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Insert Coin: MiiPC promises a kid-safe Android PC that allows surfing, gaming for $99 (video)
In Insert Coin, we look at an exciting new tech project that requires funding before it can hit production. If you'd like to pitch a project, please send us a tip with "Insert Coin" as the subject line. If there's one thing that smartphones have taught us, it's that small devices can surf the internet and play games just fine, thank you. With that philosophy in mind, the brains behind eMachines have launched the $99 MiiPC on Kickstarter with the goal of giving kids their own mini PC to surf the web, play games or videos, and, yes, do homework. To keep costs down, the tiny device is packing Android 4.2, a Marvell 1.2GHz dual core CPU, 1GB RAM, 4GB upgradeable storage, WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, ethernet and 1080p HDMI output to a monitor or TV. The backers say it's "designed for large screen connectivity and optimized to provide a true keyboard and mouse experience" so that each family member can run Android apps from their own accounts. For worried parents, the device brings an interesting twist: there's also a mobile iOS or Android companion app to monitor your offspring in real-time from any locale. That'll let you steer them away from verboten websites and stave off dreaded internet addiction, according to the outfit -- bearing in mind, of course, that kids can be pretty clever. The campaign's just kicked off, and MiiPC's seeking $50,000 with a $99 pledge ($89 for the first 200 backers) netting you your own device -- sans keyboard, mouse and screen, of course. Check the video and PR after the break for more.
eMachines Mini-e ER1402: all the PC your mother can handle for just $300
We're guessing that you may actually save even more space if you take the Mini-e from atop that stand and actually let it lay flat on your desk, but it sure looks cute, don't it? eMachines latest, um, machine "looks more like modern art than a computer," or at least that's what we're being told in the presser hosted up just past the break. The Mini-e ER1402 measures just 7.1 inches in diameter and weighs 9 pounds, and while it won't handle the latest installment of Crysis, it should plow through those late night Hulu catch-up sessions with ease. Touting an AMD Athlon II Neo CPU, NVIDIA's GeForce 9200 GPU, 2GB of RAM, four USB 2.0 ports, a built-in card reader, 160GB hard drive, 802.11b/g/n WiFi and an HDMI port, this SFF PC can also be mounted upside your wall or closet if you so choose. Best of all? That totally reasonable $299.99 price tag, coupled with an availability of status of "right now, compadre."
eMachines offers up stylish, underpowered EZ1601-01 all-in-one PC
Remember that EZ1600 we peeked back in April? Seems its long lost cousin just got official courtesy of eMachines, as the EZ1601-01 all-in-one retains that same PC-in-a-monitor feel yet sports a clearly different model name. Or, you know, maybe eMachines just changed the label up on us. At any rate, the newest member of the EZ Series features a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 CPU, 945GSE chipset, 1GB of DDR2 memory, completely uninspiring GMA 950 integrated graphics, a 160GB SATA hard drive, 8x SuperMulti DVD burner, WiFi, five USB 2.0 sockets, built-in speakers, a bundled keyboard and mouse, multicard reader and a 18.5-inch LCD. Thankfully, the underpowered machine offers up Windows XP in order to keep resource demands in check, but the $399.99 price tag may be a bit much given the N270's age.
eMachines intros ET1300-02, ET1810-01 and ET1810-03 desktop PCs
Just a few short weeks after eMachines outed its EL1300 line of SFF PCs, the company is hitting us up again with a new trio of full-size desktops. The ET1300-02, ET1810-01 and ET1810-03 are all encased within a luminous white mini-tower and ship with a matching LCD monitor, speakers and a keyboard. As for specs, the $449.99 ET1300-02 checks in with an AMD Athlon X2 4850e (2.5GHz) CPU, Vista Home Premium, NVIDIA's GeForce G100 (512MB), 3GB of DDR2 memory, a 160GB hard drive, 18x SuperMulti DVD burner, multicard reader, HDMI / DVI / VGA outputs and an 18-inch E182H display. The $369.99 ET1810-03 steps to a 2.2GHz Pentium E2210 CPU, GeForce 7500 integrated graphics and just a single VGA port, while the $299.99 ET1810-01 cranks it down to a 1.6GHz Celeron 420 and 2GB of DDR2 RAM. The trio should be filtering out to respected retailers as we speak.
eMachines delivers EL1300 line of small form factor PCs
Once the laughing stock of the PC world, eMachines has managed to pull together some rather stylish looking rigs over the past few months. As the comeback continues, the company has outed two new Mini PCs in its EL1300 line, the $298 EL1300G-01w and the $398 EL1300G-02w. Both systems include a chassis that's 10.7-inches tall, 4.2-inches wide and 15-inches long (not exactly "mini" in our books...), and while the power ain't anything to write home about, it should handle Word processing and the occasional YouTube video fine. Speaking of specs, both rigs boast a 1.6GHz AMD Athlon 2650e CPU, NVIDIA's GeForce 6150SE integrated graphics, a 160GB SATA HDD, 18x SuperMulti DVD burner, nine USB 2.0 sockets and a multicard reader. Personally, we'd select the more pricey of the two, as that one arrives with a 20-inch LCD (E202H) and Windows XP rather than Vista Home Basic. Totally your call though, boss.
