My Gemstone Blue... or how I got "robbed".

I have bought my 6920G laptop almost 2 months ago. After a few days I've noticed some dead pixels. Fine! I was mad, it cost me about 2500$ and it had dead pixels. But... fine! I can live with that, i said myself. After few more days, another pixel died. This one, on the center of the screen. And after testing and testing... i've found out that there is no Tuba inside.

I sent it to the service center. They didn't wanted to repair it, they said that it's ok, and the subwoofer is not included. I've called them and warned them (I'm a magazine editor for PC Mag. Romania also, among others, so I can have them "punished" by writing an editorial about how things work here) The "fixed" it. The persons from the shop tested it. They put a new screen, but it was flicking when they touch it. They send it back. After 6 weeks, I will finally get it back. But without the Tuba, despite that they promote it very aggressively.

My question now... where can I find a Tuba subwoofer? Because I'll mount it myself, if those bastards from Acer won't get back to me with some apologies (anyway next month I'll publish that article, for people to know and stay off, it seems that they have the ****tiest service center ever, a lot of people had problems with it).

 

publish that article... and send complimentary issues to ACER corperate headquarters.. they do have the worst service i have encountered in the industry... maybe a little smack in the face will get thier attention...'

i love the price and quality of my CHEAP ASPIRE 5315,,,, but i'd never suggest ACER to a person who doesn't feel comfortable running regedit or installing thier own OS and drivers.... because acer customer support won't help you... they just want you to maill your laptop back to them... then the reinstall the factory image and call it FIXED

rant over

bigO


p.s. feel free to quote any of my posts if needed

 

I'm having subwoofer issues too, but they've never said that it doesn't actually come with one.
I'd say throw all the Acer material that mentions a subwoofer right back at them - it never says "some models only" or "configurations may vary." It's in their press releases AND the user guide for ALL Aspire 6920s.
Also, remember that corporations cringe when they hear a legal threat, and shudder when the initials "BBB" are uttered.

I'm this close to taking the matter to Acer's Canadian head offices if my Aspire 6920G isn't repaired.

 

so is the Acer Aspire 6920G a bad laptop because I have one now i'm worried.

 

Its much more sensible to buy Acers that are either used or refurbished, 'cause warranty or no warranty, it ll hardly make a difference.. One would be better off fixing their problems themselves rather than sending it to Acer..and spare part prices are not very high if bought from ebay....!!

 

I got it back. After 6 weeks, they replaced the screen. But with one who has an imperfection: in dead pixel tests, it shows like it has been touched with a finger, somewhere on it.

bigozone... man, among other softy things, I'm a hardware testing editor. And I always fix everything on my own. But changing the screen... was kind of impossible, because> 1. I don't have spare parts for the 6920G; 2. I would have lost that damn warranty. Anyway, Halo360Fan... try not to broke it, because repairing it on a service it's a hell like experience.

Do you know someone from Acer that I could talk to, because the romanian website has just one address and that's not even working?

 

Where can I find a Tuba subwoofer?

 

Try here http://www.acerparts.com/index.php?cPath=561_562_21150

 

^^ Yup the speaker set doesnt seem to be that expensive....give those guys a call and see if that is what you are looking for..!! or copy the part no. and search it on ebay or other sites and maybe you could see an image of it as well..!!

 

Man, if only the Aspire 6920G Service Guide was available online - that'd make our lives that much easier.

 

post deleted

 

Thanks man, I appreciate this.

Back on topic, ACER S U C K S !

Anyway, I still can't find a subwoofer.

 

Schweeeet.
Many thanks!

 

Anywone has a working modem driver for Vista x64?

 

isnt the tuba subwoofer only included on their 18.4 model? i read somewhere that the 6920 only had 2 speakers and if you added 3 computer speakers, you could have 5.1 sound. as for the 18.4 gemstone blue model it has 5 speakers and the tuba subwoofer hidden in the hinge. but from the review that i read, the subwoofer was supposedly weak.

