The Acer Guy

I have decided to turn the tables completely. After all, blogs are about opinions, feedback and free dialogue so what better way to support this than asking someone who actually bought an Acer laptop to reviews it and publish it here? No journalist bias or marketing spin. Just the facts…
Jing Yeow was fast enough to get his hands on one of the first Aspire 5920s in the UK and kind enough to agree to write his thoughts down for The Acer Guy so my thanks to him first and foremost.

I haven’t been able to download his photos yet as my net speed is painfully slow at the moment but I’ll update the article and post add them the moment I get back to the office.

The photos are all Jing’s too.

Enjoy.

——————————————

Acer Aspire 5920G review

The Acer Aspire 5920G is the flagship model for the new Acer Gemstone Series. It has a fresh new design modelled on (yes you guessed it) a gemstone and takes advantage of the latest notebook technology, including many features attributed to the new Centrino Pro platform. The Aspire model seems to be a model for the mainstream consumer who requires value for money as well as placing high importance on design.

This is in part a response to HP’s excellent design credentials when it comes to producing stylish notebooks the consumer requires, and you can recognise Acer has taken a few ideas out of their consumer line with the glossy black finish on the outer notebook.

The reason why I chose this notebook was because it reached the top mid range of my budget. I could have stretched to £999 if I had to, but soon realised for the money spent I would be getting the same notebook at a higher price and in some cases, fewer features than the Acer 5920. Before deciding on this notebook, I had looked extensively at the HP dv2500t series as the design suited me perfectly, but it was let down by price and hardware. It costs just £100 less than the Acer. Whilst the newer dv6000t costs £100 more than the Acer Gemstone, but again with no turbo memory and only a 8400M dedicated card.
Essentially it boiled down to a portable HP, or a feature packed Acer, and the Acer won by miles. This is a multimedia machine, and if that is important to you, the Acer fulfils a lot of needs.

I purchased this off a UK retailer online as they were the first to stock this model of notebook. It cost £799.97 which was the reviewed price, which is great value for a notebook of this specification and price point, but where Bluetooth was in reviewed samples, it failed to make it to the final release, meaning there is a dummy Bluetooth button just on top of the unpressable dummy button below it on the left hand side of the notebook.
The exterior is a beautiful rich glossy black, which looks hard wearing, but remains hollow in the very centre where there remains some flex, none of which affect the screen due to the distance of the outer-shell to the screen. The edges of the notebook are hard plastic that offer no flex at all and is reasonable protection for the screen in a backpack.

The interior is very pretty when first viewed. The design is impactful and the colour scheme is a creamy white depending on the light conditions. Admittedly under artificial light this can appear more beige, but it is relaxing on the eyes.
The keyboard is extremely comfortable to use. The travel is short, which user preference would class as a love or hate feature. There is no flex on the left hand side of the keyboard, but significant flex on the right hand side of the keyboard, around the 7-8 numerical keys and all those below. However, this has no impact on typing regardless of speed on key impact.

The mouse pad glides smoothly and is a synaptics device. The mouse buttons are a much different breed. They are loud and would be heard in a quiet room when one wishes to be covert. You will need to learn to use the touch pad to click if you wish totally silent operation.

The notebook itself is very sturdy and rigid. The plastic inside offers superb protection for the components, and provides ample space for the wrists. No flex or creaking here. The left hand side of the notebook stays warm through basic tasks such as word processing, or viewing pictures, but can get wildly hot when gaming.
I have noticed that newer games tend to put more stress on the Nvidia 8600M GT and thus increase the heat. Older games, such as Sim City 4, put less stress on the GPU.

There are buttons on either side of the notebook keyboard, performing a variety of quick functions. Significant to note is the Wireless Lan button. Notice this is a button, and there is little chance of it becoming worn out like the “switches” on other notebooks such as the Vaio, or the PSP wireless switch which can lead to one not being able to connect to the other devices.
The downside is that the touch sensitive control cannot (to my knowledge) be reprogrammed. For example, the “record” button only opens the pre-installed NTI CD/DVD Maker 7, whilst I am sure many would prefer it to launch Nero or perhaps Ashampoo alternatives.

