Acer Plans Tigris-Based Aspire 5542 and Aspire 7540 Laptops

While the majority of PC vendors are updating their lineups with new systems powered by Intel's latest platforms, Acer, one of the world's top three PC vendors, is planning to roll out two new laptops that will adopt AMD's latest Tigris platform, providing customers with a choice for an AMD-powered portable PC. Boasting screen sizes of 17.3-inch and 15.6-inch, the Aspire 7540 and Aspire 5542, respectively are expected to debut round-about the time Microsoft's next-generation Windows 7 operating system will be launched.

The two laptops should provide consumers with a fully fledged notebook experience, considering the built-in hardware and screen sizes. According to available specifications, the two will both feature AMD's Turion II processors, coupled with up to 4GB of DDR2 memory and a high-capacity 640GB 2.5-inch hard drive. Part of AMD's new Vision marketing plan, the two will be featured with AMD's integrated Radeon graphics. For those looking to boost performance, there's an option for a discrete ATI Radeon 4570 GPU, featuring 512MB of dedicated memory, ready to deliver a great visual experience on the LED-backlit displays.

Unfortunately, unlike some of the more popular systems today, these two haven't exactly been designed for portability. The systems weigh in at 3.26kg and 2.8kg, with a battery pack that is said to deliver only 2.5 hours of runtime. On the bright side, the two machines will provide users with a choice for a 1366 x 768 pixels or 1600 x 900 pixels display.

The upcoming Aspire laptops are expected to debut in time for the launch of Microsoft's Windows 7, which will also be the operating system that will be enabled on the two designs. Price-wise, expect the two to become available for £499.99, featuring a dedicated graphics processing unit, while a £449.99 price tag will be available for a configuration with an integrated GPU.