Acer Aspire R7-571-6858 Pro Reviews

A stunning and flexible touchscreen makes this one of the most innovative laptops we've seen

If the R7 weren't well-built, it would appear to have a major identity crisis. But, happily, this machine is a success. Offering an innovative transforming design, a nice 1080p touchscreen and solid performance for $1,000 is no small feat. The device is hardly perfect, but for a gadget that spans the notebook, tablet and all-in-one categories, it's still fairly impressive. So should you snatch this guy up? A few things give us pause: the imminent arrival of Intel's Haswell processors, for one, and the fact that this relatively heavy machine is unlikely to replace your slate or your desktop. And call us old-fashioned, but we still can't quite get over the oddly placed touchpad. Finally, the cramped keyboard could be a dealbreaker for some. If those caveats don't deter you, though, this machine offers solid specs and build quality for the money.

In a fit of late-night frustration, I picked the R7 up, held it aloft, and shouted at it: "WHAT ARE YOU?!" I still don't know. It's too big and cumbersome to be a really useful laptop — even for a 15-inch device it's pretty enormous. But it's too small to be an all-in-one, and not powerful enough to really qualify as a desktop or desktop replacement. And let's not mince words: any appeal it did have died for me the first time I typed "kliojnm" while trying to move the mouse around the screen. The Ezel hinge is cool, there's no question, and I could see myself using a laptop in some of the ways it allows. I'd also love an all-in-one that was this flexible. But I'm not ready to give up the trackpad, and neither is Windows. Until Acer figures out how to make a crazy laptop that's also a normal laptop, I'm not interested.

The Acer Aspire R7-571-6858 has an innovative hinge mechanism, but the overall design is dragged down by the decision to swap the touchpad and keyboard, resulting in a design that is awkward at best.

The Acer Aspire R7 is an unusual laptop/tablet hybrid, and we definitely need companies such as Acer continuing to experiment with different designs and features in an ongoing effort to make computers easier to use and better integrated with our on-the-go lives. With that in mind, we also have to be honest when these experiments don't completely work out, and I think it's safe to say that both the touch pad above the keyboard and the tablet screen that doesn't quite fold all the way down are design features that won't make it into many future laptops. But, as a mainstream 15-inch touch-screen laptop with a screen that offers great flexibility for displaying content forward, backward, and nearly any angle in between, the $999 price of the R7 seems spot on, and Acer deserves credit for making out-there designs that are also affordable.

In December 2011, Acer’s CEO, J.T. Wang had an epiphany. He told Dow Jones that his company would switch its strategy to improving profitability and stop “pursuing market share blindly.” The results of this decision became apparent within months, and now, a year and a half later, Acer has matured. Once known as a company that builds bland, boring boxes, Acer has become a serious competitor in the hybrid and Ultrabook segments. Acer’s Aspire R7 is perhaps the company’s boldest move to date – and among the most successful. The double-jointed hinge and unusual touchpad position take some getting used to, yet also make this a true hybrid device. It’s a laptop, all-in-one PC, and tablet all wrapped into one. But this hybrid’s true strength lies in execution rather than theory. The R7 is competitive with similar devices in every area – from performance to build quality – and some features (like the display) are among the best available. Even the system’s weakest point, portability, is competitive with other 15.6-inch computers. And then there’s the price. Acer will be selling the exact model we reviewed at retail for $999, which seems almost too good to be true. Most hybrids and Ultrabooks with similar hardware sell for much, much more. Overall, the Acer Aspire R7 is a powerful, versatile hybrid with a beautiful display and a low price. There’s no competitor today that offers more for less.