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

I beg to differ.
Just look at the Number of BIOS Revision for Acer Aspire Timeline.
There are a lot of silly quirks with their BIOS
Also for my current laptop when temperature goes up fan spin goes down.
Also ask the owners of Aspire 6920G about their BIOS.
It is not even keep it simple it is that they can't even get it right...

 

Greetings everyone. I just registered because I am looking at buying a new laptop in the very near future and found some interesting posts here through a google searchso took the liberty of joining and posting.

I have been searching the net looking for the specs I want, and so far the Acer 8940G seems to come up on top hands down in the price/feature department.

I am almost fully convinced that I will buy this unit, but was hoping someone who actually owns one of these laptops can help me out with a few questions I have.

1. Is it possible to change the video card? IE is it an MxM slot, and if so, which MxM version (I believe there are a few).

2. Is the keyboard definitely backlit?

3. On the cheaper 50wn model, it has only one hard drive, but having read a post here by @Alphaflight (I think!), a second hard drive can be added easily. IE it has a slot available with all the necessary guff and I simply buy another drive and slap it in without any fuss or extra expense?


This laptop has everything that I have wanted in a laptop, the things that an avid user/gamer like me really find useful -

1. Edge-to-edge screen. One of my major pet hates with laptops is dust! We all know how annoying it is, but most manufacturers either don't know (from lack of actually testing in the real world), or simply ignore what the end user wants. This is such a simple thing, but means a lot to the end user.

2. Backlit keyboard. I really hate having to have a dim light shining near a laptop to be able to see what I'm doing. And using one of those USB lights is no solution because they easily damage your USB port, and possible even your mainboard when you knock them with your hand accidentally. And you will eventually do that, it's Murphy's law!

3. Ability to add a 2nd hard drive. This is a fantastic thing to have, especially now that SSD drives are coming down in price. If you've ever seen one in action, you will know how nice they are.

4. Changeable video card. In my opinion, this is the biggest drawback to laptop ownership. And for people who like to play games, this is the deciding factor. But we all know from experience that they "go out of fashion" quite quickly, and being able to replace it is a better option (for us, not the manufacturer!), than having to buy a new laptop.

5. Ports on the front. This is another thing that makes my blood boil! How many times have you tried to use your laptop on your lap, with headphones plugged into the jack which is placed in the middle of the unit on the front? It begs the question - Did anyone actually try to use this laptop before deciding to sell it in this configuration?

 

Sheesh can someone answer my question, please.

 

Acer seems to be getting first dips on a lot of things nowadays like the AMD/ATI 5 series gpu!!! Acer is much larger than Toshiba on the PC side, maybe that's why

Honestly IDK probably cost, toshiba put a NVIDIA GTS 250 with DDR5 in their Quasimodos but Acer only put DDR3. Acer placed a backlit LED screen at full 1920x1080 HD while the starting Qomisos only got 1600x900 or what ever and low end screen tech. There are tradoffs, almost like they all got together and divyed who gets what.

As far as replacing the laptop display, .these laptops are so new that I'm not sure if anyone on here can answer that 100% At least I cant.

Theoretically it's possible, anything is possible with enough money and know how.

I tried looking for the screen on ebay but most of them looked like they were for the 8930G and I'm not sure their LED backlit.

 

Thanks a lot, i agree these laptops are very new, but yup Acer and Toshiba probably sliced it down between both of the companies.

 

Hi guys.. i've spent a heck of a lot of time comparing laptops... and I think i've finally decided on this one. I'd just like to know for sure from an owner... does this laptop have Hardware Virtualization disabled in the BIOS like the 8930G models?

If so then I guess i'll just have to try a hack similar to the one that allows enabling it for the 8930G.

I will definitely be needing this for running my VMWare 64 bit Images

 

I feel like I'm the only owner of this notebook in the world.

1)I'm 80% sure you can change and it is MXM 3.0 Type-B, the 8942G is coming out quick so I don't think they made any real changes to the mother board besides popping in an ATI Radeon Mobility 5 series card. The 5942G is also uses an ATi card so I don't think upgrading should be a porob.

2) YES!!! A definite 110% official. Very cool and you don't realize how important it is until you start using it. No longer do I have to switch the lamp off and one. IMO don't take it for granted, just look at the trouble the HP guys with the DV8t's are going through, it's like they would almost give their first born for one lol.

