The keyboard features Acer’s classic deep key travel, with quiet keystrokes, but shows off some gaming enhancements. From a normal viewing angle, the WASD and arrow keys are slightly brighter than the rest of the keys, making it easier for gamers to spot movement keys after using other keys.
A dedicated “Predator” button on the keyboard brings up stats about the computer, such as the temperatures of the processors and overclocking status. Tabs in the program allow for the keyboard’s backlight colour to be changed, setting of the fan speed, overclocking of the graphics processor, and custom game profiles to configure games that need specific hardware settings.
The trackpad is fairly standard, and won’t be used for gaming. That said, it has a smooth scroll on documents and multi-touch capabilities. Gamers will likely use a third party mouse and disable the built-in trackpad.
The gaming laptop’s battery is 82 Wh, fairly standard for laptop’s in this range. Switching to the power-efficient Intel HD graphics is recommended to maximise the laptop’s battery when on-the-go. We used the computer for three tasks on battery: word processing in Google Docs, watching Netflix, and running less-graphically intensive games. The computer allows for just over three hours of typing in Google Docs in Google Chrome, or just under three hours of watching Netflix in the Windows app, or under two hours playing Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War 2 (2009).
The computer’s sound was disappointing, as Acer doesn’t allow its TrueHarmony enhancements to be disabled. These enhancements work well with games, but make intense echo and reverb on other types of audio, such as streaming video and music playback.
Overall, this laptop proved to be a gamer’s dream as almost every point of its configuration ticked the box of a perfect gaming laptop.
* The Predator Triton 500 will be available in South Africa from April 2019.
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