Laptop and Computer Reviews

The Acer Aspire 5920’s biggest selling point is its looks — or so Acer would have you believe. It was crafted with the assistance of over 100 designers and engineers from BMW Designworks — the folks behind the gorgeous BMW Z07 concept car. We thought it looked pretty sexy in pictures, but is it as impressive in the flesh.

Designed under commission by BMW Designworks, the new Aspire range utilises a ‘Gemstone’ design focus that has generated a distinctive and unique look. On the outside one can genuinely see that ‘Gemstone’ idea in the shape and finish. Though the notebook is obviously rectangular in shape, the subtle use of curves gives it a pleasant oval shaped quality, and the shiny pearlescent black finishes off the look beautifully. Importantly, this gives the 5920 a real sense of quality before you’ve even opened it up and started using it.

The Aspire 5920G is a 15-inch multimedia Santa Rosa notebook based on Acer’s new gemstone concept. There are many new and interesting aspects to the Aspire such as 3D surround sound system and touch-sensitive media buttons. Featuring an impressive specification, but weighing almost 7 pounds with battery, this notebook is most suitable as a desktop replacement.  The Acer Aspire 5920 primarily targets gamers and power users with no desire to break the bank.

The inside is also punctuated by continued attention to detail. Although our sample came with a US keyboard layout there can be few complaints. It’s very rare that one comes across a notebook keyboard that doesn’t garner some kind of complaint, but this is one such occasion. It avoids all the common pitfalls; the left-hand Ctrl key is in its proper place on the far left, both Shift keys are of a good size as are the Return and Backspace keys. Similarly, the keys themselves are crisp, light and even.

Acer thinks it might have cracked this particular nut with its new range of Aspire laptops, the jewel in its crown being its much-hyped Gemstone concept. Amounting to a look and feel that creates a clear product identity, we weren’t totally convinced by Gemstone. The sleek black outer casing of the Acer Aspire 5920 makes it look sophisticated but, although it adds contrast to its appearance, we weren’t very keen on the Acer Aspire 5920’s off-white interior and keyboard. And since the Acer Aspire 5920 is quite a large laptop, portability isn’t going to be one of its major selling points.

The evidence suggests the designers know much more about designing cars than they do about designing laptops. Why else would the lone USB port on the right side sit about 1mm away from the DVD drive? Once you connect a standard-sized USB device, it physically blocks the drive bay, preventing it from opening. What’s more, the logo showing the location of the USB port sits above the optical drive, and not the USB port. The word “wrong” doesn’t do it justice.

Features:-

* Windows Vista Home Premium
* 15.4″ WXGA high-brightness Acer CrystalBrite TFT LCD, 1280 x 800 pixel resolution, 8 ms response time
* Intel Core 2 Duo mobile processor T7300                                 
* 160 GB hard disk drives
* Mobile Intel PM965 Express Chipset
* DVD Super Multi DL Optical Drive
* Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN.
* Bluetooth 2.0+EDR
* 364 (W) x 270.2 (D) x 30.8/43.7 (H) mm (14.3 x 10.6 x 1.2/1.7 inches) 3.00 kg.
* Included Accessories: Mouse, Travel bag, Power cord, Manual, Starter CD
* 2 GB of DDR2 667 MHz memory, upgradeable to 4GB using two soDIMM modules.
* NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT with up to 1GB of TurboCache technology.
* 5-in-1 card reader
* Integrated Acer Crystal Eye webcam (0.3 megapixel)
* Dolby-certified surround sound system with two built-in stereo speakers and one subwoofer supporting low-frequency effects

Acer Aspire 5920 Reviews:-

# Reviews.cnet Review:- Our final design gripe is with the mouse trackpad — it’s too wide. Perhaps it’s our bucket-like hands that cause the problem, but the ball of our right hand would often stray on to the mouse trackpad, causing the cursor to move around the screen just when you least want it to. This wouldn’t be so much of a problem were there a button to temporarily disable the mouse — but there isn’t.

# Asia.cnet Review:- Our final design gripe is with the mouse trackpad–it’s too wide. Perhaps it’s our bucket-like hands that cause the problem, but the ball of our right hand would often stray onto the mouse trackpad, causing the cursor to move around the screen just when you least want it to. This wouldn’t be so much of a problem were there a button to temporarily disable the mouse–but there isn’t.

# Pcadvisor:- So buying Intel Santa Rosa means you’re likely to get some excellent components - an Intel Core 2 Duo chip, a Mobile 965 Express chipset, wireless capabilities that stretch to the Draft 802.11n standard, and a minimum of the Vista-ready X3100 Intel graphics accelerator. There are a few other nice twists as well. The new rendition of Dynamic Acceleration, for instance, ensures that single-threaded applications make better use of the second core built into the Core 2 Duo chips. And, of course, Intel Santa Rosa is carefully designed to boost battery life.