Acer Aspire 3935

Has anyone bought this?
If so, could you share your experience?
I am in the middle of choosing a new laptop (Acer Aspire Timeline 3810T with Core 2 Duo SU9400 versus this Acer Aspire 3935 with Core 2 Duo T7350).

Here are the sites that reviewed Aspire 3935.

http://www.theacerguy.com/2009/05/dont-overlook-the-aspire-3935/
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2345722,00.asp
http://www.laptopmag.com/review/laptops/acer-aspire-3935.aspx
http://www.hardwarecentral.com/hardwarecentral/reviews/article.php/3823906
http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/acer-aspire-3935-6504/4505-3121_7-33626815.html
http://www.bestlaptopz.com/acer/acer-aspire-3935.html
http://computershopper.com/laptops/reviews/acer-aspire-3935-6504
http://www.itreviews.co.uk/hardware/h2002.htm
http://www.gadgetspeak.com/gadget/article.rhtm/754/583801/Acer_Aspire_3935.html

You can see more pictures here (by The Acer Guy)

Especially I am interested to know the real world battery life with the powersmart function enabled since none of the reviewers tested it.
The company claims 5 hours with a 4-cell battery.

Thank you.

 

My Aspire 3935 just arrived.
I will be writing a review on Aspire 3935 and start with the purchasing decision.

I was in the market for a thin-and-light notebook.
It can be flexible but my initial criteria were (In order of importance)
1. Less than US$900.
2. 13" LED.
3. Thin and light (less than 1.2" thickness and less than 4.5lbs).
4. More than 4 hours of battery runtime.
5. Core 2 Duo CPU
6. More than 2GB DDR2 800MHz RAM and at least 5400rpm HDD.
6. 1.3MP Webcam, Bluetooth and DL-DVD burner.
7. Good build quality and elegant design


The candidates were (in order of preference)

1. Acer Travelmate 8371 (SU9600)
2. Acer Aspire 3935 (P7350)
3. Lenovo Ideapad U330 (P7450)
4. Acer Timeline 3810T (SU9400)
5. Sony SR390 (T6500)
6. Dell XPS M1330 (T6400)
7. MacBook Pro (P7550)
8. Lenovo Ideapad U350 (SU2700)

The Pros and Cons (my personal taste) were

1. Acer Travelmate 8371
Pro: Very light (3.6kg), very thin (1"), astonishing battery life (8 hours), cheap (US$899?), Magnesium alloy chasis, Lots of configurability (SSD, dedicated GPU etc.), matte screen
Con: Not available in N.A yet, rather dull design

2. Acer Aspire 3935
Pro: Very thin (1"), astonishing build quality with Aluminum case, Edgeless screen, Dolby VirtualSurround speaker, unique color (bronze), multigesture trackpad, fingerprint reader, Bluetooth, cheap (US$899)
Con: Average battery runtime

3. Lenovo Ideapad U330
Pro: Lenovo quality, Dedicated GPU, Configurability
Con: Widespread battery issue, poor battery runtime (3-3.5 hours), cheap looking shiny case, High price (US$1,100), Outdated series

4. Acer Timeline 3810T
Pro: Very light (3.6lbs), very thin (1"), astonishing battery life (8 hours), cheap (US$899)
Cons: Weak CPU, No DVD burner, Looks rather cheap, Aluminum only on the cover

5. Sony SR390
Pro: Sony quality, configurability, professional look
Con: High price (US$1200), limited availability in Canada, Average battery runtime (5 hours)

6. Dell XPS M1330
Pro: Dedicated GPU, configurability
Con: Infamous GPU issue, High price (US$1269), too thick (1.3"), poor battery runtime (3 hours), Outdated

7. Macbook Pro
Pro: Best build quality, impressive battery life (7hrs), 0.95" thick, dedicated GPU
Con: High price (US$1199), Poor performance with Windows, a little heavy (4.5 lbs), too many in my workplace (90% of coworkers use a silver/white macbook so that they are indistinguishable from each other. who said "get a Mac to be different"? )

8. Lenovo Ideapad U350
Pro: Lenovo quallity, Cheap (US$699), very light (3.6lbs), very thin (1"), metal chasis
Con: Too weak CPU (SU2700), a controversial lid design, no DL-DVD, average battery runtime (5 hours, but no review yet)

After a long research, I narrowed the candidates down to Acer Timeline 3810, Aspire 3935 and Travelmate 8371.
I didn't mean it, but I ended up with all Acer notebooks.

