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Iconic Packard Bell brand rises from the ashes after 13 years with the DotBook 14 at IFA — colorful and affordable Intel Twin Lake laptop is Europe-only, for now
Acer is the current owner of the now 100-year-old Packard Bell brand, and is also showing off an eclectic range of Dot accessories.
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Many a 20th-century PC enthusiast’s first taste of computing came through the purchase of a Packard Bell pre-built, for rosy-tinted-spectacles good or scarred-for-life bad. It was a huge player in the mid-90s, with over 45% retail market share in the U.S. at its peak. Now Packard Bell is back, under the wing of Acer at IFA 2026, with the Taiwanese PC maker’s unveiling of the Dot family, including a laptop, headphones, input peripherals, and more. However, Packard Bell products will be European market exclusives for now, reports ComputerBase (machine translation).
The Dot series of products, including the headlining DotBook 14, are aimed at the cheap and cheerful end of the market, and it looks like they intend to cut through with quirky and vibrant designs. “Who needs a Formula 1 car for shopping?” asks Acer / Packard Bell on the official product page.
Looking more closely at this laptop’s hardware, it is a 14.5-inch model powered by a last-gen Intel Twin Lake chip.
14.5-inch 1,920 x 1,200 pixels IPS screen with up to 300 nits brightness
1 x USB C 3.2 Gen 1, 3 x USB A, 1 x HDMI 1.4, 1 x MicroSD Card Reader, 1 x 3.5mm headphone/speaker jack
Wi-Fi 6 Wireless LAN, 802.11a/b/g/n/ac+ax, Supports Bluetooth 5.1 or above
324.0 (W) x 227.6 (D) x 17.9/17.99 (H) mm (12.76 x 8.96 x 0.7/0.71 inches) 1.3 kg (2.87 pounds)
Two built-in stereo speakers, two built-in microphones