Gizmodo: Aspire

Acer Aspire X1200 Series Mini-PCs Stuff HDMI Jack, 9 USB Ports and More in a Tiny Space

Benny Goldman — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 00:01:00 EDT

If you gotta go the desktop route, Acer's got three mini-PCs packed heavy with ports that don't take up a ton of space. Measuring 10.6" x 4" x 14.4", about the same as a hardcover book, the X1200s have an HDMI port—like Dell's leaked mini, aka the green PC, but unlike the smaller Asus Eee Box, which only has DVI—plus two PCIes, nine(!!) USBs, FireWire, front and back audio jacks, a DVD SuperMulti drive and a 14-in-1 card reader. Under the hood, it comes standard with 4GB RAM, the better to power the AMD dual-core processor with Nvidia GeForce 8200 integrated graphics to run Vista (now with SP1!). The PCs are out now for $450 to $700, a config which includes a 500GB drive and 22" LCD monitor. Check out the press release after the jump. [Acer]

NEW ACER® ASPIRE X1200 DESKTOP IS A SMALL YET MIGHTY PACKAGE
No-compromise solution boasts desktop power and value in a compact, expandable and environmentally-friendly design

SAN JOSE, CALIF., July 8, 2008 - Acer America, the third largest vendor in the PC market,(1) today announced the Acer® Aspire X1200, a truly dynamic and sleek entertainment center with prices beginning at just $450.

Offering powerful desktop components and expansion capabilities in a small box, the Acer® Aspire X1200 desktop enables users to enjoy high-definition movies, games and theater-like sound while maximizing space in the home. Featuring AMD dual-core processors, NVIDIA® GeForce® 8200 on-board graphics and PCI Express® 2.0, it's ideal for entertainment enthusiasts and space-conscious consumers desiring phenomenal performance in an environmentally-friendly design.

"Our innovative, low energy consumption desktop is a no-compromise solution providing desktop power, performance and value in a compact form factor," said Stephanie Hatchel, Senior Manager, Retail Desktop Product Planning for Acer America. "Aspire X1200 was designed to be an appealing, easy to use media hub for making the most of entertainment. From broadcasting MP3s in crystal clear acoustics to showcasing HD movies, this sleek system is a multimedia powerhouse and available at a price today's budget-minded consumers will appreciate."

Expandable and Elegant Space-Saving Design

Measuring just 10.6-inches (H) x 4.0-inches (W) x 14.4-inches (L), the stylish, compact chassis maximizes desktop real estate. Its high gloss coating and recessed venting sport an elegant look and feel. Translucent plastic knobs on the speakers are attractive and make it simple to adjust volume. Peripherals including the keyboard and mouse showcase subtle color differences that enhance the overall design appeal.

Providing room for expansion, the system offers two PCI Express slots (X1 and X16). For easy access and reach, five USB 2.0 ports, a multi-in-1 card reader, IEEE 1394 port and audio jacks are conveniently located on the front of the PC. Four additional USB 2.0 ports are positioned on the back for connecting to a wide array of peripherals and digital devices.

Dynamic Digital Media Powerhouse

Unlike similar small form factor PCs that leverage mobile components with higher costs and lower performance, the Aspire X1200 offers a choice of models that scale up to an AMD Athlon™ X2 5000 processor and up to 4GB DDR2 memory for taking on advanced multitasking. The AMD processors support downloadable AMD Live! applications for optimal recording, transferring, sharing and organizing of photos, videos, music and media. The energy-efficient designs employing the AMD Athlon™ X2 Dual Core 4850e processor, consume less power, resulting in less wasted energy, lower operational cost as well as cooler and quieter operation.

Boasting the NVIDIA® GeForce® 8200 Chipset with PureVideo HD Technology, the Aspire X1200 supports the hottest games with Microsoft® DirectX 10 for realistic, life-like images. The system also promises high-definition movie picture quality with supported formats including H.264, VC1 and MPEG2. Fully integrated high-definition audio with 7.1-channel audio support provides dynamic sound for games, music and movies. In conjunction with an HD display, the Acer Aspire X1200 delivers a superb home theater experience.

HDMI makes it easy to hook the PC to a big screen TV and gives users a full range of support for any high-definition format via a single cable. A high-performance 14-in-1 digital media card reader makes it easy to transfer video, music and movies from a host of digital devices. The mini-desktop also come with a large SuperMulti Double-layer drive, which provides enough room to record significant data, hours of DVD-quality video and thousands of songs.