3)YES again, pop open the bottom plate/cover but be careful, I had a hard time doing this because it felt like it was going to break off and it probably would have, not only is it screwed in, it has hooks that snap it into place.

notebookreview just reviewed the 8940G and here is what is looks like but it was not as easy to open as they claimed,



4) See 1)

5)The only port on the front of the 8940G is the card reader everything else is on the right or left, which I kind of find annoying. Particularly, they should have left the power adapter socket on the back in the middle, some of the USB ports would have been nice there too, so I don't get distracted by the blinking lights. It just so happens to be that most of the important ports are on the wrong side for me.

 

Unfortunately the BIOS is very "stripped down" there's really nothing you can control besides boot up and password protection. Can't say it's disabled but you definitely can't control it from there.

 

I hope to post some pics soon, especially of the LED keyboard, it's like a sci-fi space ship in space lol.

 

Does anyone out there know if us in the UK are going to see this excellent laptop?
Just this ticks every box I have for a new laptop and I could really do with a new laptop before Christmas!

 

I saw it listed on several UK sights, I also saw the 8942G listed on those same sites. We don't have any 8942G listed anywhere in the US yet.

 

Thanks for the clarification AlphaFlight, the pic is especially useful.

I went into ProMarkt yesterday and had a play with one they had in there, I really like it.

It's quite pricey over here in Germany, about €1450 ($2188 USD!), but it really does carry everything I need. Actually the one I saw had 2x320 gig drives!

I have a HP dv6645 at the mo that I bought nearly 2 years ago, and it really taught me the value of a backlit keyboard! That plus the god-awful quality of the keys in general, the keys went all shiny after only a few weeks of use which made the whole laptop look quite old and worn.

I also looked at the HP dv8 while I was in the store, and it looks really cheap and nasty next to the Acer. I was considering buying that before I found the Acer!

So now to find the cash!

 

You any idea where those sites were, because either my Googling skills have dropped off, or they've removed them. Quite a number of sites have the blurb about the laptop being released soon, but none seem to have it for sale yet.

 

In the UK anyway the only site you can buy the 8942G from is insight.

http://uk.insight.com/apps/nbs/index.php?K=8942g&x=0&y=0

The other sheffield website dosent do anything when you click the "buy" button. Catch with insight is you need to send them 2 pieces of ID, either by post or scan and email :/ Bit lame, but ive bought one from them anyways. Apparently theres a 4 day lead time (4 days to get it from acer to insight) and 1 day delivery time. So if i can get my ID to them tomorrow i should have my 8942G by next wednesday if all goes well.

 

Cool! Tell us how it turns out ASAP!

 

Superb work!
I may well find myself calling them up tomorrow to see if I can get hold of one to replace my old dead Inspiron 1720.

 

man I am glad I found this thread. I bought an HP DV8 a few days ago and have been rethinking it ever since. I just dont trust HP's reliability any more (probaby why they have coupons for $450 like every third day) so I am considering a switch to the 8940. BUT reading here is sounds like the 8942 is right around the corner.

what should I do?? cancel HP, get the 8940 or the 8942

decision.

oh the one thing I am still shocked to see having owned an 8920.........TWO WIRE wifi cards !!!!! get with it Acer and do three wire Intel wifi 5300 cards !!!!

 

http://twisted-reviews.com/ati-radeon-hd5xxx-shortage-leads-to-delay-of-hd5650-based-notebooks/

mentions delaying going into 2010

 

wow looks at the specs for this 8942

18,4" Full HD Acer CineCrystal High-Brightness mit LED Backlight , max. Aufl. 1920 x 1080
- Intel Core i7 Prozessor 720QM (6MB L2 Cache, 1.6GHz)
- 8192 MB DDR3-RAM Arbeitsspeicher
- 1280 GB (2x640GB) SATA 5400rpm
- 1024MB DDR3 ATI Mobility Radeon HD5850
- Blu-ray Disc Writer mit DVD SuperMulti (Double Layer)
- Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR
- Integriertes Intel Wireless WiFi Link 5100 (802.11a/b/g/Draft-N)
- ExpressCard Slot
- Elegantes und Robustes Gehäuse
- 105-Tasten mit Nummernblock
- 5-in-1 Card-Reader (MMC, SD, MS, MS Pro, xD)
- Web/Videokamera integr. 1,0 MegP
- Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit
- 2 Jahre Garantie (Bring-In) inkl. 1 Jahr International Travellers Warranty

 

Ordered my Acer 8942g from Insight this morning.
Been told it should take 7 days to get stock from Acer. They have 1 coming into stock for Friday, but that one is taken already.