The media flow line actually a small part of the notebook, that rests above the keyboard and only lights up when charging, CPU processing or when Caps of Num Lock are turned on. The light does not flow throughout the whole keyboard surface as you may have seen in some promotional videos.

The speaker grill is a stylish silver and remains my favourite feature of the notebook. I have heard the speakers on a Toshiba Quisio and whilst it matches it on clarity, the quisio was extremely weak on bass, where the Acer 5920 easily surpasses it.

Playing games becomes incredibly immersive with directional sound, and surround sound “effects” that work adequately. Personally I think these are much better to have than not, but they are nothing to shout about.

Battery Life is an aspect of this notebook I have not tested extensively. Whilst watching Wimbledon, I decided to leave the notebook on whilst writing parts of this review and surfing the internet intermittently with screen brightness on 50% and wireless enabled (Default Balanced ePower Managements settings away from Mains).
The result was 2 hours into the Federer/Nadal Final with the notebook reporting 36% battery life remaining (However accurate that is). I didn’t test it till shut off, but from that I can estimate near enough 3 hours of battery life on the road. I have it confirmed that the battery is a 6 cell. This may even be longer with power saver that would have reduced the CPU speed and downed the screen brightness a tad. The screen is unviewable with 0% brightness, and I recommend 40% if you want it to remain useable without straining the eyes too much.

The screen is beautiful to look at…if you view it dead on centre. The colours are vibrant and outlines sharp from the glossy CrystalBrite screen. I would have preferred matte as reflections will be your worst enemy if using this notebook with you back to sunlight. Viewing angles horizontally are decent.
Text remains readable at 45 degrees off-centre but the colours darken at around 20 degrees from centre. Vertical angles are much worse with colours appearing washed out immediately when viewed above, and darkening just as quickly when viewed below centre. Backlighting is generally even, with a little leakage at the bottom which is not noticeable unless viewing a screen.

For those of you who use Skype, this notebook is the perfect companion. Its video functionality is especially good and doubles up as a adequate still camera, taking low-res, but visually distinguishable shots. The dual microphones also do a good job of video conferencing as it detects sound/voices from sources over a metre away clearly according to a few Skype Test Calls.

You want comments? We got comments:

1. Jam wrote, on July 13th, 2007:

   

   Hi Michael, is possible if you could pass this question onto Jing please, thanks.

   In media centre, can you locate the TV options as I have heard other users saying that they are not able to find them in the menu, thanks.

   —–
   Jam.

2. Michael Walsh wrote, on July 13th, 2007:

   

   If I’m not mistaken Jing will be checking this. I’ll make sure he gets pinged though.

3. Jing wrote, on July 14th, 2007:

   

   Hi, I won’t pretend I know how to use Media Center, and in truth I’ve opened it once or twice.

   Do you wish to know if I can see this screen?
   http://www.mediacenteroem.com/newsite/mediacenter/2.jpg

   If so, do I require a tv tuner to get access to this option?

   I don’t see anything related to TV. Acer Arcade has infiltrated its way into WMC though allowing video editing, and the viewing of camcorder videos which may stop “My TV” options appearing, else it may simply be because I do not have a tv tuner.

   I have however, experienced conflicts with other Acer programs so I wouldn’t rule out the possibility that Acer’s own software is to blame for those users that have experienced problems finding “Tv Options” in their WMC.

   Sorry I can’t be more help.

4. Jam wrote, on July 14th, 2007:

   

   Hi Jing,
   Yeh, you’ve been getting the same problem as other 5920 users. Acer Arcade wipes out the TV options in the MC menu. If you un-install Acer Arcade, the TV options should pop up as they should do.

   Sos Michael if I keep asking you too many questions but, could you tell this issue to Acer for us? (whenever you have time). Is there anyway in having Acer Arcade installed whilst also being able to use MC’s TV options?

   Thanks.

   —–
   Jam.

