Acer Aspire 8920G Gemstone Blue Review

anyone know how to adjust setting for the hmdi out feature? my problem is that the external screen (which is hdtv 1080i) the scaling is jack up. its crop down not in full scale unlike my laptop screen.

 

Anyone can please comment on the quality of the built-in cam, as I already asked few posts before?

Txs in advance,
P.

 

It is fine for video conferencing, better than the orbicam I had in my Aspire 5110.

 

hello, can someone tell me what the tv tuner is like, is it analogue or digital and is the reception any good.
thanks in advance.

 

hello, i also wanted to know what holds the lid down when you close the laptop.
looking at the pictures and i cannot see anything to hold it closed.
thanks in advance

 

short answer - nothing, i was a bit surprised myself.

its pretty much the same with all portable Tuners - ie crap.
and yes its digital.

no idea - but too me its looks fine for general usage.

have u tried under Nvidia control panel -> Video and Television -> change signal or HD format?

 

My main concern about the 8920 is how loud is the blu-ray drive when playing a blu-ray disk. Does it have a silent mode or can Nero drivespeed work on it without hurting playback of a blu-ray disk?
I would like to play a movie without having to drown out any drive noise by cranking up the sound volume.
Thanks.

 

i wanna buy this laptop, but actually am still confused, i play games alot but i don't know how this laptop will perform in some games such as age of conan and crysis.

i was told that this laptop weight is less than most 17 inch laptops, is that true?

 

Since the card is either the 9500 or the 9650, playing Crysis will be a bit of stretch. I'm playing Neverwinter Nights 2 with most settings at medium and while I don't have any real problem, the frame rate can drop from time to time. As for the weight, it is around 9 pounds, so really not uncomfortable to have it on your lap, and since it is so large the weight is actually is evenly distributed, plus it doesn't get really hot (had it on me for an hour now and I'm not even starting to get uncomfortably warm).

 

Personally, the sound of the drive isn't bothering me at all. Plus the 8920 can play at fairly high volume without losing quality. If you want to have a laptop that can play blu-ray, for its price (at least in Canada) and all the other specs, I would recommend it any time. Had it for a week now and I'm sold through and through.

 

your right the resizing option only comes up if you have your desktop screen only to show to external and not mirror. but still its imperfect not center but at still i can now show the entire screen on a 60in thru 1080i.

 

Anybody got troubles with the integrated Wifi ?

I have installed a Belkin Expresscard with firewire ports (the 8920g comes with no firewire.. bummer!), and I have the following problems :

If I boot with the expresscard on, the intel wifi card doesnt work anymore. It says media disconnected and when I push the acer button to enable it, it says something like "no wifi".

If I boot with no expresscard, the wifi works fine, and if I connect the expresscard after, both devices work.

It seems they both share a virtual irq..

So, did anybody run into the same problem?

 

I had the same problem on my 9810 except is was when I used the SB Audigy PCMCIA sound card my wireless card didn't work. I just don't use the card and everything is fine.

 

There is a in-depth review of the laptop here:

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Acer-Aspire-8920G-notebook.9245.0.html

This laptop is more of a media laptop then a game laptop, you can find more powerful laptops meant for games, but mostly likely without a blu-ray drive.

 

It seems like you are saying that the laptop's blu-ray drive is noisy, has no silent mode option and Nero Diskspeed will not work on it.
As for saying crank the volume way up, that's the usual poor 'fix' for really loud computers.
Thanks anyway.

 

I'm not saying it is noisy, I'm just saying that it is not by my own standards, not in the least, but I know that some people are very picky about that kind of thing. As for the audio, my point is that you can play it at high volume with high quality due to the Dolby 5.1 and the very good speakers, which can be fun if you want to play music in the house or like to watch your movies with high volume (which isn't my case), not as in you need to cover the sound of the drive with the sound of the audio. As for the Nero Diskspeed, I haven't tried it so I'm sorry to say that I can't tell you.

 

Whiskey Jak, whereabouts in Canada did you find this?

I'm also in Canada and would be interested in finding them, but I can't seem to come across any usual dealers who carry it.

 

Hey Sammeh,

I bought it from DirectCanada.com, they have one left in stock at the moment for 1439.99$. Hurry Up!

