Tech Blog

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Today Acer is announcing that their V5 Series notebooks are going to be available in Canada in time for your back to school PC shopping. These machines run on the latest Intel Ivy Bridge CPUs that I introduced you to in an previous post, making them small and power efficient machines.

The V5 Series notebooks are touted as being thirty percent slimmer than previous value notebooks which is ideal for students. The last thing any student want is to be burdened by a brick of a machine that's cumbersome to take on the go. With notebooks like this, the noticeable size difference makes a dramatic difference. These will be available in four colour options too because of course students like customizability and to stand out from the crowd.

“As we enter the back-to-school buying season, Acer’s new Aspire V5 notebook series has the right combination of style, mobility and performance that students and consumers need,” said Max Hu, senior product marketing manager for Acer Canada. “This series is yet another example of Acer’s commitment to delivering high-quality PCs with the latest mobile technology and enhanced industrial design at an excellent value.”

These machines pack 19:9 aspect ratio screens powered by integrated Intel HD Graphics 4000. The audio is Dolby Advanced Audio v2, and a 1.3 megapixel HD webcam for very clear video calls back home to mom and dad.

Another feature that looks pretty good is called Instant Connect. This technology automatically scans for your most-visited Wi-Fi hotspots so you’ll be connected to the internet in only 2.5 seconds. According to Acer that means you’re online four times faster than with conventional methods. While I haven’t tried this feature out myself, it sounds like a welcome addition.

You can expect these notebooks to start hitting shelves around late June. Prices start at around $650 too so you won’t have to break the bank.