If Travelmate 8371 was available, I would have chosen it though.
8371 was a perfect mixture of Timeline 3810 and Aspire 3935.
At the end, I chose the one that have least cons; Aspire 3935.
At US$829 after Father's day sale, it was a steal.

 

it doesn't have a hdmi output, if it is important for you.

 

I knew it before buying, but it is not important for me.
If I ever need one, I can get a USB-to-HDMI adapter.

 

I just stumbled upon this laptop on my quest for a less than 1k stylish and efficient notebook. Looking forward to your impressions!

 

I received Aspire 3935 and it has been an exciting week with my new Aspire 3935.
I will write a review today and I will edit it as I get more experiences.
Please bear in mind that English is not my mother language.

1. Thin-and-light.
My previous laptop was a Toshiba Satellite which had 15" LCD, 6.0lbs weight and 1.5" thickness. Since it was a bulky-and-heavy laptop, I ended up developing a habit of not moving around with it which defeated the purpose of having a laptop. Therefore my primary reason to replace it was to get a thin-and light.

At 4.13lbs, Aspire 3935 has been a delight to carry around. There are lighter 13" thin-and-lights such as MSI X-slim (3.5lbs), Acer Timelne 3810T (3.6lbs) and Lenovo U350 (3.5lbs), but Aspire 3935 is in line with most of other competing 13" thin-and-lights such as Dell XPS M1330 (4.0lbs), Sony Vaio SR390 (4.2lbs), Lenovo U330 (4.3lbs), HP dv3 (4.4lbs) and MacbookPro (4.5lbs).

However, where Aspire 3935 excels is its uniform thickness. It is 1" all around the chassis just like Macbook, MSI X-slim and Lenovo U350. Some of other notebooks I compared claimed 1" thickness, but in reality they were 1" at the thinnest point and 1.2-1.3" at the thickest point.

Overall I am satisfied with the weight and thickness of Aspire 3935. I have been moving around at my workplace with this machine and it was a joy. However, I wish Acer made this a little lighter since this has only a 4-cell battery after all. I will be more happy if this weighs around 3.8lbs.

2. Build Quality and design.
I have used many laptops in the past (I don't keep one more than 2-3 years). Compared to them this has a pretty good build quality, especially compared to other Acer notebooks. Of course not as good as Sony, Thinkpad and Apple, but pretty much comparable to Fujitsu or Lenovo quality.

This thing is made out of aluminum. Not just the cover like Acer Tiimeline. Its entire case is aluminum. The cover is beautifully brushed aluminum with bronze color. The metal of keyboard area is textured and has the same bronze color. The metal bottom panel has black color. This all around metal construction might make Aspire 3935 heavier, but it also makes the machine very solid. I have never felt this kind of solidness from plastic laptops.

The beauty of this laptop extends to the inside. The edgeless screen looks lovely and resembles Apple Macbook. Its floating keyboard looks very modern and gorgeous. After one week with this machine, feel that traditional keyboards and screens look so outdated.

Overall this all metal construction and beautiful design remind me of Apple Macbook or HP Voodoo. If it wasn't a Acer badge, people wouldn't think this is from Acer which has been known for a cheap computer. But I was just amazed by the overall quality of this machine. When I move around people don't think much of it. They think it is just a brown colored note or book. But whenever they come closer, they get amazed by the design and build quailty.

There are other thoughtful details such as the illuminated round power button, touch sensitive controls for volumes and connectivity and the perforated metal strip for the speaker area.

Of course there are downsides too. The use of tray loading DVD burner was a big disappoint since it wiggles if you try to hold the machine. Also the removable battery pack can wiggle too. Therefore it is better to lift the machine from left or front. I know Aspire 3935 can be configured to have a slot loading DVD burner in Asia. Why not in N.A.?