5. Michael Walsh wrote, on July 17th, 2007:

   

   Jam,

   Simone’s just weighed in on your question. I won’t pretend I know what he’s talking about but hope it helps you out

   If you mean that you cannot find a way to play the dvr-ms files from Vista like Apollo13, the issue is the “Public” folder.

   This is a “special folder” to share contents with other local/network users, the point is that ONLY Windows Vista knows how to manage the contents inside this folder with internal components like WMP to play them.

   So, when you use Arcade, you can play the contents inside this folder BUT you have to browse into each folder with DVDivide or the other tool from Arcade, it works.

   I have verified with “Registered TV” movies like Apollo13 (integrated movie from Vista).

   By the way, because the AS5920 has no TV-Tuner, there is no way to register TV-Channels of course, only playback.

   If you have more files from Media Center with the dvr-ms extension, I suggest you move them from “public” to your default “movie” folder (under My documents folder). In this way Win Media Center will automatically update the multimedia database and will show you the new content when you use Media Center Tool instead of Arcade.

   Or simply create a new folder in HDD and then add the path to Media Center content manager.

6. Jam wrote, on July 17th, 2007:

   

   Hi Jing, and other users experiencing the same problem.

   I’ve found a way to fix the Acer Arcade and TV options conflict.
   ————————————————-
   Goto Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Media Center\Start Menu:

   Change “HideTV” value to 0
   ————————————————-
   Credit for this needs to go to ‘Klas’ of notebookreview.com

   Enjoy.
   Jam.

7. Michael Walsh wrote, on July 17th, 2007:

   

   Don’t you just love it when things just work straight out of the box…?

   Thanks Jam and kudos to Klas.

8. Jing wrote, on July 19th, 2007:

   

   Hi again, just wondering if any other owners of this notebook has a similar “problem” to me.

   If you take a look a the image above the paragraph
   “The speaker grill is a stylish silver…” in my review, you will notice that the start of the grill is in focus and goes out of focus as you travel along its length in the photograph. Now as the grill strip moves out of focus you notice that the colour of the small black specks turns into a patch of white, and continues black again.

   I’ve found this is because the mesh here is different to the black mesh that covers the rest of the speakers. Is this a problem? It looks like the builders ran out of material, and when they resumed; missed out some speaker grills. However further down that speaker strip there is a single speck (unviewable in the photographs) that is the same white mesh. So I dont think its intentional.

   Whilst not possible to tell, could it mean no sound is coming out of that area? Should I be worried? I dont like it when uniformality is interrupted. So this issue bugs me.

   Sorry its not a more interesting comment ;D.

9. Mark Garlick wrote, on July 20th, 2007:

   

   Hi, nice review. I am tempted to buy this but I worry about your description of viewing angles. Quoting figures doesn’t really help. Would this laptop be okay for two people to watch movies on, side by side? Or would the low viewing angle mean the image for each person would be washed out since each will of course be off centre?

   Thanks in advance. If only I knew of a physical show where I could actually see this computer.

10. Michael Walsh wrote, on July 20th, 2007:

    

    Mark,

    Don’t know what country you’re writing from but if it’s the UK you’ve got Comet (and soon Tesco’s) to choose from. Looks like Comet’s stocking the Bluetooth version.

    If you’re from the States, it’s available from Best Buy.

    Failing that let me know where you’re from and I’ll try and hunt it down.

    As for the viewing angles, I’d rather Jing or someone who’s actually tried to watch a film in bed on the 5920 answer your question.

    However, my wife and I did that for about two years on an old (ie no CrystalBrite) TravelMate and we had ball.

    We stopped because a 750MB bootleg just doesn’t contain the audio-visual clarity I want. However, with Dolby in on the game I’m sure the experience is now very, very different.

11. Jing wrote, on July 21st, 2007:

    

    Viewing angles are not that bad for two people watching side by side. You will both see pretty much the same thing on the screen in regards to colour and clarity or picture. What I really tried to emphasise were the above/below viewing angles, which are poor like many laptops.

