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First look: Acer Aspire 7600U and 5600U all-in-one touch screens

At Computex, Acer shows off Windows 8 and the Metro UI in new 27-inch and 23-inch all-in-one desktops.

Craig Simms Special to CNET News
Craig was sucked into the endless vortex of tech at an early age, only to be spat back out babbling things like "phase-locked-loop crystal oscillators!". Mostly this receives a pat on the head from the listener, followed closely by a question about what laptop they should buy.
Craig Simms
2 min read

TAIPEI, Taiwan--While all-in-one touch screens have never lived up to the promise, the launch of Windows 8 later this year will mean a rash of new devices hitting the market. Will compelling touch-screen Windows apps for the desktop finally happen?

Acer

The bigger 7600U comes in at 27 inches and has a full HD resolution. Here, you can spot a slot-loading optical drive.

The touch screen allows up to 64 simultaneous inputs, which could have fascinating implications for multiuser programs. It can also be tilted flat like a table, and rotated for easy access.

Screen quality was excellent at first glance, and the Metro aesthetic translates really well to the large screen. We're looking forward to seeing if usability is up there as well. The product manager joked that vertically oriented, it's the world's biggest e-reader. From the sharp text we saw, he may not be far off the mark.

Acer

The 5600U is only 23 inches across, and doesn't tilt flat like the 27-inch -- it's limited to 85 degrees. Both have Dolby Theater Surround Sound. Build quality looked a little cheap, but we suspect that we saw very early pre-production samples.

Craig Simms/CNET

It will also rotate up to 90 degrees when vertical, although the demo unit we saw wobbled quite a bit and didn't lock firmly into place. We're hoping that this will be addressed by the time it goes to market. The clear panel seems to only serve as a grip when adjusting the monitor.

Craig Simms/CNET

Getting close to the desktop proved difficult, but we spotted at least a pair of USB 3.0 ports, headphone and microphone jacks, and a multi-card reader. There were at least two more USB 2.0 ports around the back, along with a breakout power supply. Internal specs are yet to come.

(Source: CNET Australia)

Visit CNET Asia's Computex 2012 page for more news and product announcements from the trade show in Taiwan.