The Acer Predator Triton 500 just misses a "very good" evaluation. The 15-inch notebook fulfills almost all the criteria that distinguish a modern gaming notebook. In addition to the slim display bezels and slim case, we should also mention the 144-Hz panel here that scores with G-Sync.

compact case; very good performance; metal surfaces; Thunderbolt 3; slim bezels; G-Sync; 144 Hz

annoying boot sound (can be deactivated in the BIOS; limited maintenance; mediocre battery life

Maybe it doesn't have per-key RGB backlighting or an unwieldy big format display, but the Acer Predator Triton 500 strikes the near-impossible balance between performance, cost, and design in a form factor suited just as much for travel as it is for late night KDR reckonings.

High-end GeForce RTX graphics and an advanced feature set in a trim bod make Acer's Predator Triton 500 a worthy gaming laptop. Just a few modest issues keep it from RTX-laptop alpha status.

Good value given components and panel; Slim, compact design; Restrained, classy lighting; 144Hz display with Nvidia G-Sync; Top-end gaming performance at 1080p

Loud fans under load; Short battery life; Close in performance to at least one RTX 2070 we tested

From its blazing Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Max-Q graphics to its 144Hz full-HD display with 3-millisecond response time to its 6,600rpm cooling fans, everything about the Acer Predator Triton 500 is fast. The Triton 500 is also fantastically compact for a 15.6-inch gaming laptop.

The Acer Predator Triton 500 is a gaming powerhouse in a thin and light package; Acer's PredatorSense tool lets you easily tweak performance, including overclocking the GPU and adjusting the three-zone RGB keyboard lighting

The keyboard isn't great for long gaming sessions; The laptop runs hot even with the fans blowing full blast, and battery life is predictably short when the discrete graphics are engaged

With its sleek, stealthy design, you can see why Acer named its Predator Triton 500 ($1,799 / £1,799) after the Greek sea god. Its dark blue and gray look is angular, and it can play most games with its moderately powerful RTX 2060 graphics.

Slim design; Solid gaming performance; Bright; vivid display

Mixed productivity performance; Hard to upgrade; Too much bloatware

Gaming laptops have followed the Razer Blade on its march towards ever-thinner design. What once seemed rare has now become common. Purchasing a thick, bulky laptop now feels unusual. Even gamers must go out of their way to buy such a beast.

Slim; light design; Pleasant keyboard; Strong game performance; Good value

Generic looks; Short battery life

I looked around at every laptop I could find in this category (Alienware, Asus, Lenovo,Razer Blade, MSI,Gigabyte Aero, etc.). I settled on this one because it has everything in the most compact package, at a decent price. I needed a LAN port. I needed Thunderbolt 3. I needed 512GB SSD.

There's little doubt the Acer Predator Triton 500 sits at the top of Acer's 15.6-inch gaming product lineup. It offers a lot of great design features, impressive hardware, and a top-notch display.

So where does the Predator Triton 500 land At $1,800 (at the time of this review) for the version here, it's decently priced.

Its GeForce RTX 2060 GPU is competitive with the GeForce GTX 1070; Relatively thin and solid-feeling body

Difficult to upgrade memory and storage; Doesn't feature per-key RGB lighting on keyboard

So where does the Predator Triton 500 land At $1,800 for the version here, it's decently priced. We say that because we know some will want to compare the Predator Triton 500 to other laptops with the same or slightly better components, and a similar or smaller price.