Perfect condition, best price I could find and fast shipping by the way (Vancouver to Montreal in 1 week by free ground shipping).

 

hello, i wanted to know with the tv tuner can you pause and record live tv.
thank you in advance.

 

is this available in the US or what? I've found the following model AS8920 but there is no 'G' in the number.

 

try searching for as8920-6671
that is the high end for 8920 models while your at it. buy optical toslink cables with mini adapter and hdmi cable.

 

Sorry thats what i meant when i found that model. What do you mean by saying ' buy optical toslink cables with mini adapter and hdmi cable.'

Also i noticed in your sig you have this model? Can you either PM me or give me your opinion of it especially likes and dislikes? Are you in the US?

Thanks !

 

Hello again,
Is there any way to turn the blue lights off completely? I hear they get quite annoying while working in the dark, or watching movies...

Thx for replies,

p.

 

it is available in us. the G part i dont know about it maybe just acronym. if you look at acer website there are only two models for 8920.

this is my first laptop and main purpose is to just watch hd bluray movies. which is why i mention to get hdmi and toslink cables. the only thing i dont like like or should i say "doesnt live up to the hype" is the bass. its not noticable. and it doesnt bother me cause sounds are going to be hook up to a receiver 7.1 and 60in hdtv.

 

Just out of curiousity, as I've spent the past 2 hours on the phone with Acer tech support...

Does anyone here have the 8920G with Bluetooth? I mean, confirmed, button lights up, listed in device manager, sticker on the bottom, device actually INSTALLED Bluetooth?

Because apparently, there never was an 18" model of this series that was given Bluetooth. Apparently, it's an incapatible laptop (explain that one to me.) So, just to ease my sanity, does anyone here have the 8920-6048, which is listed everywhere on the web, included Acer's own website (any of them) as having Bluetooth?

 

the small optical tosslink plugs in to the headphone jack.
and if you have the reltek HD it goes up to 7-1 surround
i use the optical all the time and its great make sure you you have the advanced settings set to 7-1/5-1 and switch on SPIDF great way to play tunes and with the srs and true bass settings in media player. the sound is amazing

try it
Phil

 

can confirm bluetooth is present and works.

P/N: LX.AP30X.083
Model: LE1

 

This whole thing is driving me crazy.

Laptop ordered for a customer of ours. 8920-6048. Bluetooth listed on Acer's website, supplier's website and every other website that this model is listed on.

Customer was trying to hook up their Bluetooth mouse/keyboard after picking up the machine, only to bring the machine in for me to teach him how. But after pressing the Bluetooth button (to receive a "NO BLUETOOTH DEVICE" message along the bottom center), finding no Bluetooth listed in the device manager, no Bluetooth device mentioned along the manufacturer's sticker on the palm rest and no sticker on the bottom of the machine, I began to think that perhaps there was an issue.

Called up our supplier, who were quite adamant that this model came standard with BT, and there was no way Acer would ship without it. The first half a dozen Tier 1 specialists that I spoke with at Acer were adamant about this issue as well. The box/machine were direct from Acer; I opened it and set it up myself so I can confirm this. And I'm familiar with the machine as I own (and am typing on) the 16" version of this beautiful machine.

It wasn't until I finally got through to one of the guys who decided to listen to the fact that this machine had no BT present, and was a model that was supposed to have BT present, when I was told they were aware of the issue and there was nothing they could do. "It's just one of those things." So I was transferred to Tier 2. This guy told me that he personally was aware of the issue and had received many complaints of this - that the 18" laptop never was shipped with BT, is mislabeled on their website and is still being sold to distributors 'with bluetooth'. He also said that nothing could be done, it was a misprint and it could not be fixed or replaced because there never was BT in this model so it was technically not missing anything.

Then I was transferred to what they called their Corporate Offices. The incredibly rude woman there cut me off countless times with her "We apologize for the inconvenience ma'am." Then she pointed to some legal disclaimer that is on the Acer website to cover any and all misprints, including this one specifically. She didn't seem concerned with the fact that the company's listed distributors do not have this same disclaimer, nor does the invoice from the supplier that this headache was purchased from.

