Review: Acer Media-Center PC Has Built-In Touchpad

Flat-panel TVs and PCs go awesome with one another — the PC receives a giant screen, as well as the tv set receives entry to tons of on-line video.

But acquiring the two with one another in an stylish way have been difficult. PC makers haven't revealed drastically attention in producing personal computers that purpose truly nicely when controlled away from your couch.

So it's good to determine Acer Inc. hold a considerable stab on the problems with its new Revo RL100. The glass windows PC is developed away from your soil as drastically as game into an amusement center. It's more compact than most digital video disc gamers and instead quiet.

It's also a superb worth at $470 possessing a digital video disc generate or $570 with Blu-ray.

The most striking circumstance concerning the design and design may be the reality that the thin, postcard-sized dark slate pops out from the entrance from the unit. It's a wireless touchpad that turns, on the touch of the button, into an illuminated wireless keyboard. When saved inside the PC, it recharges its inner battery.

So this, finally, is typically a brand-name PC that arrives possessing a built-in "couch controller."

The Revo's touchpad nonetheless leaves a complete great offer getting desired. It doesn't arrive near to replicating the ease with which we look after a PC through a frequent keyboard and mouse.

The touchpad lacks mouse button buttons, which means you need to double-tap to register the click from the left mouse button button, and preserve reducing to register a right-click. Clicking and dragging is possible, but you need the two expertise and practice.

Furthermore, the pad can't work as touchpad and keyboard at identical time, so be particular you change between modes frequently. For instance, steering to some producer new internet site entails steering the cursor in the direction of deal with area in touchpad mode, then altering in the direction of keyboard mode, then altering back again to mouse button mode to navigate the page.

The keyboard is small and finest employed using the thumbs, so it's not appropriate for extended typing sessions.

So the Revo falters in which it tries the hardest.

In almost each and every other respect, it does well.

Setup was commendably easy. It may be complicated to acquire frequent PCs to produce utilization of the tv set show correctly, but using the Revo, it worked the earliest time. The Revo's only show jack can be an HDMI port, the sort employed by flat panels. Helpfully, Acer consists of an HDMI cable tv set as well. It also consists of a Wi-Fi chip, which means you don't need to draw a cable tv set away from your router to acquire internet access.

The Revo's processor and images chip are about as potent as you'd arrive throughout in only a tiny laptop. It done Blu-ray, digital video disc and streamed Netflix films fine. It do a superb work with Skype videoconferencing, an even more from the pleasures of possessing a living-room PC (you provide the webcam). Streaming of high-definition home films from an even more PC also worked well.

The Revo consists of a 750 gigabyte difficult drive, adequate for several weeks' worth of standard-definition video.

High-definition YouTube films didn't hold out instead as smoothly as I'd like, most in all probability as a final result of the reality from the limitations from the Nvidia ION images chip. Hardcore 3-D activity fits are previous the competencies from the Revo.

There's a USB jack with one another with a slot for just about any storage card concerning the entrance from the unit, but you need to go in the direction of back again to arrive throughout two drastically more USB jacks as well as the headphone jack. That's not just a marvelous layout for something developed getting stuck in an amusement center. however the back-facing headphone jack isn't an circumstance after you connect the Revo through a receiver, as I did, as receivers have headphone jacks of the own.

From my place of view, the chief competitor in the direction of Revo may be the Mac mini, that is drastically much more potent but lacks an optical generate and leaves that you determine the way in which to look after it away from your couch.

The Revo consists of a space for development using the look after division as well. for that subsequent model, I wish Acer figures out the way in which to include mouse button buttons with one another with a permanently accessible keyboard in the direction of wireless controller.

"Couch surfing" possessing a PC will by no implies be as uncomplicated as mashing the channel-change key on the tv set remote, but we are able to wish to acquire closer to this epitome of laziness.

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