You might remember the hype surrounding tablet PCs —those expensive laptops with a fancy screen that could swivel around and cover the keyboard, and you could input with a stylus. As a product category, tablet PCs never took off. Much has changed since then.
Apple showed it was possible to produce devices with excellent touchscreens and interfaces that are tailored to exploit this new hardware capability. iPhone and iPod Touch became gadget gold standards. There is a general recognition that fingers will be the primary input devices of the future.
Among the first laptop manufacturers to take advantage of this and launch in India a regular laptop — no fancy swivel screens — with a multi-touch capable screen, is Acer. The Taiwanese manufacturer's new Aspire 5738PZG is a mid-range laptop powered by Windows7 and priced at Rs43,500. Surely, product names don’t need to be so complex?
Hardware & Design
At 2.8 kg, it's a pretty heavy machine. Powered by an Intel Pentium T4300 processor, the device comes with a 320GB hard disc and 2GB of RAM. In fact, the T4300 is a mid-range chip (the clock speed is 2.1GHz) which may be a tad under-powered for graphics, so Acer has thrown in a separate graphics card-the ATI Radeon HD4570. This card has a port that allows you to connect the machine to the latest high-definition television sets in the market. The 15.6 inch LED-backlit touchscreen uses capacitive sensing technology, which also features in the Apple iPhone.
Four USB ports, a memory card reader, a built-in webcam and a DVD read-write drive are all included, which, one has come to expect from any mid-range laptop computer these days. The audio from the built-in speakers are very impressive by laptop standards. The keyboard is rather spaced out and will require a little bit of adjustment if you're used to typing on some of the smaller cramped netbooks. The multi-touch trackpad also will take some getting used to. The hardware specs are competitive, but if you use memory intensive software, it might be a good idea to double the RAM.
Software & Touch Portal
Microsoft Windows 7 is the pre-installed operating system and it's blazing fast compared to its predecessor Windows Vista. Windows 7 is touch-ready and you can use your fingers to tap, flick and pinch the screen in order to select, move and zoom around the Operating System's interface. The bundled Microsoft Touch Pack also has some interesting applications like Surface Globe (an application similar to Google Earth) which are best accessed using a touchscreen.
As far as a mid-range laptop goes, the Acer Aspire 5738PZG has a good mix of hardware and software. Don't expect the touchscreen to deliver a transformative experience. The operating system is touch-ready, but not designed for pure touch usage. Once the novelty factor dies, you'll likely be back using a keyboard and trackpad. At Rs43,500, it's a very competent package. The high showoff quotient of the touch screen doesn't hurt.
Apple showed it was possible to produce devices with excellent touchscreens and interfaces that are tailored to exploit this new hardware capability. iPhone and iPod Touch became gadget gold standards. There is a general recognition that fingers will be the primary input devices of the future.
Microsoft read the signs and made the latest edition of its popular operating system, Windows 7, touch ready. This means personal computer manufacturers can design devices with touch screens and the operating system would recognize the touch.
Among the first laptop manufacturers to take advantage of this and launch in India a regular laptop — no fancy swivel screens — with a multi-touch capable screen, is Acer. The Taiwanese manufacturer's new Aspire 5738PZG is a mid-range laptop powered by Windows7 and priced at Rs43,500. Surely, product names don’t need to be so complex?
Hardware & Design
At 2.8 kg, it's a pretty heavy machine. Powered by an Intel Pentium T4300 processor, the device comes with a 320GB hard disc and 2GB of RAM. In fact, the T4300 is a mid-range chip (the clock speed is 2.1GHz) which may be a tad under-powered for graphics, so Acer has thrown in a separate graphics card-the ATI Radeon HD4570. This card has a port that allows you to connect the machine to the latest high-definition television sets in the market. The 15.6 inch LED-backlit touchscreen uses capacitive sensing technology, which also features in the Apple iPhone.
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Four USB ports, a memory card reader, a built-in webcam and a DVD read-write drive are all included, which, one has come to expect from any mid-range laptop computer these days. The audio from the built-in speakers are very impressive by laptop standards. The keyboard is rather spaced out and will require a little bit of adjustment if you're used to typing on some of the smaller cramped netbooks. The multi-touch trackpad also will take some getting used to. The hardware specs are competitive, but if you use memory intensive software, it might be a good idea to double the RAM.
Software & Touch Portal
Microsoft Windows 7 is the pre-installed operating system and it's blazing fast compared to its predecessor Windows Vista. Windows 7 is touch-ready and you can use your fingers to tap, flick and pinch the screen in order to select, move and zoom around the Operating System's interface. The bundled Microsoft Touch Pack also has some interesting applications like Surface Globe (an application similar to Google Earth) which are best accessed using a touchscreen.
Acer has also included its own software suite called Touch Portal, which is a place to view multimedia, browse the internet, play some games and generally try out the frills. The touch sensitivity of the screen is decent and there is almost no lag in recognition. A minor glitch is that as you keep tapping on the screen, it keeps tilting backwards and gets to a point where you have to pull it back to a comfortable angle. Loose hinges could be a problem after excessive use a few months.
As far as a mid-range laptop goes, the Acer Aspire 5738PZG has a good mix of hardware and software. Don't expect the touchscreen to deliver a transformative experience. The operating system is touch-ready, but not designed for pure touch usage. Once the novelty factor dies, you'll likely be back using a keyboard and trackpad. At Rs43,500, it's a very competent package. The high showoff quotient of the touch screen doesn't hurt.
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