A while back during CES, we talked briefly about the Acer Aspire VX 15 gaming laptops. They've now arrived, and we have the skinny on them. Acer says the machines belong in the "budget gaming" laptop category. After taking a gander at their Pascal graphics cards, Kaby Lake CPUs, and price tags, we're inclined to think they should offer good value indeed.
The VX 15 comes in two versions, easy to tell apart: one with a Core i5-7300HQ CPU with four cores and a 3.5 GHz turbo clock, and another with a Core i7-7700HQ and its four cores, eight threads, and clocks up to 3.8 GHz.
The remaining specs are exactly identical for both machines. The CPUs are accompanied by 16GB of DDR4, and graphics horsepower comes by way of a GeForce GTX 1050 Ti card that slaps pixels at speed on a 1920×1080 screen. Acer doesn't say what's the panel type, so we're guessing they're TN displays with a 60Hz refresh rate.
Battery capacity is listed as 4605 mAh, and Acer says it should be good for six hours without a trip to a power outlet. For peripheral connectivity, the VX 15s come with a USB 2.0 port, two USB 3.0 connectors, and a USB Type-C port. Since these are gaming laptops, they pack red-backlit keyboards with highlights on the WASD block. The rest of the common laptop trappings apply: 802.11ac Wi-Fi, a Gigabit Ethernet port, Bluetooth 4.0, and a webcam. The machines themselves measure 15.3" x 10.5" x 1.1" and weight in at 5.5 lbs (or 2.5 kg). Certainly not the weight of a feather, but they pack the hardware to show for it.
The VX 15s are pretty well-balanced, if a little bulky. Their best characteristic is their price, though. You can get the model with the Core i5-7300HQ for only $900, or the higher-end version with a Core i7-7700HQ for not much more at $1050. Acer offers one-year warranty coverage on the VX 15s.