    The real problem will be the height of the notebook relative to the viewer. My desk is about 1/3 of a meter taller than my bed mattress. When lying back on the bed, the picture goes very dark. If standing up, the screens colour looks washed out. The easy solution to this, is very easily to tilt the screen forwards or backwards until suitable. Until there is an easier way to do this, I guess you’ll have to do the “tilt screen, check if the picture is alright from the sofa, go back again if its not quite right, then see if it looks okay from the sofa…etc..”

    Under my rough estimates I think you could pack about 6-8 people side by side watching a movie without anyone complaining “we can’t see anything!!”

    *I wouldn’t put money on Comet stocking the bluetooth one. Firstly, I have doubts it would cost £799, as that would annoy existing buyers and Comet Spec Sheets are rarely to be relied upon.
    Amazon UK have also got stock earlier than they anticipated. Again, no mention of bluetooth, so I assume it is abscent from there too.

12. Michael Walsh wrote, on July 21st, 2007:

    

    Jing,

    Sorry man I missed your question above about the speaker grill.

    I haven’t been able to track down a 5920 to compare or a white paper on the dolby speakers to understand the layout but I know what you mean about how discontinuity an drive you to distraction.

    The official photos also look like yours might have a slight defect but remember these are usually production-ready prototypes and should not therefore be taken as “the final product”.

    

    If it really bugs you, go down to Comet and compare yours with what they’ve got on sale. If you’re right and yours has a defect, get onto Laptopsdirect and see what they say.

13. Mark Garlick wrote, on July 22nd, 2007:

    

    Thanks for the replies, Jing and Michael. I am in the UK. I did not know Comet were stocking it, so I’ll check them out — there is a big branch nearby. The website has no image of it but it says it has Bluetooth, and it’s listed at £799 (£899 in-store price).

    Cheers. Am also looking at the Dell inspiron 1520. Very similar specs. Still unsure which to go for.

14. Michael Walsh wrote, on July 23rd, 2007:

    

    Hi Mark,

    For the sake of fairness, I should point you to this reply from Richard@DELL over on another post.

    Can’t accuse me of bias

15. mos wrote, on July 24th, 2007:

    

    Hi

    I was wondering about the Acer Aspire 5920 interior color and if it gets dirtier easily or what? since the color is closer to be white than grey, i was also wondering about the Dell inspiron 1520 featuring geforce 8600m gt would it be a better buy (I frankly don’t kknow how much would it cost so please someone inform me) and also what about the Asus F3SV (1350$-1600$) and Asus G1s (1800$-1900$), I frankly think that even the Asus F3sv is better in terms of build quality than the Acer and that only the Acer beats the F3sv and inspiron 1520 in terms of performance, and unfortunately the Acer 5920 also doesn’t look great!!

16. Michael Walsh wrote, on July 24th, 2007:

    

    Hi Mos,

    I’m not the person to ask these sorts of questions. And I think the only person who could tell you something more about the dirtyness-factor of the interior is Jing who’s actually got one himself.

    As to the comparisons, have a look at Richard’s reply (link above) and then go to Dell’s site and configure one yourself. Every time I do it the one I would build ends up costing about twice the price of the 5920 but then if you’re going to upsell (which Dell does brilliantly) the outcome is bound to be different.

    Asus? have a look here at where they came from. The products might be seem great but don’t you get that “copycat feeling” about them? There. I just shot myself in the fair comparison foot.

    Looks? The guys that designed the 5920 also designed the new Mini and if ever there was a modern icon that has divided the style opinions of the buying public, the Mini is it. You either love it or loathe it and nobody can do a damned thing about it.

    For me the jury’s still out although I would be lying if I said I had one nearby. The closest I get is the photos I see online…

17. Nick wrote, on July 24th, 2007:

    

    Hi Michael and Jing,

    I am also considering buying this laptop and most likely will. I have just one more question which has not been answered yet on any review I read:

    Apparantly, under the battery there is a SIM-card reader. Have any of you gotten it to work yet? I have no found any Acer information on this subject, either.

    Obviously this is not really important, but could be very useful to me.

    Thanks!

18. Michael Walsh wrote, on July 24th, 2007:

    

    Hi Nick,

    As far as I know, the intergated SIM card reader is only featured on the 3G notebooks like the .

