The new Acer Aspire Ethos 8951G has taken a new angle on the media remote, with a removable touchpad that doubles as a media remote.The soon-to-be-released step up on the current high-spec 8950G (that sells to the tune of around $2.5k) sports an 18.4 inch screen with a solid state drive and hard drive together under the hood.

One of its funkiest design fixtures which has been somewhat understated by the company is its chiclet-style remote that doubles as the touchpad. While most media-centric notebooks feature a pop-out remote slotted into the side, the touchpad of the Ethos slides out and displays backlit function touch-buttons.

Like a typical smartphone, the remote supports dual orientation so it fits in the hand either landscape or portrait.

With the focus on media, the laptops feature HD display, 5.1 surround sound (with its own inbuilt subwoofer) and in-built Blu-ray writers. The large screen on the 8951G sports the size to fit Full HD 1080p video, and the meat behind the screen to process it.

Acer is also releasing a 15.6 inch model, the 5951G, with similar high performance specs. This screen runs HD video at 1366 x 768 resolution. Each run the latest Intel Sandy Bridge processors that ‘turboboost’ up to 3.4GHz and Nvidia GT500 Series graphics cards that can make short work of most gaming sessions.

It’s fast when it’s on, and it’s also fast initially turning on. An ‘InstantOn Arcade’ key allows fast-booting into multimedia mode that goes straight into movies, music, photos and other media quicker than a whole boot-up.

The Acer Aspire Ethos 8951G and its little brother will both be hitting shelves around the end of June. The 8951G will be selling at $2,999, while the 5951G will go for $2,499.