Laptops have definitely changed the way you compute. A number of brands and models are available in the market each catering to the different needs of the users. Acer Extensa 5620Z-2A2G08Mi Laptop is one among the many names but still a different one essentially because of its functioning. The compactness of (W) 36 cm x (D) 26.7 cm x (H) 4.3 cm and weight of 2.9 kg promotes easy portability. It is available in attractive black shades.

Stress less viewing is made possible with 15.4″ TFT display. Enhanced clarity is made possible with 1280 x 800 (WXGA) pixels resolutions. Enhanced colour performance is ensured with 24-bit (16.7 million colours) and advanced CrystalBrite display technology.

Further Details
Effective processing of work is made possible with Pentium Dual Core T2330 processor of 1.6 GHz processing speed. Stereo speakers and wireless LAN aerial are the other built in units supported in this laptop. Intel GMA X3100 is the graphics card that takes you to whole new world of multimedia experience. Dynamic Video Memory Technology 4.0 is the memory allocation technology included. User friendly operation is made possible with Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium. Mobile Intel GL960 Express is the chip set memory with a data bus speed of 533 MHz.

Storage and memory are important factors considered while choosing a laptop. This Acer laptop supports 1 MB – L2 Cache memory and 2 GB RAM memory. DDR2 SDRAM is the RAM technology facilitated in the unit. It supports 5 in 1 card reader and thus you can access the contents of the specific cards easily and effortlessly. SD Memory Card, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO, Multimedia Card and xD-Picture Card are the flash memory cards supported.

Serial ATA of 150 is the storage controller interface and supports 80 GB hard drive. DVD ±RW (+R double layer) / DVD-RAM is the optical storage included. All this offers long lasting storage adding to the versatility of the unit.

Sound card is the audio output and Microphone is the audio input featured in the unit. A modem of 56 Kbps integrated in the device offer effective transmission of data and Internet. Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, IEEE 802.11b and IEEE 802.11g are the featured data internet protocols. Acer InviLink 802.11b/g is the wireless NIC. Input devices such as Keyboard, touchpad, and 4-way scroll button coordinates properly and offer better outputs.

Power required by the unit is AC 120/230 V (50/60 Hz) and supports powerful Lithium Ion battery. The battery runs for 2.4 hours without any interruption in between and has a capacity of 44 Wh.

Interfaces supported
• 4 x Hi-Speed USB – 4 PIN USB Type A
• 1 x IEEE 1394 (FireWire)
• 1 x infrared – IrDA
• 1 x display / video – VGA – 15 pin HD D-Sub (HD-15)
• 1 x display / video – S-video output
• 1 x audio – line-out/headphones – mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm
• 1 x microphone – input – mini-phone 3.5mm
• 1 x audio – line-In – mini-phone 3.5mm
• 1 x modem – phone line – RJ-11
• 1 x network – Ethernet 10Base-T/100Base-TX/1000Base-T – RJ-45

Security of the unit is well considered and is provided with Security lock slot (cable lock sold separately), administrator password, and system password, Disc Anti-Shock Protection System (DASP and wake on LAN. Cyberlink PowerDVD, Acer Launch Manager, Norton Internet Security, NTI CD-Maker, Acer GridVista, Adobe Reader, Acer Empowering Technology, NTI Shadow and Microsoft Office Ready 2007 (Trial) are the provided software.

Acer offers 1 year warranty on purchase of Acer Extensa 5620Z-2A2G08Mi Multimedia Laptop PC as customer service and support.

Review Video:

As the worlds best selling laptop manufacturer, Acer need no introduction. Their excellent value, impeccable quality and design savvy are ever present in all their notebooks and the latest addition to the hugely successful Travelmate series is no exception.

Welcome to style, power and 15.4″s of crystal bright illumination.

Sporting a nippy 2.26Ghz Core 2 Duo processor and a massive 3GB RAM, the 5730 empowers exceptional multitasking productivity to keep professionals on the cutting edge.

