How does the Acer 8930 differ from the 8920?

How does the Acer 8930 differ from the 8920 - and in particular, from the 8920-6746? I was just about to order the Acer AS8920-6746 from Newegg - and then I saw a reference to the 8930, which appears to be a newer model.

Thanks,
r-gordon-7

 

The 8930G is based on a newer platform (Montevina), uses a newer chipset (PM45), has better graphics (9700M GT Max), and a better processor (T9600 Max).

If possible, wait for the Quad-Core Refresh.

 

Thanks Andy. Excuse my public display of ignorance, but what is "Quad-Core Refresh" - and is it something that is in the 8930 but not in the 8920, or is it something that isn't in the 8930 either but would likely be in the release after that?

Thanks,
r-gordon-7

 

If I understand the term correctly, 'quad-core refresh' essentially means the laptop's cpu will be upgraded to the cpu with 4 cores by the manufacturer sometime down the line.

However, if that's what's gonna happen I don't know if it's worth it waiting since we don't know when it will happen.

 

Nope, different socket, different heat-sink, and probably a different motherboard.

The QCs have 2 dies on one chip, and the normal heat-sink is designed to cover only one die, not two.

And the QCs have a different pin-out than the previous Core 2 Duos, and are said to use Socket P '.

The 8930 has almost the same Plug and Play parts (ODD, Audio, etc) as the 8920, but the 8930 uses slightly upgraded H/W, i.e. CPU, GPU, RAM....

 

Is it a good buy? I consider this over an Asus G71V that never is released but I have always been anxious about Acer build quality, especially when there even is a poll in this forum about build quality. I assume there is a reason for that?

 

Well, we're not ashamed to admit that in the past days of the Generic Acers (the silver-and-black nondescript models), the quality was a little on the speccy side.
However, with the Gemstone, ProFile, and Gemstone Blue designs, Acer's really turned the corner in the past two years.