisplayPort and HDMI port on the rear.

Inside the Triton 700 beats Intel’s 7th Gen Core i7 7700HQ processor, along with NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX 1080 that uses the Max-Q tech, 32GB of DDR4 RAM, two 512GB SSD 2D NVMe in a RAID 0 configuration and Windows 10 Home.

We’ve seen the performance of NVIDIA’s Max-Q tech on another gaming notebook before, and while the performance is a little bit throttled compared to a desktop GTX 1080, it’s good enough to power most of the games that’s coming out in the next few months in ultra without too much trouble. It’s safe to say that the Triton 700 will be able to take on most games that’ll be coming out during the holidays without any problems.

Here’s the bad news: ACER is pricing the Predator Triton 700 at Php 229,999, which is considerably more than the offering of their rival. Then again, you’re getting a lot more PC for the price, along with several freebies, namely a Predator Cestus Gaming Mouse 500, a Predator Galea 500 gaming headset along with 5K worth of Steam credits. If that price is a little steep for you, ACER will also be selling a version of the Triton 700 with a regular NVIDIA GTX 1060 inside paired with a 15.6-inch full HD 60Hz panel with 16GB of RAM, 512GB SSD storage and the same Intel Core i7 processor for more than half the price of the full-fledged version, at Php 134,999.