Monday, October 15, 2012

Acer's Touch-Friendly Windows 8 PCs Also Come as Monitors [HANDS ON]

Acer Aspire 7600U

Acer's new all-in-one PCs have a beautiful design that's very slim and features both a transparent base and a minimalist stand that lets the PC lay almost flat. The 27- and 23-inch designs are also available as touchscreen monitors that are ready for Windows 8.

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[More from Mashable: The Evolution of Windows OS From Beginning to Present [INFOGRAPHIC]]

If you're thinking about Windows 8, you should also be thinking about a PC with a touch screen, and Acer is serving up a couple. The company's two new all-in-one PCs support 10-finger capacitive multi-touch -- the key ingredient for the ever-so-touchable Windows 8 interface.

The Acer Aspire 7600U and 5600U have 27- and 23-inch screens, respectively. While the larger model is touch screen only, you can opt for a regular, non-touch model in the smaller size. No compromises on resolution, though -- both size screens are full HD (1,920 x 1,080) panels.

[More from Mashable: Windows 8 Pro Now Available for Pre-Order]

The first thing you notice about the two new machines is their beautifully slim design (just 1.4 inches deep). It features a transparent base that makes it look like the monitor is floating a few inches above whatever it's resting on. Despite their thin profile, the PCs have room for an optical drive, and a wireless keyboard and mouse are included.

The whole thing is braced by a hockey stick-shaped metallic arm that's barely there -- it also contains the power cable, nicely tucking it as out of the way as possible. That arm is very versatile -- it can recline the screen up to 80 degrees. A mount kit is included if you want to hang the PC on a wall.

SEE ALSO: Acer Unveils Super-Thin Windows 8 Iconia Tablet

I had a chance to check out the new machines, and I think Acer's come up with the best design for a Windows 8 all-on-one yet. They're gorgeous, and the bracing arm is a great bit of minimalist design. It may not be able to go down a full 90 degrees like Lenovo's IdeaCentre, but it's the rare app that requires such positioning.

Although there's four inches of screen difference between them, the two machines don't vary a lot on specs. Both pack an Intel Core i5 processor and 8GB of RAM. The 27-inch model also comes with discrete Nvidia GT640M graphics and a Blu-ray drive (Blu-ray is an option for the smaller model).

Yep, Acer's new all-in-ones are pretty hot, and that's probably why the company's also offering them as straight-up monitors, without any of the PC guts. The monitors have built-in speakers and plenty of connectors: three powered USB 3.0 ports, plus jacks for VGA, DVI and HDMI.

The A7600U will be for sale in November, starting at $1,899. The A5600U will launch the day Windows 8 does, Oct. 26, and starting at $1,149 with touch, and $999 without. For the monitors, the 27-inch is $699 and the 23-incher is $499.

How do you like Acer's new Windows 8 machines? Let us know in the comments.

This story originally published on Mashable here.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/acers-touch-friendly-windows-8-pcs-come-monitors-080105227.html

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