An impressive 250GB hard drive can cater for even the most storage hungry applications, while the full integrated wireless means internet on the move is already taken care of, so put your feet up and enjoy the surf.

Also included is the enhanced Acer Disk Anti-Shock Protection (DASP) technology and the new Acer ProFile design, (which combines a Magnesium Alloy Case with a state of the art, two spindle design) meaning the 5730 can withstand even the most ‘efficient’ of baggage handlers working at the airport.

All in all, the 5730 is not just another business notebook, it is The business notebook.

• Processor – Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 / 2.26 GHz ( Dual-Core )
• RAM – 3 GB (installed) / 4 GB (max) – DDR2 SDRAM ( 1 x 1 GB + 1 x 2 GB )
• Hard Drive – 250 GB – Serial ATA-150
• Operating System – Microsoft Windows Vista Business / XP Professional downgrade
• Screen – 15.4′ TFT 1280 x 800 ( WXGA ) – 24-bit (16.7 million colours)
• Optical Drive – DVD±RW (±R DL) / DVD-RAM – integrated
• Graphics – ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3470 – 256 MB
• Bluetooth – Yes
• Notebook Camera – Integrated – 0.3 Megapixel
• Warranty – 1 year warranty

This is a template for a future guide to running Linux with the Acer Aspire 5735Z laptop. If you have the Acer Aspire 5735Z and are running Linux on it please consider editing this page or adding a comment below with your compatibility details. By contributing you will help other people running this laptop or trying to make a decision on whether to buy it or not.

This guide is intended to provide you details on how well this laptop works with Linux and which modules you need to configure. For details on how to actually install and configure the required modules have a look at our guides section for distribution specific instructions.

Specifications

Notes

This laptop runs perfectly using the usb live version of Ubuntu ibex
Summary

You can enter a summary of how well the Acer Aspire 5735Z works with Linux here.

Review Video:

I have owned three Acers for over four years. I bought an Acer Aspire 6930 about three months ago while in NYC, because I left my other laptop with my daughter (Acer Aspire 5920G).

This Acer (6930) was VERY resonably priced ($600 at Staples) and had 3 GB RAM as compared to my other Acer which was more expensive which had only 2 GB RAM.

I liked the added RAM, and the WiFi was very powerful as I travelled throughout the city. I never had a problem connecting up anywhere I went.

That it is loaded with VISTA as most computers are now-a-days, is the only annoying feature, because VISTA is still an endless headache.

But the Acer hasn’t let me down. The screen is a fantastic 16″. The resolution is amazing and you can view the screen from all angles clearly and the color is wonderful.

The USB’s are easily accesible and there is a led lit touch screen strip on the keyboard for music player/DVD features. This not only looks nice, but is a great quick way to access the sound control and forward, back, pause and stop features

The cons: The battery life is average.
The built in speakers are not very powerful, though the sound quality is great.

Overall a wonderful laptop and is very simple to use. I would recommend it, not only for it’s great price and features (RAM and graphics card) but also because of it’s simplicity…a great first laptop and economical for all it’s great high-end features.

The transition from a 16:10 to 16:9 aspect ratio in widescreen notebook displays is well under way, in part because these panels are becoming cheaper to make and their aspect ratio is more consistent with that of consumer HDTVs. When LCD manufacturers proposed this new screen format to laptop makers, Acer quickly jumped at the opportunity. It launched the Acer Aspire 6920G-6071, a 16-inch media center laptop that instantly won our Editors’ Choice award and then was stripped of it because the model ran out of stock as soon as hit the Web. The next iteration, the Aspire 6930G-6723, is out to make amends to those who couldn’t get their hands on the last one. Like the previous version, the 6930G brings with it a Blu-ray reader at an unprecedented price and improved 3D game play with an updated Nvidia graphics card. A rich feature set makes it suitable for home theater enthusiasts. Because of these features—and the fact that you can actually buy one today (at TigerDirect.com, for $1,020), the 6930G receives the Editor’s Choice for value notebooks.