Another thing I didn't like was the placement of Kensington lock. It is located between a Lan port and a USB port so I can't access the USB port with the Kensington lock in place. This USB port is the only one on the right side so this is perfect for a USB dongle for a wireless mouse! I bought a Microsoft Bluetooth Laser Mouse 5000; so it is not a big deal for me but this is an inconvenient oversight.

Overall this is a solid and good looking laptop. The most frequent complement I heard from my coworkers was "Wow, you got a new gadget there. Woo, a brand-new shiny laptop. It looks beautiful, man. But probably very expensive. How much was it? I guess around $2000, maybe? Wait a minute, IS IT ACER? Can't believe it".

I agree. Its detail and build quality are something that I have never seen from Acer before.

3. Usage experience
This section can be very personal and subjective so take my words with a grain of salt.

The best thing I liked about this notebook was the keyboard. Once I had a 13" Fujitsu notebook and its 87% keyboard didn't give me a good experience. In contrast, Acer 3935 has the full size keyboard which is really comfortable. It has a cutting-edge design with the floating keys and a modern color scheme (black keyboard and bronze palm rest). Personally I was sick of black or white keyboard with grey palm rest which color scheme is adopted by majority of consumer laptops nowadays. It not only pleases eyes but also has a very good feed back (not too soft nor too hard). And it doesn't make much sound and I can type silently with a little bit of practice. Overall the feeling of typing is very similar to the keyboard of iMac.

Another thing I like is the screen. This is the first 1366x768 resolution for me. Compared to 1280x800, this works better for me since I often open two applications together. For example, I often put a PDF file on the left side and Word on the right. Since this screen is wider than the standard, I get more viewing area. Also, this is the first LED screen for me. I can testify that this is one bright monitor. I felt that 50-80% is perfect for general office uses. I use it at 80% when plugged-in and at 50% on the go.

In the performance wise, there is no show here. It just has all the standard stuff (Core 2 Duo P7350 (3MB L2 cache, 2.0GHz, 1066MHz FSB); 3GB (2/1) DDR3 1066 SDRAM; 1.8" 5400rpm 250GB Toshiba HDD).

I was a bit worried about the 1.8" HDD since I had a prejudice against 1.8" HDD which had only up to 4200rpm in the past. However this new 1.8" HDD from Toshiba spins at 5400rpm and its response time is only 25% slower than regular 2.5" 5400rpm HDD. In fact I couldn't tell much difference. Personally every operation felt faster compared to my old laptop with 2.5" 5400rpm HDD (probably due to faster CPU as well as faster and more RAM). According to benchmarks by PCMagazine, this HDD doesn't negatively affect the overall performance compared to similarly equipped notebooks with 2.5" HDD such as U330. It lags behind only when HDD dependent benchmarks are used such as file transfer.

I don't do any gaming with this machine, so the integrated GPU (4500MHD) is not a concern to me. Its performance is just adequate for most stuff I do such as PDF conversion, Outlook, Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Photoshop and Illustrator. For the record, it plays Youtube HD perfectly as you can imagine.

Small but useful stuff include Bluetooth, DL-DVD burner, finger printreader and 1.3MP Webcam. My new Bluetooth laser mouse worked right away. I use the Bluetooth mouse on the desk and I just grab the machine when I have to leave the desk. No need to unplug the dongle.

It also has the double-layer DVD burner which is foften omitted on thin-and-light laptops. I can live without it since I personally do not use it other than installing softwares,. However it will come in handy when my coworkers bring me data on a DVD for work or when I watch a DVD movie. Also this can be used to make DVD backup because I somehow feel safer with DVD backup than external HDD backup (for the record, I do make both backups).

In the past the fingerprint reader was only for higher end notebooks. I am glad Acer included this feature on Aspire 3935 and I find that it is very useful. Log-in by the fingerprint reader was faster than the traditional password input. I can configure the machine in a way that other tasks can be done with the fingerprint reader.

The 1.3MP webcam has a good quality; especially it takes a good picture under low light conditions. The other day, I noticed that the lense of my webcam is a little off-centered against the hole. It doesn't affect taking pictures, but it was a little annoyance.