InFocus acquired by Image Holdings Corporation for $39 million
In a move that hopefully helps it bring home more of those slick Play Big projectors, InFocus is going to be acquired by Image Holdings Corporation for the tidy sum of $39 million, or $0.95 per share. The merger is expected to close in the second quarter, making InFocus a wholly-owned subsidiary of IHC,a company controlled by John Hui, one of the founders of eMachines. InFocus prez Bob O'Malley is saying all the right things, that its commitment to delivering innovative projectors hasn't changed, and since the company has made moves from expensive SD front projectors to the "knee" of the price/performance bend, we're willing to give them some time to figure it out.
eMachines EZ1600, Acer Aspire Z5600 and mysterious Gateway all-in-ones in the flesh
We got a quick look at the new all-in-ones from Acer, and they're surprisingly diverse. The eMachines EZ1600 looks incredibly plastic, and almost perfect as a second computer for the kids; the Acer Aspire Z5600 classes up the joint, but might be a bit too staid in the design department; and an unnamed multitouch Windows 7 Gateway (pictured) for the "high end" of things seemed great outside of its incredibly buggy pre-release multitouch driver. Check 'em all out in the gallery below.
Plethora of new Acer Aspires, eMachines, Gateway laptops and netbooks unveiled in one fell swoop
In addition to Timeline and the 11.6-inch Aspire One, Acer decided today to announce new laptops much in the way Nikon and other camera makers roll out their PMA lineup -- in groups of eight or more. By our count, we've got at least ten different models here. Aspire 5935 and 8935: The 18.4-inch 8935 laptop can output a 1080p resolution, True 5.1 channel surround sound and houses up to two HDDs totaling 1TB capacity. The 5935 meanwhile can hold just one 500GB HDD and doesn't do full HD. Both support up to 4GB DDR3 memory, biometric fingerprinting, 802.11 b/g, Bluetooth 2.0, and optional WiMAX. Aspire 3935: A 13.3-inch ultra portable with 1366 x 769 resolution LED-backlit LCD and Intel Core 2 Duo / GM45 express chipset. Features built-in Wi-Fi / WiMAX, up to 4GB DDR3 RAM, biometric fingerprints, and 8 hours of use with a 8-cell battery. eMachines D, E, and G series (pictured): 16 x 9 aspect ratio LCD. Available with Intel Celeron or Pentium processors for all models, plus option for AMD Athlon with E and G series. 14-inch D and 17-inch G have up to 4GB DDR2 RAM, 500GB HDD, while the 15.6-inch E series can feature up to 5GB. All of them boast a wide keyboard, WiFi, webcam, DVD drive, a 5-in-1 card reader, and Windows Vista SP1. Gateway EC series: Lightweight and less than 1-inch thick. The 13-inch netbook has an LED backlit screen with 16 x 9 aspect ratio, Dolby Sound Room, SSD, DDR3 RAM, HDMI out, optional 3G and Bluetooth, webcam, and capacitive hotkeys on top of the keyboard. Gateway 10.1-inch LT20, 11.6-inch LT30: Both are under 2.62 pounds, boast built-in WiFi, Webcam, optional Bluetooth and 3G modules, 5-in-1 card reader, and up to 160GB HDD. The touch pad supports multi-gesture features and reportedly it comes with a "cool protective bag" -- yay? Gateway ID series: Available in glossy midnight blue or night sky with a matte interior and silver-colored touchpad. It's got an 15.6-inch LED backlit screen, slot-in DVD drive, webcam with a curtain (for privacy, obviously), mult-gesture touchpad, and capacitive hotkeys on top of the keyboard. There's still got plenty of missing pieces here, such as pricing and availability for anything here, but one thing's for sure: we are thoroughly overwhelmed by the sheer number of new offerings.
Acer's 18-inch eMachines EZ1600, 24-inch multitouch Aspire Z5600 all-in-ones unveiled
Some more tidbits from the Acer event: new all-in-ones. The eMachines EZ1600 (pictured) boasts a 18.5-inch 16:9 screen and up to 720p resolution, an Intel Atom N270 processor with 945GSE chipset, 2 slots of SO DIMM memory, up to 160GB HDD, DVD-RW, Wi-Fi and a card reader. No price or availability, but you'll be able to pick one up in either silver or black. On the classier side of things, we've got Acer Aspire Z5600 AIO with a 24-inch multitouch display that outputs a 1080p picture. It's got the "latest generation of Intel," up to 2TB hard disk space, a TV tuner, webcam and DVD/Blu-ray writer combo drive. Color us intrigued, but we'll await judgment until we see some price points -- if the Timeline's any indication, we might be in a for a pleasant surprise.