The 6930G uses the existing Acer chassis, so it looks exactly like the 6920G-6071. Its polished blue exterior (the brand series is dubbed “Gemstone Blue”) is attractive and complements the barrel hinge, but doesn’t hide its bulk. Its 7.2-pound frame isn’t the heaviest in the 16-inch space (the Gateway MC7803u, at 7.7 pounds, earns that distinction), but it could use a slimming lesson from the 6.8-pound HP HDX16t. The solid blue color can use some enhancements, like patterns on the HDX16t or an automotive-inspired design like the MC7803u. But it’s easy to forgive the bulk once you add up all the features that Acer packs into the 6930G’s chassis.

The 16-inch widescreen is nothing new in the laptop industry. We can expect a huge influx of laptops with a 16:9 aspect ratio by 2009. You’re not exactly getting more screen real estate—just a wider screen to mimic the ones founds in consumer HDTVs. Already, you can find the new 16:9 widescreen laptops at prices lower than those of 16:10 widescreens. The 6930G’s 1,366-by-768 resolution is considered WXGA, the minimum resolution on this size of screen, and it doesn’t showcase a full 1080p HD experience, as the 6930G’s bigger sibling, the Aspire 8920G, does. Still, the 720p-resolution screen is perfectly fine for high-definition movies, photos, and any other multimedia task you can toss at it. The keyboard is an absolute pleasure to type on, and it’s as comfortable as that of the HDX16t. The 6930G’s has slightly the upper hand, though, with its bigger numeric keypad.

The 6930G’s feature set shines brighter than its competitors, especially when you consider the system’s price. Like the previous version, this configuration has the potential to bring Blu-ray into the mainstream. In addition to playing movies, the integrated Blu-ray drive can burn CDs and DVDs as well. If the laptop’s 16-inch screen is too small for you, you can take the movie experience to a larger display via the included HDMI port. There are four USB ports, one of which doubles as an eSATA port, for storage expansion. Though the unit doesn’t have a FireWire port, an ExpressCard 34 slot lets you add a FireWire expansion card (or WWAN, extra USB ports, a TV tuner, and the like). The 320GB hard drive is larger (and actually cheaper) than the 250GB one found in the more-expensive HDX16t, and the same capacity as those in the Sony VAIO VGN-FW198UH and the Gateway MC7803u. A good sound system—two speakers and a subwoofer (in base)—is icing on the cake.

You’re not going to get a top-tier processor at this price, but the 2.0-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T5800 does the job for many tasks, including video and photo editing, ripping MP3s, and watching HD movies. It helps to have 4GB of memory, which goes well with a 64-bit operating system like Windows Vista Home Premium. For casual gaming, it even comes with an Nvidia GeForce 9600M GS graphics card, which is a smidge faster than the one in the previous version. Its SYSmark 2007 Preview Overall score looked deficient against those of the HDX16t and the Sony FW198U, as it was outscored by a margin of 43 percent and 39 percent, respectively. On video encoding and CineBench R10 tests, it didn’t fare much better, trailing both the HP and the Sony by a considerable amount. But the T5800 is a budget processor, so this was expected.

Overall performance testing, though, did show a significant improvement over the 6920G-6071, with battery life the only exception. The performance boost (with its corresponding energy drain), lowered the new model’s score to 3 hours 20 minutes, according to MobileMark 2007 tests. The 6920G achieved 3 hours 42 minutes on the battery test.

The only thing that can keep the Acer Aspire 6930G-6723 from outselling its competitors is availability, as it is sold through online stores only. For now, this particular configuration is in stock at TigerDirect.com. Availability is one of the reasons why this media center regained the Editors’ Choice in the value category that its predecessor had lost. Because the HDX16t is a far more expensive system and holds the Editors’ Choice in the media category, the 6930G doesn’t trump it. It’s a great deal for anyone who is looking for a multipurpose, Blu-ray–equipped media center.

Review Video:

Every year as back to school season approaches Best Buy teases consumers into their stores with loss leader notebooks. Usually they sell out pretty fast. It probably isn’t the typical PC users that buy them, but rather tweakers who are looking for a decent kit to experiment with. What kind of experiments? Linux distributions and other hacked OSes.

