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Acer adds a low-cost all-in-one hardly bigger than a laptop

The $599 Acer Aspire ZC-605 has a 19-inch screen and an Intel Pentium CPU.

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Dan Ackerman Editorial Director / Computers and Gaming
Dan Ackerman leads CNET's coverage of computers and gaming hardware. A New York native and former radio DJ, he's also a regular TV talking head and the author of "The Tetris Effect" (Hachette/PublicAffairs), a non-fiction gaming and business history book that has earned rave reviews from the New York Times, Fortune, LA Review of Books, and many other publications. "Upends the standard Silicon Valley, Steve Jobs/Mark Zuckerberg technology-creation myth... the story shines." -- The New York Times
Expertise I've been testing and reviewing computer and gaming hardware for over 20 years, covering every console launch since the Dreamcast and every MacBook...ever. Credentials
  • Author of the award-winning, NY Times-reviewed nonfiction book The Tetris Effect; Longtime consumer technology expert for CBS Mornings
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Dan Ackerman
Acer

Powerful desktop replacement laptops with 17-inch and even 18-inch screens are common, while most all-in-one systems we see have 23-inch or 27-inch displays. Acer finds some common ground with the just-announced Acer Aspire ZC-605, a 19.5-inch all-in-one that the company calls, "compact, comfortable, and affordable."

At $599, the ZC-605 is certainly at the lower end of the desktop all-in-one prince range. And with a 19.5-inch display, it's hardly larger than some of the bigger laptops we've reviewed.

't="" optimal="" for="" screen="" this="" size.="" more="" interesting="" is="" choice="" of="" an="" intel="" pentium="" dual="" core="" 2127u="" processor="" --="" it's="" been="" while="" since="" we've="" seen="" something="" other="" than="" i-series="" cpu="" from="" intel,="" although="" some="" small-screen="" hybrids="" tablets="" have="" even="" lower-power="" atom="" chips.="" <="" p="">

On the positive side, there's a full 1TB HDD, two USB 3.0 ports (and two more USB 2.0 ports), and Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are built in. The frame itself tilts from 10 degrees to 30 degrees for easier viewing, and there's an HDMI input for using the screen as a standalone display.

We haven't seen this Pentium-powered all-in-one in person yet, but it will be interesting to see how it does with Windows 8 and its tile-based interface. The Acer Aspire ZC-605 will be available from Amazon for $599.