Computer maker Acer is rolling out its Revo RL100 media center PC at United States retailers today, taking a shot at being a sleek—and budget-friendly—home digital media hub. The RL100 features a sleek chassis (it’s just one inch tall) and a unique dual-mode keyboard that flips between a touch-based keyboard and a trackpad-like mouse. And, for the all-Acer household, the Revo RL100 features Acer’s clear.fi technology, enabling it to seamlessly interconnect with Acer devices in the house (even smartphones) and consolidate all their digital media.
The Revo RL100 is powered by an AMD Athlon II K325 processor running at 1.3 GHz and Nvidia IOn discrete graphics that can handle 1080p HD video playback and Web HD Flash acceleration with aplomb. The unit sports 4 GB of RAM, a 750- GB hard drive, three USB 2.0 ports (two in back, one in front), along with 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, Ethernet, a multi-in-one media card reader, plus HDMI and and S/PDIF output for connecting to a home theater system.
The Revo RL100’s coolest feature might just be its keyboard, however: a dual-mode wireless touchpad/keyboard. About the size of an index card, the touchpad can function as a touchpad mouse; flip a switch, and it becomes a backlit full-function keyboard sized to be used by either fingers or thumbs. While a trackpad the device enables one-finger navigation and control; two fingers pivots and rotates documents, and three fingers scrolls. The touchpad isn’t going to be the device you write a novel on, but for getting around a home theater PC and doing basic messaging, it seems like it might be just the ticket.
Acer’s clear.fi technology automatically seeks out and connects to other clear-fi enabled devices on a home network and enables users to share their digital content across all those devices. Acer’s clear.fi is DLNA-compatible, meaning it can pull in things things like NAS devices and gaming consoles,and Acer is building clear-fi into all its consumer devices to enable easy media discovery and management.
The Acer Revo RL100 is available now from retailers with a suggested price of $499.99; a unit with a built-in Blu-ray drive carries a suggested price of $569.99.