I thought it would be cool to pick one up when my monthly Best Buy Credit Card statement arrived with a ‘$50 off any notebook’ coupon attached. This years Best Buy attention grabber is priced at $399 CDN ($349 after coupon).

What does $350 get you these days?

• Celeron M550 2GHz CPU
• Intel Santa Rosa chipset with GMA X3100
• 1GB of DDR2 RAM at 667MHz
• 120GB Hitachi 5400 RPM HDD
• Pioneer DL DVD Multi recorder
• 802.11g and Gigabyte Ethernet
• Windows Vista Home Premium
• 6-cell 4000 mAh battery

Not a bad specification at all. Just a short time ago these components would have been fit for a premium rig.

Out of the Box

Acer ships the 5220 in a nondescript box. Inside you will find the battery, AC adapter, a large printed manual and no recovery discs. Make sure you burn a recovery set as soon as you start up.

Speaking of start-up, this particular Acer would not start. It would not even post. Suspecting an unseated Sodimm, I popped off the access cover. It turned out that one of the two 512 MB sticks was actually faulty. Not a great way to start my experience with the 5220.

While I had the notebook open, I noticed that the CPU is in fact socketed. The 5220’s Socket P will accept any one of a multitude of CPUs (Merom and Penryn based). Unlike some recent budget notebooks based on Intel’s Santa Rosa platform, the 5220 only has one miniPCI slot.
Once the RAM situation was sorted out I booted with 512MB. Vista first boot rendered the notebook unusable for about the first hour. With 1024MB of RAM installed the first boot experience on a subsequent install was much better.

Performance

Starting with the CPU; the Celeron M 550 is based on Intel’s Merom architecture (standard-voltage, 65 nm). Merom is the previous generation of Intel’s Core microarchitecture. It supports: MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, Intel 64 (Intel’s x86-64 implementation), XD bit (an NX bit implementation). With 2 GHz clock speed and 1024 KB of level 2 cache performance it is inline with the Pentium M 760 CPU of yesteryear except the Celeron has the added benefit of SSE3, SSSE3 and Intel 64. Not too shabby.

The Extensa 5220 is not going to win any speed contests. It does however run the Operating System and office applications just fine. Here are the results of some common benchmarks that should illustrate the relative performance. Keep in mind that these benchmarks are multi-threaded and really favor dual core (or greater) CPUs.

wPrime is a program that forces the processor to do recursive mathematical calculations, the advantage of this program is that it is multi-threaded and can use both processor cores at once, thereby giving more accurate benchmarking measurements than Super Pi.

As grim as the benchmarks look, it has to be pointed out that it does not feel as slow as the test results suggest. Lack of system memory is a greater concern than the CPU.

Looking at memory and storage, 1024 MB of ram is the bare minimum for a modern OS. My brief experience with 512MB in Vista drove this point home. The 120GB HDD is quiet and does not generate much heat. DASP (Disk Anti-Shock Protection) is featured in this drive to lower the risk of data loss. A Pioneer optical drive was a pleasant surprise on a budget notebook like the 5220. You get dual layer and support for just about every non-HD optical format out there.

Keyboard and Touchpad

Acer’s slightly curved keyboard is flex free and quiet. Keys have a stiff dampened feel. The quality is not far from Lenovo and Dell’s best. Acer gave the 5220 a small touch pad. It does not quite fit the dimensions of the notebook but works fine. The Apple approach to touch pad design whereby a sizable pad matches the aspect ratio of the screen makes a lot of sense.

Wireless Performance

Wireless performance is terrific. The 5520 can see lots of networks and holds a signal well, but this is true of almost every notebook these days. Good WiFi performance is a minimum expectation. I don’t know that Acer’s SignalUp antenna is anything more than a marketing label at this point. The Broadcom BCM4312 WiFi chip presents a challenge when installing an OS. A clean Vista install did not recognize the chip, and Acer did not have a driver posted on their site. Further, both Ubuntu and Fedora failed to recognize the card.

