Acer Aspire Idea 500

(Source: TrustedReviews)

Product: Acer Aspire Idea 500
Type: Media Center PC

Configuration:

* Intel® Core Duo T2300
* 1024MB DDR II SDRAM
* 250GB of hard disk drive
* Dual Layer DVD Burner
* RF keyboard and mouse
* Integrated 802.11b/g Wi-Fi
* 7 in 1 memory card reader
* 2 x mini-PCI TV tuner cards
* Ports: HDMI, DVI-I, S-Video, component output, composite output, 2 x SCART

1. The Acer Idea 500 media center PC released not too long back finally gets the review treatment, and from CNET UK too. Not surprisingly, Acer’s latest attempt at digital convergence gets a thumbs up, with an overall rating of 9.1 out of 10.

   A lot of nice stuff was said about the Idea 500, including but not exclusive to its simple, yet well thought out styling, wide variety of connectors and quiet operation. That’s not to say it was seen as the perfect media center PC. Relatively poor 3D graphics performance and its lack of upgradability on the hardware front did pull it down a little.

   Overall, CNET deemed that, “The Acer Aspire iDea 500 is the best Media Center PC we’ve seen. Aesthetically it’s inspired by traditional AV equipment, so it’ll sit alongside or replace your existing DVD player without looking out of place. It’s not very upgradeable, but it’s packed with just the right multimedia components to make the most of the Intel Viiv platform.”

   FYI, the price range quoted for the Idea 500 was £840 - £898, not too far off from the initial estimate of £899 provided by one of our readers earlier.

2. After a dearth of reviews in the initial stages, the Acer Aspire Idea 500 is now getting the attention it deserves.

   PC Pro, as you would have expected, loved the design, its range of features and of course, the excellent price (£853 inc VAT). They loved it enough to award it 5 out of 6 stars - though they did not that its default warranty wasn’t good enough (upgradable though).

   Overall, they concluded that, “It’s one of the most well-balanced media centre systems yet and accordingly takes its place on the A List.” Of course, we agree (did you expect otherwise?).

1. During the recently held Computex 2006 exhibition in Taipei, the Acer Aspire Idea 500 media center PC won one of the Computex 2006 Best Choice Awards.

   This award is given yearly to 20 odd products from a variety of vendors and categories that manage to top the thousands of other products exhibited at the event. Last year, 22 awards were given out (BTW, none were awarded to Acer products last year), while this year saw 21 awards being given out.

   Among the factors that drove the Aspire Idea’s win include its slim design, rich input/output connectivity, low power consumption and low acoustic noise.

2. The Acer Idea 500 home, or rather, media center PC we featured almost two months back is finally (almost?) out.

   At least, that’s what we think based on Acer UK’s product page and some reader comments.

   The Acer Idea 500 has a RRP of €1299 in Europe or £899 inc VAT in the UK (thanks Danny), and around $1700 in the US.

3. Just a refresher of sorts on the upcoming (announced but yet to ship) Acer Aspire Idea digital home PC. As a product of digital convergence, the Intel® Dual core T2300-powered entertainment system looks more like a consumer product than a PC - which, of course, is a good thing if you want consumers to put these pseudo-PCs in their living rooms.

   The Aspire Idea comes with 1024 MB of DDR II SDRAM, a 250GB hard disk drive, a slot-loading dual-layer DVD burner, twin TV tuner cards (one analog and one digital) and an integrated Media Gateway with HDCP compliant DVI and HDMI as well as Component inputs. Network-wise, the Acer Aspire Idea comes with 802.11b/g wireless support and gigabit ethernet.

   Overall, the system seems like a formidable offering from Acer, especially given the expected RRP of around €1299 in Europe. It is set to retail (in Europe) in May 2006.

   Note: TrustedReviews reports an RRP of £1,699 for the UK. The substantial difference in RRPs could be due to differing configurations. Refers to AT3705MGW LCD screen, not the Aspire Idea. Sorry. Thanks to Danny for spotting my mistake.

   [News via Acer]