My laptop is my gaming console

I used to be a huge gamer. Ok I am still a huge fan of gaming, I just don’t have the time I used to have. There was one point semi-recently where I was ranked top 10 in the nation for a certain FPP/TPP Shooter Game. There was another time that I was ranked similarly in an older console-based RPG/ Shooter back in the Xbox 360 days.

I love to game, when I have the time, and the gear to do it properly. For the last few years, ever since having kids and selling my Xbox One, the closest thing to a game console I have had is my iPad Pro. Sure, there are some games I can play on there, but it is nothing compared to the console.

Perhaps it is because of my experience with gaming on my iPad Pro and knowing a true console is better. Perhaps it is because I am simply nostalgic for the days of hitting a cartridge and blowing on the connectors to make my Sonic, or Mario Kart work on my classic Nintendo. Regardless of the reason, I was under the impression that the only way to get a true gaming experience was with either a console or a custom built gaming desktop that costs tens of thousands of dollars.

I don’t usually enjoy being wrong. But I was downright giddy to be wrong about this.

I’ve been using the Acer Predator Triton 300 SE for a few weeks now as my daily driver and the only word I can muster up to describe it is: Whoa.

First of all, this laptop can of course carry out work tasks. I utilized it for a plethora of virtual meetings, screen shares, and presentations. No problems. I also used it for writing countless articles, hours of research and other classic workday or school day tasks. That’s all great, but a Chromebook can do that too. Where this laptop shines is in the high performance applications.

Control Center

When I first booted this laptop, I noticed a command center of sorts that came up right away. I was able to choose from a handful of modes allowing me to preemptively let my laptop know what to prepare for. For daily use, I kept it in default mode. When working on several things, I would occasionally kick it up to extreme just to try it out. When typing articles late at night while holding my newborn child, I dropped it to quiet mode. All of these worked great, and were shockingly different from one another. They all very clearly make changes to how the computer operates at its core.

There is one other mode that I was excited to try out. The last mode is turbo. The second I clicked this mode, the laptop whirred to life in a way I didn’t expect in the slightest. The fan kicked into high gear, everything tensed and I felt it ready to pounce. It’s the same feeling I got when I was in a friend’s TrackHawk Grand Cherokee and we were in launch mode, ready to explode in a breakneck 0-60. But that’s not all. There is an overclocking mode called extreme that felt like a jet taking off. Plain and simple. I was floored at the capabilities.

Gaming

With a laptop like this, spreadsheets are wasted. To truly give a fair test, I had to game. I had to try out something I thought to be impossible. I tried a handful of games, ranging from racing, to shooters, RPG and more. What I came to find out was that after I began any game, I completely forgot I was on a laptop. I was so focused on the insanely smooth graphics. At no point did I feel like the Predator 500 SE was stumbling, stuttering, or struggling to perform. It just simply worked, and worked very well. My graphics were clean, frame rate smooth and no lag. I even pushed my Predator and put the games on the highest graphics settings possible and I still had no issues. This is truly amazing and shocked me every step of the way.

One of the best parts about this laptop is that it is a true gaming laptop, yet is discreet enough to bring to a coffee shop and not have it look like anything fancy. Just to make this laptop that much cooler and intriguing. Acer has set this keyboard to be fully color changing, with a PredetorSense hotkey to allow for quick enabling.

Ports

Regarding IO, this laptop has an SD Card in, two USB-A 3.2 ports, two Thunderbolt 4 ports, one HDMI 2.1 out, ethernet in, headphone out and power. What this means in reality is that this is a fully set laptop not just able to game at an incredible level, but it can also be your work computer, or school computer. There is no need to compromise anymore in having either a device for play or a device for work.