Battery Life

Battery life is low. At approximately 2 hours one wonders where all the juice is going, this is after all a single core CPU with enhanced speed step. The remaining components are not power eaters. Taking a closer look at the battery reveals a possible culprit; the 6-cell battery is only rated 4000 mAh. This is about 20% less than a typical 6-cell battery. So, Acer has equipped the 5220 with a battery consisting of 6 very small cells.

Heat is a non-issue. The Acer 5220 generates very little heat when plugged in and almost nothing when on battery. Considering the heat given off by some of the dual core notebooks I have reviewed lately, this is a real treat. Fan noise is reasonable and is only noticeable on the ‘high performance’ power profile.

Poor battery life is not the 5220’s only portability issue, it could benefit from a weight loss program. At 6.4 lbs, you’ll develop burly shoulders in no time if you lug this around a lot. Thankfully the AC Adapter is tiny. The dimension are 14.2″ (360.0mm) wide x 10.5″ (267.0mm) depth x 1.7″ (43.0mm) thick.

You can tell where the weight went as you test the chassis for flex – this notebook feels sturdy. The boring gray plastic is thick and flex free for the most part. Chrome accents around the touch pad and above the keyboard help the 5220 to look a bit less cheap.
Expansion cards are supported. Both and Cardbus and Expresscard 54 slot grace the 5220. A flash card reader is included that supports SD, MMC, MemoryStick and xD.

VGA and S-Video output allows you to connect to an external screen or projector. A total of four USB 2.0 and one Firewire port round out the 5220’s port selection.

Fun and Games

Software out of the box is standard PC fare. Vista, NTI CD burning suite, anti virus trial and Acer ePowering utilities are worth keeping, Yahoo toolbar isn’t. There is nothing exciting about the software bundle and it works reasonably well if that is what you like. Make sure you use Acers backup utility to create a factory refresh disc set so that you can start having fun.

Ubuntu 8.0.4 LiveCD did not support the 5220’s wireless card, but everything else worked out of the box. Fedora 9 LiveCD and a full install both ran well too, but it required a bit more tweaking after the first boot. Like Ubuntu, there is no support for the BCM4310 WiFi card. Judging by the number of forum posts on Linux message boards the Broadcom BCM4311 seems to give a lot of people problems. The fonts also looked a bit strange in Fedora, slightly truncated.

Casual games, and retro titles that do not require the latest GPUs run fine on the 5220. This would be a great machine to relive or experience for the first time awesome games like Baldur’s Gate, Planescape Torment and Fallout. New hack for these titles allow them to run at full resolution – Planescape with 1280×800 pixels is breath taking.

Conclusion

With a poor battery life and hefty weight, at normal business value PC price of $600 I would advise most people to avoid the Acer Extensa 5220. But with a price of $399 (less with coupons) it is hard not to appreciate the value on offer here.

This is a solid workhorse notebook. It is built on a well-support platform that is compatible with lots of operating systems. It has the ports a business user needs and technologies like DASP to keep data safe.

It handles Vista well-enough, but Linux and other OSes work really well with the stock hardware and hint at just how much bloat is in Microsoft’s latest OS. You really need 2GB or more to enjoy Vista. There is mention in the Acer documentation of an XP downgrade, that might be an option for some people.

For shoppers seeking a basic computer or hacking/tweaking platform this Acer will be a good choice. The Extensa 5220 is priced similar to a Pentium-M based used/refurbished business class notebooks you can find on eBay (IBM T4x, Lattitudes, Tecras), but it is new and comes with a lot of extra features (newer processor technology, better optical, warranty).

Review Video:

When we reviewed Acer’s Aspire 8920G notebook in May 2008, we loved its elegant design, innovative six-speaker audio system, and dazzling 18.4-inch display. With the Aspire 8930G ($1,699), you get all that, plus a processor upgrade, for almost $1,000 less. You don’t get a Blu-ray drive, however.

