At an intimate gathering hosted by Acer at The Private Kitchen in central Sydney, the design-focused ConceptD brand was unveiled. A brand-new range of PCs built for designers and artists of all types, ConceptD is an extension of Acer’s expertise and proven tech of the Predator gaming range. Being a new range designed to provide artists with the power, reliability and even portability they need, ConceptD products are incredibly powerful, yet compact.
Acer attributes the creation of ConceptD, in part, to the “global concept of gamification.” Acer’s Predator brand has grown year-on-year and the impressive growth caused Acer to wonder why and dig deeper.
As a company, it knew that gamers were certainly going to be a large percentage of users, but the success of Predator suggested something else. Intel and Acer together commissioned a study into the users of Predator hardware and discovered that a huge number of people purchasing Predator hardware were doing so out of necessity.
That necessity being the raw power these gaming machines put out which is required for many functions involved with design work. And while Acer stands firmly by the Predator range for gaming, it commissioned ConceptD as a range dedicated to providing solutions for designers and artists.
Predator, being a gaming-focused brand, is designed to be aggressive, with sharp, angular tech, RBG lighting and garish cases. Predator is a brand designed for gamers and it’s a market that’s come to expect the over-the-top style seen across the board. Something else Acer notes about the Predator products is that a group of them together can make quite a lot of noise.
As the fans on those machines kick in, several of them together definitely crank up the volume.
To make ConceptD more appealing in this regard, Acer has built the machines to output less than 40dB of noise. Essentially, Acer wanted to make ConceptD aesthetically appealing, cutting-edge and whisper quiet.
Darren Simmons, Managing Director, Oceania, Acer said of ConceptD;
Bringing ConceptD to Australia is an exciting milestone for Acer as it marks a new chapter in the solutions we deliver to the local market.
While Acer continues to innovate and have a strong presence across gaming, education, commercial and thin-and-light categories, we saw a clear opportunity to expand our offering with a range tailor-made for creators and their unique needs.
Acer’s target market for ConceptD is right there in the name. Designers, Developers, Concept Artists, those working in 2D and 3D and anybody who might need a PC to create.
Available online from Acer now and coming to retail in 2020, ConceptD includes a range of products for any and all designers. With nine models in the initial ConceptD offering, each has been designed for a different user in mind; 2D artists, 3D artists, concept work and development.
Acer points to the rise of the digital nomad as a driver and target market for ConceptD. As more and more people move their careers in a more creative, design-focused direction, Acer wants to be able to provide professional tools that can be used anywhere.
Each of the ConceptD laptops and monitors come with a 4K UHD display, colour correction technology and a “superior fidelity in reproducing the PANTONE Matching System (PMS) Colours.”
With a 100% Adobe® RGB colour gamut, colours will be brighter and more accurate due to extending the colour range of cyan-green hues. The Adobe® RGB gamut covers a wider range of colours than an sRGB gamut. The ConceptD range of products has been tested and calibrated to achieve a low Delta E average of <1 to <2 to reproduce true-to-life colour accuracy
Acer has fitted every ConceptD device with NVIDIA GeForce RTX graphics cards meaning real-time ray tracing and AI will be available for creators to use with their digital designs. How and where users will do their designing can be accommodated by Acer’s ConceptD range, with five products and nine variations available in Australia.
Two laptops, ConceptD 7 and 9 are have been built to provide solutions for artists working in 2D and 3D respectively. Functioning like a traditional laptop, the ConceptD 7 works best with 2D while the ConceptD 9 includes some incredible features that put it a step above.
The groundbreaking Eze™ Hinge gives this device unique flexibility to create and collaborate. Adjustable screen to fit creator sketch or production requirement and coupled with Wacom® EMR pen with unsurpassed usability and fast, accurate control with 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity. It allows creators to conceptualise, produce artwork and sketch on the go.
There are two monitors in the ConceptD range, both featuring 4K UHD and the same colour tech as the laptops. However, the difference is that these monitors are HDR compatible — HDR 400 for the CP3 and HDR1000 for the CP7 — both feature G-Sync and the CP7 has a 144Hz refresh rate.
These monitors are 27 inches and feature true-to-life colour.
Finally, ConceptD 500 is THE desktop for designers.
Designed to fit into any modern studio, the attractive and stylish ConceptD 500 gives users the choice of an 9th Gen Intel Core i7 processor, or 9TH Gen Intel Core i9-9900K processor.
The ConceptD 500 i7 has a NVIDIA Quadro P4000 with 8GB and the ConceptD 500 i9 has a NVIDIA Quadro RTX 4000 with 8GB, which delivers reliable computing performance for complex creative projects and helps users across all industries work smoother and faster.
Both models have a round cornered white minimalist design with a wood effect top and triangular front panel, as well as an impressive expandable workstation that is designed to grow with ever-changing workload requirements.
At the unveiling event, those in attendance were given a first-hand look at these new machines and their power. While I’m not a designer myself, the performance of the ConceptD range is incredibly impressive. The speed at which images can be rendered and designs can be realised is something that digital creators are going to simply adore.
The sleek lines and subdued designs of these products also separate them from many contemporaries as they move away from aggressive, angular designs and the plain old boxes of the past.
The ConceptD range available online is as follows;
- ConceptD 7 with 9TH Gen Intel Core i7 Processor, 32GB RAM and NVIDIA GeForce Quadro RTX 5000 with 4GB – RRP: $6,999 AUD
- ConceptD 7 with 9TH Gen Intel Core i7 Processor, 32GB RAM and NVIDIA GeForce Quadro RTX 3000 with 6GB – RRP: $4,999 AUD
- ConceptD 7 with 9TH Gen Intel Core i7Processor, 16GB RAM and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 with 6GB – RRP: $3,999 AUD
- ConceptD 9 with 9TH Gen Intel Core i9- Processor, 32GB RAM and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 with 8GB – RRP: $8,999 AUD
- ConceptD CP3 series monitor with 27” UHD G-Sync HDR400 – $RRP: $1,899 AUD
- ConceptD CP7 series monitor with 27” UHD G-Sync HDR1000 – $RRP: $2,999 AUD
- ConceptD 500 with 9TH Gen Intel Core i7, NVIDIA Quadro P4000 with 8GB – $RRP: $5,499 AUD
- ConceptD 500 with9TH Gen Intel Core i9, NVIDIA Quadro RTX 4000 with 8GB – $RRP: $7,049 AUD
For more information on Acer’s ConceptD range, head to the official site.
Leo Stevenson travelled to Sydney as a guest of Acer.
