(Source: Stuff Magazine)

Well, this might not be an Acer product, but it can be used with an Acer notebook. That’s a good enough reason for us to feature this nifty Bluetooth remote control which can be slotted into your notebook’s ExpressCard slot.

But then, you probably won’t understand our fascination with the Interlink Electronics VP6600 ExpressCard Media Remote until you read Stuff Mag’s feature of the device. Of course, since they did mix our fav Acer Ferrari notebook with their uhmm… analysis, we could just be biased.

I’m not sure why I’m even posting about this since a cash back offer is just a discount with a funny name. But since I’ve already started, might as well follow this through.

Acer India has just launched a cash back program for its notebooks, where customers will be returned anywhere from Rs 1000 to Rs 3000 for each notebook they purchase. Customers can choose to claim this amount either as a conventional discount, or as a cash back.

This offer, coupled with Acer’s existing joint offer with Reliance India Mobile – where you get a LG Color speaker phone worth Rs 4499, plus 3 months of RConnect Internet usage for purchasing an Acer notebook – means that Indian consumers get one heck of a deal.

Of course, I’m pretty sure you wish you could trade in the LG Color speaker phone for even more discounts…

[News via Computer Reseller News]

(Source: TrustedReviews)

No. The picture you’re looking at isn’t a new product, though still the latest in Acer’s GPS product line. It’s the Acer D150 portable GPS device which received a lukewarm response when reviewed early last month.

But it seems Acer isn’t going to give up even though its current stable of portable GPS devices doesn’t seem to be kicking off. In line with an aim to boost its worldwide sales in handheld devices, Acer will be launching two new GPS devices (one handheld and one in-car model), one GPS-enabled PDA and one PDA phone in the 2nd half of this year.

Both of Acer’s planned PDA products will come equipped with Windows Mobile 5.0 and a 2.8-inch display, but the GPS-enabled PDA will be powered by a Samsung processor, while the PDA phone an Intel PXA processor.

Overall, I’m not so sure about Acer launching more GPS products in a market somewhat dominated by the likes of Tom Tom and Garmin, but admittedly, some of Acer’s current PDA products look pretty good.

[News via Digitimes]

(Source: TrustedReviews)

We had a very comprehensive review of the Acer D150 Personal Navigator from TrustedReviews a couple of weeks back, so any new review of the device would have the tough task of matching up against it. But that’s exactly what the Digital Lifestyle Magazine has attempted to do, with their own review of the Acer D150 SatNav.

It ends up that DLMag’s review lacks proper comparisons or benchmarks, making it pretty weak for a review of such a complex device. But let’s forget that and look at their conclusion: “The good parts about this device include many things like a contact management system, easy to access buttons, and of course the MP3 playback. Unfortunately there is a bit more cons than good parts to make this device a great buy. The bulky design and most of all small screens make this device not worth the money. Talking about money, the Acer d150 Portable Navigator will come at a price of about $438, and even though not as good as the, lets say Tom Tom it still has its good parts.”

That’s pretty much what TrustedReviews concluded as well, but it’s always good to have confirmation.

(Source: TrustedReviews)

The Acer D100 SatNav (a.k.a. Portable Navigator) was reviewed all the way back in January 2006. Since then, Acer has tried coming up with a better offering in the SatNav market – hopefully something that compete on an equal standing with offerings from TomTom or Garmin.

And that better offering is supposed to be the Acer D150 SatNav. But TrustedReviews reviews the device and ends with an overall rating of only 6 out of 10 and the conclusion that, “An effective sat nav device from Acer, but let down by its looks, its interface, its relative lack of features and its price. It does the job, but it fails to present any compelling reason not to buy a TomTom.” This puts the D150 only on par with its predecessor (relatively), the D100.

More surprising perhaps is the fact that the Acer D150 is actually more expensive than a comparable TomTom…

Acer has announced that it will be marketing Hitachi Data Systems’ (HDS) WMS100 storage area network (SAN) and AMS200 network attached storage (NAS) devices under the Acer brand, primarily packaged with its servers. This move is believed to be a potential sales-booster for its servers, especially in Europe.

As a general guide, the HDS WMS100 is a mid-range Workgroup Modular Storage (WMS) system targeted at small and medium businesses (SMBs), which can be scaled up to more than 50TB (SATA), while the HDS AMS200 is an Adaptable Modular Storage (AMS) system which scales from under 1TB to over 200TB (SATA).

Acer’s most recent use of carbon fiber is in the TravelMate 8204WLMi. I’ve to admit it’s cool (and a nice change from the “traditional” silver finish we’re used to seeing on Acer notebooks), but I wouldn’t partner a carbon fiber briefcase with the notebook (or any notebook actually). I really like my old school PVC and leather notebook bags after all.

However, I’m clearly alone on this front as Cisco Cheng over at Gearlog would relish the chance to combo a TravelMate 8204WLMi with a carbon fiber briefcase. In fact, there are a few pictures over there that just might interest another carbon fiber lover.

This is something rather new on this blog. With notebook news, reviews and info the common fare here, it is a breath of fresh air to see some different Acer gadgets. Now, enough of the digression, here it goes: Lordpercy.com reviews the Acer D100 SatNav system. They conclude that, “So it all comes down to price, currently at the time of publishing the Acer D100 is around the £300 mark which pitches it straight at the Go 300 which is quite a challenge. Overall its a good solid if not ground breaking device and if Acer pitch it around £30 cheaper it would be worth strong consideration.”

ZMAng’s Note: Well, I do not use GPS devices and would hardly be able to differentiate between competing brands, but it is rather surprising to see Acer entering niche markets without sufficient preparation (e.g. dated technology).