As with the 8920G, the Aspire 8930G sports Acer’s sleek Gemstone Blue finish with the backlit Acer logo on the lid. Beneath the shiny lid is one of the most beautiful notebook displays we’ve ever laid eyes on: a massive 18.4-inch panel featuring wide color technology and a 16-to-9 aspect ratio. Because the screen has a 1,920×1,080 resolution, it can display content in full HD (1080p), and it shows movies in their native aspect ratio without stretching or scaling. The wide color panel, which displays 90 percent of the NTSC color gamut, delivered brilliant colors, crystal-clear image quality, and a nice wide viewing angle.

Speficications

• Processor: 2.53GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T9400
• Memory: 4GB RAM
• Storage: 320GB hard drive
• Optical Drive: DVD±RW
• Screen: 18.4 inches
• Graphics: Nvidia GeForce 9700M GT (512MB)
• Weight: 9 pounds
• Dimensions (HWD): 1.7×17.4×11.8 inches
• Operating System: Windows Vista Ultimate (64-bit)

This display practically begs for a Blu-ray drive, but unfortunately, this model comes with a standard DVD multiformat drive. Still, The Polar Express on DVD looked fantastic on the big screen, and it sounded great, too, thanks to Acer’s unique Tuba CineBass sound system, a six-speaker configuration that delivers full 6-channel Dolby-optimized audio. A subwoofer built into the hinge assembly gives the system a much-needed bass boost.

Above the display sits Acer’s Crystal Eye Webcam and two microphones, which can be used along with the included Webcam utility to capture video clips and stills. It also works with Acer’s VCM software, a Skype-based utility for setting up and conducting video conference sessions. Image quality is adequate for video Skyping and e-mailing pictures but too grainy for keepsake photos.

The full-size keyboard is roomy, with big, comfortable keys and a dedicated numeric keypad, but the textured touch pad is a tad small given the size of the keyboard deck. Still, it provides smooth cursor control. A biometric fingerprint reader nestled between the two mouse buttons uses Acer’s Bio-Protection Fingerprint Solution software to provide enhanced security; use it in conjunction with Acer’s FingerNav utility to scroll through Web pages and documents. A triangular “e” button above the keyboard launches Acer’s Empowering Technology applet, where you can change power schemes, tweak audio settings, and create a backup plan from a single portal.

Instead of the usual strip of media player controls, the 8930G features the CineDash panel, a touch-sensitive controller located on the left side of the keyboard deck. The white, backlit panel sports a circular volume control that uses the swipe method of raising and lowering the volume; it’s a bit finicky and can be frustrating to use when you’re trying to obtain a specific audio level. The requisite DVD/CD player controls for fast-forwarding, rewinding, and skipping tracks are also included. A hotkey takes you into the Acer Arcade applet where you can launch your DVD movie player, access media files on your home network, play video clips, and view photos. You’ll also find a Hold button and Mute keys at the top of the panel.

The 8930G offers a good selection of I/O ports, including HDMI and VGA outputs, four USB ports, an external SATA (eSATA) port, as well as headphone, microphone, and line-in jacks. It also has a DispayPort connector, which is not widely used yet but promises to be the next big video/audio interface and possible successor to HDMI. Expansion slots include a six-format card reader and a 54mm ExpressCard slot. The 320GB hard drive comes with Windows Vista Ultimate (64-bit) and the Acer utilities, as well as a handful of trial applications.

Powered by a 2.53GHz Core 2 Duo CPU (T9400) and 4GB of RAM, the Aspire 8930G performed quite well on our productivity benchmarks. Its score of 3,988 on our Futuremark PCMark Vantage test trumped the Sony VAIO AW170Y/Q by more than 800 points. It also outperformed the VAIO on our Windows Media and iTunes conversion tests, but just barely. HP’s HDX18 Windows Media encoding times were slightly faster than both the 8930G and the VAIO, however. The 8930G’s Cinebench 10 score of 5,125 bested the Toshiba Qosmio G55-Q802 by more than 1,000 points but trailed the VAIO by 94 points.

