Gizmodo: gemstone

Acer Ships Ginormous 8920G Gemstone Notebooks; 16:9, Dual HDDs, Blu-ray Included, Hernia Belt Not

Matt Hickey — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 22:00:00 EDT

Acer's now shipping the 8920G Gemstone laptops, and they're even more impressive than we'd thought. While not the biggest screen we've seen on a portable, they sport an impressive 18.2-inch LCD at 1920x1080 with a 16:9 aspect ratio, perfect for watching movies on the integrated Blu-ray R/W drives. They're not light, tipping the scales at just over nine pounds, but their 1.6-inch thickness makes up for some of that. What's really interesting is Acer put dual hard drives in these machines, meaning you get 640GB total, probably the highest we've ever seen in a shipping portable. If you're looking for the ultimate in desktop replacements, these are a great place to start, if you can afford the $3,000 price tag. [Trusted Reviews]

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]

One Day Every Gadget Will Be A Unique Snowflake

Noah Robischon — Fri, 04 May 2007 18:55:45 EDT

RCA began selling the Gem line of MP3 players, including the Opal. Creative introduced its Zen Stone. And today Acer brings us the Gemstone. Earthly naming conventions are nothing new, from the PEBL to the i-Stones, gadget makers have long tried to portray their wares as organic, natural forms instead of the mercury laden, toxic ones the really are. But if consumer electronics companies really want to mimic nature...

then they should heed these words from industrial designer and sci-fi gadget imagineer Branko Lukic, from his upcoming book nonobject:

Each natural "product" is a unique specimen; nothing else compares to one, after another, after another. Imagine if the manufacture of consumer electronics afforded such diversity! Imagine if consumers had the pick of an endless array of devices, each one its own distinct shape, size and color while keeping the internal components the same... The state of things now: sameness sits on assembly lines; sameness lives on shelves; sameness is in hands of consumers. Need it be this way - where color is the only distinguishing feature? Why not tackle design in more interesting ways? Rather than considering a product as one of many, diversify the multiple existing molds and consider product a little more freely. Need each be a clone of the other? Why not envision production methodology anew, as a result of more organic processes? Just imagine: a near future where we still make a single product in large volumes, but we do so more randomly, intuitively, eclectically. This way, with advanced manufacturing techniques, consumers are offered more choice within a single product category.

Unless, of course, we are all electric sheep who want to own the exact same thing. –Noah Robischon

nonobject Design Fiction No 3: Pebble [Book Preview]

New Acer Gemstone Notebooks are First to be Dolby Surround Certified

Louis Ramirez — Fri, 04 May 2007 11:50:07 EDT

Yesterday we gave you the heads-up on Acer's incoming Gemstone notebooks. Today Acer lifted the veil on its new design, and so far we're not overly impressed. Okay, so the notebooks have smoother lids and more "opalesque" curves. There's even a neon blue light (think Tron) that streaks from the DC-in port on the side to the power button just beneath the keyboard. These are nice improvements over previous designs, but what we're really pumped about are the speakers. Here's why.

These are the first laptop speakers to be Dolby Surround certified. Granted, there's no way of telling how the speakers will sound unless you hear them in person, but it still manages to make me raise an eyebrow. Rumor has it they might also come with high-definition optical drives (your choice of Blu-ray or HD DVD). An extra bonus: 7 new touch-sensitive media keys. No word yet on specs, pricing or availability, but I'll update as soon as we hear back from the Acer camp. In the meantime, enjoy the pics. – Louis Ramirez

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Will Acer's Gemstone Concept Leave Your Laptop Looking like Joan Rivers?

Louis Ramirez — Thu, 03 May 2007 10:00:08 EDT

Not every laptop out there is a looker, but Acer's new Gemstone series is hoping to change that with a little shot of botox. Granted, not much info is known about the new lappies, but the Gemstone concept will make its official debut tomorrow, and from the looks of the sketch, it appears Acer is going for the Motorola PEBL look, which may or not be a bad thing. (Too much botox ain't healthy, folks). Stay tuned for tomorrow. – Louis Ramirez

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