Front- and rear-access audio jacks speed up connection of headphones, microphones and other audio peripherals. PCI Express 2.0 optimizes computer components, such as high-end discrete graphics cards and network cards for the fastest performance available.

Specifications, Pricing and Availability

The Acer® Aspire X1200 desktop PC is available now at major retailers nationwide. Prices range from $449.99 to $699.99 depending on configuration. See following for available models.

Acer® Aspire X1200-U1520A: Available now for $449.99

* AMD Athlon™ X2 Dual Core 4850e Processor
* NVIDIA® GeForce® 8200 On-Board Graphics
* 4GB DDR2 Memory
* 320GB SATA II Hard Drive
* 16x DVD+R/RW, DVD-RAM SuperMulti, Double-Layer Drive
* 14-in-One Media Card Reader
* Windows Vista® Premium 64 with SP1

Acer® Aspire X1200-U1510A: Available now for $459.99

* AMD Athlon™ X2 Dual Core 5000+ Processor
* NVIDIA® GeForce® 8200 On-Board Graphics
* 4GB DDR2 Memory
* 320GB SATA II Hard Drive
* 16x DVD+R/RW, DVD-RAM SuperMulti, Double-Layer Drive
* 14-in-One Media Card Reader
* Windows Vista® Premium 64 with SP1

Acer® Aspire X1200-B1581A: Available for $699.99 starting on July 13

* AMD Athlon™ X2 Dual Core 4850e Processor
* NVIDIA® GeForce® 8200 On-Board Graphics
* 4GB DDR2 Memory
* 500GB SATA II Hard Drive
* 16x DVD+R/RW, DVD-RAM SuperMulti, Double-Layer Drive
* 14-in-One Media Card Reader
* 22-inch Widescreen LCD Display
* Windows Vista® Premium 64 with SP1

Acer's "Blue" Ace: Aspire Gemstone Blue Notebook

Wilson Rothman — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 15:07:45 EDT

Today in New York, Acer's big surprise is the Aspire "Gemstone Blue" notebook, equipped with a Blu-ray drive, true high-def screen, and CineReal sound, a second generation of Dolby Surround. Sexy, and yes, blue, and it doesn't appear to suffer from port envy like some other notebooks, though it is slender. In size it's somewhere between HP's dv series and Dell's XPS M series. That's not just a size comparison, but a qualitative judgment call: this thing looks unambitiously nestled between the two other PC giants' designs. With such mystery and fanfare, we were hoping for a tad more of an exciting, iconoclastic design. It is, however, a decent product, so have a look. UPDATE: Weights and model numbers below.

It's got a cool touchdial on the left for some nice multimedia controls; it's called CineDash, and it's got volume, mute, hold, media transport and menu navi.

The largest of the two models, the 8920, has a 1920x1080 18.4" screen, and a 90% (ATSC?) color gamut. The smaller, the 6920, is 16" with same resolution and 60% of the color gamut. As you can guess from those screen resolutions, both can support full Blu-ray playback. (Another blue reference.) They're saying 3 hours playback on the 18.4", and 2.5 hours of movie playback on the 16" one. There will be an "SD" version with 720p playback of either DVD or Blu-ray.

They're shipping in a month. The starting price point is $1,700, with a typical config around $1,900.

UPDATE: The weights are a bit troubling for anyone interested in mobility: Over 9 lbs for the 18.4 incher, and nearly 8 lbs for the 16 incher.

Check out some additional specs:
[Acer]

Sony, Fujistu, Acer Penryn Laptops Leaked

Haroon Malik — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 22:45:00 EST

We've been harping on about Penryn processors for a while, but a few more models have just leaked:

•Acer will be adding to their Aspire line with five new models (2920, 4920, 5920, 7720 and 9920). Their Travelmate line will also gain two new machines (6492 and 6592G.)

•Fujitsu-Siemens will join the parade with the Amilo Xi 2550 / 2428

•Sony will have a piece of the Penryn pie with five new VAIO lappies (FZ31, TZ2, SZ71, CR31 and AR61.)