 

No, it should be on all Gemstone models 15" to 18" unless it is noted otherwise.

 

oops you are right. sorry for the mixup.

Taken from Acer Website

Dolby® is the undisputed king of high-definition sound. With Dolby Home Theater® and Acer® Tuba CineBass booster on the Aspire® 6920, you’ll hear your favorite entertainment in a whole new way.

http://us.acer.com/public/page4.do?...=en&ctx3=-1&ctx4=United+States&crc=4149794741

 

I think this is... http://www.ipc-computer.de/it-pi-n-23_APQ0N_002_Acer_SPEAKER_SET_W_SUBWOOFER-pId-1351563.html

 

Yup!

Just make sure you give the manufacturer and model of the notebook when ordering the part from their store, or they will not ship the part.

 

Anyway, with that price... you can buy a great headset, with a range of 5 Hz - 30.000 Hz. Way more than that modest, so called, subwoofer. But I want it too.

 

Well, my system is back from the service center.
It's now finally outputting the low notes like it should, and like it wasn't before.
My dad tested it - the thing handled notes all the way down to 20 Hz.
Not a true woofer, but damn good.
So glad to have a functioning system.

 

Does anyone know how I go about getting my shipping fee back from newegg? I selected the 3 day garuantee shipping and now ups has rescheduled my laptop to arrive on the 7th when it was supposed to arrive today. I don't know why the rescheduled it but I really needed before this weekend so I'm kind of ticked off.

 

Contacting them directly would be my first bet - they tend to have customer support for this sorta thing.

 

Thanks, will do. I cant wait till it gets here, it was rescheduled to Monday. I think I am going to go nuts waiting for it though.

 

So should I suspect that my laptop will not have a sub either? I orderd the 6920-6141 from newegg.

 

I wouldn't - I had a look at the Acer service guide, and there's no part number for JUST the speakers without the subwoofer - the two are a single part number, and installed as one.
I would worry about it not outputting sound, but it should be there.

...This also means that CQSTELUSH is being BS'd by his local Acer subsidiary.

 

Hey TehSuigi I just want to ask, I read in one of ur earlier posts that your emailed acer about the sbuwoofer problem ( I have the same problem, subwoofer makes no sound) well, i didnt understand what your wrote about their reply...

Is the solution to restore to factory defaults? Or do I HAVE to send my laptop back to them?

 

I thought the tuba was nonexistent when I bought my 16" acer 6920. It clearly stated that it was a 2.1 system. The factory settings for the tuba woofer are set pretty low. Low enough that you will not be able to hear the sound emitted from it. I went to control panel, and then to the sound menu. You can adjust the level of the subwoofer from there. BUT.... Make sure your Acer EAudio settings under the empower menu is set to 5.1 surround sound. Also if you have realtek's latest 1.96 driver installed, your tuba subwoofer will not work. You can only use the Realtek drivers included with your Acer laptop, or drivers available on Acer's website. The realtek drivers have been modified by Acer to support level control and sound output to built in 2.1/5.1 speakers.

 

Yeah, what AcerPipeLover said.
He deserves the +rep.

The restore didn't fix anything, so if there's still issues, send it back.

 

Thanks for the info you guys. I hope everything is okay with mine when it gets here. I will follow your advice. You guys are class acts to noobs on this forum. Thanks again.

 

AcerPipeLover thanks for your reply, however it didnt work :S

I set it to 5.1 from the "e" menu thing, then i went to the sound panel from the control panel, the subwoofer was already at 100% as well as everything else...

And as for my realtek drivers, I did not update them since purchase, they are at default settings, any other ideas? :S

I WOULD send it to the Acer company, buut, there IS NO acer company here in syria...

 

OmarM, maybe you're expecting too much from the Tuba.
It's not a full-blown subwoofer. If anything, it just adds bottom end to most things, and rather subtly too.

