Acer Aspire 8940G -- Core i7 Quad -- Owner's Lounge

ACER ASPIRE 8940G




SPECS: straight from Acer

Code:

[size='3'][B][size='5']Operating System[/SIZE] [/B] 	

    [B]* Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium[/B]

[B][size='5']Processor [/SIZE][/B]	

    [B]* Intel® Core™ i7-720QM Processor
      (6MB L2 Cache, 1.60GHz)[/B]

[B][size='5']Chipset[/SIZE][/B] 	

    [B]* Mobile Intel® PM55 Express[/B]

[size='5'][B]Memory [/B][/SIZE]	

    [B]* 4GB (2GB installed in each of two memory slots) DDR3 1066 SDRAM

      User upgradeable up to 8GB (one 4GB memory card in each slot)* subject to availability of 4GB cards

      *If upgrading after initial purchase, one or more of the memory cards provided with the system may have to be replaced with optional larger memory cards in order to achieve the maximum capacity.[/B]

[B][size='5']Storage [/SIZE][/B]	

 [B]   * 500GB* SATA hard disk drive, 5400RPM

      Integrated variable-speed Blu-ray Disc™ drive / Super-Multi drive combo: -Read - 24X CD-ROM, 24X CD-R, 24X CD-RW, 8X DVD-ROM, 8X DVD-R, 8X DVD+R, 8X DVD-ROM DL (double-layer), 6X DVD-R DL (double-layer), 6X DVD+R DL (double-layer), 8X DVD-RW, 8X DVD+RW, 5X DVD-RAM, 4X BD-ROM, 4X BD-R, 2X BD-RE, 4X BD-ROM DL (double-layer), 4X BD-R DL (double-layer), 2X BD-RE DL (double-layer)
      -Write - 24X CD-R, 16X CD-RW, 8X DVD-R, 8X DVD+R, 6X DVD-RW, 6X DVD+RW, 5X DVD-RAM, 4X DVD+R DL (double-layer), 4X DVD-R DL (double-layer)

      5-in-1 card reader supports optional MultiMediaCard™, Secure Digital card, Memory Stick®, Memory Stick PRO™ or xD-Picture Card™

      Optional external USB 1.44MB* diskette drive

      *When referring to storage capacity, GB stands for one billion bytes and MB stands for one million bytes. Some utilities may indicate varying storage capacities. Total user-accessible capacity may vary depending on operating environments.[/B]

[B][size='5']Video[/SIZE][/B] 	

[B]    * Acer® CineCrystal full HD 18.4" (1920 x 1080) high-brightness (220-nit) TFT LCD

      16:9 aspect ratio, 8ms high-definition response time, 60% color gamut, LED backlight, frameless design

      Up to 16.7 million colors

      Discrete NVIDIA® GeForce® GTS 250M graphics (1024 MB of dedicated DDR3 VRAM, up to 1791 MB of shared system memory)

      MPEG-2 DVD, WMV9/VC-1 (Windows® Media Video 9, VC-1 standard), H.264/AVC decoding

      Acer® Video Conference with integrated Acer® Crystal Eye webcam supporting Acer® PrimaLite and PureZone technologies

      VGA, DisplayPort™ and HDMI™ (High-Definition Multimedia Interface™) with HDCP (high-bandwidth digital-content protection) support ports

      Support for simultaneous display on notebook LCD and external monitor
[/B]
[B][size='5']Audio [/SIZE][/B]	

[B]    * Dolby®-optimized Acer® CineSurround sound system with five integrated speakers and one Acer® Tuba CineBass booster supporting low-frequency effects

      Acer® PureZone technology with two integrated stereo microphones featuring beam forming, echo cancellation and noise suppression technologies

      Optimized third-generation Dolby® Home Theater audio enhancement

      True 5.1-channel surround-sound output

      Headphones/speaker/line-out with SPDIF support, microphone and line-in ports

      Microsoft® DirectSound® compatibility[/B]

[B][size='5']Interface Ports 	[/SIZE][/B]

