MysteryE Blog

Introduction

Aspire 5920G is my very first laptop, and of course this is my first user review. I’ve been using this laptop for just about 1 month. So far just for using design software (Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash, Freehand, etc), typing, browsing, watching movies, listening MP3, and open lot of images. Sometimes I use it for playing game like Counter Strike: Source, but not often. I’m sorry if the image quality isn’t good (click the image for larger view) or my english is bad.

System Specifications:

Intel® Core 2 Duo® T8300
(2.4 Ghz,3MB L2 Cache, 800 Mhz FSB)
Intel® PM965 Express
15.4” Acer CineCrystal TFT LCD Display
NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT 512MB
320 GB SATA - DVD Super Multi Drive
1 x 2 GB DDR2 RAM
56K Fax/Modem - 10/100/1000/Draft N - 4x USB 2.0 - 5 in 1 Media Reader
ExpressCardTM / 54 slot - Acer Crystal Eye Webcam - IEEE 1394
Acer CineSurround with five built in speaker and one Acer Tuba CineBass Booster
High definition audio output - HDMI™ port with HDCP support
Windows Vista Home Premium

Behind the Story (reason for buying too…)

You can skip this part if you want. This is just a big chit chat :-p .

Actually, I never look at any laptop or notebook. But since almost a year ago, I really want a laptop, or you might say, a Macbook. Why Macbook? Because I AM a designer, and Macbook is a perfect partner for us designers. But, I can’t afford a Macbook Pro, not a regular Macbook. Macbook Pro is so expensive, I know, with specs that almost similar with this 5920G. I don’t want a regular Macbook, because the specs kinda sucks. I love the Mac interface, pretty cool, compared to Windows, even Vista. Why I suddenly want a laptop? Because, I realize that I can continue doing my works in campus or everywhere if I bring a laptop. It can be a big help.

The opportunity came 1 month ago, there was a computer show in Jakarta. Lots of my friends also went there to buy notebooks. I really need laptop at that time, because my assignments really need it for better presentation. I want a laptop that can do better than Macbook but of course cheaper than Macbook Pro. The notebook price itself, don’t mention the software, etc, I know Windows based notebook will be more expensive in the end. With a budget around 14 juta rupiah (around $ 1.400), I have to chose carefully. Macbook is out of question, I can afford the Macbook but can’t afford the accecories etc to maintain it. I went to the show 2 times, the first time was only for sightseeing and window shopping, the next visit, I really bought the laptop.

After the first visit, my top list that time were Lenovo Y510, Asus MSV150, Asus G1S, and HP Pavilion (forgot the series), Dell Inspiron 1520, etc, which were some of them over my budget. I really didn’t look at Acer at that time. I heard that Acer notebooks all are sucks and have poor build quality. But then again I browsed in the net to find the fact about Acer. I found out that Acer isn’t that bad afterall. If it IS bad, why Acer always become number one in notebook selling in Indonesia for 3 consecutive years until now? The next day, I try to visit Acer stand. 5920G really got my attention. I prefer 6920G better, but, it’s more expensive, no extra budget. I search around, and found that 5920G is a great deal, lowest price in its specifications. No other notebooks offer cheaper price with same specs. Oh, did I mention that I got iPod Nano 4GB as a bonus too? It was the best offer for me. Asus G1S offer almost the same specs, with better build quality (IMO), with price 1 juta rupiah (around $100) more expensive than 5920G. The bonus are great I think, Logitech G1 mouse for gaming, and a nice headset, again for gaming. I didn’t buy laptop for playing games, but for design. I know G1S can be used as well for gaming, but I just don’t like the bonus. I need iPod more than a gaming sets. Okay, I took the 5920G home. Yay, my first laptop! Okay, enough for chit chat, let’s begin the real review now.

Build Quality and Design Overall

Talking about design is talking about opinion. Different people will tell different opinion about 5920G design. Some of them said that 5920G has ugly design, like a toilet closet, classic design, retro, etc. As for me, 5920G looks elegant. The ‘gemstone’ design really fits this baby. The design is just like an oyster shell along with its rounded corner. When it closed, you’ll see a reflective black lid exterior, which is still covered with plastic in my 5920G (I don’t want to peel the plastic off, because fingerprints left easily). When opened, you’ll see a jewel-like-pearl inside. The interior color is not white, but more like a stylish pearly gray. There is a good and bad point for being a gray color. It won’t change easily for years, which is a good point. Some others stated that gray is a dull color, which is a bad point. Another minus point as I stated above is fingerprints left easily. But this can be anticipated by using a soft cloth. Just wipe gently, and you’ll see it shine again.

The notebook doesn’t look so thick, but it weighted more than its look. More than 3 kilograms, makes your travel more unpleasant, especially if you use a shoulder bag not a backpack. Use a backpack if you want to travel far. Don’t worry about the plastic feel looks. 5920G has a good build quality.

