New Acer Aspire Ethos laptops embrace Sandy Bridge

Acer has this week provided quite a few details on its updated Aspire Ethos laptop line which is based on Intel's Huron River platform and promises to deliver 'ultimate user experience in terms of entertainment and performance.'

Coming in two sizes - 15.6-inch (5951G) and 18.4-inch (8951G), the new Ethos models feature a frameless CineCrystal (1366 x 768 for the 5951G, 1920 x 1080 for the 8951G) LED-backlight display protected by Gorilla Glass, a brushed aluminium-magnesium alloy cover, a backlit chiclet keyboard, and a detachable touchpad that can be used as a media remote.

Acer's laptops are powered by a 2nd generation Core processor, and come equipped with one HDD (or one HDD plus an SSD on the 8951G), up to GeForce GT 500M series graphics, a DVD or Blu-ray drive, a multi-in-1 card reader, Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, optional Bluetooth 3.0, USB 3.0 connectivity, a Crystal Eye HD webcam, two (5951G) or five (8951G) built-in speakers, and a PowerSmart long life battery that can retain 80% capacity for over 1000 charge cycles (apparently that's 3 times more than 'traditional' notebook batteries).

The fresh Aspire Ethos duo also makes use of the clear.fi cross-platform media sharing system. No word from Acer on pricing but we did find a 8951G unit up for pre-order at €1,699 . This one runs Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit and boasts a 2.0 GHz Core i7-2630QM CPU, 16GB of RAM, a GeForce GT 555M graphics card and both a 120GB SSD and a 750GB hard drive

ASUS Eee PC 1015PX 10.1-Inch Netbook

Asus Eee PC 1015PX netbook is powered by a 1.66Ghz Intel Atom N570 dual-core processor,  a 10.1-inch matte LED display with a resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels, 1GB of DDR3 memory, a 250GB hard drive, and Intel GMA 3150 graphic.

This netbook is equipped with a 0.3-megapixel webcam, Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0, LAN, VGA port, an SD/MMC card reader, three USB 2.0 ports, a 48W/h or 56W/h battery, and Windows 7 Starter pre-loaded.

Specifications
Processor	Intel Atom Processor N570 (1M Cache, 1.66 GHz)
Main Memory	1GB DDR3 SODIMM, max 2GB
Graphic system	Intel GMA 3150
Display	10.1-Inch Matte WSVGA LED Display, 1024 x 600 pixels
Hard Disk	250GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
Webcamera	0.3-megapixel
Audio	stereo speaker
Wireles	802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth	Bluetooth 3.0
Input/Output Port	3 x USB 2.0 ports 1 x VGA 1 x Ethernet LAN
Expansion Slots	2-in-1 Card reader (SD/MMC)
Operating System	Windows 7 Starter 32 bit
Battery	48W/h battery, Up to 11 Hours of Battery Life 56W/h battery, Up to 11 Hours of Battery Life
Dimensions	10.31 x 7.01 x 0.93 – 1.43 inches
Weight	2.76 lbs
Warranty	1 year
Price	$346-$389 at the Amazon

Asus Eee Pad Transformer TF101-A1 16GB

The Asus Eee Pad Transformer TF101-A1 is based on the Nvidia Tegra 2 1GHz dual-core processor, 10.1-inch WSVGA (1280×800) IPS Capacitive LED Touchscreen, 16GB of storage capacity, and a 1GB DDR2 memory. It runs an Android 3.0 Honeycomb operating system.

Other specifications include a front 1.2-megapixel and rear 5MP web camera, stereo speakers, wireless-n and Bluetooth connections, GPS, gravity sensor, e-compass and gyroscope, an SD card reader.

The Transformer Keyboard Docking Station features a full QWERTY keyboard, a touchpad, 3.5mm audio jack, two USB ports, a built-in SD Card reader, and extends battery life up to 16 hours.

Specifications
Processor	NVIDIA Tegra 2 Processor
Main Memory	1GB DDR2
Graphic system	Intel GMA 3150
Display	10.1″, IPS Panel w/ WXGA 1280 x 800 Resolution
Hard Disk	16GB
Webcamera	Front Camera: 1.2 Megapixel Rear Camera: 5.0 Megapixel
Audio	SRS Sound technology Dual hi-definition audio CODEC stereo speakers
GPS	Yes
Wireles	WLAN 802.11 b/g/n @ 2.4GHz
Bluetooth	Bluetooth V2.1 + EDR
Input/Output Port	two USB 2.0 ports (docking station) HDMI 1.3 (mini) 2-in-1 audio jack (headphone out / mic in) docking port
Expansion Slots	Micro SD card reader
Operating System	Android 3.0 Honeycomb
Battery	24.4 W/h Li-Polymer battery, 9.5 hrs 16 hrs w/ optional dock
Dimensions	10.7 x 6.7 x 0.5″ (27.1 x 17.1 x 1.3 cm)
Weight	1.5 lb (680 g)
Warranty	1 year
Price	$825 at the Amazon