    [B]* DC-in
      RJ-45 LAN
      VGA
      DisplayPort™
      Headphones/speaker/line-out with SPDIF support
      Microphone
      Line-in
      FireWire® (IEEE 1394)
      eSATA
      HDMI™ (High-Definition Multimedia Interface™) with HDCP (high-bandwidth digital-content protection) support
      CIR (consumer infrared)
      Five USB 2.0 (four are functional when an eSATA device is plugged in)[/B]

[B][size='5']Card Slots[/SIZE][/B] 	

   [B] * ExpressCard™/54 slot

      5-in-1 card reader supports optional MultiMediaCard™, Secure Digital, Memory Stick®, Memory Stick PRO™ or xD-Picture Card™[/B]

[B][size='5']Communications [/SIZE][/B]	

    [B]* Intel® Wireless WiFi Link network connection supporting 802.11a/b/g/Draft-N wireless LAN, Acer® SignalUp technology for enhanced antenna efficiency, WI-FI CERTIFIED™

      Gigabit LAN, Wake-on-LAN ready

      Acer® Video Conference with integrated Acer® Crystal Eye webcam supporting Acer® PrimaLite and PureZone technologies
[/B]
[size='5'][B]Included Software [/B][/SIZE]	

    [B]* Acer® Backup Manager
      Acer® Crystal Eye
      Acer® eRecovery Management
      Acer® GridVista
      Acer® InstantOn Arcade
      Acer® Launch Manager
      Acer® PowerSmart Manager
      Adobe® Acrobat® Reader
      Adobe® Flash® Player
      eSobi™
      Google™ Toolbar
      McAfee® Internet Security Suite (trial version)
      Microsoft® Works 8.5 (full version)
      Microsoft® Office Home & Student 2007 (60-day trial)
      MyWinLocker®
      Norton™ Online Backup
      NTI Media Maker™*

      *OEM, not full-featured, version.
[/B]
[B][size='5']User Interface [/SIZE][/B]	

    [B]* Backlit 103-key keyboard, inverted T cursor layout, embedded numeric keypad, hotkey controls, international language support

      10 function, four cursor, two Microsoft® Windows® keys
      Acer® backup, WLAN easy-launch buttons

      Acer® PowerSmart

      Acer® MediaTouch interface device with Acer® Arcade, volume up/down meter, media control (play/pause, stop, previous, next), mute and hold keys

      Multi-gesture touchpad supporting two-finger scroll, pinch, rotate, flip[/B]

[size='5'][B]Dimensions & Weight [/B][/SIZE]	

   [B] * 17.3" (440.0mm) W x 11.6" (295.0mm) D x 1.2" - 1.7” (31.0mm – 43.8mm) H

      10.1 lb. (4.6kg)

      Size and weight may vary depending on configuration[/B]

[size='5'][B]Power [/B][/SIZE]	

   [B] * 120-watt AC adapter

      Eight-cell lithium ion battery: up to 3.0 hours life depending on configuration and usage; 2.0 hours recharge time with power off, 3.0 hours with power on, 80% charge in 1.0 hour[/B]
[B][size='5']
Compliance [/SIZE][/B]	

    [B]* Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™
      Energy Star®
[/B]
[B][size='5']Security Features [/SIZE][/B]	

   [B] * User, administrator and hard drive BIOS passwords
      Kensington® lock slot

Limited Warranty* 	
[/B]
   [B] * One-year parts and labor limited warranty* with concurrent International Traveler’s Warranty**

      *For a free copy of the standard limited warranty end-users should see a reseller where Acer products are sold or write to Acer America Corporation, Warranty Department, P.O. Box 6137, Temple, TX 76503. TFT displays commonly exhibit a small number of discolored dots, so-called “nonconforming pixels.” This phenomenon is a limitation of TFT LCD technology, not a product defect and, as such, is not covered by the limited warranty or by the upgrade programs.

      **Valid only in countries where Acer has an authorized repair facility. For a list of those countries go to http://global.acer.com/support/itw.htm. or call 800-816-2237. Services and response times may vary in countries outside the U.S. and Canada.

	

    * Specifications are subject to change without notice.[/B]
[/SIZE]

REVIEWS



NOTEBOOKREVIEW.COM -- 11/16/2009


LAPTOPMAG -- 11/23/2009 -- A LAPTOPMAG EDITORS' CHOICE​

 

Hai. Im a soon to be owner

 

Yeah! I have to admit this thing is bit larger than I expected, especially the keypad area, looking at the screen (which was one of the biggest issues) I know I can't go smaller! I think I made the right choice in that regard.

