Acer has unveiled the second iteration of its Gemstone laptop series.

Dubbed as the Gemstone Blue, the obvious mark up of this second generation model is the all new body that has a more sophisticated look to it. Ditching its light colored exterior, the new Gemstone is carries a darker motif and a more slim body with an all-new CineTouch control system located at the left side of the keyboard. Hardware-wise, it boasts of a 1.5 GHz Intel Penryn processor, 512 MB Nvidia 9650m GS graphics, 16:9 1080p capable screen and Blu-ray optical drive. This lappie comes in two variants to choose from: 16- and 18.4-inch models.


Indeed, the new look is a step up from its predecessor, but with its extended width, I was hoping for a more well-spaced numeric keypad instead of those CineTouch controls. After all, how often will you end up using the CineTouch features? But hey, that’s just my opinion and it seems that this machine was built for the mobile movie-buff which makes the short-cut key choice sensible, in a way. Price is expected to start at $ 900 for the most basic set-up.