One feature I have to mention is the speaker that enables Dolby Home Theater and Virtual Surroundsound. It just sounds better than any other laptop I have ever owned (except the Harmon Kardon speaker I experienced before). I was very surprised about how it produces really nice and rich sound from such small speakers.

One downside is the trackpad. It features multi-gestures such as zoom, scrolling and paging. It works fairly well, but I felt that the surface area is too small for multi-gestures.

4. Battery life
Initially I was quite concerned about the fact that this laptop only comes with a 4-cell battery in N.A, but the reviews by The Acer guy and PC Magazine persuaded me not to worry too much. Especially PCMagazine gave the Green Award. Simply speaking Acer Aspire 3935 lasts pretty long because it uses very little electricity not because it has a higher capacity battery. I guess this results from design of the machine (P series C2D rather than T series, DDR3 rather than DDR2, 1.8" HDD rather than 2.5" HDD, LED display rather than LCD etc).

It has a Panasonic 4-cell Li-ion rechargeable battery with 41760mWh capacity. The specification on the manual claims 4 hours but advertisements by Acer claim 5 hours. Reviews I had read reported anywhere between 3.5-5 hours. So my presumption was 4 hours which is in line with Apple Macbook and perfectly fits my needs. I have not done extensive testing, but I will show you the actual experience I had so far.

== Balenced Power Plan, 50% brightness, Wi-fi on, Bluetooth Off ==
Scenario 1 -> Reading PDF documents and writing on Word2007 = 4.5 hours.
Scenario 2 -> Moderate web browsing, PDF reading and writing on Word2007 = 4 hours.
Scenario 3 -> Moderate web browsing including 30 min Youtube HD and 30 min streaming music and PDF reading = 3 hours.

== High Performance Plan, 100% brightness, Wi-fi on, Bluetooth on (for mouse) ==
Moderate web browsing, PDF reading and writing on Word2007. = 3.5 hours

== Power Saving Plan, 30% brightness, Wi-fi on, Bluetooth off ==
PDF reading and writing on Word2007 = 5 hours

The Power Smart Button (the leafy led button) on the laptop typically gives about 10-15% more life.
Vista Power Saving Plan with the Power Smart Button enabled gives an estimated battery time of 6 hours during idle, but I have not tested this in detail in the real world situation.

I will give a detailed example. Right now I have the Vista default Balanced Powerplan, Wi-fi on, Bluetooth off, 50% brightness. I opened Firefox (4 tabs), Windows Explorer, Passmark BatteryMon, Word 2007. The battery is discharging at 8871mW. The BatteryMon shows that Time on Battery (1:21), Time Remaining (3:17), Total Time (4:37), % life left (68%). The Vista is reporting 3 hr 25 min (68%) remaining.

The portability of this laptop is nowhere close to Acer Timeline that claims about 8 hours of battery life. That was why I had a very difficult time to decide between Timerline and Aspire 3935. At the end I chose the full featured laptop over ultra portability because I thought that I could supplement the battery life on the go with an extra battery, but I cannot supplement the weak performance of Timeline while on AC (I use the laptop on AC 80% of the time).

However, if Acer puts a 6-cell battery on this without increasing the weight, I will be happier. Nonetheless, this is the strongest battery life that I have ever experienced with a 4-cell battery. In summary, you will be able to get between 3.5 to 4.5 hours consistently.

5. Upgradability
Since it comes with only 3GB DDR3 RAM and 32bit Vista, 4GB DDR3 RAM with a tighter timing will be well worth to updgrade.
The most popular upgrade will definitely be SSD. Aspire 3935 has a rather uncommon interface for 1.8" HDD which is micro-SATA. micro-SATA HDD is used only for ultra thin notebooks such as Thinkpad X301 and Sony TT series. I am waiting a little until the price drops. In the case of 60-80GB, Intel one is about US$400 and others are about US$200 which is not too bad.