It is not as heavy as most people made 18.4" out to be though... of course I workout regularly

 

Yeah i went and found something that was 10lbs and picked it up, wasent that heavy and my current vostro 1700 is hardly lightweight so size and weight wont be a problem for me.

I have a question though, ive ordered my 8940g in from the USA, i gather it will work from 110v-240v so will this plug adapter work? Im in the UK.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/adaptor-Con...2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1258732000&sr=8-2

Does the 8940g end in a 2 pin usa plug like in the pictures above or has it got some weird box type thing that wont fit or something else altogether?

 

If you look at the images in the link below and zoom in you can see it's a 3 "prong" plug.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834115679

 

I was at Fry's this evening and got a chance to see it. Nicely built, love the media control, but not sure about the hard drive. Newegg says it's a 5400rpm? Windows Experience Index says 5.8, with 5.8 is the hard drive speed, so I think it's a 5400 really.

The i7 processor scores 7.2 and the RAM scores 7.4 which is very nice.

Love the LED edge-to-edge, but not sure it has bluetooth..

Anyone has the spec of 8930? Very tempting as I'm considering the HP DV8t and this one. If it has bluetooth and HDD is 7200 I would go for it.

 

People seem really concerned with the hard drive, and I don't understand why. There is another hard drive bay so just add a second faster one

 

I evaluate the laptop based on price/performance ratio. Adding another 7200rpm means more money to spend and at that time the cost/performance ratio of this one may not be better than other model. That is not to mention the lack of bluetooth and hassle to install a bluetooth module.

 

Yes, it is a 500GB 5400RPM HD and apparently it doesn't have bluetooth (because of a Windows 7 compatibility but that seems far fetched as some others have it and some don't). Also remember at 7200 RPM that would take more energy from your notebook. I would rather Acer had dropped the HD size to 320GB(even if 5400rpm over 7200rpm) and added blue tooth and DDR5 to the video card, I could care less about hard drive size, they're lage enough.

But... I have learned that no laptop is perfect over my extensive search. I tried to not focus on features I could easily change, you can upgrade the hard drive later, very easy and you can add blue tooth even easier than that.

Now... what was important to me was the Screen size and resolution, processor and especially the video card (which drove me crazy), features like a fingerprint reader are an added plus.

If the hard drive and bluetooth are most important to you then this not the one for you but consider what you're giving up...

If you go for the HP DV8t you will get a far inferior Video Card and you will never be able to replace it unlike the Acer.

So cons against the the HP DV8t are,

• NVIDIA GeForce 230M
• No LED Backlighting on an older Screen
• No Illuminated Keyboard
• No way to upgrade video card
• No bluetooth either unless you upgrade
• 250GB HD (but with 320GB HD free upgrade for now and both 7200rpm, but that's depends if size or speed is important to you.)

So cons against the the Acer Aspire 8940G are,

• No bluetooth
• Hard Drive

I actually could have gotten the HP DV8t with the $500 off incentive and would have been priced nicely but that Video card was just eating at me.

 

I'm using my Gateway FX P7805u on a 9800GTS 1G video card. Is it better or worse than the 250GTS of the 8940?

Although I could take out my 2 320x2 GB 7200rpm RAID 0 from this Gateway and put in the 8940, I have not upgraded a bluetooth module before and not sure if this is easy. Adding a bluetooth module to the current Gateway is difficult so I have to use an external module which is annoying.

 

You can compare the two here

http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GTS-250M.17669.0.html

http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-9800M-GTS.9918.0.html

 

Thanks for the links. I see that the 250M is newer but gives worse benchmark result. The 9800GTS is still strong. I like the i7 but if the graphic is still less than comparable I think I should stay with my Gateway.

 

The 9800M GTS is 65-55nm vs. 40nm on the 250M. Better power consumption and some new features on the 250M GTS but the 9800M GTS is still a strong one if it had DDR5 it would just about good or better in theory! That being said the Acer with the 250M GTS still beats the rest of the guys in comparable resolution and price. Good luck!

