Hasta La Gadget!

We’ve made a conscious decision to stop talking about the Acer Aspire Predator’s unique design, because every time we stare deep into those orange ridges, we feel a bit of our psyche writhing. If you’re made of sterner stuff, however, you should know that Acer’s got a couple of new models coming down the pike. Remember that Predator AG7750 with the liquid-cooled 2.8GHz Core i7-930 processor, 12GB of DDR3 memory, NVIDIA GTX 470 graphics, and room for 3-way SLI? Having successfully weeded the population of Canada, it’s ready to feast upon the US today at $1,999. If that’s more beast than you can handle, there’s also the infinitesimally-less-creepy $1,350 AG5900 you see above, which brings a Core i7-870 CPU, 8GB of memory and a ATI Radeon HD 5850, plus a pair of hot-swappable drive bays, 1.5 terabytes of storage and the usual array of ports. Find them slicing through online retailers any minute now. PR after the break.

Continue reading Acer releases Predator AG7750 and AG5900 gaming desktops into unsuspecting US homes

Acer releases Predator AG7750 and AG5900 gaming desktops into unsuspecting US homes originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 28 Sep 2010 00:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It really does feel like it was just yesterday that Acer released its new TimelineX series, but believe it or not, it’s processor upgrade time for the thin and light lappie line. The 11.6-inch Aspire TimelineX 1830T will now be available with ultra-low voltage Core i3, i5 and i7 CPU options, though Acer’s pushing the $900 Core i7 680UM-powered version (the 1830T-68U118) rather hard. If you’re looking for that sort of power in a 3.1-pound chassis, it’s not all that bad of a deal, especially considering the similarly spec’d Lenovo IdeaPad U160 costs north of $1,000. We are a bit skeptical of Acer’s eight hour battery life claim on that one, however. The other TimelineX machines — the 13.3-inch 3820T, 14-inch 4820T and the 15.6-inch 5820T — are also being injected with more standard voltage Core i3 and i5 processor options, and those will start around the $700 mark. All the new models should be available at retailers soon, and those dying for some more configuration details should hit the break for the full press release.

Continue reading Acer Aspire TimelineX series updated with new processor options

Acer Aspire TimelineX series updated with new processor options originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 27 Sep 2010 00:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Acer reportedly planning 5-inch Android 3.0 tablet, too originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Sep 2010 18:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Yes, you could certainly accuse us of being easily pleased, but there’s just something inherently awesome about hiding a giant touchpad remote in the otherwise boring box that controls your TV. At IDF 2010, we spotted a pair of new Intel CE4100 set-top boxes from ASUS and Acer respectively, running the brand-spanking-new Windows Media Center Embedded. Both were so early in development that they relied on external USB tuners to do their thing, but the Acer Revo 2 caught our eye when we saw the ThinkPad aesthetic of the RevoPad. It slides right out of a charging cradle in the front of the box to become a mousing alternative (and houses a large volume dial on the side), but with the press of a button the surface shines light through tiny perforations and it becomes a touchscreen keyboard instead.

Aside from the remote, the Revo 2’s fairly well-connected to boot, sporting HDMI, Ethernet, optical and analog audio ports, and three USB ports, along with an internal hard drive of unspecified capacity and a slimline optical bay. The ASUS, meanwhile, has no drives, but an ATSC antenna, component and composite video to its name. Both boxes are slated for the first half of next year, though representatives weren’t willing to talk price just yet. We’re headed back for more, but in the meantime, check out video of the hardware after the break.

Update: We’ve got an expanded video walkthrough of Windows 7 Embedded now after the break!

Continue reading Acer Revo 2 with RevoPad sports Intel CE4100, Windows Media Center Embedded, and a slide-out touchpad with disappearing keys (update: more video)

Acer Revo 2 with RevoPad sports Intel CE4100, Windows Media Center Embedded, and a slide-out touchpad with disappearing keys (update: more video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Sep 2010 17:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You might have hoped that NVIDIA’s introduction of the 400M series of mobile GPUs would bring about a slew of hot new laptops to drop into our gaming boudoirs, but we are in fact left facing more of the same. Externally, anyhow. The chipmaker rolled out the green carpet for a set of upcoming machines in London today, but they were refreshes, rather than overhauls, of current hardware. The big news is to be found within, as the new GTX 460M has made a home inside the updated ASUS G53, Toshiba Qosmio X505, and MSI GT663. The common thread among these three is that they’re all big and hefty, and all emit a subtle vroom sound every time you touch them. What we learned from NVIDIA today is that the GTX 480M will remain an exotic (you might even call it quixotic) GPU reserved for large-screen gaming stations, the GTX 470M will similarly be an enthusiast part, and the GTX 460M will be the company’s big play for the mainstream performance market. It also became clear that even the third GPU in the company’s mobile hierarchy will need quite a bulky cooling setup (and a proportionately huge charger) to do its job, but NVIDIA’s promises of much-improved performance might just make it worthwhile.

As to the more sane among us, there was a selection of pleasingly thinner machines, like the ASUS N53 and Acer Aspire 5745, which make do with the lower-specced GT 420M and GT 425M graphics chips. Those are expected to be NVIDIA’s biggest sellers, and the video demo after the break of the 425M churning through StarCraft II is certainly appealing. We should note, however, that the latest (though definitely not greatest) Prince of Persia game was also on tap on one of these machines and its frame rate gave us a delightful old-timey feeling any time we entered combat with its emulation of stop-motion animation. So, as ever, it’s looking like great graphics will require great rigs, but we can probably expect a decent — not game-changing (get it?) — leap in performance among the lighter options as well.

Continue reading NVIDIA trots out GeForce 400M series laptops, shows off StarCraft II gameplay (video)

NVIDIA trots out GeForce 400M series laptops, shows off StarCraft II gameplay (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 10 Sep 2010 16:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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