Acer antimicrobial product line expands: Laptops, tablet, accessories, jacket

Acer has announced an expansion of its antimicrobial product lineup, unveiling new laptops, a tablet, a monitor, various accessories, and even an antimicrobial jacket. The expansion adds multiple product lines targeted at both commercial and consumer customers, Acer explains, adding these alongside the new Chromebooks and other products the company has unveiled.

Acer's new antimicrobial product line features the TravelMate Spin P4 laptop, Enduro Urban N3 laptop, Enduro Urban T3 tablet, and the VE246Q monitor. As well, the company now offers new antimicrobial accessories, including the KM501 Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, B501 Bluetooth mouse, and the Acer Eco-Shell Protective Jacket.

At the top of the list is Acer's TravelMate Spin P4, a business laptop with a convertible 360-degree hinge, up to the 11th-generation Intel Core i7 vPro processor, up to 1TB M.2 SSD storage, a 14-inch Full HD display with Gorilla Glass, 13.5 hours battery life, optional eSIM and DSSA LTE support, Thunderbolt 4, Ethernet, TPM 2.0, a smart card reader, fingerprint sensor, and Windows Hello.

Joining the new TravelMate model is the Enduro Urban N3, a 14-inch laptop that combines an antimicrobial surface with high durability for use in hazardous environments. Features include waterproof ports and buttons, the waterproof Aquafan and drainage system, MIL-STD 810H durability, an IP53 resistance rating, Corning Gorilla Glass, and reinforced corners to withstand drops.

Durability aside, the Urban N3 laptop has a 14-inch Full HD display with 450 nits brightness, 13 hours of battery life, Corning Gorilla Glass, up to the 11th-generation Intel Core i7 processors, the NVIDIA GeForce MX330 GPU, and 32GB of DDR4 memory.

Similarly named is the new Enduro Urban T3 tablet, a 10-inch model with similar durability, including waterproof ports, buttons, and speakers, reinforced corners, an IP53 rating, and, of course, an antimicrobial surface. The model sports a Full HD display with 600 nits brightness, 10-point touch support, a 5-megapixel front-facing wide-angle camera, AI noise reduction, dual-band WiFi, a MediaTek Octa-Core processor, and 4GB of RAM.

The Acer VE246Q monitor, meanwhile, has a 23.6-inch Full HD VA panel with 178-degree viewing angles and a 100,000,000:1 contrast ratio. The model packs Acer's Comfy View tech for cutting down on ambient lighting and glares, as well as BlueLightShield to minimize blue light to prevent eye strain.

Acer made these products antimicrobial by applying a silver ion agent to the surfaces, particularly the areas people touch most often. This may be particularly useful for people who have young kids, as well as high-traffic business settings and healthcare environments.

The new accessories, meanwhile, sport the same antimicrobial surfaces and they're certified to work with Chromebooks. Perhaps most interesting is the Eco-Shell Protective Jacket; it is described as a product for travelers, offering health-conscious features like a transparent PET hoodie cover to help block aerosol droplets from hitting the wearer's face.

Availability and pricing will vary based on the market. The full details for the North American market aren't available yet, but this is what we do know:

- Acer TravelMate Spin P4: January 2022 starting at $1,099.99 USD

- Acer Enduro Urban N3: Q4 2021 starting at $849.99 USD

- Acer Enduro Urban T3: Q1 2022 starting at $299.99 USD

- Acer Eco-Shell Protective Jacket: Starting at $169.99 USD.