Driven by Nvidia’s GeForce 9700M GT graphics engine, the 8930G managed a Futuremark 3DMark06 score of 6,297 (1,024×768), handily beating the HP and Toshiba scores of 3,248 and 4,956, respectively. Still, it couldn’t touch the scores produced by some of the more robust gaming systems we’ve recently reviewed, such as the Alienware M17 and Toshiba Qosmio X305-Q708. Similarly, its Futuremark 3DMark Vantage score of 1,848 using the Performance preset was nearly 600 points higher than that of the HP system but paled in comparison to the X305 and M17 scores. A lowly score of 8.9 frames per second on our Company of Heroes DirectX 10 test confirmed the obvious: The 8930G can handle casual gaming as long as you use low detail settings, but if you want all the eye candy enabled, this system is not up to the task. We did manage to get 1 hour and 59 minutes of juice–slightly above average for an 18-inch notebook–from the battery on our DVD rundown test.

With its solid performance and high-end video and audio components, the Aspire 8930G is among the top multimedia notebooks we’ve seen. Although it is relatively affordable compared with other 18-inch notebooks, this particular model does not come with a Blu-ray drive. If Blu-ray playback is a deal-breaker, you can spend $900 for a different configuration altogether–or opt for the $2,199 HDX18.

Price (at time of review): $1,699

Review Video:

Acer is, in many ways, the sleeping giant of computing. It might lack a little of the brand recognition of Dell or HP, but in recent times it has snuck up upon both to grab a convincing third place in the personal computer market and is the market leader in many territories. A lot of this success can be attributed to some seriously competitive pricing since, if you’re looking for a bargain, an Acer is always a good place to start.

As is the case with its latest effort, the Aspire 6935G; a Centrino 2 refresh for its Gemstone Blue range that launched in April. Based on a 16:9 aspect ratio 16in display, the version we have here manages to cram every conceivable feature into its desktop replacing frame, including a Blu-ray drive, a digital/analogue TV Tuner and Dolby Home Theatre audio while still slipping comfortably below the £1,000 barrier, costing just £910 after the VAT cut.

This is a pretty good effort and it’s not as if Acer has skimped on other features, either. Powering it all is an Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 running at 2.26GHz. This is backed by 4GB 800MHz DDR2 RAM and there’s a fast 7,200rpm 320GB hard drive. Graphics come courtesy of an nVidia 9600M GT with 512MB dedicated memory, which powers the 1,366 x 768 resolution display that, being 16:9, is ideally suited to watching films and other content intended for TVs.

You also benefit from all the usual trimmings, including Draft-N Wi-Fi courtesy of Intel, Gigabit Ethernet and Bluetooth 2.0+ EDR. Also included in the box is a remote control. This isn’t the ExpressCard style effort we seen in some laptops, but a proper fully fledged media remote. This is obviously ideal given the machine has a TV Tuner, making armchair use that bit easier. It’s a good remote, too, with a logical layout and a particularly good four-way pad with a very positive button mechanism. This is true throughout so this isn’t the kind of included remote you’ll be replacing straightaway, quite the opposite in fact.

The remote is joined by something we’ve seen before when we reviewed the Acer Aspire 8920G, the 18.4in variety of this range; the Acer CineDash. This rather lofty title is given to the slightly intimidating backlit media controls that sit to the left of the keyboard. These are well tailored for controlling Media Center, are responsive and in some ways quite intuitively arranged, especially the volume arc. However, we’re still not totally convinced that they’re needed. Eye-catching it all may be, but when sitting at the machine why wouldn’t one use the cursor keys and the Enter key instead of the CineDash and couldn’t something simpler do the job just as well?

This is particularly relevant given that its presence means an ever so slightly off centre orientation for the keyboard. It’s something one gets used to, but if you’re forced to accept something like this we’d sooner have a useful feature, like a full numeric keypad. Happily the keyboard itself isn’t too bad. Keys feel firm and positive while the layout doesn’t feature any of the annoying quirks we often cite on notebooks.

