My Acer Aspire 8930 User Review

I do use it, as my main overclocker. Then ATITool to test for artifacts.

 

Not a big fan of overclocking, I'm more a low temp guy

Would have loved this notebook if it had the possibility to switch between integrated graphic card and the dedicated one, would have been the cherry topping.

Does anybody know if Acer will implement this in a new version of this notebook?

Heard that the new architecture I7 will be out soon next year... it's allways a pursuit for the new tech!!!!

 

Thats (i7) due Q3 2009, quite a long way away.

This laptop already a commendable battery life for a massive 18.4in beast, so switching GPU would only make that time better. Oh well, you can't have it all.

 

So far away?Ah well then, I can't wait that long!

Think that in January I'll buy this little jewel!The p8600 one

 

Thanks for the review qaz333. Now I'm wondering.. which would you recommend based on your experience with this laptop:

Acer AS8930 Aspire Gemstone

2GHz, Intel Core-2 Duo Processor T5800, 800MHz FSB, 2MB L2 cache
18.4" Acer CineCrystal TFT LCD (1680 x 945)
4GB (2/2) DDR3 SDRAM
320GB SATA 5400RPM hard drive
2x Blu-ray Disc DVD-Super Multi Double-Layer Drive
NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT w/512MV DDR3
Intel Wireless WiFi Link 5100 (802.11a/g/Draft-N)
Windows Vista Home Premium Edition Dual boot, English or French
Ports: ExpressCard /54 slot, 6-in-1 card reader (SD™, MMC, MMCplus, MS, MS PRO, xD), four USB 2.0 ports, HDMI port with HDCP support, RF-in Jack, eSATA port, consumer infrared (CIR) port, External display (VGA) port, headphone/speaker/line-out jack with S/PDIF support, microphone-in jack port, line-in jack port, ethernet (RJ-45) port, modem (RJ-11) port,DC-in jack for AC adapter
9.04 lbs
Blue
1-Year Limited Warranty.

For $1100 CND

or

Core 2 Duo P8600 2.4GHz 3MB L2 1066MHz
15.4 WSXGA+ (1680 x 1050)
4GB (2x 2GB) DDR2 667 SDRAM
nVidia GeForce 9600M GT w/512MB DDR3 VRAM i965PM+ ICH8-M
320GB, 5400PRM SATA
Integrated Super-Multi drive (DVD+R, DVD-R, DVD-RAM)
6-cell li-ion battery: up to 3.5 hours life depending usage
56Kbps,10/100/1000, 802.11AGN wireless LAN
DC-in, RJ-11 modem, RJ-45 LAN, VGA, 4-in-1 Card Reader headphones/speakers/line-out, microphone-in, line-in, S-Video TV out,HDMI four USB 2.0, IEEE 1394, BUILT-IN 1.3MP WEBCAM,Gaming Mouse+ CASE
Pointing Device: Touch Pad with onboard numeric keypad
6.99 lbs
Microsoft® Vista Home Premium Bilingual
1 year international warranty with FREE 2nd year upon registration

for $1412 CND

I don't really care about the size and CPU difference, but all in all the Acer looks like a better deal for its price, but I'm still unsure.

 

I'm guessing that the second one is a dv5t?

I would definitely go for the Acer in that situation. It beats the HP in every single component (cept CPU and Res) and manages to be $300 cheaper too. 1600 by 900 is fine, I always have the res scaled down to that size to save my eyes from the WUXGA+.

Although I have some bad news; I might have to return this laptop. It isn't anything to do with the 8930G, it's more to do with a software conflict or something that my vendor stuffed up.

I'm looking at getting a refund as this laptop is just a tiny bit too wide for me. I don't want to go to school with a massive laptop bag waiting to be stolen,so I put it in my normal bag,. Problem is, this laptop is just an inch or two too wide to fit. So a 17in would suit me better right now. But my experience with the 8930G has been superb. I would recommend it to you if weight and size is no issue.

 

No the second one is the MSI GX620, I guess I forgot to add that little detail.
Thanks for the general information though. I still think something smaller could be easier for travel life, so I might go with the MSI or perhaps another ASUS.

