Acer and nVidia join up to reveal HD notebooks
Vendors announce imminent release of Aspire range of three high-definition offerings
Acer has teamed up with graphics vendor nVidia for the launch of some of the world’s first high-definition (HD) notebooks.
The notebook maker has announced three high-end models, the Aspire 9110, 9510 and 9800, that will boast HD DVD drives and use nVidia’s GeForce Go graphics processing units (GPUs) with PureVideo technology.
As the market leader in notebooks, Acer’s choice to release notebooks using the HD DVD format will be a boost for the HD DVD camp in the coming battle with Sony’s Blu-Ray format. Acer is reportedly expected to launch Blu-Ray drive-equipped notebooks, but there was nothing on show at the recent Computex 2006 show in Taiwan.
The Aspire 9110 will boast a 15.4in screen and come with the GeForce Go 7600 processor. The 9510 will feature a 17in display and be powered by a choice of the GeForce Go 7600 or the more powerful 7600GS processor. The Aspire 9800 will sport a massive 20.1in screen and be powered by the 7600 GPU. All GPUs comes with 256MB of graphics memory and use PureVideo HD video processing technology for smooth playback of the first generation of HD DVD films.
Campbell Kan, head of Acer’s mobile computing business unit, said: “With the Acer Aspire 9800, 9510 and 9110 series, our goal was to create notebooks with HD DVD movie playback quality that rivals living room players. This is a complex project involving diverse components such as video acceleration, content security management and software support.”
Jeff Fisher, senior vice-president of the GPU business at nVidia, said: “Now that HD DVD films are shipping, users want to watch them on their notebooks. Acer Aspire notebooks with the GeForce GPUs and PureVideo HD technology fill the need, providing users with superior HD movie playback on the go.”
The 20.1in display on the top-end Aspire 9800 features six lamps and a 1680 x 1050 pixel resolution. It will be powered by Intel’s Centrino Duo mobile processors, house up to 240GB of storage using dual Serial ATA hard disk drives and use Acer’s QuicCharge technology for faster battery charging.
Acer is also expected to launch a range of ATI-powered HD DVD notebooks this month, with the mid-range Aspire 5670 HD DVD notebook using the Mobility Radeon X1600 chip with Avivo technology.