The followings are some of the companies that make 1.8" micro-SATA SSDs.
http://support.intel.com/design/flash/nand/mainstream/index.htm
http://www.wdc.com/en/products/index.asp?cat=21
http://www.samsung.com/global/business/semiconductor/productInfo.do?fmly_id=161&partnum=MMCQE28G8MUP
http://www.pqi.com.tw/product2.asp?oid=201&cate1=201&proid=376
http://www.photofast.tw/ENG/SSD_G_Monster_18_microSATAV3.html
http://www.delock.com/produkte/grup...8_Micro_SATA_Solid_State_Disk_64GB_54225.html
http://www.supertalent.com/products/ssd_detail.php?type=MasterDrive KX
http://www.chaintech.com.tw/a2111_product_spec.php?serno=560
http://www.rockymtnram.com/cfwebsto...193&ParentCat=7&CFID=8243735&CFTOKEN=93193935

More companies such as TDK and Silicon Power announced more 1.8" micro-SATA SSD, so more alternatives will be available soon.

6. Features that I miss
4GB RAM with 64bit Vista
Slot loading or External Slim DVD Drive
6-cell battery
Battery Care utility program
Illuminated keyboard
HDMI port

7. Conclusion
You know the story. I am happy with my new gadget. It is powerful enough. It lasts long enough. It looks awesome. Best of all and most importantly, it is thin-and-light. Shouldn't it be? It is a laptop after all.

 

Hmmm I was going to purchase this laptop today and everyone is sold out or the product has been discontinued. What gives?

 

Great review, evilid. However, the dual-core processor on the 3810T isn't as weak as you may believe. It's actually more of a mid-range processor, and can handle HD content just as fluidly as other Intel dual-cores. It's a huge step-up from the Intel SU2700/SU3500 also offered by Acer for that model.

 

Since Acer Timeline 3810 and Aspire 3935 are very popular now, they are sold are almost immediately. If you want to buy one soon, I recommend you to reserve one. When I was buying this, many shops told me they will get a second batch early July.

 

By no means I believe SU9400 of Timeline 3810 is weak. SU9400 is a very capable CPU and it should be good for almost everything we normally do. That was why I had a very difficult time to decide between Timeline 3810 and Aspire 3935. Nonetheless I couldn't justify spending $900 for a new notebook which gives a similar performance of the current notebook.

Passmark CPU scores
T2450 of my old laptop: 891
SU9400 of Timeline 3810: around 900? (since U9400 gets 934)
P7350 of Aspire 3935: 1326

The decision was based on a combination of CPU, DL-DVD, aluminum chassis, design and the deal I got (US$ 829). But I knew that I would suffer buyer's remorse. I would miss Timeline if I choose 3935, vice versa.

 

OK, I follow. For me, my current notebook has a decent processor (T7250) that's pretty fast, it generates a lot of heat and has abyssmal battery life (when I first got my laptop, I didn't know about taking your laptop battery out while it's charging... well, lo and behold, one and a half years later, my battery has a 25 minute max life ) So yeah, the eight hours promised by the Timeline is definitely what I want to go for, especially since I'll be taking classes soon. Also, I like that Intel cooling tech (the Laminar Wall Jet technology) that it features... does the Acer Aspire 3935 have that? Cuz it does seem like a great notebook and I'm definitely considering it (like you were, haha).... however, it sucks it doesn't have HDMI-out

 

If you are a student and need a maximum battery life, I believe Timeline will be a perfect match for you.
Unfortunately Aspire 3935 doesn't have Laminar Wall Jet cooling technology.

 

You shouldn't let this bother you since it is not a usable thing.
It is a good to have, no never mind sort of thing.
Instead I wanna ask is Intel VT enabled more importantly.

 

P7350 doesn't have Intel VT (SU9400 does).
http://ark.intel.com/VTList.aspx

 

What you call a floating keyboard is commonly known as a chiclet keyboard. It used to be a bad thing until Apple made it fashionable. There's less a tactile respond compared to traditional keyboards.

 

Acer 3935 seems to be MIA. Sold out at both Amazon and JR. Did they discontinue it?

 

Well all the websites were sold out last night, but this morning JR got some back in stock and I bit. I think that it's just a hot item right now and retailers are having trouble keeping it in stock.

