ACME's tri-fold rugged field PC: Beep-beep zip bang!

Check it Road Runner, Wile E. Coyote will soon have a new Rube Goldberg machine certain to bring a tasty end to your tortuous reign. Just look at this ruggedized, semi-portable PC with three-up display from ACME. It's only an early prototype but it would seem that those bolt-on LCDs will likely gain some folding action before this in-the-field PC ever hits production. No, it's not waterproof or dustproof -- it does, however, feature a reinforced aluminum frame. Our attempts to communicate with the ACME team here at CeBIT were met with a lot of blank stares, but it would seem that you can build the unit out with just about anything you'd like to toss into the chassis. Great, we'll take ours with jet powered roller skates.

Gallery: ACME's tri-fold rugged field PC: Beep-beep zip bang!

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[LukeA @ Mar 18th 2007 11:47AM]

that would be, "Meep! Meep!"

[Borat Sagdiyev @ Mar 18th 2007 12:30PM]

VERRY NICE .. HOW MUCH!!

[Larryi5 @ Mar 18th 2007 1:23PM]

and i thought having dual monitors was cool

[Ellianth @ Mar 18th 2007 1:35PM]

If I've learned anything throughout my years of watching 'The Buggs bunny And Tweety Show,' it's that acme products don't always work as advertised.

[BillyBob @ Mar 18th 2007 2:17PM]

Actually, the Acme products always work EXACTLY as advertised, just not exactly WHEN you need them. My all-time favorite is the gliding TNT darts - after being launched (and missing the roadrunner), they land at exactly the "right" time throughout the rest of the episode.

[adrian @ Mar 18th 2007 3:11PM]

I don't know what' worse: having a company named "ACME", or trying to find the room to use those screens on a desk (or applications to use it with)

[RijilV @ Mar 18th 2007 3:14PM]

Battery life: 23mins

[GameboyRMH @ Mar 18th 2007 4:39PM]

I can see it now, at the critical second the laptop blue screens and snaps shut, trapping the coyote inside, leaving him to skitter off with whatever limbs are still free while the roadrunner escapes.

But seriously, if you have a need for three screens it could be handy, for example UAV control, one of the big problems right now is the narrow view the pilot gets. This laptop could be a rugged portable control device with the screen area to make the UAV easier to fly (once more cameras are fitted to the UAV).

[NAH @ Mar 18th 2007 5:03PM]

So, I'm a little confused, exactly who do they expect to buy this beast? The concept is interesting, but I can't figure out when it would be practical. It seems to big and power hungry to be aimed at the "portable" market, not rugged enough for demanding situations, and not cost effective and (probably) not configurable enough to replace current triple monitor systems. What am I missing here?

[MadAlexEngadget @ Mar 18th 2007 8:21PM]

Something like this has been available for years from Maxvision - - Their MaxPacs have been used by military/commercial imagery processing folks (e.g., NGA) and field video editors/producers, who need a reasonably-portable desktop-class PC with multiple monitors.

[Robert Chadwick @ Mar 19th 2007 12:10PM]

Does anyone know a website for 'Acme'? I used to work for an Acme, basically a really rich and crazy guy who buys up companies, and asks them to develop impractical stuff. I'm curious as hell if this is his...

[Erik Schmidt @ Mar 20th 2007 9:22AM]

Here you go: http://www.acme.de

The new model is not listed as it will be available in Q3 2007.

[phail @ Feb 15th 2009 3:57PM]

http://www.acme.de/components/com_virtuemart/shop_image/product/13cfbd0cb3892e8dc658df7eb58a601b.jpg

haha