Acer Liveblog Challenge 2015

This weekend we’re taking part in the Acer Liveblog Challenge in Dublin. Armed with an Aspire Switch 10 E, an Iconia One 8 tablet and a Liquid Jade Z smartphone, we’ll be taking to the streets of Ireland to complete a series of challenges throughout the day, all of which will be detailed here. We’ll be updating this article regularly as the weekend progresses, so make sure to keep checking back to see what we’ve been getting up to. 

FRIDAY 5PM: UNBOXING THE ACER ASPIRE SWITCH 10 E

The Aspire Switch 10 E is Acer’s latest two-in-one convertible. Available in a range of colours (including our very fetching shade of Peri Purple), it has a 10.1in 1,280×800 resolution display, an Intel Atom Z3735F processer, 2GB of RAM and 32GB of onboard storage. Acer also told us you can expect around 12 hours of battery life, so it should be the perfect companion for working on the go.

Of course, the Switch 10 E only runs Windows 8.1 at the moment, but as with all Windows 7 and 8 PCs and laptops, you’ll be getting a free upgrade to Windows 10 when it launches on 29th July. The Switch 10 E also comes with a year’s free subscription to Office 365. To read more about the device, click here for our full hands on review. In the mean time, watch the video below to see what’s in the box:

SATURDAY 1PM: SPELL OUT THE WORD ‘ACER’ IN TRINITY COLLEGE

SATURDAY 3PM: SKETCHING THE RIVER LIFFY WITH THE ICONIA ONE 8

Acer’s Iconia One 7 tablet may not have left much of an impression, but its new Iconia One 8 has more than a few party tricks to help it stand out against its budget brethren. Chief among them is Acer’s new Precision Plus technology. This uses smaller touch sensors than normal so you can draw on it simply by using a standard pencil, negating the need to fork out for expensive digital styli. 

To test it out, we were tasked with drawing a quick sketch of Dublin’s river Liffy, and we have to say it worked extremely well. It’s a shame the screen doesn’t have any built-in palm rejection, as not being able to rest your hand on the screen can make sketching feel a little uncomfortable if you want to get into the nitty-gritty details. It’s pretty sensitive, too, as even catching the odd pixel on the corner of the tablet will disrupt the lines you’re trying to draw. 

Still, having tried our fair share of digital styli in the past, there’s nothing quite like the weight, shape and texture of a standard pencil. Our sketch below is pretty rough, but using a pencil felt surprisingly natural and accurate – probably more so than any other styli we’ve used – and Acer’s sketching app had a decent selection of brushes to choose from to help make your drawings more varied.