 

Ok. I would suggest the mentioned MSI GX620, HP DV5t or the Asus G50VT-X1 if you need portability.

 

I am about to order the 8930 from bestdeal4u.com.au (put down a deposit on it already).

Please share your experience in trying to return the laptop - am interested in customer service from bestdeal4u. I would have thought that most internet sellers in Australia will not let you get a refund just because you dont like the laptop. Can you also confirm that the version you received is a 1920x1080 screen ?

I would have thought that the 8930 is purely a desktop replacement - can't imagine anyone wanting to lug it around !

 

Nice review, very informative, i like it!
must be tough trying to find a cooler and a sleeve/bag for that monster. lol

 

I have lugged it around, not a fun experience.

I will write more about my time with the bestdeal4u and why I can return my laptop this afternoon, right now Im writing on my iPod in Maths ;

 

Okay, here's my situation. When I close my laptop, it should sleep or hibernate, right? Well it does, except when I reopen it, the laptop turns on for a second, then off. Then on 4 seconds later. But then the screen doesn't boot up, although all fans and the HDD are running. There is no way around this and you have to unplug, take out and re-insert the battery to turn it on again.

This is an one-off situation for the 8930G, according to bestdeal4u, so you people interested in this laptop should not be deterred by this.

 

^use rivatunner or ntools-both work great!

 

Sure thing. I like rivatuner the best.

 

Just wanted to post my initial experiences with the 8930, which arrived 2 weeks ago, and thus far, am very happy with it. It is huge compared to my Sony Vaio TZ.

The model I bought has the following specs:

18.4" 1920x1080p, Core 2 Duo T9400 2.53GHz, 4GB/4096MB DDR3, 640GB HDD
BD BluRay Combo Drive, HD Digital TV-Tuner & Remote and NVIDIA GeForce Go 9700M GT (512MB - DDR3).

My primary use for the 8930 is as a Blu-ray media centre for my Sony Bravia Full HD TV, and the system works very well. Have connected the laptop to the TV via HDMI, and am using the SPDIF (via a Toslink->3.5mm adapter) connection to the amplifier for sound as I haven't upgraded the amp yet to HDMI.

Blu-ray movies play perfectly using the inbuilt software. No stutter. BBC's 'Planet Earth' on the whole, looks awesome.

The laptop comes with a remote control, which works well, except the buttons are a bit cheap.

A bonus that I wasn't expecting was a VOIP Express phone that came with the system. Haven't tried it out yet.

The build quality is good. The 8930 looks better than the 8920 (did not like the light grey panel of the 8920). Keyboard is good, and the screen is bright, although not as bright as the HP 18 inch.

Cinedash has worked without any problems. Streaming media via WI-FI has worked well. Can even stream DVDs stored off the desktop hard drive.

In summary, very happy with the 8930.

 

Riker, would you mind taking a comparison picture/s of your 8930 with your Vaio TZ? I have one myself and am thinking of replacing it with a desktop replacement notebook like the 8930.

 

Don't even look at that pic Rahul!it will be too scary for you!

 

Yeah!!!
Its going to look like a SUMO wrestler in front of your TZ!

 

Are you from Australia? Was that model purchased from bestdeal4u?

 

Probably stupid question, but can someone do a test with the Acer 8930 using the FFXI benchmark on High? Located here I Want to know if it will be a decent enough laptop for me to game with when I go away to university.

Thanks!

 

I can probably guess that that will max out at the best resolution no problems./

 

Based on the reviews Ive heard here so far I'm inclined to believe that running FFXI on high settings would work just fine. But because I'm a poor university student I wanted to be 100% sure before I shell out the cash for it

 

Here are the requirements:

Windows System Requirements The minimum system requirements for FINAL FANTASY XI for Windows are as follows: Windows 98/98 SE/Me/2000/XP, Intel® Pentium® III 800Mhz or higher, 128MB RAM, 6GB of hard drive space, DirectX® 8.1 compatible sound card, CD-ROM drive, keyboard, 56K or faster Internet connection, and either an ATI® Radeon™ 9000 series or NVIDIA® GeForce™ series video card with 32MB of RAM.

