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ethos

The latest monster gaming laptops

All the excitement these days may be centered around supersmall laptops, from ultraportable to ultrathin to ultrabook, but there's still a place for PCs on the opposite end of the spectrum. There are few things more fun for a laptop reviewer than unpacking and setting up a massive 17- or 18-inch desktop replacement laptop. To be fair, many of these systems hardly qualify to be called laptops at all; some are so massive, and have such poor battery life, that you'll essentially set them up once and never move them again.

We've had a bit of a … Read more

Acer's Aspire Ethos 8951G review: Need a laptop with a detachable touch pad?

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.

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.

Read the full review of the Acer Aspire Ethos 8951. … Read more

New Acer Aspire Ethos laptops add detachable wireless touch-pad remotes, high-end specs

Laptop news keeps coming this week, and Acer's latest is a funky one indeed. The newly-announced Acer Aspire Ethos is a new laptop line that's aimed squarely at the high-end over-$1000 market, with a very unique twist: its touch pad detaches and becomes a wireless remote.

That's right: a remote. The design's enough to mildly surprise even the most jaded laptop expert. While the rest of the Ethos chassis is downright staid, that wide multitouch pad's transformation into a separately functioning wireless remote complete with LED-backlit controls might qualify as one of the most … Read more