 

Still can't find them anywhere. B&H website states that, "This item has been discontinued and is no longer available. Please call for more information."

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/613790-REG/Acer_LX_PAD0X_216_Aspire_AS3935_6504_Notebook_Computer.html

 

Many Canadian stores are getting this between July 4 to 15.
So I believe US will also get new shipments soon.

 

Actually the best way to check is to run securable.
It is supposed to be done in assembly to check for some VT register and flags.
Intel is very crappy regarding feature pricing not like the generous AMD.
AMD-V is enabled on all (after AMD-V is introduced) except Sempron
Even worse by not implementing VT on the chip itself but depending on OEM BIOS some cheapskate OEM choose not to include the feature, and Acer is one of those cheapskates.

 

I don't see Intel VT option on BIOS.
Therefore I am not sure whether it is disabled by BIOS or physically at the moment.

 

Run Securable.
If there is CPU Virtualisation register but not enabled in BIOS it will say "Locked"
If there is no CPU Virtualisation register it will say "No".

 

For Canadian's, TigerDirect.ca is carrying the Acer 3935 for $1,146.99 which is around $100 more then the Acer Timeline 3810 SU9400 model.

 

When I was comparing the two, I found that 3810 SU9400 model with Vista Home Premium is around CA$ 1100-1200 simlar to 3935. Only the ones with XP Pro was $100 cheaper than 3935.

 

Well, you almost had me till you got to the 3 GB 2/1 RAM. Win 7 64 bit optimizes on 2/2, even though I don't think it's officially required. 2 sticks just manages better, just like 2 processors... Bummer, I thought you had the perfect solution for me, finally.

 

Yes, it is a bummer.
I wish they put 4GB for 64bit OS.

OTH, you can get a 4GB kit DDR3 1066 (Cas Latency 7) at about US$50.
Personally I am going to get a Cas Latency 5 one when Win 7 64 is released and the price comes down a bit more (it is around US$100 now).

 

I found an issue with Aspire 3935; a high rate of battery discharge when not in use.

Basically the battery discharges about 5% per 24 hours when the laptop is totally shut off (no sleep, no hibernation).
If the battery is out, it doesn't discharge.
Therefore I suspected there was a component that consumes electricity while the laptop is shut off.
I disabled network boot function in the bios. I also unchecked every entry in the Device Manager that has an option for "Allow this device to wake the computer check box" and enabled all "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power".
However I am still experiencing the battery leakage.

It is well known that some of Sony TT series suffer this; anywhere between 15-45% per s4 hours.
Personally I have also have experienced this before.
My Sony CS series discharged 12% per 24 hours and Toshiba AH2 series lost about 15% per 24 hours.
However my old Sony NS series lost about 2% per 24 hours and Fujitsu Lifebook A series dischared only about 0.2% per 24 hours.

I understand that Li-ion batteries discharge on its own and they do so faster when connected to laptop.
5% per 24 hours is something I really can't ask for a service, but is something I don't feel perfectly comfortable to live with.
That is the dilemma I am having right now.

 

OTOH, one of my friends thinks this kind of discharge is good for notebook batteries that do not have battery care programs.
If the battery is fully charged and doesn't loose much over the time (let's say 0.5% over the weekend, it is bad for the battery since Li-ion batteries doesn't like the full charge.
Notebooks like mine will loose about 15% over the weekend, so battery will be happier.
Makes sense to me.
I wonder Acer did this for the very reason.

 

I still cannot find it anywhere. Does anyone know if it is available at any US merchants online or otherwise?

 

Had mine a few days. Love it so far. Shame in the UK it only comes with Vista 32bit. I've installed 64bit and it's great. Can't wait for Windows 7 with the Acer utilities.

One warning though. There are only three configurations available in the UK and only one of these uses a 2.5" HDD, the others are 1.8". I wanted the 2.5" version as I don't want to be limited to the maximum 1.8" size of 250gb. I made the mistake of assuming it would be easy to replace the HDD with a 500gb 7200rpm drive. Unfortunately, although it is very easy to replace a 1.8" drive, it is a LOT more difficult to replace the 2.5" drive as it is in the place where other configuations have the DVD and you have to remove the top strip and keyboard as well as getting access beneath the metal plate. I have done it and, so far, it works great. I had been debating between the 3935 and the 3810T. I don't know whether it would have been easier to replace a 2.5" drive in the 3810T but I am very happy with what I have.

