Acer’s “antimicrobial” laptops have been round for a number of years, however they grew to become significantly notable in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic as curiosity in being additional cleanly was significantly robust. Throughout its [email protected] occasion right this moment, the corporate introduced three new PCs—a laptop computer, a two-in-one, and a pill—that will likely be becoming a member of its antimicrobial lineup.
What does “antimicrobial” imply, anyway?
One thing is taken into account antimicrobial if it is able to “destroying or inhibiting the expansion of microorganisms, and particularly pathogenic microorganisms.” Which means it fights disease-causing issues you’ll be able to’t see.
Acer claims its Antimicrobial 360 Design, because it manufacturers the characteristic, fights germs in two methods.
First, high-touch surfaces—such because the chassis’s exterior and hinge, the keyboard, the touchpad, and the fingerprint reader—are coated with a silver-ion agent. For years, research has pointed to silver ions’ potential to combat micro organism. As a more moderen report printed in ACS Applied Bio Materials explains, “They’ll readily adsorb to most biomolecules (DNA, membrane protein, enzymes, or intracellular cofactors) in micro organism to inactivate their capabilities.”
Acer’s silver-ion agent is compliant with laws from the Environmental Safety Company and the Biocidal Products Regulation; it could actually reduce the micro organism depend to 1,000 after a 99.9 % discount, primarily based on the Worldwide Group for Standardization 22196 take a look at protocol. The 22196 commonplace specifies strategies for testing the “antibacterial exercise of antibacterial-treated plastics and different non-porous surfaces of merchandise.”
The merchandise additionally use Corning Gorilla Glass coated with the silver-ion product. “That is accomplished through hint quantities of silver ions leaching to the glass floor to remove the floor micro organism, whereas nonetheless providing different advantages equivalent to improved sturdiness and improved scratch resistance,” Acer said.
Germ-resistant PCs
Acer launched new antimicrobial PCs to its lineup in 2020 however continues to be including to the roster. The corporate sees its antimicrobial coating increasing even additional “throughout a number of product strains,” an Acer spokesperson advised Ars.
Acer
The most recent additions to Acer’s cootie-fighting assortment embrace the TravelMate Spin P4 (out there in January and beginning at $1,100), a business-focused two-in-one with as much as an Eleventh-Gen Intel Core i7 vPro CPU and 1TB SSD.
Acer can be releasing two waterproof, rugged methods. The Enduro Urban N3 14-inch laptop computer (launching in This autumn, beginning at $850) carries as much as an Eleventh-Gen Intel Core i7 and has an Nvidia GeForce MX330 GPU. The Enduro Urban T3 (releasing early subsequent 12 months, beginning at $300) is a 10-inch Android 11 pill with an octa-core MediaTek MT8385, 65GB of ROM for storage, and 4GB of RAM.
Acer
The Acer VE246Q stands out as the one PC monitor introduced with the antimicrobial stamp. Its housing and canopy glass use recycled plastic coated with silver ions. Nevertheless, the 23.6-inch VA display screen will solely be bought in Taiwan.
Editor’s observe: This text was up to date on October 14 for readability on the connection between anti-bacterial merchandise and the COVID-19 pandemic.