Sub-$400 eMachines eMD620-5777 laptop gets reviewed
We already caught a brief glimpse of eMachines' new budget-priced eMD620-5777 laptop when it was first announced, but if you're still pondering a purchase, you may want to head on over to Laptop mag, which now has a full review of the unit. As you've no doubt surmised, there's some considerable trade-offs with this one, with the 1.6GHz Athlon processor and all around low-end specs placing a considerable drag on performance, and the battery barely managing to top two hours in their tests. On the upside, it's $379 price tag places it squarely in competition with the masses of netbooks out there, and its 14.1-inch screen, while glossy, should do the job just fine for those that prefer a bit more real estate. Hit up the link below for the complete breakdown and, of course, a few more pics.
eMachines intro the eMD620-5777 bargain laptop, curved keyboard and all
If you're looking for a low-priced laptop option come this holiday season, and you want a little more screen real estate than most netbooks provide, you might want to take a peek at the eMachines eMD620-5777. The 14.1-inch, widescreen, entry-level model comes equipped with a 1.6GHz AMD Athlon 2650e CPU, 1GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive, the ATI Radeon x1200 graphics chipset (with up to 1919MB of fancy schmancy HyperMemory), 802.11b/g, a SuperMulti DVD-R/RW drive, and all the ports you know and love. At a totally reasonable $429.99 with Vista Home Basic preloaded, you could certainly do a lot worse. The laptop will be available November 1st at Best Buy, but you can take a look at a quick hands-on we had with a prototype of the eMD620... right this second.%Gallery-35660%
eMachines' $300 EL1200 desktop: "the size of a dictionary"
Really, eMachines? You're honestly going to give your newest cheap-o PC this kind of tagline? Truth be told, we're not exactly sure what a standard sized dictionary even looks like (there's this thing called the internet...), but apparently, it's exactly the same size as the EL1200 desktop. Not sassy enough to be called a nettop, this here mini-tower is 40% smaller and 55% lighter than the company's second tiniest rig, and while it won't handle the likes of Crysis, it shouldn't have too many issues surfing the web and opening Word documents. As for specs, we've got a 1.5GHz AMD Athlon 2650e 64-bit CPU, NVIDIA's GeForce 6150SE integrated graphics, 1GB of DDR2, 160GB hard drive, a dual-layer DVD burner, 14-in-1 multicard reader, seven USB 2.0 ports and a $298 (MSRP) price tag. That system we just rattled off is available now at Wally World, while a slightly more stacked edition can be had at Best Buy for $349.
eMachines bores us to tears, burns our eyes with cheap new desktops
Let's get one thing straight, we're huge fans of budget-priced gear. Yes, even bargain bin PCs that are done right. But eMachines' latest trio is just downright embarrassing. Still, those that don't mind covering their tower in a brown paper bag may find just what they need in the $299.99 T3656, $399.99 T5254 or $498 W3653 kit (pictured). Specs wise, you'll find Intel's Celeron / Pentium dual-core processors, a DVD burner, six USB ports, 1GB to 2GB of RAM, a 160GB or 320GB hard drive, 15-in-1 multicard reader and an equally hideous 17-inch LCD monitor bundled in with just the latter. Oh, and eMachines actually expects you to run Vista on these things and not rip every last hair from your noggin. Enjoy![Via DigitalBurn]
eMachines launches two new desktops, puts your pennies into play
Look, eMachines is just here to help. The low-cost PC maker has introduced a few new desktop models, destined to sit beside your paper plates, can of beans, and tin of generic instant coffee. Not that there's anything wrong with that, mind you. The new budget models come in two flavors, the T3646 and T5254, both featuring AMD CPUs (2.2GHz Sempron LE-1250 versus the 2.1GHz dual core Athlon BE-2350), an NVIDIA 6100 graphics chipset, 1GB or 2GB of RAM, a 160GB or 320GB hard drive, DVD+R/RW SuperMulti drive, a handful of ports, a mouse, and really nasty looking cases. Available right now, $299.99 and $399.99, respectively.
eMachines' new T5246 and T3642 desktops make you go "Eh."
eMachines, long known for dropping mediocre, middle of the road, inoffensive desktops, has once again busted out of the gate with two new defiantly tame PCs that will make you say "Hello." The latest entries -- confusingly named the T5246 and T3642 -- share similar guts, including NVIDIA GeForce 6100 GPUs, DVD DVD±R / RW SuperMulti drives, and 6-channel 5.1 audio. The differences are more apparent where it counts, with the T5246 utilizing a 2.2GHz AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ dual core CPU, 2GB of RAM, and a 400GB hard drive, while the T3642 uses a 2.6GHz Athlon 64 4000+ CPU, carries 1GB of RAM, and downsizes the hard drive to 250GB. Both systems are available now, with the T5246 clocking in at $429.99, and the T3642 listed at $349.99.
