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Acer Laptops Now Visible In Unprecedented Third Dimension - But Will Anyone See It?

Posted by Daniel Shain

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Acer's new Aspire 5738DG is the world's first laptop with the capability to view movies (or whatever else) in eye-popping, comin-right-atcha 3D. The world of 3D is growing, as the cinema and even television world embraces it - but is the world ready for 3D notebooks? I mean, is it really?

The new Aspire laptop will be utilizing Acer's CineReal technology, which is essentially a special coating which Acer puts on the LCD to enable 3D viewing when paired with polarized eyeglasses. With the coating on the display and the glasses on your eyes, the included TriDef 3D Experience software does all the converting necessary, even without the help of a special GPU. The laptop should be a decent one, and it is expected to come with a Centrino 2 CPU and up to 4GB RAM, and cost the equivalent of around $1500.

3D is an interesting thing. I feel like I have read a lot of press saying how it is just a novelty act, and in fact, as far as my own experience goes, I have to agree. A few months back I went to a theater and saw that Coraline was playing in 3D.

Coraline 3D

If you haven't heard of it, Coraline is a Tim Burton film, which are usually already dripping in special effects, so I was more than happy to shell out a few extra bucks to see the 3D version and give my eyes even more spectacle. And it was amazing. Really, the stuff just popped out at me, and I was impressed. I walked away a happy man. I also walked away fully satisfied that I had seen something in 3D and relatively sure I was never going to pay an extra $3.50 on top of the already expensive prices at theaters just to see that little trick again. The reason was that only a few scenes really utilized the special effect, and while it was cool to see it for the first time, it was hardly something that "made" the movie experience for me.

But on the flipside, the trend for 3D accessibility is going up, not down, as more and more devices are 3D enabled with better and newer technologies. Is this just companies trying to artificially create "the next big thing" and start selling overpriced junk to the saps who will eat up their marketing? Or is this truly the beginning of a tidal wave of 3D? To relate the question back to Acer's new rig - are they cashing in on a novelty, or just trailblazing a new path?

There were many who said netbooks would never last back in 2007 when they first debuted. Two years may not be the biggest sample size in the world, but the unmitigated success of the form factor has silenced most critics. Adding a special coating to the screen ain't the same as an entirely new form factor with new hardware, but might this not be the same thing? What are the odds that in two years hence, we'll all be thanking Acer for taking this leap now to bring it to laptop users, encouraging innovation and invention?

One difference could be this: I know in 2008 when I started reviewing netbooks, I looked at them and thought: "If they work out the kinks I might get one of these someday". Frankly, I don't think 3D viewing will ever be something that I will pay for. I see it like HD television - an enhancement for sure, especially in certain situations, but not worth my hard earned dollars and cents. I never paid for HD when it cost a premium, although I happily use the plentiful free HD available today.

So the question is - do you care about 3D? Is the world ready for 3D laptops? Would the idea of 3G smartphones in 2011 send you into an excited frenzy, or merely make you cringe? I'd be interested to see other people's take on this one.

Saw this laptop first over at engadget

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