Acer subsidiary eMachines might be best known for budget PCs rather than top-dollar high-end hardware, but that doesn’t mean eMachines’ systems are forever trapped in the land of boring rectangles. The company has just introduced its Mini-e ER1402 small form factor desktop PC. And rather than being a small boring box that can slide onto a shelf or maybe hide behind a monitor, the ER1402 sports a floating black diamond chassis, silver pedestal, and soft green lighting along the lower edge.
“Today’s cost-conscious consumer will find style, features, and affordability come together beautifully in the low-cost eMachines Mini-e,” said eMachines’ senior business manager for consumer desktops Steve Smith, in a statement. “It’s an inconspicuous, streamlined computing solution for any room of the home where consumers want to enjoy movies, photos, music, and other online entertainment.”
Like a lot of small form factor PCs, the ER1402 is essentially a netbook…but at least this one is a netbook driven by an AMD Athlon II Neo K125 processor running at 1.7 GHz and Nvidia GeForce 9200 graphics, which means it has more oomph than a typical budget system. The ER1402 also sports 2 GB of RAM, a 160 GB hard drive, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, gigabit Ethernet, HDMI output for connecting to a big screen or home theater system (along with S/PDIF for connecting to audio hardware), VGA output, a multi-in-one digital media card reader, and four USB 2.0 ports. The system runs WIndows 7 Home Premium, and an optional mounting bracket will enables users to set it on the backside of a flat-panel monitor or a television, if that floating-diamond motif doesn’t work for you. The system ships with a wireless keyboard and mouse, but seems to omit a microphone and webcam: users may need to pick up some accessories if they want to do VoIP calling or video chats.
The ER1402 is available now from retailers at prices starting at $299.99.
