Acer Aspire 8930G Owner's Lounge

Hey everyone! After browsing this forum, I found that we don't have an owner's thread for Acer's latest Gemstone Blue notebook, the 8930G! I got the laptop today and it is a beaut! I got the 6243 model with BluRay.

If anyone here has tweaked it or has some useful tips, post it here! I'm pretty novice in regards to notebooks so it would help me just as much as other members! A quick guide to what to install and uninstall would be greatly appreciated. Also appropriate drivers would be beneficial.

If I'm too new to this board to post an owner's lounge, my apologies.

DigiGeek.com's Review: Click Here

Courtesy of NBR
Plasma's Review: Click Here
Tweaking Vista: Click Here
Free Software!: Click Here

 

i love my 8930g too, its great

 

Count me in guys

 

I just uninstalled all of the Acer Game Zone and its affiliate games. They are all ripoffs of free internet games. Do you guys think I should uninstall the 60 trial of McAfee software? What do you guys think of Avast and other free antivirus/spyware?

 

No way. AVG or Avast are much much better. I prefer AVG though.

 

my 8930g came with 1 320 gb HDD. does the 8930g have 2 HDD slots so i can add another 320gb?
also as my 320gb is in 2 140GB partitions, wouldnt that leave me with 140gb,140gb and a 320gb partition if i added another 320gb HDD? it would be useless as i already use 1 for running stuff (C drive) and 1 for storein movies and films and other data(D drive), so the 320 gb(E drive i guess) would also be for storeing data i guess?

i think i might need one as i already filed 50gb lol.


i think avast is better, and for me it detects more viruses.

 

anyone wanna put up any pics?

 

There are pictures on Plasma's great review of the 8930G. I'll link it in my original post. Also, I found the removing battery trick to fix the CineDash actually works! My CineDash was not responding so I figured I would give the trick a try. Shut down the computer and pull out the battery, wait 5 seconds and reinsert it. Restart your computer and it should work. If not, load up Launch Manager because that's the program that controls the CineDash.

Also, yes, there are two HDD bays in the 8930G. I have yet to add another HDD but someone on NBR has already successful added another one. I forgot who it was so if they are reading this, fess up.

 

Thanks just read though this thread and thought hmmmm two hard drives so i opened my 8930g up and there it was a empty hd bay so i tuck my external hd apart and fitted it in my acer and its working fine very easy to do so now i have a extra 320gb hd space cool

 

I can now officially join the 8930G club. Ordered one today and it comes next thursday!! Anyone got any tips on how to transfer files from PC to Laptop. Ive got about 10GB of Itunes music sitting on my PC and will need to move it over to the laptop as the PC is going, going, gone!

 

Lol guys in all honesty my pictures suck. I'll try and get better ones today.

Edit: Ill have a look for you. And for some reason, my acer detects both a bluray andHD DVD drive in my laptop

 

Also, regarding the digitimes review, why does it seem like they just looked at the specs and did an impressions without actually having the laptop

 

8930G QC has been released. (For those who didn't know)

 

My model is Australian only. Acer Aspire 8930G-9440 or something like that.

64Bit Vista Ultimate, 640Gb HDD, Blu-ray Read seem to be the differences. I got mine for about 1820$ USD 2 months ago.

 

Any-one running gridvista and Adobe 9 reader at the same time ? Are you finding things go haywire with these two programs? I've been struggling with this problem ever since I installed adobe 9. None of the pdf's are able to open normally, if gridvista is running. I like the two screen partions in gridvista ,a bit like looking at two pages in a book.. But I can't use them with adobe files???

and yes I've had my 8930G for a month and it is awesome

 

whats gridvista?

where do i down drivers and stuff for the 8930g.

i cant find an area on the acer site for drivers

 

Hi ya striker
I have already contacted Acer online support with this. They replied that Gridvista was tested against adobe 6 (lol) and that they could not possibly test every software program version for possible conflict. Their suggestion was re-format the hard-drive and see if that solves the problem!!! As if!!! they need to up-date Gridvista imo to make it work with the latest adobe version

 

wow, not a bad price either, make sure you put up some benchmarks when u get it

 

I won a futureshop GC for a macbook air in Dec. 2008. But the macbook wasn't that great at least the ones they had as my GC would only cover. So I got this Aspire 8930G. The one I have came with:

T5800 2.0Ghz, 4GB DDR3, 9600GT 512MB DDR3, 320GB 7200RPM HD, Blu-ray, Wireless N, Bluetooth

Not as high as some configurations, but Im not complaining, it was all free for about 1299 CAN and i was able to get a 22" ACER H213H LCD too! But the problem is the ACER ARCADE deluxe software doesn't update saying it can't find internet connection. I can't get it to play the only Blu-Ray I have so far. And my internet works fine, tried everything. Only using this ANYDVD program let the Blu-Ray work. Wonder if anyone have similar problem or suggestion. And yeah Acer site has no drivers or anything on the 8930. You have to go on the FTP site. Maybe they are still adding the page for it hopefully there is updates...

 

Ah, now I'm jealous

 

$1700 is a bit expensive (£1150) but its very good if your playing games though. and i think its about the cheapest quad core you can get and the rest of the specs are great too

 

Very nice, enjoy!

 

Nice! The QC is pretty much everything I want in the 8930G line. I wish it was released a week earlier. Oh well. But congrats.

I have a question regarding the HDD. What brand and model is it? I've read that it is the Seagate Momentus 7200.3 320GB. Can anyone verify this? I wish to add another 320GB HDD and it would only make sense to attach the same one and attempt to RAID it.

 

I have an 8930, P8400 2.26ghz, 9600M GT Win64x Ultimate & while I love the machine I can't help but feel I should be getting better performance out of it. I've tried various drivers, including the latest 185.2 from laptopvideo2go & currently have the Nvidia reference drivers installed, 179.28. I get a 3DMark06 score of 3473 which seems low.

I'm curious to see if anyone else has a 3DMark score for the same or similar rig for comparison purposes. Also, if anyone has suggestions for getting better gaming performance out of this machine I'd appreciate any comments. I've been playing Fallout 3 recently & have been getting around mid 20's FPS on reasonably high detail settings, it's playable but I feel I could be getting more TIA.

John

 

Yes to all of the above, when I got the computer I backed up all the drivers & did a fresh install of Vista, it originally came with Vista Premium 32bit. I didn't bother re-installing the bloatware just what I thought was necessary & the e-powering suite. Just feel that I need a few tweaks to get it up to speed.

 

Seriously, this 9700M I have is a bag of hurt. One day it's crusing along with 60 fps on Fallout 3, the next around 25. I'm using the 179.79 drivers. A y better and more stable ones out there?

 

i just installed cod4, i have max settings at 1024x786 or something like that with max setting exept 2xAA, i get like 40-50 fps and thats with 9600mgt/p8400 and all stock drivers. seems ok

 

Hi guys I just wondered if you could give me some help. I've decided on this Acer 8930G:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Aspire-18-4...3?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1231184749&sr=8-3

What's this I was reading about the HD being in 2 separate partitions?

Also I mainly wanted to find out about the customer service from acer, good and bad!

 

-Im pretty sure in February I'll be buying this laptop. Either this or the Gateway FX. I wouldnt mind a laptop that can play decent games, but at the same time provide an awesome media center. The Acer looks like exactly what i want. Does it run nicely on gaming? 9600GT or Gateway 9800GT... But no blueray lol. Plus the Acers screen looks amazing.

 

my 9600m gt gets up to like 80 degrees while playing games like cod4.
isnt that a very high temp?

how hot does yours get

 

Hi all,

well like you I have now the proud owner of an 8930G and was all proud when I took it round to a mates house to plug it into his big screen Sony to watch a blue ray when I discovered I could not get the image through the HDMI cable to output to his screen.

I could not find any hot keys, software buttons etc, etc, Is there a secret to get the signal through the HDMI?

Mark

 

For HDMI problem,
See this Thread, Post #2:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=324947

 

Hey -=$tR|k3r=- thanks for the comments

Forgive my ignorance but what exactly do you mean by "Also, the 320GB HD is split into two nearly equal partitions..... one for the system, and the other for hidden data 'Back-ups'." Does this mean only 160GB is free for actual use while the other half is hidden or should I just not worry about it & essentially assume I have 320GB HD space just split in 2 for faster access?

In regards to this comment "Unlike some manufacturers, Acer has made it really easy to add an additional drive..... no special hardware or cables are required...... just plug the drive into the second bay and you're in business!" are you referring to an external HD or it really is that easy to insert a second drive? Did you have to take the laptop apart?