I'm pretty sure you could max it out :laugh:

 

Would you recommend this computer for 3-D rendering? I work for an engineering firm and I would like a back-up computer that would be able to handle a heavy graphic load, also for my personal use.

 

Hmm, maybe. How much money do you have to spend? There are more powerful machines out there but none can match it media-wise. Make a thread in the "What notebook should I buy" subforum.

Lol, just when I think the review has died, you guys revive it. Thanks for the interest!

 

1500 USD give or take. I did an impulse buy and ordered a 8930 already. Just want to see if I need to take it back. Its a T8600, 320GB, 4GB DDR3, 9700M GT, L2 is 4GB, FSB 1066.

Got it for 1120 USD /w tax and shipping.

 

Very good deal there. I believe you should go ahead with that.

 

New and better pictures to be uploaded soon!

 

so big.....I prefer to 6930G

 

Am pretty happy with my 8930, but I also use it for DAW purposes. I think there is a serious issue with the NVIDIA drivers. The DPCLAT graph doesn't look too good. The red spikes indicate problems and I can reproduce these by turning on the screensaver. Reducing the bit depth to 16bit, disabling aero, ... resolves a lot of issues, but not completely.



DPCLAT in Windows 7 32bit pretty much looks the same. But the 64bit version looks promising:

 

Am now using the undervolting guide and am getting some pretty good results for Vista Home Premium 32bit. Seems I can finally start to consider using my 8930 as a DAW.

 

Seems that the prices here in Italy have skyrocketed for this notebook.

Maybe they sold out everything and restocked but with higher prices since this model rocked!!

Happy for the model outcome, not for me waiting too much!

 

aflatausi - Are you getting good results using it as a daw? Also, are you using it with a firewire express card?

 

What standard is the HDMI out?

Is it 1.3 ?

Also does it support audio?

I'm getting mine later this week and want to know which cables to get

 

Yes it does support audio. How do you check the version?

 

Just read my post, the question might not be all to clear.

Does the HDMI out support audio? Or does it require audio to be connected separately via the audio out?

I think Plasma already answered this, but just to be sure I would like to clarify my question ;-)

 

Well, my LCD can play audio through HDMI just fine, without external speakers.

 

Hi, quick question, if you don't mind: My friend has been struggling to find a protective sleeve for her 18" notebook. Anyone got any suggestions, or are none available yet? Any information would be greatly appreciated...Thanks

 

Recieved my acer 8390 a few weeks ago, it indeed does support audio on the HDMI output

depending on the driver you may have to select the output manually though.

I was also shocked at the amount of time the 'preinstall' took
It was so full of crap...

I ended up just copying the primary partition from my old notebook's drive (also vista) onto the new laptop. After updating the drives everything is working like a charm

Loving the DDR3
I have a 5.8 in vista score , with 5.9 in all but video

 

Hello gents.
I am quite interested by this Acer 8930, but I have one question... is it one of those laptops that have an always-on fan? Or does it go on and off every other minute?
Silence is quite important to me and the review mentions a noisy laptop, though this is the only reference I saw so far to this computer being noisy.
Feeback from actual owners wecome.
Z.

 

Hi to All.
I'm from Italy.

I'm interested to the 8930 with the 9700GT..how about games ? fps ? Far Cry I supposed to be very hard to play...

And about HDMI (Freezy): is that 1.3 ?
I want sure to enable the YvXcc in my Samsung 40A756 (like the PS3) !!

The 8930 has Audio Digital out ? like Optical or Coax ?

Thx a lot !

PS :Better the T9400 or P8600 ?

 

Welcome to NBR!

The 9700M GT is the best of the mid-class GPUs and it should run games well enough. The HDMI should be version 1.3 too. There are the typical analog connectors for headphones, mic and digital out. Go for the P8600 since it will run cooler and you won't notice any difference going to the T9400.

 

Thanx a lot for the answer...i wait for the 8935 that is ready in May-June...the price is almoust the same!!!

Bye!