New Acer Gemstone Notebooks First Dolby Surround Certified
Today Acer lifted the veil on its new laptop design, and so far we’re not overly impressed. Okay, so the notebooks have smoother lids and more “opalesque” curves. There’s even a neon blue light (think Tron) that streaks from the DC-in port on the side to the power button just beneath the keyboard. These are nice improvements over previous designs, but what we’re really pumped about are the speakers. Here’s why.
These are the first laptop speakers to be Dolby Surround certified. Granted, there’s no way of telling how the speakers will sound unless you hear them in person, but it still manages to make me raise an eyebrow. Rumor has it they might also come with high-definition optical drives (your choice of Blu-ray or HD DVD). An extra bonus: 7 new touch-sensitive media keys. No word yet on specs, pricing or availability, but I’ll update as soon as we hear back from the Acer camp. In the meantime, enjoy the pics.
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Comments (AU Comments | US Comments)
The terms “Dolby Surround” and “Laptop” do not go in the same sentence. It’s a complete waste of time. If all the speakers are placed so close together, you’d hardly hear the differences in the sounds emanating from the speakers, and that’s essentially what makes surround so impressive. The only good thing is if the laptop has a digital audio output (preferably optical), because that will allow you to connect it to a receiver/amplifier with a Dolby Surround decoder, and with that connected to 5.1/7.1/whatever speakers (that are appropriately positioned in your living space), you will be able to experience surround sound.
This is like having stereo speakers on a mobile phone. The only purpose it serves is louder sound, but you can only notice the stereo effects if you listen with headphones.
What are manufacturers smoking these days? Whatever it is, I haven’t tried it yet …