Few things surprise us more than when laptop shoppers tell us that though they are planning to keep their new computer permanently chained to a desk (to essentially act as a desktop PC), they intend to buy a 13-inch (or even a 14- or 15-inch) laptop. If you're removing portability from the equation completely, there's little reason to ignore one of the most fun categories of laptops: the massive 18-inch desktop replacement.
Acer Aspire Ethos
The Good
The Bad
The Bottom Line
These huge systems cross our door rarely--it's certainly a niche category--but the latest to do so has a potentially very clever gimmick. The $1,599 Acer Aspire Ethos AS8951G (yes, it has at least three names, plus a model number) includes a touch pad that pops right out from the laptop chassis and can be used as a portable remote control.
If that sounds like a clever idea, that's because it is. Unfortunately, in this implementation, there are a few problems that keep it from being as useful as it could be. First, the removable touch pad, called the Media Remote, is primarily designed to work with Acer's proprietary Clear-Fi media software, which the system makes hard to avoid. The pad lacks a right-click function, making it less than ideal for casual browsing, and it's oddly unresponsive at times, even with the sensitivity cranked all the way up.
Beyond that, the laptop's actual hardware is mostly top-notch. Acer and sister brand Gateway have always made excellent large 17-inch-and-bigger multimedia and gaming laptops. This one has a full HD 1,920x1,080-pixel-resolution screen, Blu-ray, a fast Intel Core i7-2630QM CPU, and a decent Nvidia GeForce GT555 graphics card. Without the gimmicky touch pad, the 8951G might have been able to come in $100 or so less, but it's still an excellent big-screen miniature home theater for your den or dorm room, if you can get used to the remote touch pad and its limitations.