Computer Act!ve - UK (2022-01-19)

23

HOWWETEST

ComputeractiveisownedbyFuturePLC,

whichemploysateamofspecialist

technicalreviewers.You’lloftenread

referencestoourbenchmarktesting,

whichisamethodofassessingproducts

usingthesamecriteria.Forexample,we

testthespeedofeveryPCandthebattery

lifeofeveryphoneandtabletinexactly

thesameway.Thismakesourreviews

authoritative,rigorousandaccurate.

FuturePLCalsoownsthemagazines

MaximumPC,PCProandT3,andthe

websitesLaptopMag(www.laptopmag.

com), TechRadar(www.techradar.com)

andWindowsCentral(www.windows

central.com). Thismeanswecantest

thousandsofproductsbeforechoosing

themostrelevantforComputeractive.

FAIRAND IMPARTIAL

Ourwritersfollowstrictguidelinesto

ensurethereviewsarefairandimpartial.

Themanufacturerhasnoinvolvementin

ourtests.

OURAWARDS

Weawardeveryproduct

thatgetsfivestarsour

BuyIt! stampofapproval.

Itmeanswewere

extremelyimpressedbytheproduct,and

wethinkyouwillbetoo.

Everyproductthatgetsa

four-starreviewisgiventhe

Recommendedaward.We

highlyrecommendthese

products,althoughtheyjustfailtomeetthe

highstandardofourBuyIt!winners.

PRICES

Ourreviewscontainalinktothebestprice

we foundonlin eatt he timeofpress.

Issue 623 •19January–1February 2022

gamesstillmeansthatthecoolingfans

willkickinandbecomefairlyloud.

Luckily,thisnoiseisoptional,because

thefanspeed(andoverclocking)canbe

controlledviaahandyTurbobutton

locatedabovethekeyboard.

Thescreenisa 1 4in1 44 HzIPSmodel

witharesolutionof1 92 0x 1080 pixels.

It’s relativelysmallbutitgoesquite

brightandthecoloursarevivid.We

noticedafewinstancesof‘ghosting’,

wherefast-movingimagesleaveatrail

intheirwakeonthescreen,whichis

disappointinginapanelwithsucha

highrefreshrate.Youwon’tnoticeit

ingeneralWindowsuse,butitmight

annoyseriousgamersiftheyaren’t

planningtoconnectthedevicetoan

externalmonitor.

Connectingseveraldevicestothelaptop

isnoproblem,withplentyofports

available.Itc omes with oneHDMI,two

USB3.0(one on either side), andaUSB-C

port (which also supportsDisplayPort

video), as well as a3.5mmheadphonejack.

Onedownsideof an otherwise

impres sive laptop is theamount of

bloa tware,includingfreetrials for

security software andaVPN.It’san

annoyance,because you’ll need to spend

quiteabitoft imeunins tallingita ll.

SPECIFICATIONS

Four-core Intel Core i7-11370Hprocessor••16GB

RAM••NVIDIA GeForceRTX 3060graphics card••

14in 144Hz IPS1920x1080-pixelscreen••1TBSSD

• •Wi-Fi6••Bluetooth 5.0••1x USB-Cport(includes
  DisplayPortvideo)••2x USB 3.0port••1x USB 2.0
  port••1x 3.5mmaudio jack••1x HDMIport••Windows
  10 Home(ready forfree upgradetoWindows 11)


• •17.9x323x228mm(HxWxD)••1.7kg••One-year
  warrantywww.snipca.com/40452

Laptopsthataredesignedto
accommodatetheneedsofgamersare
typicallybigheavyunits,buttheAcer
PredatorTriton3 00 SEbucksthis
trend.Closed,ithasastylish,
brushed-metaldesign
and,giventhepowerful
componentsinside(more
ofwhichlater),it’sfairlycompact
andlight(1.7kg).
Openitupandturniton,andyou’ll
seeasleekkeyboardthatcanbe
configuredwithawiderangeofcolours
andpatterns,usingthreebacklightzones.
It’s comfortabletotypeon,reminding
usoftheSurfaceProkeyboard. The
trackpadislargeandeasytouse,witha
fingerprintreaderandsupportfor
multitouchgestures.

Inside,it’scrammedwithperformance
power.Aswellasan 1 1th-generationIntel
Corei7-1 1370 Hprocessor,ithasanNvidia
GeForceRTX 3060 graphicscard,16GBof
RAManda1TBSSD.This combination of
components performed well in our
benchmarktest s, demonstr atingthatit’s
more than capabl eofr unning general
Windowstasks.
When we testedits gaming cred entials,
it happilyran thelatest titles at decent
fram eratesof at leas t60fpswith most
high settings switched on.Demanding

LAPTOP❘£1,399from Curryswww.snipca.com/ 40452

AcerPredatorTriton3 00 SE

Powergames

VERDICTAstylish all-round laptop

that ru ns Windows well andhandl es

gamessmoothly

★★★★★

ALTERNATIVEMSI PulseGL66

£899Thisismoreaffordable but has

alower-

specification

graphics card

–ideal if you’re

notaserious

gamer

to

fgamersare

uttheAcer

cksthis

sh,

ompact

Apowerfulmachine

withasleekdesignand

goodconnectivity

on

ar

ou

ou

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u’re

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