Nice to be able to talk to someone in the UK for a change rather than Dells abysmal Indian call centres.

 

Yeah they were friendly people, bit ticked about the hoops i had to jump through for ID etc, i turned off paper bank statements and the landlords deals with all the utility bills. Ah well i just hope this 8942g has the 5850 in it, noone seems to know the exact specs of it, not acer pre sales, the [email protected] people dont have a clue either.

 

what are they quoting for price?

 

Did you have to give a pint of blood too lol? Well that sucks, as if they're loaning it to you, did it come with a house? That's just too much info required to purchase a computer. I notice this more and more where ever I gofor other purchases, it's only fair if you get the same info from the person taking your own IMO.

Anyways.... WHEN IS THE ACER ASPIRE 8942G HITTING THE UNITED STATES???

You guys are lucky with all the different specs and models, you even have an option for the core i7 820QM.

 

There's a mention of the Acer Aspire 8942G and it being the first Laptop with the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5850. The stub isn't linked like the others but here's a quote.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Comparison-of-Graphic-Cards.130.0.html

IDK why it's ranked so low though (perhaps because they don't know anything about it yet), and they seem to indicate there will be a DDR5 version.

I would think this card would equal or surpass a

ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4870 X2 and » NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280M.

 

Do you guys realize the Acer Aspire 8942G could surpass gaming notebooks from Sager and Alienware with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280M - 260M but for half the price?

I'm predicting it will cost at least $1500.

 

£1227.04 inc vat. Plus £10.99 delivery so in total £1238 for the core I7 with 6GB ram and a 640 GB hdd and hopefully.... the HD 5850. The core I5 one is a bit less but not much though.

 

Wait for it...........
You'll have a phone call coming through soon Soviet779.
Just have Insight on the blower to me and I've been told that they haven't actually got any stock of the 8942G. They've been directly in touch with Acer and they're estimating delivery sometime in Mid January.
You must be number 1 on the waiting list and I'm number 2.

Now I have to figure out if I can hang on until January without my own computer at home to work on, and no Warcraft for 6 weeks! (going to be hard that one!)

 

Aww, they phoned earlier to confirm card details with me but that was all... Suppose i can wait till january, bit dissapointing though as i was psyched for having it in a weeks time

 

I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place!
My Inspiron 1720 is toast so I'm now stuck without a computer. I'm seriously considering getting the cheaper 8940g from the States.
To be honest I'm only going to be using it for Office Pro 2007, and World of Warcraft which isn't exactly massively graphics hungry, and the Nvidia GTS250m in the 8940g is no slouch. I also don't really need 6GB of RAM right now, and if this Acer has the upgradeable graphics card slot then I can just stick an ATi 5*** in there later on.

 

Balls to it!

I simply can't go on without a laptop (so that's a computer for me seeing as I don't own a desktop), so I've bitten the bullet this evening and ordered an 8940g from our American brethren.

The powerpack is multi-voltage (110v - 240v) so it should be a simple case of a travel adapter, or the more drastic version of cutting the plug off and wiring on a UK one.

The 8940g is a lot cheaper than the 8942g, and for my gaming needs the GTS 250m Nvidia graphics unit should suffice for the time being. As it supposedly has the MxM slot for the graphics card then hopefully updating to the yahoo powered ATI 5*** Series card in the future should be possible anyway if I want to take my gaming up another notch. I also don't think I really need the 6GB that the EU release 8942g comes with.

So hopefully if Mr UPS behaves himself I might have one of these machines very soon, and be able to get back into Warcraft before patch 3.3 comes round!

 

Just use a UK lead like this?

http://maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?moduleno=29240

 

Any 8940g owners out there? Or general Knowledgable Acer owners?

