Notebook vendor Acer has just introduced on the market two new notebook models that feature Blu-Ray optical units along with their extremely unconventional design details. If you plan on impressing your colleagues without spending huge amounts of money on a MacBook Air, then the Gemstone notebooks are the right choice.

The new Gemstone notebooks are extremely scalable, in order to offer the best price and performance ratio. For instance, you can purchase a basic multimedia system for as low as $900, but you can scale the notebook up until you get a multimedia war machine including 1200px display resolutions as well as Blu-ray support.

The full-options model is reported to reach a selling price of $2000, although the most extensive hardware configuration has not been disclosed yet.

The gemstone notebooks are totally different in terms of aesthetics when compared to the conventional, dull notebooks, thanks to its special design elements and the touch-sensitive control placed on the left side of the keyboard.

According to company representatives the Gemstone notebooks will feature a multi-layered 3D finish with contrasting textures painted in black, blue or silver. The interior and exterior lighting effects will also add extra charm to the multimedia machine.

The multimedia features are outlined by the "CineDash" media console integrated next to the keyboard. The console is bright-blue backlit and gives the users quick access to the multimedia functions. Among other media-center goodies, Acer mentioned that the notebooks will integrate Dolby Home Theater technology, including CineSurround, Tuba CineBass booster, and True5.1 output.

High-end notebooks are not new to Acer, given the fact that the company has previously released the Ferrari series of professional mobile computers. The Gemstone series comes to compete with high-end offerings from major notebook vendors, and especially with Dell's XPS notebook series.

The company will start shipping its Gemstone series of multimedia notebooks in April.