Acer Aspire Gemstone Blue 8920G review

Nobody could accuse Acer's new Aspire Gemstone Blue of modesty.

Where the Sony speaks of quality in hushed tones, the Gemstone's glossy black chassis bellows it forth from a gaudily illuminated logo. It also has a screen not 15.4, not 17, but 18.4 inches across.

Displaying a massive 1920x1080 pixels (equivalent to a 24 inch desktop monitor), it's finished in a high-contrast glossy coating that Acer dubs 'Cine Crystal'. While most widescreen PC displays have a 16:10 aspect ratio, leaving a slight 'letterbox' on movie playback, this one is 16:9, enabling you to take full advantage of the built-in Blu-ray drive. Picture quality was the best in the group, especially when playing Blu-ray discs, with dense, black shadows and vivid, saturated colour.

The Acer's audio capabilities are a match for its screen. An innovative tubular subwoofer design called 'Tuba Cinebass' provides deep, rumbling bass, while built-in satellite speakers deliver full 5.1 surround sound. Very impressive.

Having built a case wide enough for the 18.4in screen, Acer has had room for a full-size keyboard with a separate numeric keypad to the right. There's also a touch-sensitive control panel known as the 'CineDash Media Console'. This looks cool, but is basically a souped-up volume control.

Beneath this flash exterior are some seriously powerful components. It may not be Intel's fastest mobile chip, but the Core 2 Duo T8300 led the Acer to a superb 207% in our 2D tests, abetted by a generous 4GB of RAM. In 3D, it scored an excellent 91%. Storage hasn't been forgotten: at 320GB, the hard disk offers enough space for all but the most avid video collectors. And if you thought fast components and a big display would mean short battery life, think again. The Acer lasted four hours in our light use test.

With seriously impressive specs, and the tantalising prospect of true HD home cinema in a laptop, the Gemstone Blue justifies its high price.