 

Wait.......so this laptop's GPU is upgradeable?
Does it GET much better for the price?

Can someone please verify this is fact?

Thanks in advance

 

Its not listed here yet:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=396320

But it will be listed, it has MXM 3.0 B i believe just like the 8935G (not MXM III). So it should be able to accomodate future cards which will also be in the new MXM 3.0 standard. Theyre not guaranteed to work though, but as you can see from the above thread at least theres a chance, unlike with dell etc.

 

OUTSTANDING!

Im debating over this notebook and the gateway fx.....but this one just pretty much took the lead...

1GB GDDR3 GTX 280M Nvidia GeForce; MXM 3.0 Type B; 16x PCIe; DX10; N10E-GTX1

That goes in once I purchase it and it can be verified to work.....dear lord....such a good laptop...

Now...if only the CPU could be upgraded to a faster I7

 

better question still......

Since this is an I7 proc....doesnt it run best with ram running in tri channel?

Anyone aware of the ram setup?

 

I believe I had read that even if this model used the MXM 3.0 standard, not all of the cards such as the GTX 280M would work in this model because it isn't designed to handle the heat of the more powerful cards. So you could use newer cards down the road, but they'd have to have the same TDP as the current card in the system.

 

Either way the 250gts will tide me over for abit....itll be my mobile editing/gaming/entertainment system....

Id be content with the gtx260m also.....which appears to be compatible
Laptop cooler ftw?

 

Don't worry that much on this since my current GPU (HD4670) consumes 35W , where 8600M GT (which comes by default with this laptop) consumes 20W

 

Alienware's laptops GPU is upgradeable. Better cooling for CPU and GPU in the new...NEW...models of the M15x. Not sure about the M17x. M17x is SLI compatible.

Hope that helps.

Oh and for the price ( i was debating to buy Acer 8940g) I personally found the Asus G51Vx to be better. I hate the customer service with Acer. I found the Asus to be a better build quality and performance. The Asus does run hot though, but that is what thermal paste is for.

I ended up ordering the Alienware M15x. It may be a bit over priced, but I love Dell support, the build quality, cooling, and of course...the lights

Btw...the G51vx does not have core i7, but I hear the G51vx-rx3 does. Check it out and good luck!

 

Did you ever get a chance to read the title of the thread? There's so many ways I could tear up your post but all I'll say is please take that somewhere else.

 

.....this laptop comes with the 250gts...I dont understand your response?

 

You can put a more powerful GPU without hesitation If it wasn't like this, why would we have MXM standards

 

Oh no I understand that part....I was confused by your reference to an 8600gt?

 

Damn Im loaded with questions....Call me a thorough researcher lol

Anyone know or has anyone tried OCing the CPU/GPU and if so how were your results?

 

Hey Guys,

Just curious..... has anyone configured an 8940 with RAID0? Could someone look, and see if RAID is supported in the bios?

Thanks in advance......

 

That's the problem, there's more to consider than just the MXM standard. I wish upgrading the GPU in a laptop was nearly as easy as doing it in a desktop. Perhaps with companies like Sager/Clevo, upgrading an MXM video card is easy.

But for guys like Acer, you have to make sure the new card can be handled by the computer as the computer may not be able to handle the heat of a more powerful and power-hungry card. The laptop's BIOS may also not be compatible with the card.

There's a lot of other factors, many of them hard to see, which get in the way of a successful video card swap in MXM laptops.

 

LOL Typical troll post.

 

Is Hyper threading enabled on this notebook?

 

Yes. 4 cores 8 threads, 2 for each, you'll see it in the system manager in windows or ubuntu. I would have just said "yes" but apparently you have to type more than 10 characters on this site.

 

Excellent. Someone earlier was trying to say that hyper threading was disabled in bios. I need 8 threads...I do a lot of HD video editing and this will be a determining factor in my purchase decision. Trying to decide on this or a desktop with an i7 9xx series cpu.

 

Any owners here? Anyone know the answer to my question above? Anybody?

Thanks again!

