Acer recently announced its series of X1200 small form factor desktops. There are three models ranging in price from $450 to $700. The X1200-U1520A and the X1200-U1510A are both available now for $450 and $460, respectively, and the decked-out X1200-B1581A will be available for $700 on Sunday, July 13th.
Each model comes with a 64-bit dual-core AMD chip, 4GB of RAM, on-board NVIDIA GeForce 8200 graphics, DVD burner, Vista Premium 64, 7.1-channel audio, and HDMI out. The premium model comes with a 22-inch LCD monitor and 500GB SATA hard drive versus 320GB hard drives (and no monitor) on the less expensive ones.
That’s a pretty compelling setup for the price, especially if you’re looking for a HTPC for the living room. Full press release after the jump…
New Acer® Aspire X1200 Desktop is a Small Yet Mighty Package
No-Compromise Solution Boasts Desktop Power and Value in a Compact, Expandable and Environmentally-Friendly Design
SAN JOSE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Acer America, the third largest vendor in the PC market,(1) today announced the Acer® Aspire X1200, a truly dynamic and compact entertainment center with prices beginning at just $450.
Offering powerful desktop components and expansion capabilities in a small box, the Acer® Aspire X1200 desktop enables users to enjoy high-definition movies, games and theater-like sound while maximizing space in the home. Featuring AMD dual-core processors, NVIDIA® GeForce® 8200 on-board graphics and PCI Express® 2.0, it’s ideal for entertainment enthusiasts and space-conscious consumers desiring phenomenal performance in an environmentally-friendly design.
“Our innovative, low energy consumption desktop is a no-compromise solution providing desktop power, performance and value in a compact form factor,” said Stephanie Hatchel, Senior Manager, Retail Desktop Product Planning for Acer America. “Aspire X1200 was designed to be an appealing, easy to use media hub for making the most of entertainment. From broadcasting MP3s in crystal clear acoustics to showcasing movies, this compact system is a multimedia powerhouse and available at a price today’s budget-minded consumers will appreciate.”
Expandable Space-Saving Design
Measuring just 10.6-inches (H) x 4.0-inches (W) x 14.4-inches (L), the compact chassis maximizes desktop real estate. Its high gloss coating and recessed venting sport an elegant look and feel. Translucent plastic knobs on the speakers are attractive and make it simple to adjust volume. Peripherals including the keyboard and mouse showcase subtle color differences that enhance the overall design appeal.
Providing room for expansion, the system offers two PCI Express slots (X1 and X16). For easy access and reach, five USB 2.0 ports, a multi-in-1 card reader, IEEE 1394 port and audio jacks are conveniently located on the front of the PC. Four additional USB 2.0 ports are positioned on the back for connecting to a wide array of peripherals and digital devices.
Dynamic Digital Media Powerhouse
Unlike similar small form factor PCs that leverage mobile components with higher costs and lower performance, the Aspire X1200 offers a choice of models that scale up to an AMD Athlon™ X2 5000 processor and up to 4GB DDR2 memory for taking on advanced multitasking. The AMD processors support downloadable AMD Live! applications for optimal recording, transferring, sharing and organizing of photos, videos, music and media. The energy-efficient designs employing the AMD Athlon™ X2 Dual Core 4850e processor consume less power, resulting in less wasted energy, lower operational cost as well as cooler and quieter operation.
Boasting the NVIDIA® GeForce® 8200 Chipset with PureVideo HD Technology, the Aspire X1200 supports the hottest games with Microsoft® DirectX 10 for realistic, life-like images. The system also promises high-definition movie picture quality with supported formats including H.264, VC1 and MPEG2. Fully integrated high-definition audio with 7.1-channel audio support provides dynamic sound for games, music and movies. In conjunction with an HD display, the Acer Aspire X1200 delivers a superb home theater experience.
HDMI makes it easy to hook the PC to a big screen TV and gives users a full range of support for any high-definition format via a single cable. A high-performance 14-in-1 digital media card reader makes it easy to transfer video, music and movies from a host of digital devices. The minidesktops also come with a large SuperMulti Double-layer drive, which provides enough room to record significant data, hours of DVD-quality video and thousands of songs.
Front- and rear-access audio jacks speed up connection of headphones, microphones and other audio peripherals. PCI Express 2.0 optimizes computer components, such as high-end discrete graphics cards and network cards for the fastest performance available.