    I’ve pulled up the spec sheet for the AS5920 and can’t find it mentioned anywhere. Of course that doesn’t mean it won’t be fitted at some point in the future but for now, based on what I’ve seen, it looks like you’ve been misled

19. Nick wrote, on July 24th, 2007:

    

    Hi again,

    Please allow me to rephrase. I _know_ the SIM card reader is in (I have read this in several reviews and have even seen pictures – so it is comfirmed by several people) just nobody has gotten it to work yet. I can hardly imagine it’s in as a dummy SIM slot.

    For picture reference: http://brick19.hyves.org/80250001-80300000/80294301-80294400/80294332_5_J3aJ.jpeg

    More info on the subject: http://gathering.tweakers.net/forum/list_messages/1229806/1 (it’s in Dutch, though)

    One of the guys in there also mentions that he can not find any information on the subject in the Acer manuals that came along with the laptop. In other words, nobody has yet figured out how to use it or why it is there. Hence why I was wondering whether perhaps any of you had information.

    Thanks!

20. mos wrote, on July 24th, 2007:

    

    thank you michael for your reply, I am planning to buy a new laptop in the next few months and acer 5920 tops my list among dell 1520, asus f3sv and asus g1s

    well michael i’ll have to disagree with you about the dell 1520 price because i personlly configured it more than one time and it always costs from 1350$- 1500$ fully loaded (t7300, 2 gb ram, 160 gb hd, 8600m gt, integrated webcam).

    you also didn’t convince me about the asus issue.

    here are the things i hate about acer aspire 5920 and i hope jing himself tells me more about each point:

    1-interior color is white which would look like garbage after 1 year or so unless it was made from superior materials

    2-the usb port beside the dvd drive is ok for me but the usb logo is printed in the wrong place!!

    3-web cam looks cheap and is only 0.3 m pixel

    4- heats up more than other models

21. Jing wrote, on July 24th, 2007:

    

    In the UK (The land off the rip-off) I configured the 1520 to the Acer 5920 specs, with differences in webcam (2mp as opposed to 0.3) and 9 cell battery as opposed to 8 cell.

    It costs 946.80 with delivery and a free printer which they make you purchase a cable for.

    There are differences which you have pointed out Mos, but they seem pretty baseless.

    The interior is not the type that will fade or change colour. It wont pick up scratches, only smudges and dirt from the wrist area, which can be wiped away with a damp cloth. I can’t think of another product that uses this material, but it feels like injection moulded plastic.

    For somebody that thinks the interior will look like garbage in a year. You do know that the Dell Silver wrist rests wear/fade away over time due to the chemical breakdown of the paint through contact with sweat/heat. Silver with

    I cannot see how the usb logo is printed in the wrong place. It is directly above the port, and again on the keyboard surface of the laptop, so its easy to see where the usb ports are without having to look for the actual ports. (see picture 8 from the top in the review)

    The web cam does not look cheap. It looks great without standing out. The resolution is low, but the camera regardless works well in all conditions, especially in low light.

    It does get pretty hot when gaming on the left hand side. Nothin to say about that, but its not a big issue. A lot of heat is pumped out the back of the laptop. THey could have installed some ventilation on the left hand side of the notebook where the ports are, but would have had to put ports on the back of the laptop which would not have been good.

    Things that are more annoying are:

    When the lid is closed, one of the screen circular pads (which cushion the screen) presses directly against the left mouse button. This makes it click when pressure is applied on this section of the closed lid. Only design flaw I can think of.

    The mouse buttons are awful. So noisy and the left seems to sink into the laptop. They are solid, but I wouldn’t use them unless I had to.

    Bluetooth button does not work, but its so slow to me its useless, maybe its better it wasn’t included, as I am going to get a bluetooth v3 dongle which promises faster speeds (up to usb2) and the built in bluetooth may conflict, since everytime the laptop starts up, the wireless is automatically enabled. Probably the same with the bluetooth.

22. Michael Walsh wrote, on July 24th, 2007:

    

    Nick,

    Emm. I don’t know how to say this. It seems you’re right.

