Acer shows off £899 Aspire R7 Windows 8 convertible

Display can be rotated into different positions as it floats over the keyboard

NEW YORK: Acer has unveiled a new Windows 8 convertible notebook device, the Aspire R7, which will go on sale in the UK in June, at £899.

The device offers a full HD touchscreen display with 1920x1080 resolution that can be altered into numerous different positions to offer four modes of use.

Rotating over a so-called Ezel Hinge, it supports a notebook mode, a table-top mode, a display mode and a pad mode. The Ezel Hinge uses the R7's dual-hinge technology so the display can be moved into any position as it floats over the keyboard. Acer said it introduced this design because customers were experiencing difficulty using touchscreen laptops with fixed angles.

Jim Wong, Acer's president, said at the launch: "Its flexibility viewing varies people to people so the Ezel hinge means you can decide where the most comfortable angle is for touch and type."

The display can be slid back behind the full-sized backlit keyboard, offering a traditional notebook mode, or it can be flipped to a standing position called display mode, which Acer said is optimal for video playback. The display can also be pulled down for pad mode, where the touchscreen is laid on top of the keyboard with the face up, like a tablet.

"With a proven dual-torque design, the screen flips easily yet remains rigid when touched and means it will stay put no matter how you position it," Wong added.

On the inside, the Aspire R7 has an Intel Core i5 processor with up to a rather sizable 12GB of memory and a 1TB hard drive, although Acer said this can be upgraded to a 256GB SSD. The Aspire R7 offers a range of connectivity options including an HDMI-out port, an SD card reader and three USB 3.0 ports, as well as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and a converter port supporting VGA, RJ45 and USB.

Acer continued to promote its 'duality' tagline as part of the announcement, saying that users are looking to use both touch and type with hardware to optimise the computing experience.