Problems? See this thread at archive.org.
I hope this review will be helpful for anyone who is looking for Media Center PC.
You won't find benchmarks and complete description of the laptop here, for that use other sources. This is a mini review of Acer 5920G laptop that I am using as dedicated Media Center PC for living room which is connected to Sharp 46" 1080p LCD TV via HDMI.
This is probably an usual way to use a laptop, but I was frustrated with available options for Media Center PCs, so this was my last resort. We'll probably see more options in the future as HDTV becomes widely available, but I needed it now to replace my aging HP Z552 Digital Entertainment Center.
My primary requirements were:
Around 1k
Small footprint
Quiet operation
Decent looks
HDMI/HDCP
Low Power consumption
Bonus
HD-DVD, portable
I've looked at many other alternatives, but none of them could replace what I already had:
1. Shuttle X200/X100 series or Aopen Mini – expensive for what you get, and not powerful graphics card
2. HP SlimLine - ok, but wanted something smaller and I could not find a low profile passive card that's GS7600 or better with HDMI. I already had Low Profile GS7600 w/ HDMI, but it had noisy fan
3. Shuttle SFF - didn't like boxy design and more expensive then getting a complete laptop, also it wasn't as quiet as I thought
4. HP DT2500z – almost good, but 8400GS 64MB Ram turned out to be not enough juice to watch High Definition OTA stations on 1080p LCD
5. DYI HTCP – didn't want to bother with this for many reasons. One of them, building HTPC yourself is usually time consuming project and it rarely goes smooth. Besides, I could not find a good looking small case and making it quiet would've been a painful ("almost impossible") process
6. Pre-built HTPC – usually expensive and large
Running out of options, by accident I run into Acer 5920G on this forum the day after the sale ended for $1099. It was a bummer to miss such a sweet price, but despite that the system sounded perfect for my needs and HD-DVD was a huge bonus.
5920G has almost perfect layout of ports. Most of the ports located on the left hand side, so I can put the laptop in the TV stand facing HD-DVD front and all the cables will be plugged in the back that would hide them from the view. I wish that power cable wasn't obstructing the fan and card reader location was on the right hand side, but it's a small trade off for what you get.
5920G works great with Gyration Media Center remote. When I plugged in RF dongle directly into USB port, it was working sporadically, but when I used USB extension cable it worked flawless. I was also concerned about power button location which was in the center of the notebook, so my thoughts were that I would not turn off laptop, but put it to sleep. Putting laptop to sleep with remote was great, but bringing it back up was an issue. I discovered there are new Intel INF drivers available for download and after quick update "Wake up on USB device" now works. However, there is an issue that I think related to graphics driver. Sometimes when I try to use sleep functionality I get BSOD, I am going to try to update video drivers to see if it resolves this issue.
Acer Arcade software allows you to watch HD-DVD using MCE Remote, however, it for some reason I get choppy playback if I use pause or skip forward. Also, could be related to drivers.
If you have Acer Arcade installed you will not see TV options in Media Center, but there is small fix that would enable them again.
When laptop is idling you cannot hear the fan at all sitting approximately 8 feet away; however, when watching HD-DVD movie temps go up to 70C and fan speed increases to a maximum level. It's not unbearable because movie sound usually kills the fan noise anyway. I tried putting it into small cabinet that had little room to breath, but that caused the temps to go up to 80C during HD playback which might shorten the life of the notebook. I am currently looking at alternatives to decrease the noise levels and not increase temperature.
When I briefly had HP DV2500T w/ HDMI (8400GS) I had issues with HDMI sound stream, 5920 HDMI sound works perfectly.
C2D 1.5Ghz CPU is fine even for HD. I was able to watch several HD-DVDs and none had issues. Once I started Media Center by accident which caused choppy playback in HD movie and I had to restart PowerDVD. Will have to do more testing on this.
Needless to say, no regrets with my purchase, this is a clear winner in my book for dedicated Media Center machine because not only it met all the requirements above, it exceeded them. I can't speak for gaming or using it for “coffee shop” browsing. For everything else I am using my Sony SZ, which is despite its age is a great laptop.
Pros:
As quiet as laptop can get
Features
HDMI/HDCP
HD-DVD
Design
Cons:
Driver issues
Future upgrades:
CPU, Bluetooth, Wireless N
As I finished editing the review I run into this... but we still have to wait for this to happen
http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/18/compass-intros-47-inch-1080p-pc-tv-combo/
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It's not bluetooth, it's RF for PC and IR for Other equipment. Best remote ever made
http://www.gyration.com/en-US/ProductDetail.html?modelnum=GYR3101US&accshow=3
Review: Acer 5920G as Media Center
Discussion in 'Acer' started by klas, Jul 18, 2007.