    Don’t quote me on this but it looks to all intents and purposes like a design feature that was proposed on the original prototype but that never made it through to final production on this model.

    As far as anyone in Acer can tell me, it’s not active on this model and therefore it’s a dummy slot just like the Bluetooth button on non-Bluetooth models.

    The only explanation I can give is the one the Acer UK guy gave me for the Bluetooth question. It might be a feature they bring in at some point (user demands/market needs, whatever) and as all the chassis are the same, it’s there on all of them right from the outset. Well spotted though!

23. Jing wrote, on July 24th, 2007:

    

    This might clarify the reason why that 3G slot does not work. It will probably be enabled on future laptops, as a way of maintaining the current price point. E.g. Instead of dropping the price, we’ll add a feature so we can continue charging the current price. Or else increase the price.
    ——–

    “Acer currently maintain a wide variety of models of notebook computer in the current range, and for any given range of notebooks the onboard options may vary but, the case remains constant across the range for each series of notebook. This means that some machines will have case switches or connections that lack functionality. The most common of these are the Bluetooth and Wireless LAN toggles on the front of many of the cases.

    Bluetooth usb dongles can be purchased for around £5-10 to add Bluetooth to your laptop.”

    Acer Technical Support

24. Michael Walsh wrote, on July 24th, 2007:

    

    Blimey. Glad I didn’t write that bit of soulless twaddle – it clearly lacks the Pompey twang I try and put in all my pieces

25. Nick wrote, on July 24th, 2007:

    

    Alright, thanks for the answers and information guys!

26. mos wrote, on July 25th, 2007:

    

    Thanks jing for your thorough analysis of your Aspire 5920

    One more thing, would you please tell me the Asus F3sv and Asus G1s prices in the UK, and your personal opinion about both of them compared to the Aspire 5920.

27. Iain wrote, on July 25th, 2007:

    

    I’m looking to buy the 5920, and have been having problems locating stock. I was pleasantly surprised to see you mention Comet is stocking the bluetooth version. Would you be able to ask Acer UK if the bluetooth version Comet’s stocking has the 1GB turbo memory – it doesn’t mention it on their website.

    Cheers in advance!

28. Iain wrote, on July 25th, 2007:

    

    Found the answer on Acer’s website – for anyone else that might have the same question, the answer is yes the 5920 version that Comet’s selling does have 1GB turbo memory.

29. Jing wrote, on July 25th, 2007:

    

    This is the absolute cheapest place (If not one of the only places) to get the Asus G1 and Asus F3SV. Since they are not sold in the high street.

    G1S – £1219
    http://www.nexus13.com/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=340&idproduct=1124

    F3SV – £879
    http://www.nexus13.com/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=306&idproduct=1121

    The Asus G1S is superior to the Acer 5920, but that’s reflected in the price. Over £400 more than the Acer. If you need a high screen resolution and have the extra money to spare, this would do fine. Otherwise you are paying through the nose for a bit more processing power, slightly more powerful graphics and the design (which looks really tacky to me). However, the speakers are heavily criticised by everyone who owns it. Apparently too much echo and tinny.

    The F3SV is at a more attractive price point, and I was considering this too, except at the time of purchasing a 5920, this cost £979 and had a built-in tv tuner, which has been discontinued in the model linked above.
    The price is similar to the 5920 for features, but the real selling point over the 5920 is the fingerprint reader, bluetooth, swivel camera and Vista Ultimate (not to mention the free bag and mouse). Even when i weigh it against the 5920 now, the downsides still hold up.

    Silver. Looks tacky and will rub off over time. 8600GS graphics card. Vastly inferior to the 8600GT. The design is not a touch on the 5920, no HDMI port. Battery life will be much lower than the 5920 owing to the 6 cell battery, whilst trying to run the same powerful core specifications.

    If those features are important to you, the Asus F3SV is not a bad choice. If the 5920 did not exist, I would own a F3SV, as they second to Acer provide the best value for money around. People complain of the built quality on Asus’s F3 series, but they did the same with the Aspire series, which I have no issues with.