Just wondering how much Bloatware Acer sticks on their laptops when they send them out? I've read that Acer are some of the worst offenders for filling your nice new harddrive up with over 2GB of crap that'll slow your system down nicely for you.

If they do fill it up what's the best course of action?

Format the harddrive and do a full re-install of Windows 7 and the relevant drivers from Acer?

Or..........(been thinking about this one last night - probably not possible)

Format the 500GB 5200rpm hard drive, then stick it in the spare drive bay. Then buy a 500GB 7200rpm SATA drive for the main bay and install a fresh installation of Windows 7 onto that instead. The 500GB 5200rpm drive can then be where I store my digital photographs and vids.
Would this be possible, or is this amateur computer tweaker stepping outside of the realms of normality?

 

How will that go with customs? Are you absolutely certain that you won't be hit with a massive import duty?

I know the German customs are real ratbags when it comes to taxing on imports? I've seen one of those "Border Guard" shows on the telly and they always have people who've just got back from the US on it, they go through their luggage and tax them on all the stuff they bought .

I was thinking of buying mine from newegg and having it shipped to my brother-in-law in the US, then having him ship it to my other BIL in the UK, who can then send it onto me in Germany!

All to avoid the €400 taxes It would still work out cheaper than buying it here in DE!

Although I really want the German keyboard, and we do get a 2 year warranty over here (the US version only gets 1) .

 

Buy it now (and not after December the 31st) and I'll just get hit for 15% VAT on it. This is not an issue for me because it's coming over via UPS, and not something I'm bringing over from the US myself.

Yes, it bumps the price up to £1000, but it's still better specced than anything else I can buy directly over here in the UK, and it's available now so I'm not left without a computer for well over a month.

Acer is quoting Mid January for the new 8942G, and even that date could be set back even further if the supply problems ATi are having on their new chips actually comes true. I simply can't wait forever for a new computer as I'm getting fed up staying late at work to use their computers to work on projects that I could do in the comfort of my own home.

 

Via Fudzilla

Now they're say DDR5??? That would be good enough IMO. I just wish they didn't add all that unnecessary cargo to boost the price, like the 8GB of RAM, twin HDD and I hope that isn't a blue-ray burner.

Hopefully the U.S. model is cheaper with less cargo as Acer doesn't have a strong brand image here so they have to compete on price.

I think we're going to see this sooner than later, 2 months at the most, which I can wait out.

 

Nice! Hope thats true

 

Hmmmmm...... GDDR5 onboard Acer's 8942 ATI HD 5850 card?

I am doubtful here.......

The Fudzilla article lacks a source for this information. I have checked Acer's global sites, and I find nothing as an official announcement. Also the resellers of this notebook ( here, a better place for 8942 discussion) are still advertizing it as GDDR3.

If this notebook arrives on U.S. shores, it probably will not be until well after the European launch. By this time, we will have another DX11 (ATI HD 5870, GDDR5) customizable notebook on the scene...... very soon, stay tuned!

 

I bet it'll cost over $3k too

 

What is this mystery laptop that keeps getting referred to as "it"? Enlighten me please lol.

 

Yes, but only because I will be upgrading the processor, maxing mem, and adding RAID0 SSD's. It will be customizable.

 

http://www.techspot.com/news/37205-...agship-notebook-with-directx-11-graphics.html

 

Thanks for not telling us bro, appreciate it

 

LOL! Sorry, just PM'ed you.....

 

Hey, all.

I'm new here and I'm really interested in the 8942G, but what is that new model you always talk about, -=$tR|k3r=-?

 

Tried to PM you, but you do not have enough post. When you do, PM me later! Thanks!

 

Alright.
I've tried it, too.

 

If I recall correctly, you need a minimum of 10 or 15 post to PM. Just PM me when you get there. Sorry!

 

That's no problem.
All I need to do is to write 15 posts full of crap.

 

Let it begin! (actually though, you are supposed to remain on topic, so make it topical crap)

 

Unfortunately I have not much stuff to add.

I've noticed this notebook in an ad of my computer store.
They tell all the time that the delivery date (14. December 2009) is a statement of acer but as I e-mailed acer, they told me, that there is no delivery date by now.

If it would be available right now, I would take it, but as they let me enough time to change my decision, I will definitely think about it again.