New ACER Aspire 1690 will offer CrystalBrite (a.k.a Xbrite)

The only thing to keep in mind, however, is that not not all enhanced screens are created equal. There's no guarantee that this screen is up to par with other existing technologies.
That said, I sure hope this is really good, and it comes out soon! Like tomorrow or something.

Well, from what I see. I am totally sold on this model so far. Given I have to make a new purchase by mid March. So far this baby is my choice. It comes with an 128MB ATI X600 version as well, which totally sold me on it.

ATI MOBILITY™ RADEON® X600 PCI Express™ graphics with 64 or 128 MB of VRAM and Microsoft® DirectX® 9.0 support present the highest standard of visual performance
15" or 15.4" TFT LCDs -- including a choice of the radiant Acer CrystalBrite panoramic display -- enhance the pleasure of your work or play experience
Acer GridVista (on widescreen-display models only) lets you view up to four different windows simultaneously on screen
The Aspire Arcade multimedia suite (in Microsoft® Windows® mode) puts a wealth of fun-modes at your fingertips
Aspire CinemaVision™ and Aspire ClearVision™ minimise picture distortion for a richer, smoother cinematic experience
Optional Microsoft® Windows XP Media Center Edition OS and a TV-tuner maximises your fun and efficiency at home or on the road
S/PDIF support amplifies sound effects and provides fantastic digital audio
A choice of DVD-Dual double layer drive offers greater DVD format compatibility and burns twice as much data
A 4-in-1 card reader gives you more flexibility for transferring media files from your digital camera to your PC
S-video/TV-out support permits dazzling presentations and movie magic to be shown on an even bigger screen: the TV!
A built-in microphone records sound directly into your PC -- without any cords or wires
The latest Intel® Centrino™ mobile technology platform -- including a choice of processors starting from the Intel® Pentium® M 730; the Intel® 915PM Express chipset; and the Intel® PRO/Wireless 2200BG wireless solution -- endow you with what you need to achieve your best
PCI Express™ architecture quadruples discrete graphics performance and doubles I/O bandwidth as compared to the AGP architecture
Up to 2 GB of memory easily handles household computing tasks, as well as DVD movies and video games
Hard disc drive capacity of up to 100 GB allows significant space for games, movies and more

If Acer coming out with stuff like that wait till what others have to offer... but I am totally all over this new Acer, it sounds perfect for my needs

All I can say is WOW! Move over IBM, Dell, and HP. Hello ACER!

Check out the 8100. Has just what I'm looking for and more...

Or could do 8100 series for the X700 video..hehe

FYI
x600 is a very old architecture and based on older series of GPU. There will be a phenomenal performance gap between the x700 and the x600.

Does the 1690 have Bluetooth?

so tough decision here... what is more important CrystalClear display or better graphics card? and battery life is only 3.5 hours, it does however have bluetooth... probably need to see what others have to offer, but I am defintely getting the screens that are available with Fujtisu or Sony notebooks

Okay, this is confusing me a bit. I didn't think ANY Acer models had the Crystal Bright feature until recently...and now I see that both the 1670 & 1680 Aspire are listed as having it:

http://www.acer.ca/acerpanam/page4.d...crc=3402236331

http://www.acer.ca/acerpanam/page4.d...crc=1671329234

Have these models always had Crystal Bright?

I also find this confusing in that these two models are dead cheap from what I can tell.

I wonder why they will start carrying this model

Yea, I'm eyeing on a Aspire 1689, which is only around $1400 CAD at a few vendors and it does comes with the Crystal Bright screen.

The reason for them being so aggressively priced is probably because the 1680-series only comes with the previous generation (Dothan) Pentium M chips. As for the 1670 series, they come with Pentium 4, which is always cheaper than the Pentium M based machines.

reflexmee-- I haven't been able to find the 1690 on any Canadian online vendor. Can you point to the ones you are referring to?

I guess what I find confusing is that the 1680 & 1670 models were not listed as having CrystalBright...at least not that I can remember. Now these are listed as having these screens...and all the resellers are plugging them as having CrystalBright. I guess I'm just worried that I'll order one of these laptops and end up with an older model, without CrystalBright.

DarkCore-- I think we are kinda in the same boat.
For the Aspire 1689, you can find it at ATIC and Discovery Computers
ATIC has a lower price, at $1310, but they are infamous for their bad customer service. Discovery Computers has it for $1445 and it has branches in a number of places.

I have always wanted a 14" or 15" Glossy Type LCD laptop; this seems to be the perfect one since it fits my budget.

interesting. i wonder if the "Gridvista" is similar to the expose functions on OS X...?

Why do you say that Smile?

maybe he meant when... I am interested myself to find out about Acer CrystalBrite displays

reflexmee, I think I found another retailer that has it. They are also an authorized Acer reseller. They have it for $1320.00 or $1370.00, depending on whether you pay by cash.

http://www.mymicro.com/n_machines_de...=AC51689H-WLMI

I just gave MyMicron.com a call and they told me that the Acer CrystalBrite is NOT an equivalence to Sony Xbrite/ Toshiba TruBrite. It is just a sharper, more focused screen, as the sales rep. said.