    However, with the 5920 I got value for money as well as style, which is a bonus.

30. Chris wrote, on July 25th, 2007:

    

    Is the 5920 actually in any Comet store yet? I went into my local one today to be told that it “wasn’t on the system”

31. Adam wrote, on July 25th, 2007:

    

    Actually, the ASUS F3SV (AP073G) is cheapest at the following site (£850):

    http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Asus_F3SV_Laptop_F3SV-AP073G/version-1.asp

    That’s just £50 over the Acer 5920 now (£30 really, as a decent laptop bag + optical mouse [free with Asus] would be around £20 extra for the 5920).

    Also, the upgrade from Vista Home Premium to Vista Ultimate must be worth at least £60 surely? (and I want to upgrade to Ultimate at some point, as I need Fax, plus the file “previous versions” and other extra functionality would be very welcome).

    So the F3SV is very tempting at the moment!

    However, in terms of hardware specs, the Acer Aspire 5920 is still the better PC I think – I just wish the built-in Webcam was a bit better (say 1.3 megapixel instead of 0.3). I’m just waiting to see how much extra (if any) Acer and dealers will wamt for the bluetooth-enabled version (LX.AGW0X.169), and when it will be available.

    I’m still trying to decide between the Acer Aspire 5920 (still top of my list at the mo!), a Dell Inspiron 1520 (with 8600M GT graphics and 1440 x 900 display, a better resolution for 15.4″ I think) and the Asus F3SV…

    P.S. My local Comet (Carmarthen – quite a small store though) had no 5920’s in sight when I visited them today whilst out shopping!

32. Michael Walsh wrote, on July 25th, 2007:

    

    Hey guys,

    Have you noticed I haven’t chimed in with a “WHAT ARE YOU THINKING”??

    Two reasons: first I believe you are the better judge of what’s right for you. Second: I’ve got so much work on my plate at the moment that anything I say wouldn’t add to the conversation at all.

    I’m still curious to know why Comet isn’t stocking the 5920 though. Aren’t any other stores like Dixons stocking it?

33. Adam wrote, on July 25th, 2007:

    

    Hi Michael,

    Actually, we don’t have a Dixon’s near us – however, I may have a quick look in Curry’s and PC World next week or the week after – I would have thought that PC World would want to stock the 5920 at least! I’ll let you know if I come across any 5920’s “in the flesh” so to speak (would ideally love to see one at least before purchasing, if possible).

    P.S. My “budget option” (that I may still purchase, if I decide that I don’t really need DirectX 10 graphics) is the Acer TravelMate 5720G (specifically, the 5720G-302G16 – LX.TK30X.033 – which seems like a bargain: 2GHz T7300 Core 2 Duo, 2GB RAM, 160GB HD, Webcam, 4 x USB2, 1 x FireWire, Dedicated Graphics – ATI Mobility Radeon X1700 with 256 Mb VRAM, etc, for around £650!).

    Have you (or anyone else) seen any reviews of this yet? (I’ll still probably get the 5920 really, but if I decide my budget can’t take it, may go for the TravelMate 5720).

    Anyway, I *probably* won’t be purchasing my laptop for the next 2 – 4 weeks at least (maybe a bit longer even), so have plenty of time yet to research and decide!

    Thanks for the 5920 review by the way Jing – great job! And thanks to Michael too for the informed discussions & information. Cheers…

34. Michael Walsh wrote, on July 25th, 2007:

    

    Adam,

    This is only the start. I expect everyone here to write their own reviews if and when they buy… That’ll guarantee the conversation gets interesting.

    Jing gets my thanks too. Apart from a great review, he’s also put in some pretty fierce arguments and informed replies I wouldn’t have known where to begin looking for… The man rocks!

    The TravelMate 5720 is a sturdy little thing. It’s got the new Magnesium Alloy case which gives it a solid, rigid feel but do remember that TravelMates are built primarily for business use (hence the grey) which usually means you get better battery life (big business need) but fewer multimedia features (not so important). Often you’ll find integrated graphics and shared memory on the TM range.

