Considering an Acer 6930g

Hello to any and all members who read this, my 1st post on the site, and thank you in advance. Apologies if this should be entered into the ‘ What Notebook Should I Buy’ section, I thought it would be most appropriate to come here for assistance. Feel free to open fire if I am wrong, though I must warn you I can stop bullets in their tracks and am agile like a ninja…

Anyhoo, I was considering purchasing an Acer 6930g and have found 2 variations that I like. I might add that I was looking to do a bit of gaming, though I have already done the research on this and have found the Nvidia 9600m GT and ATI HD4650 to more than meet my requirements. Both versions are essentially the same bar the price, Max RAM and Graphics Card:

The 1st: http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/12817973/Acer-Aspire-6930G-643G25Bn-Core-2-Duo-T6400-2-0GHz-3GB-250GB-16-Widescreen-Blu-ray-Combo-Vista-Home-Premium-Laptop-Notebook-LX-AUU/Product.html?ptsl=1&ob=Price&fb=0

The 2nd: http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/5070664/Trail/searchtext%3EACER.htm

My first question is would you recommend:

a) the 1st and upgrade the GPU as I’m aware is possible, to perhaps the ATI HD4650 which I have seen for around about £60-100? Also, is the 1GB difference in RAM a major factor or is it a minor improvement and how easy is it to upgrade if necessary?

or

b) The 2nd to save all the hassle? (as I have no previous experience in upgrading). Incidently, I have a budget of £600.

My final question is of reliability. Has anyone had any issues with this particular model? Anything noteworthy in general? I have heard of several problems with sound crackling, wireless switching on and off and also issues with the durability of the monitor, mainly with it cracking through no fault of the respective owners. If any issues arise while under warranty are Acer helpful and understanding? Or will they find my lack of faith disturbing before promptly ending my miserable existence with a Force-choke?

Once again cheers for reading and I look forward to your reply!

 

First off, welcome to NBR-Acer! Hope you get the 6930G and stick around.
Acquiring the Radeon HD 4650 has been rather dicey, actually; hard to find a consistent supplier.
3GB vs. 4GB isn't a large difference, but maxing out the RAM on your notebook is always a good idea. Upgrading the RAM is the easiest operation you can do to your laptop; pop the buttplate off, pop out the 1GB RAM module, and slide a 2GB module in.

However, I'd caution you about the second model; that GeForce 9600M GT is equipped with 1GB of DDR2 video memory, instead of the faster models with 512MB of GDDR3 video memory. That means roughly half the bandwidth available for the GPU core to use, and thus a nice drop in 3D performance. It'll still outpace the 9300M GS, but it's not exactly the best in the Acer lineup.
(the Radeon HD 4650 only performs so well with 1GB of DDR2 because it's a better architecture)

Thankfully, the major issue with the 69xx series, CPU throttling, seemed to skip over the 6930G. My 6920G has survived almost two years of ownership by me with relatively few scratches or nicks, so it's a solid system.
I can't speak for the quality of Acer's UK service, but Acer Canada's been OK...just don't use email support.

 

Upgrading isn't hard at all on the 6930G. The main problem with upgrading I would say is the CPU but that's still relatively easy. It's fairly solid IMO but the screen hinge is absolutely retarded in how not far they go back. If you get the 9300M GS, you can find a 9600M GT DDR3 online for about $150 or so and probably sell the 9300 to someone else for $75 maybe. RAM doesn't really matter since even with video and image rendering, I've never used up the 4GB I have except for that one 10 second 800x600 .gif I made once, but that irrelevant. The GPU in the 6930G is exceedingly easy to exchange. Just pop it open, unscrew the card that's just right there and slide the card out. Just remember to get thermal paste and if you do get another nVidia card, you won't have to deal with drivers.

 

With much love for the 6930g would you consider this?
it might be an inch bigger, but for £599 you get: -

faster cpu, bluray, +70gb, 1600x900, 4gb ddr3 and 1gb gt240m ddr3 which would be better the 9600gt
http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Acer_Aspire_7738_Laptop_LX.PFT0X.203/version.asp

lot of bang for your buck, tbh

 

Hi, Yesterday i bought new Acer 6930g equipped with 9600gt, & i hope i made correct decision. good luck for purchase.

 

Thanks for the help guys! I feel I'm zoning in on the laptop most suited to my needs/desires. :wink:

@ williamt1688: Nice tip and that certainly seems like alot of bang for ya buck, maybe too much bang!? But in all seriousness, it's a consideration though the main issue seems to be it's availability. I'll keep it on the 'maybe' pile for now. Thank you!