So today, I have to call the supplier and explain this entire rant so they can refund the stupid thing because the customer wanted his bluetooth (doctor, needs bluetooth to connect with his headsets and whatnot), and because they were so busy telling me that I was blind and there was in fact Bluetooth on this machine and that I simply just didn't know what I was doing...so they could not refund it.

And now there is Bluetooth.

I'm sorry to rant here, I guess I needed to share it with the one community I've found to be quite helpful in all laptop-related matters, and so it seemed like the place to share this particular experience.

Thank-you Mookill for letting me know that yours does, in fact, have it equipped. I'm not sure what to do with that info, or whether that changes the current situation at hand, but it certainly does inform me that no one ever seems to know what they're talking about, but are quick to fabricate a response.

 

Hello everybody,

I hear that my 8920G is being shipped with regular Vista, no SP1.
Have you also received yours without SP1? Any special issues while installing SP1, that I should be aware of?
I am getting mine in 24 hours
BTW: I earlier asked abount switching off the blue lights on both sides- is there a way?

Rgds,
P.

 

No, I think they all include SP1, the side lights go off when running on the battery, cannot turn them off on mains power as far as I know.

 

Calling all 8920G owners.... I am considering getting rid of my desk top PC and replacing it with either a Sony VGN-AR71ZU or Acer Gemstome Blue 8920, both PC's are very similar in spec apart from the ACER not having a Blu-Ray burner and is around £500 cheaper, now my questions are
Does the Acer output at 1080p 24Hz via HDMI port,
Does the Acer output the new HD audio formats via HDMI port.

The above is a deal breaker, if the ACER doesn't

Is the TV tuner worth having on the Vaio & Acer


I have emailed both Sony & Acer asking the first two questions, Sony haven't bothered to reply, Acer's responsed with 'I think so' for Audio but didn't bother answering the question about HDMI video out. I'm not prepared to shell out the best part of £1500 on a 'Think so'

Any comments from owners of the ACER laptop, would be much appreciated

The main usage will be normal business office work
HD video/movie editing
Blu-ray movie viewing at home on 50inch Pioneer and when I'm traveling on business
Blu-ray burner(nice to have as back-up source)

one thing, the ACER uses a BC- 5500A Optiarc Blu-Ray drive which owned by Sony/NEC has anyone upgrade their ACER with the BC-5500A Blu-ray burner.

 

how'd you go with this ?

what country are you from? do you have a fair trading department?

next time you make a call just drop a mention that you will raise formal complaint to the relative industry body.

Nvidia control panel does offer inverse telecine but i couldnt tell you how effective this is.

not quite sure what you mean by new HD audio.
but there are options to send audio out on HDMI or Optical.

TV tuner is only as good as the reception.

Do not buy a Sony - they look good but is overpriced.
i dont know why they bother to stay in the notebook market.

If you can wait til July - check out the Toshiba G50/G55.
this is the ultimate DTR notebook - im tempted to sell the 8920G and get one of these babies.

almost a useless feature on a notebook.

have you considered getting something that has longer battery life and is more suiting to travel?

the money you save could go to a Playstation 3 or a dedicated Blu ray player and receiver.

 

If you are looking for a "permanent" storage solution and are willing to spend something extra for the hardware, then you might as well go for the Iomega Rev 120GB. Per disc/GB it is slightly more expensive than blank BR discs, but very secure and a 30 years+ life on each disk makes up for it.

Of course if you just want to back up pr0n or something then the cost for the drive is going to be too high IMO.

 

I'm in Canada. And nothing further has been done.

The customer likes the machine anyhow, and has decided to use the 18" for his own personal purposes, and is picking up the same model I have, the 16", for his office. I can at least confirm that BT works on mine.

If he had chosen to cause a stink about it, obviously we would've gone further. This whole situation has gotten to me, but I'm not really sure how much another phone call is going to do. What I likely will end up doing is firing off a letter to head office. Just to ease my own mind.

 

I already have Desk-top, PS3 and Denon 4306, I want to get rid of the desk top and PS3 and have only one unit. When I need to do computer work I'll use my laptop and when I want to watch a film I plug the laptop into the docking station connected to the Denon and the 506.