Screen

5920G using a WXGA resolution with a glossy CrystalBrite LCD screen. Native resolution is only at 1280×800 which is too small for me. I prefer bigger resolution for working, but big enough for playing games, since bigger resolution will stress the GPU more. 5920G have a glossy screen, which means there will be some reflection if used in outdoor. Viewing angle from the top isn’t good.  Viewing angle from side is not that bad but still, the best viewing angle is only from the very front. Anyway, I like the screen, it’s very clear and bright.

Integrated Webcam & Microphone

5920G webcam is a total disappointment because it’s only 0,3 megapixel, which means only maxed out at 640×480 pixel. Lots of new notebook already use 1,3 megapixel integrated webcam, so I don’t know why Acer still using old ones. Despite the low resolution, the quality of the camera is excellent. When compare it to other 0,3 megapixel webcam, and I can tell the winner easily. The webcam software only permitted to take pictures, pretty sad, lacks of features. Want to record videos? No worries, Acer Arcade Deluxe can do that. Be careful, the webcam position is at the latch, so when opening the notebook, please mind this. Yes, can not change its angle, but no big deal, it’s fine the way it is.

I haven’t use the microphone yet, but from what I read in other reviews, 5920G’s microphone is great. There are 2 microphone, located beside the latch/webcam, in the right and left.

Speakers

Yes, speakers is one of 5920G selling points: Dolby Home Theatre Virtual Surround 5.1 speakers. 2 speakers above and 1 subwoofer below, create a surround sound ‘virtually’. I think the quality is excellent for notebook, so you don’t need external speakers (well, it’s optional, but I don’t need it since the quality is very good). With Acer Empowering Technology feature, there are 3 different scenario for sound quality: music, movie, and games. Movie and games will enabled the surround sound ‘effects’ while music mode will disabled it. Change to music mode only when listening to the music with headphones. I already test the sound for watching movies and playing game like Counter Strike: Source. I just LOVE it!

Power Button, Indicators, Keyboard, Touchpad, and Extra Buttons

The power button located in the upper center of the keyboard. Light in blue color, and change into orange when the notebook in hibernate mode. In the left side from the power button, there is a flow line, which will light a blue LED color when in charging mode.

The indicator lights are in the right of the power button. The first one is blinking blue when the processor in work or I might say, the hardisk in the use. The second one lights up in blue when Num Lock is activated, and the third one lights up when Caps Lock is activated. There are two more indicator lights, located in the under-left corner the keyboard. The first one will lights in blue indicating the power status. The second one lights in yellowish-green when the battery is full or in orange when the battery in charging mode.

The quality of the keyboard is moderate I guess. Typing with 5920G keyboard is comfortable, kinda soft, and quiet. I don’t know, but I think most laptop is like this now. There is no air flow from inside, so cover it with silicon is fine. I use a average silicon to cover my 5920G keyboard. It will keep the keyboard clean and free of unwanting dust or water. There are some handy shortcut in the keyboard, such as disabling the touchpad, make the notebook to sleep,  turn off the monitor, change monitor brightness, etc

The touchpad is located below the keyboard and for me, it’s probably one of minus points for this notebook. First, my palm always touch the touchpad whenever I type from keyboard. That makes unwanted mouse movement. Sometimes disabling the touchpad is a good idea. The worst thing about the touchpad is the sound of its button. It click loudly, and makes me think it’s gonna crack or made from bad plastic quality, well, I don’t know.

There are some extra buttons that pretty handy to use. The location are in the left and right keyboard, plus one special blue ‘gemstone’ button beside the speaker (upper-right corner of the keyboard). The gemstone button is for launch Acer Empowering Technology feature which can be modified. This button will become useless if I change the Windows version into XP (I read it from other source, there are no compatible driver yet for XP version).

In the left side, there are 4 or 5 (depends from the type of your 5920G) shortcut buttons: wireless communication button (for disable/enable wireless function, I use it often), web browser (default is for open IE, but I change it to Firefox), mail (to open email application), Bluetooth communication button (to turn on/off the Bluetooth, pretty handy button), and the last one is TV button which is not available in my 5920G since there is no integrated TV Tuner in there (pretty sad, people said that it only available in Europe).

In the right side, there are 6 buttons, 5 of them are touch-sensitive buttons with blue LED color. The first one is a normal button, for launch Acer Arcade utility. Four first touch-sensitive buttons are for media playback, which works for Windows Media Player in my case. The fifth one are for launch Acer CD/DVD burn software.

Processor and Performance Overall

My 5920G is equipped with T8300 2,4 Ghz processor, 2GB DDR2 5300 single memory, 8600M GT 512MB graphic card, and 320GB hardisk space (the other specs you can check far above in the start of my review). I can say this specs is almost the same with my desktop PC. I got 4,8 in Windows Experience Index base score, which is not a bad score. It doesn’t take a long time to open several programs at once like Photoshop, Illustrator, and Flash. But when in full use, it become slower. Benchmark result for my 5920G can be seen in the screenshot below. I use Super PI, 3D Mark 2005, and 3D Mark 2006.

My 5920G is not in dual channel because it equipped with 1 piece of RAM. I want to upgrade it into 4GB dual channel soon, so my Vista will run smoother. But I still thinking about it since my Vista is 32bit version, which is not compatible with 4GB memory.

