As you slowly flip the 18.4″ widescreen open, you’ll be hard-pressed not to let a little ‘oooh’ or ‘wow’ escape as you are struck by the shiny ‘CineDash sensitive media console’.
After accidentally brushing the media console with our pinkie a few times while typing out this review – which immediately launches you into the Acer Arcade media centre; whatever else you were working on be damned – you’ll quickly learn to disable it, unless you’re actually watching a DVD.
With great apprehension we popped a copy of I Am Legend into the Blu-Ray drive. The Aspire 8920 is one of the few notebooks on the market with Full HD 1920*1080 resolution, and also features multi-speaker 5.1 surround sound. The ‘Acer Tuba CineBass’ subwoofer is the best we have ever encountered on a laptop – though battery life is chomped up rapidly when you’ve got everything going at full tilt; but not as bad as expected. You get an 80% charge in one hour.
Gaming is a joy when you’re sporting an Intel Core 2 Duo, a GeForce 9650 and 4GB of RAM. Still, you are somewhat caged in by a 8ms response time. Did we mention Vista Ultimate? It’s quite a package. And a heavy package at that; just over 4kgs. The Aspire 8920 also features a webcam biometric protection – one swipe of your fingertip and you are in. You can also use your fingerprint to log into your various online accounts. If you’re not afraid that some clown is going to cut off your index finger and break into your secret Hotmail account that you direct your online dating emails to.
Honestly, the only real competition for the Aspire 8920 in this round-up is the XPS – which is butt-ugly in comparison to the slick piano-finish and sexy backlighting of the Gemstone blue range. It scored over a thousand points higher in 3D Mark 06, and it’s nipping at the MlSSO’s heels in SuperPi.
It’s a no-brainer, really. When you cough up $2000k for the pleasure of burning a proverbial hole through the kitchen counter while you are Googling yourself, then you expect some bang for your buck. Start saving now.
Subscribe to Sandra Prior’s Online Newsletter and get up to date Computer Technology News delivered right to your email box for free. See website for details http://usacomputers.rr.nu and http://sacomputers.rr.nu.
Blu-ray has won!
|
|
HDMI Cable 3FT 1080p 1.3 FOR PS3 Bluray XBox 360 HD LCD $3.65 |
|
|
Maxell 190054-MAXELL BLU RAY HD LENS CLEANER – W/ 2 Yr $37.35 |
|
|
2 GOLD HDMI CABLE 1.3 FOR HD DVD BLURAY LCD PLASMA HDTV $7.05 |
|
|
2 GOLD HDMI CABLE 1.3 FOR HD DVD BLURAY LCD PLASMA HDTV $7.05 |
|
|
HDMI Cable 3FT 1080p 1.3 FOR PS3 Bluray XBox 360 HD LCD $3.65 |
|
|
TDK – 25 x BD-R – 25 GB 6x – white – printable surface – spindle – storage media $168.98 BLU-RAY (BD-R) 25GB WRITE ONCE 6X SPINDLE WHITE THERMAL HUB PRINTABLE… |
|
|
14MM Single Black Blu-Ray DVD Cases for PS3 Discs or HD DVD (100 pack) Product Description Made of high quality super polypropylene plastic with black color. Clear outer sleeve allows artwork insert. Inside the case, there are booklet tabs allowing booklet insert. Strong push button hub allows disc to be locked tightly when case is closed. By pressing down the push button hub, the user can remove the disc smoothly without having to forcefully pull out the disc. This … |
|
|
Toy Story (Two-Disc Special Edition Blu-ray/DVD Combo w/ Blu-ray Packaging) $15.94 TOY STORY: SPECIAL EDITION – 2-DISC BD… |
|
|
The Godfather – The Coppola Restoration Giftset (The Godfather / The Godfather Part II / The Godfather Part III) [Blu-ray] $47.47 The complete saga of the Corleone family, from Don Vito Corleone’s childhood in Sicily to his son Michael’s rise to power, and the organization’s even… |
|
|
Transformers (Two-Disc Special Edition + BD Live) [Blu-ray] $18.99 The Autobots and Decepticons battle each other on Earth for control of the ultimate power source, the Allspark…. |