 

You do not like using ps3 as a blu-ray player? Just curious.

 

had a go of one in PCworld today.
im selling the wife in the week. so i can buy one.
Happy Days

 

hoggie,,, are you actually selling the wife??
or just her laptop??

 

i've now got an ebay account.
add reads:
Selling one Wife, good cook,needs own fridge and has a degree in moaning

interested ?

 

provide link please... along with info about kinds of food she cooks,, pics of prepaired food might help too!!

 

Hello there,

unfortunately confirmed otherwise: mine came without SP1.
I just installed it, and from the first few moments I noticed that the battery has not been recognized.

Any suggestions please anyone

Txs in advance,
P

 

No, The PS3 is great Blu-ray player but I'm not gamer as rule so it's a bit wasted, to use the laptop as the blu-ray player would be ideal.

 

Anyone has found a nice shoulder bag for this baby? I'm looking around, but there's doesn't seem to be a "perfect" case for it. I'd prefer something sports-like and under 100$, not the big leather carry case at 150$.

Any luck?

 

Hi,

This is a nice machine, I received the same spec machine yesterday. The GFX in my opinion is pretty good, as long as you get the latest forceware, I had a lot of stuttering and locking up with the original forceware (dated feb 08, 167.** i think). I'm using 174.51 now which seems to be doing the trick.

I've just come form an M1710 XPS with a 2.16ghz proc and 7900GTX overclocked to 7950 clocks. By comparison the 9650 seems to do just as well if not a little better on the newer games, but on some of the older it was having a bit more of a rough time, but I'm guessing that's probably down to Vista. The XPS cost me around £1500.00 18 months ago, so paying £1300.00 for this 18 months later you would expect better performance, but I'll make do with equal or a little better than the XPS.

I'm currently running crysis on 1280x1024 with everything on high apart from shaddows, post processing and physics which is giving a nice frame rate on the new forceware.

I think that this is much better as a multimedia laptop, which is why I traded in the XPS for this when performance is very similar. I was happy with the XPS performance, but trading up to a bigger screen, blue-ray, extra ram, 620gb storage vs 120 on the xps, HDMI etc, I'm happy with the price though because of the extras you get.

The only thing that is really disapointing for me is the sound, absolutely no low notes and it distorts if you try and put any sort of bass through it, the XPS totally destroyed the speakers on this machine which is surprising considering the 10w amp and 5 speaker set up. IMHO the 'TUBA' bass system isn't even worth having. Music on the XPS was a pleasure to listen to and very punchy / full, but on this it's a chore, without the equalizer on there is no base, just a hollow high pitch sound, with equalizer on, and trying to tweak the frequencies, the TUBA just distorts from even the most feeble amount of base. So I won't even bother now, it's either plug it into something else, or put your headphones on, as all you get is a real loud tiney distorted noise!

All in all this is a very good multimedia machine, but if you are looking for a hard core were gaming a machine I would go with a new XPS, but then your looking at £1800 for a decent spec one now.

With ref to swapping the GFX card, it can be swapped out, as the demo versions of these were running 8800GT's.

 

I'm thinking of buying the 8920g LX.APX05.309, too.

a) Is the hardware on this thing vista64 compatible?
b) Would it be worth it to install a creative Xi-fi soundcard, or is the built-in soundcard good enough? (no compromise on sound here)
c) What're the "in-the-box" contents of this laptop? (no website has that mentioned on the product's page for some reason)
d) Any other laptop recommendations for an 800-900 pounds range?

Thanks.

 

a. someone with the same machine as mine did the 64bit format at this forum. try search in acer sub-forum.
b. im satisfied with the sound. i have mine connected to a toslink to receiver 7.1
c. it doesnt come with recovery cd, hdmi cables, toslink with adapter cables.
d. 800-900lbs? are you the famous physicist Dr. Bruce Banner?

 

800-900 pounds sterling/quids/the currency

 

hehe im a moron

 

Hi All,

can someone who has done a fresh install tell what they used to get the webcam working again.

i installed the crystal eye utility but this does not seem to be the actual device driver.

anyone can post this up somewhere or email me?

 

Where did you find new drivers other than original for the M9500GS video card ?