Dan Chiappini13 June 2006, 4:48 AM
When is a notebook not a notebook? Last week, ASUS showed off their sexy new 17-inch W2J model at Computex in Taiwan, but someone must have whispered to Acer that bigger is better, because they've now unveiled a pelvis-crushing model.
When is a notebook not a notebook? I’d wager the scale tips somewhere beyond 17 inches of display. And so it was last week that ASUS showed off its sexy new 17in W2J model at Computex in Taiwan.
This is ASUS’ first offering with an HD-DVD drive. The specs are top notch as you’d expect and it’s definitely pitched at gamers and power entertainment users with a bit of cash to splash. The big pull here is the fact that this is the first notebook we’ve seen with an integrated HDMI port on it.
Someone must’ve whispered something to Acer about bigger being better, because it had something even larger on display.
Sure, we could argue semantics all day, but this big fella seems to blow out the boundaries of even the large format laptop category. (Go on, try it if you like. Just don't come crying to me when you crush your pelvis.) And I don’t know a lot of people who carry a paper notebook 20 inches or larger, let alone a screen attached to a solid electronic base.
Are these demos snap releases in response to Dell’s concept (but now confirmed and shipping) portable PC announced at CES earlier this year? (pictured right, with commensurately enormous price tag.)
Looks like the first generation of High-Def video content will be fought just as fiercely in the mobile space as it will in the loungeroom. Perhaps if the notebook guys get it their way, this will be your loungeroom in the future. If not, at least you'll be able to connect it all via HDMI.