[Notebook Italia; Aspire, Travelmate, Amilo, Vaio via Engadget]

Dealzmodo: Acer Dual-Core Vista Laptop, $600 AR

Travis Hudson — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 12:15:06 EST

CompUSA may have shut a lot of doors recently, but they are still passing the savings on to your with this Acer Aspire 5610-2013 Dual Core Notebook PC. It will cost you $780 at checkout and includes a $180 mail-in-rebate. This 15.4-inch laptop is powered by a 1.6GHz Duo Core Intel CPU and 1GB Ram. It also includes a 120GB hard drive, DVD dual-layer burner, Wi-Fi, card reader and Vista Home Premium edition. –Travis Hudson

Product Page [Via Dealhack]

Acer Aspire 9800 20.1-inch Laptop With HD DVD Released

Jason Chen — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 21:10:52 EDT

Starting at an astronomical price of $2,800, the 20-inch Acer Aspire 9800 lets you take your HD DVD anywhere, as long as you can lift 17.2 lbs. Not for the weak of heart, wallet, or back, the Aspire 9800 has a Core Duo T2600, 2GB of RAM, Geforce Go 7600 graphics card, 240GB hard drive and an HD DVD drive.

The laptop—and we use that term very loosely—is available now in the North American market. We suppose it's useful if you want to use this as a desktop replacement that can be moved around the house or office easily. But if you want HD DVD in a "laptop" form factor, this is one of your only options for now. – Jason Chen

Acer Aspire 9800 20.1" Screen Notebook Officially Released in North America [Notebook Review via TechEBlog]

Acer Aspire 5100 Dual Core AMD Turion 64 X2 Notebooks

Jason Chen — Wed, 12 Jul 2006 20:00:26 EDT

The Acer 5100 has the dual-core AMD Turion 64, along with up to 2GB of DDR2 RAM (upgradeable to 4GB). This kind of power, combined with 120GB of hard disk space, a 15.4-inch widescreen LCD, Radeon Xpress 1100 graphics card, and an 8X DVD dual-layer burner makes this quite a steal starting at $899.

Various card readers and Firewire/USB/S-Video connectivity round out the package. Available now at Acer. – Jason Chen

Product Page [Acer]

Acer Aspire 9800 With 20-inch Screen

Jason Chen — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 15:32:11 EDT

Acer's new laptop would probably be a little difficult to place on your lap, unless you're some kind of big-lapped gorilla. Weighing 17.19 lb. for the 20" version and 16.5 lb. for the 19" version, this is more of a desktop replacement that you can actually move around than something you would take to Starbucks to get some work done.

Its features are, of course, beefy. HD DVD, 1680x1050 resolution (no 1080p though), GeForce Go 7600, 2GB of RAM, two RAID-capable hard disks for up to 240GB of storage, and HDMI output with HDCP.

The Aspire 9800 is good for those who don't go many places with their machines but still demand some kind of portability. – Jason Chen

Want a 20-inch HD-DVD laptop? [The Inquirer]

Acer Aspire IDEA 500 Low Profile Media Center PC

Jason Chen — Thu, 01 Jun 2006 17:20:52 EDT

Our ears are extremely sensitive to computer fan noise—freak clapping accident, don't ask— so Acer's new living room friendly Aspire Idea 500 makes PC specs available without all the PC noise.

Inside, there's an Intel Core DUO T2300, which will handle all your recording and encoding needs with power left to spare. Then there's the 1 GB of RAM, DVD DL burner, 250 GB hard disk, 802.11 b/g, flash card reader, HDMI/DVI/SVideo/Component/Composite out and 7.1 channel audio.

All this and a happy nag free (get that damn computer out of my living room!) wife could be yours for a mere $1,700. – Jason Chen

Product Page [Acer via eHomeUpgrade]

Acer Updates 17-Inch Notebook Line

Charlie White — Tue, 02 May 2006 12:14:55 EDT

Acer Aspire 17-inch laptops get an update in four iterations, where all have a 1440x900 screen and offer notebook shoppers a quartet of trim choices. The 9400 (pictured above) has an Intel Pentium M processor inside, while its more sophisticated brother, the 9410, and runs with an Intel Core Duo chip. Both have ho-hum NVidia GeForce Go 7300 graphics with 64MB of graphics memory, along with 120 gigs of hard disk space.

The top-of-the-line gets a 1.3-megapixel webcam, while the low-end 7100 and 7110 models have Celeron M chips. No pricing or availability info was forthcoming, but you can bet that these cheap notebooks will provide a low-cost alternative to MacBooks with similar screens that cost at least four times more.

Acer extends 17in laptop line [Reg Hardware]