Acer D241H monitor has built-in WiFi, media player, identity crisis

Is there room for a product that's part digital picture frame, part all-in-one PC, but mostly just a monitor? Acer seems to think so, and it's doing its best to carve out a niche for itself with its new 24-inch D241H model, which promises to do nothing short of "revolutionize the way you use a monitor." To accomplish that feat, the monitor packs built-in WiFi, along some basic internet / media player capabilities that will let you check your email, keep watch on the news, weather and other things via some widgets, or simply enjoy some music, photos or videos. You'll also get a built-in memory card reader, a pair of USB ports, a wired LAN port, and an apparently included wireless keyboard (no touchscreen here, folks). No indication of a price or release date just yet, but we're going to go out on a limb and guess it'll fall somewhere between a standard 24-inch monitor and an all-in-one PC.

[Ahmedz Posted Mar 5th 2010 3:07PM]

Interesting...

[emopoops Posted Mar 5th 2010 4:17PM]

@Ahmedz WOW WHAT A BUNCH OF PANSY. no touchscreen? just wow.

[spy323 Posted Mar 6th 2010 5:36AM]

@emopoops Yeah! I was looking forward to cleaning the screen everytime people checked their email and browsed my mp3 collection! Now I have no excuse for cleaning it during a slideshow

[Dekstar Posted Mar 5th 2010 3:09PM]

As long as boot up times are practically instant, this would actually be a fairly good idea. Instead of having to turn on a PC, you could quickly check your emails on the monitor before going to the office.

Does this mean though that if it has a built-in media player, it has built-in speakers? Also, is it touchscreen, or full keyboard-controlled. Also, is the included keyboard optional/compatible with regular keyboards, or would owners need to have two keyboards on the desk at all times?

[Oli D Posted Mar 5th 2010 3:16PM]

@Dekstar What would be really nice is an option to have this functionality whilst your pc boots up.

[Oli D Posted Mar 5th 2010 3:17PM]

@Dekstar Also, I imagine that this will have some sort of data conduit for the WiFi, Network etc to the PC, so all the peripheral functionality would be shared with the PC.

I can't think of any cable that could carry that much data though...

[Sarcasme Posted Mar 5th 2010 4:15PM]

@Oli D USB?

[mnhthebest Posted Mar 5th 2010 11:01PM]

@Dekstar

Yeah if it loads up in an instant then the web on monitor will be pretty useful for a quick task. I already have comparable 10 second bootup on my Sony Vaio NW laptop and it really is useful to check your mail in the morning within seconds instead of booting the windows

[bolezhinkov Posted Mar 5th 2010 3:13PM]

if I can get this for $350 and it has a decent spec list . . . I'll bite. it will make my laptop feel like it has a little more freedom if its not always hooked up to a standard extra display.

[htd Posted Mar 5th 2010 3:15PM]

they should have put an ion nettop on the back of this monitor instead.

[mrkalel Posted Mar 5th 2010 3:20PM]

I am looking for an decently priced frame/moniter for my dining room wall for mostly these exact features... a no boot time unit sounds great.. and 24-30" is perfect... lets see whats happens here...

[nplima Posted Mar 5th 2010 3:30PM]

Awesome for hotels.

[ninok5 Posted Mar 5th 2010 3:45PM]

Could be popular for boutiques or stores that don't want to have a pc/laptop connected to the monitor to show say, the store website or promotion material. One could create ads / signage and post them online, and just connect to a specific page with all the monitors. I like it. Could also look at say the weather, news, etc without connecting to a laptop. All now depends on the price point.

[HDD Posted Mar 5th 2010 4:04PM]

@ninok5
Yeah, thats what I was thinking. Wonder if it runs an embedded Linux.
I would use this for my business. Depends on the price point.

[albinomexi Posted Mar 5th 2010 3:59PM]

It's like "shemale". It doesn't know what to be...

[kirbyatemytoothbrush Posted Mar 5th 2010 4:03PM]

I don't think anyone will buy this unless it's cheap as dirt. While it's an interesting concept, this sort of uber-monitor still takes up exactly the same amount of space as an all-in-one computer, with hardly the same functionality. At least netbooks and tablet pcs (awkward niche-searching cousins) distinguish themselves by offering super-portability and new ways to interact with media. Why anyone would buy this type of uber-monitor as opposed to, for example, a cheap high-res "normal" monitor or a 27" iMac, beats me.

[Nicnac Posted Mar 5th 2010 4:04PM]

do Acer monitors still 'expire' after a year. I had 2 different models that blew capacitors withing a few weeks after the warranty was up. Investigating it on the web showed thousands of complaints of models failing (endless power on/off cycle, or yellow power light) right after the warranty was up...

[psiko Posted Mar 5th 2010 6:14PM]

@Nicnac AFAIK Usually Acer monitors carry a 3 year warranty not a 1 year.

[HDD Posted Mar 5th 2010 4:05PM]

Here is a flickr pic of the UI. Looks good

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22046787@N03/4259411141/

[HDD Posted Mar 5th 2010 4:07PM]

Youtube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EskMYlCPF0

I'm starting to like it.

[ijaxinwz Posted Mar 5th 2010 4:47PM]

This would work great as an elevator or gas stations. In fact, put them n buses and trains and scroll sports scores 24/7.

[ryankage Posted Mar 5th 2010 5:13PM]

I could see myself using this for torrents. if there was a way to store the media after downloading it all night without having my somewhat noisy desktop on would be nice.

[MaxL Posted Mar 5th 2010 5:31PM]

Ergh.... TN

[HDD Posted Mar 5th 2010 5:40PM]

I looked it up. It is running a 800mhz freescale ARM cortex-A8 processor chipset. Supports 720p. Supports Xandros and Android.