 

thanks for the input =D

 

I was looking at that 8930G, definately tempting. I already have a nice gaming PC at home. You guys are going to make me spend more money than i want XD. A problem though is i can't find a place to buy the 8930G in Canada... I think i'll save myself 300 to 400 bucks and stick with the 9600G.

 

Yo all,

Just a quick point for all of you who don't know!

When trying to burn the restore disks use DVD-R or DVD-RW. The Blue-Ray and Vista will burn normal files as usual on DVD+R's but the emPowerment software / back up feature will only burn to DVD-R's / RW.

Just a tip!

Thanks to ATG for all the help!

 

Anyone wanna find out the PLL number for the 8930G?

I tried some overclocking but with no luck. Still only getting around 5600 in 3D06.

 

I bought some Sony & TDK DVD+R discs and when they both had probs I got worried. But the DVD-RW worked a charm.

The strange thing was that when I try to back up normal files (iTunes, docs, PDF etc) the DVD+R discs burn fine and really quickly! It might just be the back up program supplied.

 

Here's a question. What cases have you all used for the 8930g series with the 18.4" screen. I saw a couple of vids on YouTube from Germany of a guy trying some which were tight and likely for a 17" wide screen. My 8930g-7665 arrives tomorrow from NewEgg and I am so looking forward to it. Upgrading from an Acer Ferrari 4005 that I have been using for just over 5 years.

 

Mine’s a samsonite briefcase…. It was a bit pricey… I was in a hurry… I wanted it Now!!!

Btw Can some one who has adobe 9 reader please open a pdf file while Gridvista is running, and see if these two programs work on your 8930G. I have problems where adobe tries to open files ,then goes into a spin and needs to shut itself down and desktop manager also needs to close citing the reason …‘ Data Execution Prevention (DEP) to help protect your computer’. My Outlook seems to also be affected if Gridvista is closed, however that just restarts without problem without specifying an error (unknown error).
I have resigned myself to shutting Gridvista if I want to view pdf files. Sadly, Acer support have been of no help.

 

Hmmm. I would prefer to buy the laptop in person besides ordering online. Just not comfortable with that type of purchase online yet. My family owns a place in Seattle so i would be able to get one there. Just have to worry about paying more tax crossing the BC border. Is the standard price of the Acer 8930G 1700?

 

does 64 bit work ok with the 8930g?
i was looking to installing vista 64bit home but where would i downoad acer empowering stuff and other things from.

also i have 4gb DDR3 installed, how many ram slots have i got left which i can install stuff in?

i want to change my p8400 to something like a T9400, is it easy and stright forward to do, as im no good at complex computer things.

 

Blimey that sounds pretty complex and I'd probably feel uncomfortable doing all that. But based on my understanding of what you said the D: drive is essentially a back up for the C: drive, so the user cannot really save or install anything onto that partition? For me I think the best thing would be to perhaps buy an external HD. If my understanding of this is correct it seems a bit silly to essentially lose almost 160GB that you cannot use, not that its put me off buying the laptop!

 

Please post some benchmarks! 3DMark06, wPrime and HDTune please

 

is it easy to do a cpu swap in the 8930g?
i wan to try and swap my P8400 for a T9400/T9800 soon when prices are low

 

No. The D drive can be used as another drive for what ever you want to use it for. The eRecovery software is setup to automatically use the D drive for backups in a hidden directory. You do no have to use it that way if you don't want to.

 

When I go to to the US in April, I'm going to spend a least $1000 upgrading my system hehe. Australian prices for Tech is so expensive.

 

i got 32bit vista with my 8930g and im from the UK. i was actually looking for 64 bit but i noticed only th highest model has 64bit

do other countries models come with 64bit because i notice a lot of your 8930g's have 64 bit

 

Hey -=$tR|k3r=- & paten thanks for all the comments & sorry for all the questions I just like to know all the facts etc before I buy something. If the D: drive is still usable for storing files and/or installing programmes onto I think it should be fine for what I need. I already use an external HD for storing my music, videos, backing up documents etc so I don't need mountains of HD space.

 

if i do a fresh install of vista home premium 6 bit, where do i download 64 bit drivers and applications like all the empowering technology and other acer things from?

i would actually do it if i knew where from.