What I find myself gearing towards however is the 1st for £440, leaving me with money left over to customize it as appropriate.

@ TehSuigi: Thank you for the heads up on the DDR2 video memory. In fact, thanks for the list of models/MXM cards you did a while back, it has been very helpful.
It's nice to know that the RAM is an easy fix. I've been poking my head around teh webz and have found this site selling 2gb DDR3 modules:

http://www.offtek.co.uk/ModelData.php?manu=Acer&stid=1&model=Aspire%206930G%20(DDR3)&source=GoogleFeed1&utm_source=GoogleFeed1&utm_medium=GoogleDF

One question though: I've heard it is best to have an identical pair of modules, both DDR2/DDR3 etc. Is this necessary or will having 1x 2gb DDR2 and 1x 2gb DDR3 suffice? Let me know if I'm making any headway or not or even if these will be compatible. The main appeal for this 1st model now is learning a bit more about computers. Might come in handy someday.

@ EchoShade: SnaaaaAAAKeeE!!? Ahem.. Much appreciated Echo! You have the same model also? Stand-by, you may be of some use. :laugh:
Using notebookcheck.net I have found the ATI HD4650 to be quite a tasty prospect and couldn't help but notice in your sig that you have an ATI HD4670? How well does this perform would you say? Do you game and if so is this more than capable? It certainly seems to be an improvement over the HD4650 aswell as the NVidia 9600m GT. This chart I'm looking at says that in some cases it's even better than the Geforce 240m GT as suggested by Will. I'm sure the CPU of the laptops tested must play a part in this though:

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Computer-Games-on-Laptop-Graphic-Cards.13849.0.html

If either the HD4650 or HD4670 are an option I have found both of these on the same site as the £440 6930g for very appealing prices!

ATI HD4650: http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/7966190/Play-Value-ATI-Radeon-HD-4650-1GB-DDR2-PCI-Express-2-0-Graphics-Card/Product.html = £44.99

ATI HD4670: http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/8989462/Play-Value-ATI-Radeon-HD-4670-512MB-DDR3-PCI-Express-2-0-Graphics-Card/Product.html?&_$ja=tsid:11518|cc:|prd:8989462|cat:Components = £64.99

Once again any advice, tips, suggestions or input of any kind will be great!

 

Well there's various problems wrong there. You can't use a desktop card in a laptop first off. You have to buy specialized MXM cards such as
http://cgi.ebay.com/nVidia-GeForce-...emQQptZPCC_Video_TV_Cards?hash=item3efd44f6ef
Don't actually consider that one since it's from China but use the picture as a reference.

But honestly, don't try to find a 4670. Thing is as rare as Valve releasing a game on time. I don't actually have the 4670 with me right now since MSI wouldn't just give me a new card and I had to RMA it but the 4670 DDR3 was 2-3 times as powerful in games compared to my 9600M GS DDR2 that I'm forced to use again.

Also, the 6930G can only accept DDR2 modules. The 200-pin slots in the laptop cannot accept the 204-pin DDR3 modules.

 

Hi!

My first post too : )

I have this laptop! It's been nothing but good to me. I recently installed Windows 7 64 bit with a clean install (not the upgrade) and it runs very smooth. I had Vista on it previously and I had zero issues with it. (I'm actually a fan of Vista--Seven is great though too)
I have the NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GS version, Core 2 duo P8600 @ 2.4ghz, with 4gbs ram.
I don't do much gaming on this PC, so this card has been good for me. I do, however, edit graphics/websites (photoshop and dreamweaver) and it's been decent enough.
Plenty of inputs/outputs (HDMI, 5.1 audio, SD, 3 usb etc.)
My only caveat would be how Acer divides the partitions in the C and D drives. Basically they split the hard disk gigs in two between C and D, where they each have about 150 gbs each, total is 320gbs (that extra must be somewhere) .
This isn't really a problem, but if you like to keep everything on the C, well you may have to store some on D. No problem really, as you could delete a partition and add it to C.
Also the battery is so-so, but I keep mine plugged in.

Anyways, I found a great deal on this laptop last July and had to pick it up. Since then, I've been happy with it.

 

Ah bugger, so the cards are about as much use as knockers on a frog? I already know about the MXM deal, it's one of the reasons I felt compelled to get an Acer as I know that many of their recent laptops support this. Naturally, given that the desktops are named/look very similar to the laptops, I assumed that these were the right cards. My mistake, you live you learn. *rainbow*

Needn't worry, I swiftly ventured over to ebay.co.uk and found a few ATI cards for £50-100, so not too bad. I'm definitely keen on the HD4650 now, so here are a couple just to make sure I haven't made a mess again:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ATI-HD3650-DD...Computing_LaptopAccess_RL?hash=item3caa8d6469 = £59.99

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ATI-HD3650-DD...raphics_Video_TV_Cards_TW?hash=item51909764ba = £99.99

There is also one up for bid currently @ £40 so I might give that a bash.

