Acer Aspire Ethos AS8951G-9630 review

Big and powerful, this desktop replacement is no joke

Acer Aspire Ethos AS8951G-9630
A powerful desktop replacement

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Acer spared nothing when equipping the Aspire Ethos AS8951G-9630, opting for an Intel Core i7-2670QM 2.2GHz Processor (that with Turbo Boost technology can run at up to 2.9GHz), 8GB Dual-Channel SDRAM and an 18.4" 1080p HD LCD display (with a maximum resolution of 1920 x 1080).

Being a desktop replacement, this processor has what it takes to handle pretty much anything that you throw at it.

Gamers will no doubt welcome all of this processing power. Power that along with the 1GB Nvidia GeForce GT 555M graphic processor enabled us to play everything from Star Wars: The Old Republic and World of Warcraft to Battlefield 3 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 with ease.

Users will no doubt appreciate the full-size keyboard

Gaming aside, a machine with this much power had no problem dealing with everything from Netflix and Hulu+ to Adobe Photoshop.

Additionally, our test machine ships with Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit version) as well as a 750GB hard drive. While terabyte drives are commonplace with desktops, most users will be hard-pressed to max out this machine's 3/4TB storage option.

Lastly, this model sports a 4X Blu-ray Disc/DVD±RW DL, built-in stereo speakers, Dolby Home Theater Audio Enhancement, webcam, Acer Bio-Protection Fingerprint Reader, 802.11b/g/n WLAN (gigabit LAN), HDMI, USB, Multi-in-1 card reader.

Editor-in-chief (US)

Wil (Twitter, Google+) is a technology editor and journalist who has written for a variety of outlets over the last 16 years, including CNET, Computer Gaming World and Incite. Wil also spent two years as the on-air gadget correspondent on G4TV's live daily show, Attack of the Show. Before joining TechRadar, Wil was the editor-in-chief of @GAMER, The Official Games Magazine of Best Buy.