Specifications, Pricing and Availability
The Acer® Aspire X1200 desktop PC is available now at major retailers nationwide. Prices range from a manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) of $449.99 to $699.99 depending on configuration. See following for available models.
Acer® Aspire X1200-U1520A: Available now for a MSRP of $449.99
- AMD Athlon™ X2 Dual Core 4850e Processor
- NVIDIA® GeForce® 8200 On-Board Graphics
- 4GB DDR2 Memory
- 320GB SATA II Hard Drive (2)
- 16x DVD+R/RW, DVD-RAM SuperMulti, Double-Layer Drive
- 14-in-One Media Card Reader
- Windows Vista® Premium 64 with SP1
Acer® Aspire X1200-U1510A: Available now for a MSRP of $459.99
- AMD Athlon™ X2 Dual Core 5000+ Processor
- NVIDIA® GeForce® 8200 On-Board Graphics
- 4GB DDR2 Memory
- 320GB SATA II Hard Drive (2)
- 16x DVD+R/RW, DVD-RAM SuperMulti, Double-Layer Drive
- 14-in-One Media Card Reader
- Windows Vista® Premium 64 with SP1
Acer® Aspire X1200-B1581A: Available for a MSRP of $699.99 starting on July 13
- AMD Athlon™ X2 Dual Core 4850e Processor
- NVIDIA® GeForce® 8200 On-Board Graphics
- 4GB DDR2 Memory
- 500GB SATA II Hard Drive (2)
- 16x DVD+R/RW, DVD-RAM SuperMulti, Double-Layer Drive
- 14-in-One Media Card Reader
- 22-inch Widescreen LCD Display
- Windows Vista® Premium 64 with SP1
Practical Software Simplifies Management of Data and Applications
The Acer® Aspire X1200 comes with Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium, Microsoft® Office 2007 Trial with Microsoft Works 8.5, Adobe® Reader®, CyberLink PowerDVD and Arcade™ Live, a powerful software package for editing, viewing, burning and managing media content.
Acer Empowering Technology, a suite of management applications, is also bundled. These feature eRecovery back-up and recovery and eSettings for viewing system information, changing boot options and monitoring components.
Acer® Aspire X1200 is the perfect platform for taking advantage of Acer GameZone that provides an array of casual games available for purchase and downloading at http://acer.oberon-media.com.
That seems like a pretty amazing package for $699. Whats the downside to it? There must be one. Does anyone have experience with Acer PCs? Are they clunkers or actually decent?
With the ability to putput at 1080P, why not put in a Blu-Ray player/combo drive?
I got my old acer aspire e380 and it has been very nice. Im guessing that this one has the same drawback as mine. The power supply is 250watts but on htpc thats not big deal. Might be a turn off for someone who wants to put high-end graphics card in it.
i know acer bought out gateway, and i have a gateway laptop that is functioning pretty well (ive only had since nov 2007) but is in great shape. i would imagine they would be keeping the same quality in their desktops.
anyone know what model monitor comes with this?
We just bought the lowest cost model…SUPERB!! It runs incredibly smoothly, even with over 10 programs running at the same time. I didn’t even realize computers were made with 4 GB of memory, but I’m glad they do. Desktops are definitely hitting their stride with laptops close behind.
Just got one and it is very nice, but cant seem to get any audio over the hdmi connection.
has anyone else tried this sucessfully?
at the moment i am using the provided speakers…
tx
Jeff
I’m only using this X1200 for a few months due to renting a bad laptop. And I have not found a way to getting audio. I even plugged a HDMI cord to my 32′ SHARP , but no luck either! How did you do it?
Acer broke the HDMI audio with a BIOS update. I believe new systems come with this new BIOS, thus no functioning HDMI audio. Acer support is unaware of this and thus there is no fix, nor any sign that this issue has been elevated to engineering.
can you put a blu-ray player in this machine.
Some models come with a blu-ray player. Some people have put them in as I may also do at some point. I found a really good discussion here:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1046863
Also, the audio over HDMI issue has apparently been fixed. Acer has put a new A3 bios up, replacing the old A3 with the problem.
I just brought one of these and the speakers don’t work I’ve tryed everything, any hints..Thanks
had same issue when I first hooked up system. Don’t know if U2 ,but the speakers would light up; did not know the one blue lit knob was actually volume and had to be cranked. I thought machine bad, used older speaker set and tested sound. So simple I felt stupid for not noticing; there is volume control on one speaker.
I don’t have external plug in speakers. And it tells me that my HDMI is not plugged in?
What is A3?