Acer Ethos Notebooks Bring a Removable TouchPad Remote to The Party

Josh SmithJune 16, 2011

Acer is bringing the sexy looking multimedia optimized Ethos notebooks to the U.S. this month and alongside powerful specs and a gorilla glass display you’ll find a removable touchpad that doubles as a remote control for easy access to your multimedia playback.

Acer Aspire Ethos AS8951G and AS5951G Quick Specs

The Acer Aspire Ethos notebooks will both be powered with the increasingly popular 2.0 GHz Intel Core i7 Quad Core processor with TurboBoost up to 2.9GHz when you need more power. The notebooks will use an Nvidia GeForce GT 555M GPU with 2GB of Video RAM to deliver a multimedia experience capable of handling gaming and video playback as well as media creation. The Ethos AS8951G will come with 8GB RAM while the AS5951G will ship with 6GB. Both models come with a 750GB hard drive, Blu-Ray Drive S card reader, Bluetooth 3.0, Fingerprint reader and a 1.3MP webcam. The notebooks have a backlit island style keyboard.

The Acer Aspire Ethos AS8951G has a 18.4″ display with a 1920×1080 resolution and the Ethos AS5951G has a 15.6″ display with a 1366×768 resolution.

The larger AS8951G includes a 5 speaker sound system, including a subwoofer, with Dolby Home Theater v4 and a Dolby optimized Acer CineSurround Sound System to deliver a premium audio experience. On the Ethos AS5951G you still get Dolby Home Theater v4, but you are limited to 2 built in speakers.

Acer Aspire Ethos Removable TouchPad

The most interesting part of the Ethos line is the removable touchpad that doubles as a remote control for media playback. The remote control acts as the touchpad during normal use, but when you want to lean back and watch a movie, or control music from across the room, pop out the touchpad to control from a more comfortable spot. We like this feature and look forward to seeing how it works in person. You don’t seem to be able to use the touchpad wirelessly, so you’ll be limited to the playback controls.

Acer Aspire Ethos U.S. Pricing and Availability

The Acer Ethos notebooks are available in two models, the 18.4″ Acer Aspire Ethos AS8951G which retails for $1,599, and the 15.6″ Acer Aspire Ethos AS5951G which retails for $1,399. Both of these models will be available at retail locations and TigerDirect. The larger AS8951G will also be available in the Microsoft store, Newegg and from Frys.