Acer Aspire 8920G Laptop Processor: 2.6GHz Core 2 Duo T9500+Memory: 4GB DDR2+Storage: 320GB hard drive

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Key Specs

Processor: 2.6GHz Core 2 Duo T9500 Memory: 4GB DDR2 Storage: 320GB hard drive Optical Drives: Blu-ray burner/DVD±RW Display: 18.4-inch TFT Graphics: nVidia GeForce Go 9650 GS (512MB) Operating System: Windows Vista Ultimate

Acer Aspire 8920G Laptop Review

Reviewed by: John R. Delaney Review Date: May 2008

With its cool-looking “Gemstone” design scheme and awesome 18.4-inch high-definition (HD) display, the Acer Aspire 8920G is a real head-turner. Powered by an Intel Penryn processor and a beefy graphics engine, this desktop replacement laptop is as powerful as it is stylish, but we'd love to see Acer add a few more entertainment features to the mix. The Aspire 8920G is done up in Acer's Gemstone Blue design, featuring a sparkling dark blue metallic lid with a backlit Acer logo in the center. The shiny finish, which looks black until you get it under the lights, is highly susceptible to fingerprint smudges. Under the lid, you'll find the centerpiece, a beautiful 18.4-inch wide-screen display featuring a high-gloss coating and wide color technology that enables it to display 90 percent of the color gamut (standard screens typically display only 60-70 percent). The result is an exceptional picture with deep, rich colors and excellent viewing angles. Even better, the display has a native resolution of 1,920x1,080 pixels and an aspect ratio of 16:9, so you can view HD movies in their native format without having to deal with black bars or stretched images. Using the built-in Blu-ray optical drive, we watched portions of the BBC production of Planet Earth and were blown away by the image quality, especially when it came to skin-tone accuracy and color reproduction. The screen's 8ms pixel response time also did a wonderful job of handling motion sequences with no noticeable blurring or artifacts. Complimenting the HD screen is Acer's CineSurround sound system featuring Dolby Home Theater audio output. Five strategically placed speakers and a subwoofer provide true 5.1-channel sound that is among the best we've heard from a notebook system. The CineBass subwoofer, dubbed Tuba, is encased in a cylinder that is built into the hinge assembly. We appreciated the added bass response, which is sorely lacking in most notebooks, but we expected a bit more bottom from this unique bass speaker. A Crystal Eye Webcam and dual microphone array embedded in the upper screen bezel provide decent low-res images for video chats using Acer's included Video Conference Manager software, but don't count on this camera for detailed still shots. Acer's PrimaLite sensor technology lets you use the camera in environments with dim lighting, a nice touch if you're working at night in a darkened room. The spacious keyboard deck sports Acer's silvery NeoWeave palm rest, which contains a smallish touch pad with a biometric fingerprint reader sandwiched between the two mouse buttons. The full-sized black keyboard, framed by glossy black trim, is responsive and comfortable, but the real eye-catcher is the CineDash media player console situated on the left side of the deck. The white-backlit, touch-sensitive console contains the usual DVD/CD player controls and features a spiral controller that raises and lowers the speaker volume by swiping the virtual dial with your fingertips. We found this part of the console difficult to master, as it took several attempts to get the volume to the exact level we wanted. After a while it just made sense to use the included full-function remote control to adjust the volume rather than try to pinpoint an exact level via the touch console. In addition to Enter and Mute buttons, the CineDash has a dedicated button that opens the Acer Arcade Deluxe application, a Windows Media Center look-alike that lets you access movies, music, and photos from a single launch pad. Above the keyboard on the left is a large backlit power button, and on the right is an Empowering Technology hot key that opens up a mini-console where you can change audio and power settings, enable security features, and backup files. Two of the four quick-launch buttons on the right side of the keyboard are used to enable wireless LAN and Bluetooth radios, and two of them can be programmed as hot keys to access your favorite applications. Connectivity ports are conveniently located on either side of the chassis and include four USB ports, headphone and microphone jacks, an ExpressCard slot, and Ethernet and modem ports. A 6-in-1 media card reader is mounted on the front edge of the case. The system has both VGA and HDMI video outputs, but FireWire and S-Video connections are nowhere to be found. Even more glaring is the absence of a TV tuner, an odd omission considering the 8920G is billed as an entertainment system. The system's 320GB 5,400rpm Western Digital Scorpio hard drive came loaded with Windows Vista Ultimate and Microsoft Works, a handful of trial software titles, and several Acer utilities. Wireless communications are provided by an Intel WiFi Link 4965 AGN adapter and a Bluetooth 2.0 wireless radio. Our review unit, priced at $2,599, was equipped with an Intel Penryn-based 2.6GHz Core 2 Duo T9500 processor, 4GB of DDR2 system memory, and a dedicated nVidia GeForce 9650 GS graphics card with 512MB of video memory. Given that configuration, the system performed well on our productivity benchmark tests, turning in respectable scores of 4,829 and 3,776 on Futuremark's PCMark05 and PCMark Vantage tests, respectively. It blew through our iTunes conversion test in a speedy 3 minutes and 28 seconds and completed our Windows Media Encoding test in 5 minutes and 52 seconds. We also saw above-average scores on our Cinebench 9.5 (846) and Cinebench 10 (5,265) image-rendering tests. Although the nVidia graphics solution is no slouch, the 8920G managed just 21 frames per second (fps) on our F.E.A.R. 3D test and 23.8fps on Company of Heroes while running at its native resolution, which means you'll have to turn off some of the eye candy and choose a lower resolution to avoid stutter and lag during game play. That's not good news for hardcore fraggers, but this system should satisfy casual gamers who like to play the latest titles. Our battery rundown test gave us 1 hour and 50 minutes worth of juice while playing a DVD movie, which is relatively short. Given the system's hefty 9-pound weight, however it's doubtful that most users will stray too far from a desktop and a power source. The Acer Aspire 8920G is a beautifully designed desktop-replacement notebook with a killer display, a better-than-average audio system, and more than enough horsepower to handle your multimedia and productivity workload. Though it could use a few more entertainment options, we still think that this is one of the hottest multimedia notebooks around. Specs And Features    Processor Model : Intel® Core™2 Duo processor Speed (GHz) : 2.2    Memory Hard Drive (GB) : 320 RAM Size : 3 GB RAM Type : DDR2 Optical Drive : Blu-ray Disc? Drive    Display & Video Screen Size (inches) : 18.4 Graphics Solution : NVIDIA? GeForce? 9500M Onboard Video Memory : 512 MB    Audio Audio Solution : Speakers : 2.1 Channel    Peripherals Integrated Webcam : Yes Microphone : Yes Fingerprint Reader : Yes    Connectivity WiFi Present : Yes Bluetooth® Present : Bluetooth® Type : USB Ports : 4 USB Port type : USB 2.0 Firewire Port : Yes    Battery Battery Backup (min.) : Battery Description :    Size Width (cm.) : 44.14 Weight (kg) : 4.5 Height (cm.) : 4.42 Depth (cm.) : 30    Bundled Features Operating System : Windows Vista Home Premium Warranty : One Year    Others Memory Card Reader : Yes Remote Control : Yes Titanium Casing/Carbon Fibre Casing : Hard Drive Protection : TV Tuner : No Water Resistant : No Media Control Buttons : Yes S-Video Out : Face Recognition : No