Looks beautiful, too.

 

My 3935 uses a 2.5" HDD but, as far as I can see, the 1.8" microSata connector is still usable and the bay is empty. I'm tempted to try and get an SSD for that bay and boot from that one and use the other HDD for data etc. The BIOS shows two hard drive connections.

Are we the only 3935 users? The Timeline threads have loads of posts but there is hardly anything on this wonderful notebook!

 

I don't think the 3935 was marketed nearly as much as the Timeline laptops. In fact, the 3935 was introduced back in April, thus it is not available for the free Windows 7 upgrade. Looks like a great laptop too.

 

It may have been available in the UK only later. Certainly when I bought it, the free Windows 7 was available. Unfortunately, not much use to me as the 3935 is only available with 32bit Vista here so the Windows 7 upgrade will only be to 32bit and I want 64bit.

 

I came so close in buying one.
I saw someone selling one in mint condition on Ebay for $650 BIN.
With the cash back it would have been less than $600.
I waited just a bit too long and someone else bought it.
Its my favorite 13inch laptop with the HP probook being 2nd.

 

So...what happened to this laptop? It's not available in the US at all, as far as I can tell.

 

Anybody? Has is been discontinued after only a few months?

 

Because of a different problem, just installed the new bios 1.09 I noticed on the Acer website. Didn't solve my other problem and now my fan is running nearly all the time. Any ideas? Unfortunately, I can't find the previous bios to see if I could flash back to that.

 

What is your "other problem"?
Anyway 1.02 is available on Acer Europe Site.

 

Thanks. Funny, only the new one on the UK website. Anyway, I actually found 1.4 on a different website and my fan is back to normal. No changelog for 1.9 so I don't know what I am now missing.

My other problem is with the bluetooth and other hardware buttons on the 3935. Intermittently, particularly the bluetooth will just start spontaneously turning on and off. It happened with the original Vista and it still happens after a clean Windows 7 install.

Acer UK were no help at all. I sent the laptop to Plymouth under warranty and they said it needed a part that was not in stock. Eventually, after 6 weeks, they said they would replace the laptop as they had not yet fixed the problem. Some days later the laptop arrived and, when I opened it I found they had returned my own laptop. So I thought - good, maybe they've managed to fix it but within half an hour I had the same intermittent problem. Got back to Acer to say it hadn't been fixed and can I have my replacement now. They say I have to send it in again and start all over again!

I have to say their customer service is appalling. If you phone, you speak to someone in Asis who knows nothing other than what it says on their computer. When you email, you sometimes get quick responses - other times it can take three days and very often, they don't answer your question at all and you get a template response. I am currently in the process of writing a letter of complaint.

 

I would suggest opening up the laptop and check the connectors.
Could be due to loose connectors.
Check the acer launch manager software and device manager if the USBs are working fine.

 

There is one connector for those buttons. Unplugged and replugged the connector a few times with no benefit. Can't see any problems in Launch Manager or Device Manager. Acer said I needed a new multimedia board but I don't really know what that is or does.

 

How about the connector for the bluetooth module?
It should be a USB module

 

Not sure what you mean. I think the 3935 has a combined WiFi/Bluetooth module. Can't open it up at the moment to check

 

Is this a good one to buy? where can I order it?

 

These seem very cheap at the moment, tempted to swap my MacBook for one. Only thing putting me of is how to get at the 2.5" HD in the UK version.

 

Hi and sorry for digging this thread up. I ve recently bought this laptop and my only problem is the fan which keeps turning on even at very low temp as it blows cold air. It spins for a while and stops and again. This start-stop of the fan drives me crazy sometimes especially when working at night. Is there any possible way to control it or at least make it spin continuously in order to avoid this start-stop thing ? Thanks for any help. Greetings from Greece.