The world’s third largest computer manufacturer, Acer, and chipmaker
Nvidia announced, through a bombastic press push, the result of a
partnership that sees Nvidia’s Ion processor deployed in a compact Acer
computer. The release marks the first time Ion technology has been used
in a PC. Acer labeled the AspireRevo a “nettop” computer, a cross
between a netbook and a desktop.
Nvidia compares the size of the AspireRevo to that of a hardcover book
but repeatedly describes the machine as a desktop computer with
advanced graphics and a slew of multimedia features. Nvidia says the
system can handle a wide variety of computing needs including high
definition video, gaming, sharing digital photos, surfing the Web and
other tasks expected from full-size systems. No price point was
announced.
“The Acer AspireRevo with our new Nvidia ION GPU is so small and
powerful it’s unbelievable,” said Nvidia’s senior vice president of
marketing Dan Vivoli. “[You can] watch Blu-ray movies and HD movie
trailers, or clean up jerky, dim cell phone videos for Internet
streaming.” Vivoli called the AspireRevo “the perfect PC” for today’s
consumers.
The Ion processor supports Windows Vista Home Premium, the
aforementioned HD video (1080p) with “true-fidelity” 7.1 audio, DirectX
10 graphics with digital display connectivity and video enhancement, as
well as transcoding using Nvidia CUDA (Compute Unified Device
Architecture) technology.
Acer says the GPU, which matches Intel’s Atom 230 processor with the
Ion graphics processor, delivers 10 times faster graphics performance
than other small desktop PCs and is an energy-conscious device. Acer is
also pushing the PC’s ease of connectivity with a variety of devices,
highlighting the 802.11b/g (and /Draft-N on selected models) wireless
or Gigabyte Ethernet network connections and the HDMI portal.
The AspireRevo comes with a choice of a Serial ATA Hard Drive or Solid
State Drive and up to 4GB of DDR2memory and a Mini PCI Express slot,
which allows for memory capacity expansion. In an effort to highlight
the gaming capabilities, Acer said it’s bundling the AspireRevo with a
game controller with 3-D motion sensors, which can be used like a
pointing-device (air mouse) or remote control for the media center, and
is adaptable to different gaming scenarios such as an airplane/race-car
steering device, or a tennis racket/baseball bat or a shooting device
with built-in trigger.
“The Acer AspireRevo is a bold new direction for the PC industry,” Acer
thundered in a press release. “It is a compact, stylish, fully capable
PC that uses less energy and provides a brilliant visual experience for
daily digital life.”
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