MSI all-in-one PC sports 3D display

Laptops, monitors and now an all-in-one PC. The trifecta of 3D computing is now complete.

MSI has announced the world's first all-in-one computer with a 3D display. The yet-unnamed model will have a 24-inch screen with 1080p resolution and a 120 Hz refresh rate. Unfortunately, MSI has withheld all other details until CeBIT, the popular European trade show that begins in Germany on March 2nd.

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It's curious, however, that MSI's marketing copy mentions movies: The computer "allows home users to experience the 3D movie theater experience in the comfort and convenience of their living rooms," a press release says. Given that 3D movies don't exist yet in the home -- save for a few from NVidia that are more like tech demos -- does this mean the computer will pack a 3D Blu-ray player?

There's also no mention of gaming, which is strange because all 3D in computers to date have focused on gaming. Hopefully I'm not reading too much into this, and MSI's all-in-one will be able to handle all kinds of 3D content.

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Asus and Acer jumped into the 3D computing fray early, releasing 3D laptops for gamers. Acer's Aspire 5738DG is surprisingly affordable, at $780. Asus' G51J-3D is more than twice as expensive, but it packs an Intel Core i7 quad-core processor, compared to the Aspire's Core 2 Duo. Asus also sells a 17-inch 3D gaming laptop for the same $1,700.

In monitors, Acer sells the biggest 3D display to date, a 23.6-inch LCD. Smaller models can be had from Samsung and Viewsonic.

I'm not sure that a 3D all-in-one PC is advantageous to a laptop you can actually tote around, but that probably speaks to my preference for laptops more than anything. At least MSI's providing a 3D option with a huge personal-sized screen for people who don't want to get a desktop computer, but that only makes it more important for MSI to include the essentials, such as a 3D Blu-ray player, because there's no tower for swapping them in later.

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