Acer debuts their new 'console'

[Starlight]

Those of you who frequent the rumor mill will remember reports earlier in the year that PC hardware specialists Acer were going to release a console to compete with the likes of the Xbox 360 and PS3.

Of course it all turned out to be a load of horse shit, but even this outlandish rumour had an element of truth to it. Acer were working on a game specific machine, although it is actually a highly specialized PC and God damn it’s a sexy looking thing!

In Sydney this week, we were given a chance to rub its sunset orange Lamborghini-inspired exterior, poke about in its innards and give Call of Duty 4 a hammering and we have to say, it was hard not to be impressed.

Aimed specifically at the extreme gamer category, three tiers of the Acer Aspire Predator are in stores right now, ranging from around $4,000 - $8,000, depending on just how big you want your e-peen to be. This is the top end of the spectrum, pushing the latest and greatest tech - from 4 hotswap hard-drives slots, to space for 8GB of RAM, SLi graphics and liquid cooling - all of which is a (albeit expensive) gift to the wants and needs of overclockers and tweakers.

You will be able to customize the innards at the time of purchase if it just doesn’t quite suit your style, but really, even the monitor shouts sex. Every PC is hand-tested and turned around within 24hrs of an order, features a two-year warranty and really, we cannot see any software on the horizon that would see even the lowest model out-dated in that time (or years beyond to be realistic).

It’s hard not to be in awe of the Predator. The chassis is just awesome and it has a host of funky little additions, from blue LED lights all over the front to robot claw driven optical disc drives and a Dark Helmet style front face mask. Inside it is amazingly void of cabling too, neat and tidy as it drives the best in PC performance towards your games.

While the Acer Predator doesn't quite compete with the next-gen consoles it is existence is further proof that there is a danger for the Xbox 720 and PS4 out there. (click the link for more on that)

For the full specs on offer click to the next page

Processor and Chipset:
Intel Core2 Quad Q9450 Processor (2.66GHz, 12MB L2 cache, 1333MHz FSB)
Intel Core2 Extreme QX9650 Processor (3.00GHz, 12MB L2 cache, 1333MHz FSB)
NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI

Operating System:
Genuine Windows Vista Vista Home Premium (64-bit)

Memory:
Up to 8 GB of DDR2 800/1066 MHz SDRAM (dual-channel support on four DIMMs)

Hard Drive:
Serial ATA hard disk up to 1 TB
RAID 0, 1, 5, 0+1 (capable with NVIDIA MediaShield Storage Technology)
Four 3.5" Hotswap HDD drive bays (hot-swap capable with RAID enabled)

Storage Bays:
Two 5.25" drive bays
Optical drive options:
- BD + SuperMulti burner
- BD/HD DVD reader + SuperMulti burner

Card Reader:
Multi-in-one card reader, supporting: CompactFlash (Type I and II), CF+, Microdrive, MultiMediaCard (MMC), MMCmobile, Reduced-Size MultiMediaCard (RS-MMC), Secure Digital (SD) Card, miniSD Card, xD-Picture Card, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO, Memory Stick Duo, Memory Stick PRO Duo, USB 2.0 and IEEE 1394 ports

Graphics:
Enabled NVIDIA 2-way SLI: Two NVIDIA GeForce 9800GTX discrete graphics cards
PCI Express 2.0 x16 graphics card support

Audio:
Optimized Dolby Home Theater audio enhancement, featuring: Dolby Digital, Dolby Pro Logic II, Dolby Headphone, Dolby Virtual Speaker, Dolby Digital Live technologies Integrated high-definition audio with 7.1-channel and EAX 4.0 audio support, S/PDIF (Sony/Philips Digital Interface) support, Optional Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium sound card with EAX 5.0 audio support

Networking:
Two Gigabit Ethernet
Wake-on-LAN ready (Dual LAN support)

I/O Interfaces:
Front I/O ports: Four USB 2.0 ports, Multi-in-one card reader, Headphone and microphone jacks
Rear I/O ports: Four USB 2.0 ports, IEEE 1394 port (6-pin), PS/2 keyboard and mouse ports, Two Ethernet (RJ-45) ports, Two eSATA ports, Six audio jacks, S/PDIF jack, Clear CMOS button
Graphics card I/O ports (each card): Two DVI-D ports (up to 4 with two graphics cards), TV-out port

I/O Expansion:
Three PCI Express x16 slots (including: two PCI Express 2.0 with 5 Gb/s)
Two PCI Express x1 slots
PCI Express x8 slot
PCI 2.3 5 V slot

Software:
Acer Empowering Technology (Acer eRecovery Management)
Acer Arcade Live
McAfee Internet Security Software - 60 day free trial
Adobe Reader
eSobi
NTI MediaMaker

Weight and Dimensions:
45 kgs
490 (L) x 430 (H) x 190 (W) mm

BIOS:
AMI PnP BIOS compatible with SMBIOS 2.4

System Power:
750 W

Compliance:
C-Tick (AS/NZS 60950)

Monitor:
G24 LCD Monitor
- World’s first 50000:1 ACM contrast for vivid details
- 24" 1920 x 1200 widescreen for true 1080p playback
- 2 ms rapid response time for smooth-moving images
- 176/176 view angle for multiple viewers
- Acer CrystalBrite technology with 400-nit brightness for a brilliant display
- Multimedia connectivity: 1x HDMI™, 1x DVI (HDCP)
- 92% NTSC Saturation results in 28% richer in colour

For more information on the Predator, check out http://www.acer.com.au/predator/index.html link. More PlayStation 3 News...

[xxLindenxx]

that is amazing.. although really powerful people won't buy this for a couple of reasons..

1. it's really expensive this computer will last a long time unless if windows 7 demands more for systems, look how vista changed the pc standards, i bough my computer right after VISTA came out and unfortunately it came with it, no one knowing it would be this slow they didn't make it powerful enough therefore my computer is slow, but i downloaded XP sp3 custom

2. you can only play online, you can't really play the games with a friends on split screen

3. company's make games for consoles and the games that are for the pc are usely good but it lakes console experience

4. every body knows when you buy a pc it usely gets out dated REALLY fast even if these pc is guaranteed to last long, will it really ? or will others copy it..?