Deals for HP Specter x360 (3) Rare notebooks are going mainstream, or that's the thinking behind Acer's new ENDURO N3 models. These are very rugged laptops designed for those who are not in an air-conditioned office and who may encounter inclement weather while working. The amount companies spend on computers only to have them damaged beyond repair as a result of accidents or negligence is enormous, so asking a little more for a solution with a longer life expectancy makes economic sense. But with most system manufacturers embracing the take-anywhere laptop, what makes the Acer ENDURO NXNUMX different and worth considering?
Prices and availability
Acer offers a limited range of N3 hardware, and our review model is one of 2 new SKUs they added lately. The starting point for these machines is €1,099,99 in the UK and €3 in the US (excluding local taxes). But the European machine only has a Core i5-class processor, where the US version offers a Core i3 for this price. The ENDURO NXNUMX can be found direct from Acer or from local dealers, who may offer lower costs or higher specs exclusively for them.
Acer Enduro range
Before looking at this design, it's helpful to understand where the N3 fits into the overall Enduro picture. The bottom rung is an eight-inch semi-rugged tablet, the T1, and then on top are the ten-inch T1 and T5 models. The T5 is the first full-tough Enduro design and introduces the preceding fourteen- and fifteen-inch T7 options. The Semi-Russian Torch is delivered to the fourteen-inch N3 and is the largest armored Semi-Russian design. Acer's definition of semi-rugged is that the hardware has passed certain MIL-STD-810G tests, which typically involve a drop. And it's also IP53 certified, defined as protected against limited dust ingress and protected against splashing water to sixty degrees from vertical. This doesn't make the N3 waterproof or submersible, but it should be fine if you get caught in a light rain while using the machine outdoors.Integrated
When it comes to rugged designs, the first thing that stands out about the N3 is that it's not too heavy. It's got all the traditional rugged PC designs, like rubberized corners and water-resistant port covers, but at just 3kg it's one of the lightest we've ever tested. The 5-inch IPS panel is bright and colourful, and a very sturdy hinge lets you completely hunker down with the chassis. Due to this range of screen movement, the rear edge of the N3 is portless and any and all connections are only on the sides. There are no less than 2 rubberized port covers that can be easily moved to reveal a total of eleven ports below them, 3 on the left and 3 on the right. In certain cases, like the smart card reader slot, the cover only reveals one factor and in others there are up to 3 ports underneath. We've used other machines with port covers where it was easy to crack a nail to open them, but the ones Acer used here are exceedingly easy to open. Our only caveat about them is that if they're not absolutely seated when closed, they're not going to offer the protection from moisture and dust that they can. Another place you could get into is a huge heat exhaust that sits at the bottom and runs all the way to the rear edge. A 2mm fan draws air under the NXNUMX and then, when it gets hot, blows it out through the slots on the rear. This prevents the overheating we saw with the lower exhaust ports, but to give enough room for air to flow through the NXNUMX's rear legs, they're elongated. When we first explored, we only saw XNUMX things that weren't too interesting to us.
Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 620
RAM: eight GB of DDR4 RAM, expandable to thirty-two GB
Screen: fourteen.0'' IPS screen
Storage: 2GB M.XNUMX PCIe NVMe SSD
Ports: two x USB three. 2 Type-A Gen 1, 1 x USB three. 1 Type-C, 1 x HDMI, 1x VGA, 1 x universal audio jack, 1 x SD card slot, 1 x card reader smart devices, 1 x RS232 port, 1 x Ethernet RJ45
Connectivity: Intel Wireless Wi-Fi six AX201, 802.11ax Wi-Fi, Bluetooth fifty-one, Intel XMM seven thousand three hundred sixty Global LTE-Advanced
Camera: 1x RGB camera and microphone
Security: Acer Bio-Protection fingerprint solution, with Windows Hello certification authentication
Weight: one nine hundred eighty-five kg (four thirty-eight lb) with three-cell battery, one SSD
Size: three hundred six five mm x depth: two hundred seven five mm x seventeen seven mm (length x width x height)
Battery: Three-cell, forty-eight Wh Li-ion battery
Team
How this specification looks to the user is going to depend entirely on the type of work they are doing and the performance they require to meet their workload. For general office use, this 4-core, 8-thread processor is probably overkill. But anyone who needs video acceleration will find the GPU seriously lacking, as Intel doesn't think video performance is worth their consideration. Acer offers this design with an Nvidia GPU, but it's a low-power variety that's not worth the extra cost of this option. The best technology of the N3 is the great display and the latest Intel Wireless Wi-Fi 201 AX2 chipset which allows for good wireless network performance when connected to a properly detailed router. What's disappointing is the selection of USB ports that don't even include a single XNUMX Gen XNUMX port. Having a USB-C port is nice, but it should be a XNUMXGbit type or, ideally, Thunderbolt XNUMX.