We Got Served

I have been watching for a good deal on one of HP’s  fabulous Slimline small form factors PCs to put in the master bedroom so that my wife can have a full feature Media Center rather than just an extender.  So I cruise into Best Buy the other day to check out their clearance computers.  I make a beeline to the desktops, scanning the shelves for Slimlines when something catches my eye.  Adrift in a sea of undistinguished HP and Gateway midtowers is a SFF PC I have never seen before.  About as tall as the Slimline I was looking for, but thinner, a bit deeper, and obviously designed to be comfortable standing or laying on its side, I have stumbled across an Acer Aspire X1200.

I spend several minutes perusing the system properties and then pester an employee to retrieve a screwdriver so I can crack the system open and check the internals.  I find the interior to be surprisingly spacious and well-ventilated, cabling neatly tucked to the sides, and decent quality components used throughout.  I am in Best Buy, which means that every car stereo is cranked to 11, but the little machine seems nearly silent.  Needless to say, I had developed a crush.

A few hours later, I am home and scanning TechReport’s headlines when I again see the Acer brand name.  As it turns out, I had never seen the Acer SFF PCs because Acer just announced them.  I like to think that I am cutting edge, but I rarely beat out the press release.

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

More Information: Business Wire