The ultrathin Predator Triton 700 gaming laptop is Acer’s answer to the Razer Blade

Acer announced the Predator Triton 700, the first laptop in the company’s new line of Predator Triton ultrathin gaming laptops.

The Triton 700 appears to be Acer’s response to laptops like the Razer Blade, a similarly slim, aluminum-cased gaming laptop that still packs some serious power. At 18 mm (0.74 inches) thick, it’s not the thinnest gaming laptop out there, although it’s still dramatically thinner than most traditional gaming computers. (For reference, Apple’s nongaming-focused MacBook Pro is 0.61 inches thick, while the more comparable Razer Blade is 0.7 inches.)

Acer isn’t skimping out on hardware, either: the Triton 700 offers a seventh-generation Intel Kaby Lake processor, NVIDIA GTX 10-series graphics cards (the company has yet to specify exact configurations for either), two PCIe SSDs, and up to 32GB of DDR4 RAM. The only real disappointment is the 15.6-inch 1080p display, which should be fine for maximizing performance while gaming, but still pales in comparison to some of the more pixel-dense laptops on the market. And, of course, it’s still a gaming laptop, so there’s a mechanical keyboard with LED-illuminated keys.

Curiously, Acer has taken the interesting approach of moving the keyboard to the very front of the laptop, moving the trackpad toward the top of the laptop where it’s hidden under a Gorilla Glass panel. This should make it easier to reach the keys, and realistically, you probably shouldn’t be using the trackpad for games anyway.

The Predator Triton 700 is expected to go on sale in August starting at $2,999.

Update April 28th, 9:15PM: Added screen size and base US price.