Acer Is Touch Central With New Notebooks And All-In-One Desktop

With Acer's Aspire 5738PG multitouch notebook, users can touch anywhere on the screen using one or two fingertips to play movies, zoom in and out on Web sites, edit photos and video, hand-write notes, resize windows and launch entertainment apps.



Users also can gesture directly on the multitouch screen for intuitive access and control. Acer said that for example, you can pinch inward or outward to zoom in and out of photos, flick the screen to turn the page and browse through media and documents, as well as swirl a finger for quick and simple navigation of lists.

The touchpad also can be locked to prevent unintended cursor movement.

The 6.16-pound Aspire 5738PG has a 320-GB hard drive; 15.6-inch HD CineCrystal LED-backlit display that provides 366 x 768 resolution; Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T6600; ATI Radeon HD 4570 graphics card with 512 MB of dedicated DDR3 VRAM; Intel Wireless Wi-Fi Link 5100; an Acer Crystal Eye Webcam and two built-in Dolby speakers for 5.1-channel surround sound.





The Aspire 5738PG also includes Windows 7 Home Premium, and hits store shelves the same day of the software release, Oct. 22. All this can be yours for $799.

Acer also is adding a notebook to its Aspire Timeline series, the AS1810TZ, which has Windows 7 as well as a multigesture touchpad and Intel CULV dual-core processors.



The compact portable weighs in at just 3.08 pounds with an 11.6-inch, HD LED-backlit display (resolution 1,366 x 768, 16:9 aspect ratio); 320 GB; Intel Wi-Fi Link 1000; Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR; full"size Acer FineTip keyboard; integrated Acer Crystal Eye Webcam and digital microphone. Due out on Oct. 22, the AS1810TZ has an MSRP of $549.99.





In addition, the Timeline 3810, 4810 and 5810 models have been refreshed with Win 7 and Intel CULV dual-core processors.

If you're more likely to be found in a cube or home office, Acer has come out with a multitouch desktop for you, too, the Aspire Z5610 All-In-One PC. As with Acer's other multitouch offerings, you can use multiple fingers as you would a mouse, and open and close programs, browse online, flick through photo albums and shuffle files and folders.



And just like its brethren, the Z5610 All-In-One PC also comes with Windows 7 Home Premium and Intel Pentium Dual Core processing.



The all-in-one PC has a 23-inch HD display with 1,920 x 1,080 pixel resolution, and also packs in 4 GB of DDR3 SDRAM that can be upgraded to 8 GB; a 320-GB SATA hard disk and provides network connection with 802.11b/g/Draft-N wireless and Gigabit Ethernet. Other bells and whistles include slot-load DVD+/-R/RW SuperMulti drive; an integrated 5 watt stereo speaker system that delivers surround sound, a built-in HD Webcam and microphone for videoconferencing.

Acer President Gianfranco Lanci has been bullish about his company's prospects. His optimism was rewarded this week when Acer on Monday reported that its worldwide total revenue for the third quarter of 2009 might reach nearly $5.2 billion, or up about 5 percent compared to the same period last year. That would represent the best quarterly sales ever for the company.

Acer also said income for the quarter could reach $146 million, also a historical high for the company.

Lanci also can find support for his optimism from analyst firm Gartner, which on Wednesday said Acer was the fastest-growing PC vendor in the third quarter of 2009. Gartner said Acer's worldwide PC shipments grew 23.6 percent worldwide and a whopping 61.4 percent in the U.S. during the quarter. Acer passed Dell to reach second place behind HP in worldwide PC shipments, according to Gartner.