In regards to the DDR2/DDR3 situation I'm a bit thrown. The site says they have been specifically designed to meet the requirements of the Acer 6930g? Surely they wouldn't make something that can't possibly work? Unless there are some 6930g's with 200-pin slots and others with 204-pins?
Either way they also sell DDR2 modules for £29.90 per 2gb:

http://www.offtek.co.uk/ModelData.php?stid=1&manu=Acer&modeltype=Aspire%206000%20Notebook%20Series&model=Aspire+6930G+(DDR2)

@ Selvos: Good to hear you've found it satisfactory Selvos. The battery duration isn't much of an issue as I too was planning to keep it plugged in, though if the possibility of improving this is cheap enough I may consider it. Thanks for your input!

Also Cheers to Daljeet and I hope all goes well on your end!

Edit: God dang it! I put in 4650 and it comes up with 3650! It's not my day today...

These don't seem to be that bad, but I'd still prefer the 4650.

 

Well, those are Radeon HD 3650s. They're the previous generation, and thus slower than the Radeon HD 4650s. On top of that, it's saddled with DDR2 video memory; if you can find a Radeon HD 3650 with 256MB of GDDR3 memory, it'll be faster.
Remember, it's not the amount of video memory that's important, it's the speed.

As for the memory, Acer's official specs list the 6930G as having DDR2 RAM. The 693 5G, however, does use DDR3 RAM.

 

Yeah, I noticed my mistake and made the edit. The 3650 is fine-ish, but I'd rather a more superior card.

Fortunately, taking your advice on board, I've found several alternatives. Most noticeably, an nVidia GeForce 9600m GT 512mb DDR3 for £149.99 aswell as a Quadro FX 770m 512mb DDR3 for £119.99.

The 9600m GT seems like a no-brainer over the rest of the cards currently up for sale. I'm assuming that most will not be upgrading from an ATI HD4650 as I get the impression it is one of the best MXM-II cards available at the mo. I'm thinking either wait for it or pull the trigger on the 9600m GT.

 

DON'T.
The GeForce 9600M GT is confirmed to NOT work with the 5920G. There's a BIOS lockout that prevents it.
The Quadro FX 770M might be the Quadro cousin of the same card, and also not work.

 

But it does work on the 6930G -_-............

 

nice to hear the persistence, i would of jumped at the opportunity if i didn't receive my 6935g as a present...
guess you cant beat the thrill of a custom-lappy

well if you find a 4670 ddr3 mxm-ii let me know (*pokes TehSuigi & EchoShade*) lol

 

Will do Will! However, at this point it seems like I'd have a greater chance of having tea 'n' biscuits with the Loch Ness monster...

That 7738 is back in stock and with the trouble finding a decent card for a fair price it is looking pretty tempting right about now.

I also found a 5739g for £499.99 with what seems to be the same card, gah...so many options! I want to be sure I get my money's worth though so I'll have to go back to the Bat-Cave and think it over.

 

Take your time, b_4eva. There's no hurry to spend your cash.
However, if I may make a suggestion - look into the Aspire 5740G.
Core i3 or i5 + Mobility Radeon HD 5650 1GB DDR3 = WIN.

The Core i3 + Radeon HD 5650 model here in Canada is $719 CAD, which is ~£450.
The Core i5 + Radeon HD 5650 model is $799, which is ~£500.

 

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Acer_Aspire_5740G_Laptop_LX.PMB02.001/version.asp
http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Acer_Aspire_5740G_Laptop_LX.PMB02.093/version.asp

£599 & £699 respectively on this side of the pond

 

Then get the £599 model!
Compared to the 6930G, you're getting 133 MHz more CPU speed, twice as many processing threads (Windows will see the i3 as 4 cores instead of 2), faster RAM (DDR3 vs. 2), twice as much hard drive space, and a graphics card that will beat any of the stock GeForces in the 6930G, and even outpace the Radeon HD 4650 provided you found it.
The only thing you're missing out on is Blu-ray, but that's why God created BitTorrent. :3

Someone posted a 5740G review here on NBR-Acer, actually. Different model, but check it out anyway.

 

Only word of warning i'd give is to check the online reviews/ratings for Laptops/Acer/Buyit Driect, one of the worst companies i've ever delt with. Simply Acer scores much better.