In terms design nothing much has changed since the inception of the Gemstone Blue line. There’s the rather fetching dark blue and black ‘gemstone’ lid, while inside the body is finished in combination of glossy black plastic, matte plastic covering the speakers and a soft-touch textured palm rest and touchpad area.

In fact this is subject to the only real change because whereas the first generation of this line had light grey palm rests, the 6935G has a darker more metallic looking finish. It’s only a small change but it instantly lends the machine a more attractive and cohesive appearance compared to the slightly jarring mixture of previous models.

Inset into this palm rest is the touchpad. A dip signifies the extremities, while a slightly elevated vertical line cordons off the vertical scroll zone. We found the touchpad particularly nice to use thanks to the soft-touch finish and dimpled texture and the buttons below it produced no complaints. Like a few consumer notebooks of late there’s a fingerprint reader wedged between the two buttons, too.

No complaints can be made of connectivity, either, since the 6935G features more or less everything you’d demand from a desktop replacement and entertainment PC. There’s an HDMI output, an S/PDIF capable audio output, an infrared sensor for the included remote and a combined USB/e-SATA port among four USB ports in total. Another nice touch is the lock slot that’s integrated into the hinge section of the machine, something that also houses a sub-woofer (aka Acer Tube CineBass) and an air intake.

Being an entertainment machine it should come as no surprise to discover the 6935G makes a feature of its audio. Unlike the larger 8920G it only features two, rather than four, drivers along with the sub-woofer, but they still manage to produce a mildly convincing soundscape and no discernable distortion at high volumes, thanks in no small part to Dolby’s virtual surround technology – something you still benefit from if you plug your own speakers in. As is our habit, we must also mention the benefits of Dolby Headphone; it never fails to improve our experience of film watching with even an average set of headphones.

Continuing the cinematic emphasis is the 16:9 aspect screen. At 1,368 x 768 it’s not Full HD, but arguably you wouldn’t see the benefit of 1080p at this size and this effort is plenty sharp enough to enjoy a Blu-ray film, or a DVD, with good clarity. Colour fidelity is pretty good, too, though viewing angles are a little shallower than we’d ideally desire. This is less of a problem with a more personal machine like the 6935G – 16in being little more than 15.4in when you think about it – but as witnessed on the Toshiba Qosmio G50-115, it is a problem if more than two or three people want to view the same screen at the same time.

Beyond the frippery of looks and features, you should encounter no qualms with how the 6935G performs. In PC Mark Vantage it compares very well to both the HP Pavilion dv7-1000ea and the Dell Studio 15, mainly due to the boost provided by that faster 7,200rpm hard drive. This is reflected most in the in the Music, Gaming and HDD tests and though our in-house tests showed the Studio 15 pulling out a small advantage, this line has since been updated to use the exact same processor as found in the 6935G.

Battery life, on the other hand, isn’t a strong point. In the productivity segment of MobileMark 2007 the 6935G managed a below-par two hours and 28 minutes and it didn’t even manage more than three hours in the lower intensity reader test. Both these results fall well below either the 17in HP or the Dell Studio 15, though the Acer does claw things back somewhat in the DVD playback test with a result just under two hours, only four minutes less than the HP.

You should be able to play some games at reasonable settings as well. In TrackMania Nations Forever it manages to produce frame rates in the mid-thirties at medium detail settings, so you should be ok with most titles provided you disable any anti-aliasing and post processing effects.

All told we can find very few reasons not to recommend the 6935G. It might lack the elegance of offerings from Dell or HP, but the basic specification and design are strong and the feature set is superb given the sub-£1,000 price point. This makes it ideal as an all-round desktop replacement that won’t completely dominate the room, as an 18.4in does, as well as providing some level of portability so you can enjoy your entertainment anywhere in the home.

Verdict

Acer’s Aspire 6935G does all the things you could demand of an entertainment notebook at a very attractive price, making this one of the sounder purchases one can make this Christmas.