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Monday, August 25, 2008

The Mid-Level Laptop - New Acer Aspire 8920G

kxLast week we reviewed the 6920G, the mid-level laptop in Acer’s new Gemstone Blue range. We had come away impressed, with not only its specifications but also its impeccable finish and styling. This week let's check out the 8920G, the flagship model that's aimed at the desktop replacement market.



Keeping in mind the premium positioning of the 8920, we wish Acer had taken the trouble to at least make its flagship model distinctive. The 8920 is similar to the 6920 with regard to its build and finish. There were absolutely no changes that we could discern. The lid and area around LCD panel have the same high-gloss finish, with the Acer logo displayed on the lid.

The area around the keyboard too has remained the same. The speaker grill is present above the keyboard area and, keeping in mind the size of the laptop, has been scaled accordingly. The left side of the keyboard has the CineDash Media console, which gave us a couple of surprises (more about that in the performance section). Compared to the 6920, the keyboard has been expanded to include a numeric keypad. This is a welcome move and one we wish was adopted by more manufacturers. The touchpad is a bit larger and has the same silver finish as the 6920.



As mentioned earlier, the 8920 is a desktop replacement/media center model. For this purpose it’s been given an 18-inch LCD panel with a native resolution of 1920x1080 (16:9 resolution) and a 2x Blu-ray drive. The LCD panel in terms of its usability can be described as simply perfect. Like the panel on the 6920G, it has excellent levels of color and brightness, and actually goes beyond its younger brother by offering excellent side and top-down viewing angles. This was apparent in our gaming and multimedia tests.

The expanded keyboard shines too. Though it has a glossy finish, it has great tactile feedback with recessed keys, ensuring a very comfortable working experience.



Connectivity-wise the 8920 is very well-equipped. It offers a 5-in-1 card reader, 4 USB 2.0 ports, HMDI/ VGA slots, headphone and microphone jacks (with S/PDIF support), Ethernet, Blu-ray 2.0 support, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/bg/g/n,modem, and an ExpressCard slot. The ODD, as we already saw, is a 2x Blu-ray drive.

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