Acer Aspire 3D laptop

Dan Ackerman | Oct 15, 2009

The 3D-ready Acer Aspire 5738DG.
(Credit: pcpro.co.uk)

A handful of bloggers have taken note of the Acer Aspire 5738DG, mentioned on that global PC brand's New Zealand Web site. This 15.6-inch laptop is notable for including a 3D-capable display.

Unlike Nvidia's 3D Vision setup, which requires specially powered glasses, one of a handful of approved 120Hz LCD monitors, and a specific desktop GPU with a dual-link DVI connection, the Acer version is a bit simpler. According to a hands-on report from Pocket-link.com, it utilizes a pair of polarized glassed, a special screen coating, and some custom Acer software apps, called 3D CineReal and TriDef.

These apps will apparently work with specially encoded video and photo files, and also will be able to convert some PC games from 2D to 3D. We've seen the technology in action, very briefly, and while it doesn't come close to the Nvidia version, which requires a lot more specialized hardware, we did see some reasonably decent 3D effects. PCPro.co.uk says, "It works well...(but) you need to have your head positioned carefully to see the 3D effects without ghosting."

We've also been playing around with Nvidia's 3D Vision technology recently, and while cumbersome, under the right circumstances the effect is close to amazing.

The official blurb on acer.co.nz reads as follows:

The Aspire 5738DG is Acer's first 3D notebook. Featuring Intel Centrino 2 Processor technology, up to 4GB memory and 3rd generation Dolby Home Theatre, you are now able to watch 3-D movies in the comfort of your own notebook.

It works out to a bit under US$1,500, and we'll have to wait to see if the Aspire 5738DG is going to turn up anytime soon. Between this, James Cameron's upcoming Avatar film, and Nvidia's 3D Vision, there's an awful lot of interest in 3D media lately.

Via CNET Crave

Filed under: Notebooks
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