Acer Aspire 8920G-934G64B review

It may have a bland string of numbers and letters for a model name, but Acer's latest laptop still stands out from the crowd.

It's the first laptop we've seen with an 18.4in widescreen LCD and a resolution of 1,920x1,080. It has an aspect ratio of 16:9, unlike most laptops' 16:10 screens.

This makes it ideal for watching movies, and you can take full advantage of the 1080p resolution thanks to the built-in Blu-ray drive. Movies viewed from around a metre away looked spectacularly sharp and bright, thanks to the dual backlights. The wide viewing angles mean several people can comfortably view the screen at the same time, but it's worth noting that you'll lose the benefit of the high resolution if you're sitting any further away.

However, there's something besides the screen that grabs your attention as soon as you open the enormous lid: the CineDash Media Console, Acer's marketing speak for a touch-sensitive panel of playback and volume controls. It looks like a gimmick, but it saves using the touch pad and buttons to fast-forward or pause a song or video.

As the 8920G is so wide, there's plenty of room for a keyboard and number pad, while the touch pad itself is generously proportioned and has a separate scroll area. To the right of the keyboard are handy buttons for switching Bluetooth and WiFi on or off and launching a web browser or email client.

This laptop is squarely aimed at those who want to be entertained, so it's no surprise to see a Dolby Home Theater logo. What is surprising is that Acer has crammed six speakers into the 8920G. This so-called Cinematic Surround isn't particularly effective at positioning sounds around you, but they sound a lot better than most laptop speakers. If you do want higher-quality sound, there's an S/PDIF output, while for a larger image you can use the HDMI output to hook up a larger HD TV.

If you've already scanned the summary to the right, you may be questioning the last one. The reason for it is that the 8920G packs more in than any other laptop we've seen at this price. Aside from the screen, there's one of Intel's latest Core 2 Duo processors, along with a huge 4GB of RAM. Windows Vista Ultimate 32-bit is installed and, while it can only use around 3GB of memory, the graphics card - Nvidia's brand-new 9650M GS - can share the rest. The 9650M is a sterling performer. Even without the shared memory it still has 512MB of its own to play with and managed a respectable 28.1fps in our tough Call of Duty 2 test.

For storing your games and videos, there are two 320GB hard disks. The optical drive can't write to Blu-ray discs, but supports dual-layer DVD burning.

Connecting to the internet or wireless devices is simple, as the 8920G includes Gigabit Ethernet, a modem, Draft-N wireless, Bluetooth and infrared. Other useful extras include a webcam and a fingerprint reader.

It's hard to criticise the 8920G, but it isn't quite perfect. There's no TV tuner and there are a few narrow keys on the keyboard (including the left Shift and Ctrl keys) which are irritating compromises. It's easy to add a USB tuner, though, and you'll quickly get used to the keyboard.

The limited battery life and sheer size and weight mean the 8920G isn't ideal for watching Blu-ray movies on the move, but as a desktop entertainment laptop, it does just about everything right.

Author: Jim Martin