Acer TravelMate P4 and P2 with Core Ultra 300

Acer is giving its TravelMate P4 and TravelMate P2 series business notebooks a fresh interior: Soon, the devices will be available with Intel processors from the 2026 family, the Core Ultra 300, also known as Panther Lake. Until now, they used Core Ultra 200H, also known as Arrow Lake, but these lacked a powerful AI unit (Neural Processing Unit, NPU) to run AI applications locally.

The TravelMate is available as a standard 14-inch model and in a variant with a pen-operable touchscreen and 360-degree hinges; the latter carries the Spin designation. The TravelMate P2 is always a conventional notebook, but optionally available with a 14 or 16-inch screen and, on request, also with an integrated mobile radio modem.

For security reasons, administrators can set the notebook to cease operation if its BIOS detects that the bottom cover has been removed. Something has also been adopted from the company's own gaming notebooks – brand names Nitro and Predator –, namely the DustDefender function: every few hours, the fans briefly spin in the opposite direction, blowing dust out of the housing that would otherwise clog the fine cooling fins, thus impairing cooling.

Sales ban in Germany continues

While the first batches of the new TravelMates are expected to arrive from the Far East in May or June, depending on the model and sales region, Germany will remain out of the picture for the foreseeable future: Since mid-February, Nokia has been enforcing a sales and advertising ban in Germany after a Munich regional court ruled that Acer (and Asus) had infringed patents related to the H.265 video standard, also known as HEVC.

The ban applies exclusively to Germany; sales continue as usual in other European and non-European countries. If necessary, a purchase abroad within the EU would be possible. Austria and Switzerland are affected in that German-language data sheets, advertising materials, and events are usually planned centrally for the entire so-called DACH region. This is currently not happening. The product reveal of the new TravelMates was organized by the European (not the German) Acer subsidiary and conducted in Milan, Italy.

No information was given about local prices and availability at the event; as usual, no statements were made about the current situation or its duration. In previous patent rulings and associated sales bans, it has taken several months for an agreement to be reached and sales to resume.

Note: Acer invited the author to the product presentation in Milan and covered the travel expenses. (mue)