Best Buy's "Black Friday" shaping up nicely with $200 PC
Sure, Wal-Mart's $100 Toshiba HD-A2 is going to be a little hard to beat this holiday season, but Best Buy is proving no slacker in the Black Friday price war. Turns out they've got a $200 eMachines desktop on offer, complete with 17-inch LCD. Unfortunately, it'll cost you a fair bit more to get an HD player: Best Buy will have a Philips Blu-ray player for $400, but you can nab an Xbox 360 and a copy of Guitar Hero II (with guitar) for $350 at a more significant level of bargain-ness. Yeah, nothing's blowing our mind like that HD-A2, but it looks like there's going to be plenty of cheap-as-free electronics for adventerous shoppers to fight over in a couple weeks.[Via The Boy Genius Report]
eMachines announces new low-cost desktops for the holidays
eMachines looks to be trying to make its already budget-priced desktops even more attractive to consumers this holiday season, with it today introducing a pair of models that it says strike just the right balance between performance and value. The most affordable of the pair is the company's T3626 desktop (a slight variation on the T3616), which starts at just $350 after a $50 mail-in rebate. For that price you'll get a 2.2GHz AMD Sempron 3800+ processor, along with NVIDIA GeForce 6100 graphics, 1GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive, and a DVD burner, among other standard specs. Taking things up a notch, the $435 (again, after a $50 rebate) T5234 model packs a AMD Athlon 64 X2 4000+ processor, along with slightly beefer NVIDIA GeForce 6150SE graphics, 1GB of RAM, a 320GB hard drive, and that same DVD burner. According to eMachines, both should be available at all the usual locations immediately.
Acer to acquire Gateway: so long cow spots?
Acer -- the third largest PC company globally -- just announced a definitive agreement to acquire Gateway. The acquisition has been approved unanimously by both boards and is expected to close by December 2007. You know, following the usual international, anti-trust approvals. Sure seems like a win-win what with Gateway steadily losing market share (but still tied for third largest PC maker in the US) while finally giving Taiwan's Acer a dominant position in the Americas to match their aggressive growth in Europe and Asia. From the looks of the press release, it would appear that the Gateway (and eMachines) brands will continue under Acer's new "multi-branded company." Fine, but could we now get rid of the cow spots, please? It's not 1985 anymore. [Via Notebooks]
eMachines unveils three new desktops
eMachines continues to ply its wares in the cutthroat waters of the low end PC market, and its new summer and fall lineup looks like it'll be pretty competitive. $500 will get you a T5230 desktop (pictured with optional 19-inch display) with a 2.32GHz dual-core Athlon 64 X2 4400+, NVIDIA 6510SE integrated graphics, 1 GB of RAM, a 250GB disk, Vista Home Premium, and a dual-layer DVD±RW drive, while the $450 T5062 swaps in a single core 2.4GHz Athlon 64 3800+ and a 160GB disk. The $400 T3616 is somewhat less of a deal, with a 2.0GHz Sempron on a 160MHz frontside bus, 512MB of RAM, a 120GB disk, and Vista Home Basic. All these prices go down $50 if you complete the mail-in rebate eMachines will be offering, which should be enough to throw in a couple extra sticks of RAM and actually make these things useful.
eMachines updates line with new desktops, displays
eMachines has a new range of desktop machines and displays for you this weekend with the T3612, T5008, and T5226 coming in with the usual mix of low- to mid-range specifications. At the core of the range is a selection of Intel Pentium processors, ranging from the Celeron D 360 in the T3612 up to the dual core Intel Pentium D 925 processor running at 3GHz in the T5226. The rest of the specs are relatively standard with memory configurations bottoming at 512MB and topping out at 1GB, yucky Intel 950 GMA "graphics cards" in the entire range, a 120-250GB SATA Hard Disk Drives, and all format DVD writer drives, and 15-in-one memory card readers rounding out the rest of the specs. All of these machines run Vista Home Premium, and the top end machine will cost you one cent short of $500 with the lower end T3612 and T5008 priced at $349 and $399 respectively. Expect to see these flogged to bewildered customers everywhere from today. eMachines is also making available a 19-inch widescreen LCD for $209.99 and a 17-inch model for $179.99, although they didn't elaborate on precise details.[Via Mobile Whack]
