Acer Predator Triton 900 defies gaming convention

While there's no mistaking it for a gaming system, the Triton 900's cantilevered display gives it a touch of class lacking in many hulking 17-inch gaming notebooks.

One of the sacrifices you make for the screen's angle flexibility are the big bezels.

Touchscreens are rare in gaming laptops, and it's a nice perk. Because you can position the screen almost over the keyboard, the touchscreen can actually be positioned for maximum comfort.

The arms holding up the screen feel pretty well made.

You can also position the display to look and feel like a typical gaming laptop.

Because the keyboard is squashed into a smaller space to make room for the touchpad/numeric keypad, some of the keys are in awkward positions and too small. The mechanical switches do have a nice feel, though.

On the left side there's a USB-A, separate mic and headphone jacks and a covered Xbox controller port.

Unlike a typical convertible, in kiosk mode the system's not lying on the keyboard. So if you connect to an external monitor, you can comfortably mirror your display for presentations or sharing.

You can also use it in tablet mode, though at over 9 pounds it's not very portable.

Two USB-C ports (one supporting an external monitor connection), another USB-A and an Ethernet jack are on the right side.

On the back are a full-size DisplayPort connection -- you can hook that up to a G-Sync monitor -- and an HDMI port.

A sticker on the display cautions you to always rotate the display with two hands from the sides rather than a single hand on the top or bottom.

The laptop itself weighs over 9 lbs./4.1kg, and the brick adds another 2.8 lbs./1.3kg.