The hardisk is separate into 2 drive, it’s about 140GB each. Wait, only 140GB? Total just about 280-290GB. I don’t know where the hell the other 10-20GB. I thought 320GB hardisk will have about 300-310GB space.

Gaming Performance

Equipped with GeForce 8600M GT 512MB, 5920G supposedly will have no problem running most of present games. It already support DirectX 10 which is a good point here. Heavy game can be played in medium settings, and some others will run smoothly in high quality. For more detailed review in games performance, I recommend to check this review from Acer Guy.

Beware of the heat, hot/high temperature issues!

One thing that always tickles my mind is the heat. All 5920G is famous for its hot temperature. When in idle, the GPU temperature is around 50-60 Celcius and the CPU is around 40-50 Celcius. But, when I try to stress the GPU ‘a little’ by playing Counter Strike: Source, the temperature will goes up about 80-90 Celcius, while the CPU will be around 60-70 Celcius! People say that it’s normal for 5920G, since it was build for taking a high temperature and usually automatically shut down when the heat reach 110 Celcius. But I still worry about this issue. Right now I’ve update the VGA driver, gladly the temperature became colder about 10 degrees. When playing CS:S, the temperature is around 70-80 Celcius. I always use a cheap acrylic 3 fan notebook cooler, but I can’t see the difference at all. I think all 5920G should prepare extra bucks for buying a good notebook cooler.

Input and Output Ports

5920G has four USB 2.0 ports. Three at the left side, and one at the right. Note that the one at the right side located very close to the DVD drive. If I slot in big flashdisk or other USB device into that port, it’s impossible to open the DVD drive, the tray will stuck with the USB. Many people take this as a big problem, but not for me. I always use this port for mouse, as you can see in the picture below.

My 5920G comes with just DVD Super Multi Drive, while other version may comes with HD-DVD drive. But I don’t really need HD-DVD so it’s not a problem. One thing that people should concern is the quality of the optic itself. Lot of people say that DVD drive in Acer product doesn’t have good quality. So far, I’ve just used the optic to burn 3 DVD, and 1 of them failed in verify mode. I don’t know, maybe it’s just my bad luck or truly bad quality.

Here it is the complete list of the input and output ports:

Left

• VGA port
• Ethernet port
• Modem Port
• 3 USB 2.0 ports
• HDMI
• S video
• IEEE 1394
• ExpressCard/54 slot

Right

• DVD Super Multi Drive
• One USB port
• Kensington lock slot

Front

• Infrared/CIR receiver (to receive signals from a remote control)
• 5 in 1 card reader: SD, MMC, MS, MS PRO, xD
• Line-in jack, microphone in jack, and headphones/speaker/line-out jack.
• Volume scroll wheel

Rear

• DC-in jack (connects to an AC adapter)
• Ventilation slots

Battery Life

I never do a real test about the battery life. Lot of sources say that the battery life is about 2-4 hours, depend on the usage. I use my notebook for designs and software that I use are like Photoshop, Flash, Illustrator, and Freehand, with other small program to view image like Irfan View or listening the music wih Winamp. It took about 2-3 hours with balanced power mode. Most of times, I use the laptop with AC adapter connected, so I never care about the battery life length. Even 4-5 hours isn’t enough for me, since I need more than that to do my works.

Operating System

My 5920G bundled with Windows Vista Home Premium 32bit Service Pack 1. Actually I prefer Windows XP service pack 2 or 3 though. Anyway, it’s a good thing that it bundled with Home Premium, so I still can enjoy the windows aero. Vista Ultimate is too much and Home Basic is too… basic. The notebook doesn’t bundled with the Vista DVD or other software/driver, no DVD/CD at all. Everything already included in the hardisk. So I must backup everything first when get this notebook.

Software

5920G stuffed with lot of Acer softwares, gladly, these are not bloatware. Acer Empowering Technology, Acer Arcade Deluxe, Acer GameZone (lots of mini games, but trial only), etc. Acer Empowering Technology is a very useful and pretty handy to use. With that, I can change the power mode easily, backup entire system, protect my system and folders, change sound mode, etc. Meanwhile, Acer also installed other softwares like McAfee antivirus which is just trial for 30 days, Microsoft Office 2007 trial for 60 days, NTI CD/DVD Maker, NTI Backup Now, etc. Overall, it’s not really a bloatware. I still keep these software installed, and my Windows still runs smoothly.

Conclusion

Finally, I’m happy to have this notebook. I recommend Aspire 5920G for power users, gamers, or designers with limited bucks. This notebook has the best prices in its class, which means, the cheapest in these specifications. Best price, good design, good build quality, good performance!

Pros

• Good price!
• Good build quality!
• Good design!
• Good performance!
• Excellent sound quality!

Cons

• Loud touchpad
• Heat
• A little too heavy for 15″ notebook
• Interior tends to get dirty easily
• Viewing angle of the screen

Want to compare the specification with its sibling, 5930G? Then you should check 5930G user review first here.

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 20th, 2008 at 12:36 am and is filed under 5920g, English Posts, Notebook Review, Review, Technology, notebook. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.