 

Well I get that but its really doing absolutely nothing, I also did a speaker test, the "Internal Subwoofer" when playing the test sound doesnt play anything.

 

Because it ain't there. They sold us lies.

 

Same problem, no sound coming from subwoofer...

 

And it doesn't emit sound even when set to the built in speakers setting under Acer EAudio? My subwoofer works perfectly, and I don't even have the 5.1 surround option. I just have the 2.1 16" gemstone.

Tell me if it doesn't work under the built in speakers setting+ adjusting the level under sound in control panel.

If not, I will research and get you an answer on why it is not functioning.

For those who believe the tuba woofer is not there, IT IS. All Acer 6920's no matter what country and what production date/line all have the tuba woofer. The Tuba woofer is just a tiny 1.5" long throw mini speaker in a tube to give it a deep resonance as far as a laptop goes.

BUT please, get back to me on that.

 

Changed the setting to 5.1 both through acer eAudio and control panel. The 5 speakers work just not the subwoofer. The only other thing I've done is put vista business edition on as well as XP Pro...will try and reboot to XP to see if it works there.

 

IT AIN'T! They told me that my model (see my signature), doesn't come with it. Bastards!

Give me some e-mail address or so, from a Acer representative, so I can told them that too (because in my ****ty country, nobody is answering).

 

Do me a favor.

Go to control panel, device manager, then expand the sound,video, and game controllers submenu.

What does it say? Respond with the name of the device. I'd like to know.

SECOND thing I'd like to know... Right click on that device, click on properties...Click on the driver tab and tell me the driver date and driver version.

 

Realtek High Definition Audio

Driver Date: 11/03/2008
Driver Version: 6.0.1.5582

I should also mention my model is here

 

Realtek High Definition... bla bla bla...
26.02.2008
5.0.1.5574

I repeat, those bastards from the service (who kept it 6 weeks for replacing a screen, and put me one with a minor malfunction anyway), told that this model does not come with a subwoofer. Period.

 

The problem with those bastards is that they are just worthless little punks that work at a call center. They don't work for acer. Matter of fact, they probably don't even know what you are talking about when you call. The only thing they are required to do for their job is note who is calling, what they are calling about, and then they transfer you all over the place and then end the call by saying they can't help you. Give me some time. I am investigating this matter. We will solve this, or else we will be requesting compensation from Acer. Free laptops for life!!

 

Man, let's do it. Because I'm preparing a very acid article about it, on one of the biggest IT magazines arround, and I would like to tell that it ain't that bad... after all.

 

CQSTELUSH, do your 5 speakers work?

 

If you're running 6.0.1.5582 from Acer for the 6920/6920G, the subwoofer should work. This is the only version of the driver that supports the tuba woofer. I've tested all other realtek hd drivers... The ONLY one that works with the tuba is 6.0.1.5582 ... My EAudio settings are also on Built-in speakers. If you are running 6.0.1.5582, put on an mp3 and go to sound under control panel. Lower the level on the subwoofer and see if you hear a difference. These tuba woofers only really add a little thump. I wouldn't consider it "bass"

 

So hold on - the Tuba's supposed to work on 5.1 Output AND Built-In Speakers?
That's news to me.

 

Tried playing with an MP3 and didn't notice a difference. Besides that, the sub should emit some noise when I run the sound config.

 

AcerPipeLover, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

I love you, really, i mean, gahhhh rep rep rep!

I installed those drivers for realtek, and did the test, lowering the subwoofer made the bass make a little noise, highering it gave that boom effect if you know what i mean lol

but anyway it woorks!!! and yes its there alright, all models have them!

 

Can you upload it somewhere to give it a try? Because, knowing those bastards level of expertise, I wouldn't be surprise to have the Tuba, after all.

Later Edit: Silly me, found it on Acer's download page.

 

Yep, this really works. Kind of... anyway, its good to know that.