Photo gallery: Acer Aspire 8930G (Core 2 Duo T9400 processor 2.53GHz, 4GB RAM)The original Acer Aspire 8920G was the very first 18-inch laptop we had a chance to review, and the follow-up Acer Aspire 8930G is similar in terms of its essentials, with only a handful of component upgrades. The display has the same native resolution as a 1080p HDTV. Coupled with a unique set of touch-sensitive media controls (although we weren't crazy about the volume slider), this Aspire makes it an impressive package for movie watchers.
Design
The Acer Aspire 8930G is, like the 8920G before it, a boat of a laptop. As with other 18-inch models, the 16:9 display makes for a chassis that is wider but shorter than a typical 17-inch model that features a 16:10 screen. The entire system is decked out in black and dark grey, with a glossy black lid and keyboard, and textured dark-grey plastic on the wrist rest and touchpad.
Features
Like the 8920G, this model has a touch panel on the left side of the keyboard tray. They're the same capacitive touch controls found on other laptops, just arranged in roughly the shape of a handheld remote control. It's a clever idea — very eye-catching — that once you get used to, works fairly well, with the exception of the large volume slider that was neither sensitive nor responsive enough for our tastes. To be fair, it's a common problem with touch-sensitive volume sliders, which usually really only jump between preset volume points, even though they look like analog controls.
We also appreciated the 5.1-speaker system which produced decent bass for a laptop, but not exactly room-filling sound. The 18.4-inch widescreen LCD display is the real star here. The native resolution of our 18-inch screen was 1920x1080 (you know, like Blu-ray), while a high-end 17-inch laptop is usually 1920x1200. That means Blu-ray or other HD content will fit the screen better.
Performance and battery life
Intel's 2.53GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T9400 is close to the top of the line for Intel, and is the same CPU we found in Sony's excellent 18-inch Vaio VGN-AW17GU/Q model. At that level, high-end systems largely perform comparably in non-gaming applications, and the Acer is a robust performer even with heavy multitasking duties.
Nvidia's 512MB GeForce 9700M GT is a decent mainstream gaming GPU; you'd have to trade up to the GeForce 9800 to do better, and that chip is currently reserved for laptops specifically targeted at gamers. In Unreal Tournament 3, we managed an excellent 63 frames per second at 1280x800 and a perfectly acceptable 35.6 frames per second at the display's native resolution of 1920x1080.
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
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1,280 x 800, 0x AA, 0x AF |
The Aspire 8930G ran for two hours 51 minutes on our video playback battery drain test, which is especially impressive for a massive desktop replacement that isn't meant to spend much time away from a wall outlet. By way of comparison, Sony's 18-inch model ran for less than two hours on the same test.
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
Acer Aspire 8930G
Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 (64-bit); 2.53GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T9400; 4096MB DDR2 SDRAM 800MHz; 512MB Nvidia GeForce 9700M GT; 320GB Hitachi 7,200rpm
HP Pavilion dv7
Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 (64-bit); 2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P8400; 4096MB DDR2 SDRAM 800MHz; 512MB Nvidia GeForce 9600M GT; 320GB Western Digital 5,400rpm
Sony Vaio VGN-AW17GU/Q
Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 (64-bit); 2.53GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T9400; 4096MB DDR2 SDRAM 800MHz; 512MB Nvidia GeForce 9600M GT; 320GB Hitachi 7,200rpm
Dell Studio XPS 16
Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 (64-bit); 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P8600; 4096MB DDR3 SDRAM 1066MHz; 512MB ATI Radeon HD3670; 320GB Seagate 7,200rpm
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