 

The bios is very limited IDK why, I did see an update on the Acer site 11/20/2009 actually so hopefully they have updated for more functionality (Is this the case for 8930G owners?). I have no idea how to update it, (if it's any different from my old comp) and I'm afraid it will mess things up (as I've read it's happened to the 8930G owners)

If the control function for raid is supplied in windows then I can't work on that right now since I'm using Ubuntu.

 

I very stupidly made this post a separate thread a few moments ago, before I noticed this thread, I figured I might as well post it here as well...Sorry about that.

I recently purchased this computer after much searching and finding it the best bang for the buck on the market at the time, upon arrival though I found it to have a few problems - which I'm not sure are errors with the manufacturer, or settings I'm misunderstanding.


The first problem is the trackpad: It becomes completely unresponsive for about 1-2 seconds whenever a button is pressed, I'm not sure if this is an accident prevention feature I'm unaware of, or a hardware error.


The second problem probably isn't an accident, the 8940g comes with an Acer Cinebass Tuba, basically a bass booster speaker right beside the screen. The tuba is split into two different speakers, but only the right one outputs sound. I'm not sure if I should treat this as a hardware, or driver issue.(I've had a lot of troubles with drivers thus far as well.)

Before contacting the seemingly infamous acer support service, I thought I would come here and try to ask someone else, anyone, who owns the 8940g if their system experienced similar issues, or if I'm just ignorant of a minor easy fix.

Any response would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

 

I haven't tested for the sound yet, I just noticed a pause in the touchpad as well for the first time right now, but it's been flawless before this, I think it might be a software glitch though.

Have you updated the bios or seen any other settings to control the hardware besides the very basic crap they put there?

 

I just tested your touchpad issue and yes it does indeed pause for like a second, it happens when you touch the main keyboard keys not the media keys though. I'm using Ubuntu though so it is probably an Acer issue. Perhaps I'm just a lttle too forgiving

And welcome please post all the bad AND the good that you have.

 

Thanks for the input AlphaFlight, but I am still at a loss here.

I am wondering if the 8940 has the provision for RAID options within the bios.

Thanks!

 

You don't understand, you can't control the CPU let alone find out anything pertaining to RAID. This is a very basic BIOS and it's really a disappointment.

Again... has anyone tried the new BIOS release to see if that made the big change or does anyone know if such a drastic change has happened with 8930G or 8935G?

 

I was not concerned with the CPU..... I was simply wondering about HDD options. Seems there should be some HDD options in the bios..... something..... listed perhaps under 'IDE Configuration? I have the 8940G 'Quick Start Manual', but no bios information is shown there. Did you receive an "Owner's Manual' with your laptop? If so, could you please check there, and see if a IDE/AHCI/RAID option exist to user select and set-up RAID0, RAID1, etc?

Thanks again....

 

I may not understand the question properly, and I apologize if I don't but, the only notable actions you can take in BIOS are changing the boot order and the system time.

 

WOW, this is surprizing! I guess the bios of this model is really is basic.

Thanks for the replies!

 

i should get this!

 

Sadly, same goes for everything that wears Acer brand. I guess that software RAID would be the only way, if you really want it

 

LOL, yeah, I guess..... software RAID seems so 'O'l School' these days. I was hoping Acer had improved the bios with their later models, but I guess not. I want to grab an 8942, when I can verify the ATI 5850 card. If so equipped, I plan on swapping the processor, and adding RAID0 SSD's.

Thanks again for the info!

 

Why would you swap out a core i7 and with what? A higher level one?

 

Hardwarewise Acer is great, BUT IMO Acer can't do decent BIOS.

 

Yeah, I was considering a swap to the i7-820QM...... I want the little extra cache & turbo.

Acer can build a pretty solid notebook, so I think they could do the same with the bios. I just think in this case, they adhere to the K.I.S.S. principle (Keep It Simple Stupid).

 

Hey guys whats up, i want to know why acer got first dips on the 18.4 LED and Toshiba didn't and also if i could change the CCFL 18.4 with the 18.4 LED screen featured with the acer core i7.

 

Unless there is a discrete RAID controller on the MB, I really don't see the point. Perhaps for ease of configuration and setup but you gain nothing with most on-board integrated RAID controllers over a software equivalent.