    Need proof? Have a look at what Acer calls the “User Split”. You can see what I mean here. You decide who you are, and Acer provides what market research thinks is best suited to your needs. Business = TravelMates. Fun&Games = Aspires. Of course it never matches my own needs/tastes but then I’ve never slotted in anywhere. I see their point though…

    The other thing I need to get off my chest is that this site is the last place you’re going to feel like you need to buy something from Acer to be welcome. I do that day in day out and this is where the real me lets off steam, blows my own trumpet, sings in the shower… that sort of thing.

    It’s a chat among friends over a beer. OK the conversation does tend to focus on the pro’s and con’s of different graphics cards, OrbiCam woes and Comet Vs. Tesco’s but then nobody’s perfect!

    I mean c’mon, I even got RichardATDELL to join in! How open is that??

35. Jimmy wrote, on August 1st, 2007:

    

    Hi guys

    Do you know if a 5920 model without HDDVD is available in USA ? I don’t prefer the HDDVD since its not yet the market leader and also without it I believe that 5920 can be accomodated in my budget..

36. Michael Walsh wrote, on August 1st, 2007:

    

    Hi Jimmy,

    I’ll get in touch with Acer USA and see what they have to say.

37. Dennis wrote, on August 1st, 2007:

    

    If possible, I’d love to know if Acer will be producing a cheaper line of Santa Rosa based laptops.

    For example, when will they be refreshing the 5630 line.

    Thanks!

38. Michael Walsh wrote, on August 1st, 2007:

    

    Hi Dennis,

    That’s the sort of information that right now I can’t give out, even if I had access to it.

    All computer manufacturers trickle down technology at some point so there’s nothing to suggest Santa Rosa won’t be such a premium item in the future but “when?” is a 6 million dollar question.

    Having said that, there are strategic moments throughout the year when IT companies introduce new models and update old ones. “Back to School” comes in September and then there’s Chirstmas so I’d look out for new products around then.

    Oh, and keep your eyes on the forums – with the Gemstone they were way ahead of me!

    Sorry I can’t help any more than that.

39. Nick K wrote, on August 1st, 2007:

    

    Hey, I’m looking into getting the 5920 aswell but I’m trying to get the bluetooth one really. I popped into my local Comet (In Telford) yesterday and did a bit of asking. They won’t be getting any in their warehouse until Thursday 2nd August, and then only the larger stores will be getting them in stock. If you look on their website though it says what size each store is and if they have full range/wide range etc.
    I’m going to pop up to the Shrewsbury store tomorrow and see if they’ll be getting it in, and ask about the bluetooth, the guy I was talking to was adament the specs provided by Comet were accurate (he even printed them off the computer for me…) right up until I pointed out that firewire is standard, and they’ve got ‘not supported’.
    Does anyone know where you can get the 8 cell battery for the 5920 though, because I don’t think the 6 cell will have quite long enough battery life…

40. Tom wrote, on August 2nd, 2007:

    

    I just got home from patrol (USCG) to find my new Acer Aspire 5920-6313 waiting for me (this is the USA version). the short story: I really like it. the long story: well first off my card reader works just fine. it was one of the first things I tested. my model is different from the European version in that it only has a 1.5Ghz processor. so far it hasn’t seemed to be a hinderance though. I have the 8-cell battery (4800mAh). I also only have an A/B/G Wi-Fi card but all the hot spots in my town use B or G, so I don’t mind. I have the turbo memory, but not the blue tooth. still 2Gigs RAM and 160 Gig HDD. I also have the HD DVD/Dual layer DVD-RW. my price about $1100 (after tax) at Best Buy. I hit a sale, they’ve gone up $200 since then. still for the price this is a great piece of equipment. I have seen the 6661 advertised on web sites for 2400+ dollars. that seams high to me since all I need to do to have the same machine is buy a $300 processor and upgrade to draft N wi-fi. has anyone tried to open up the case to check out how easy it is to upgrade? it looks like it should be very easy, but I have yet to put a screw-driver to it. I’m thinking I’ll get 4 Gigs of RAM for it sooner rather than later.

41. Michael Walsh wrote, on August 3rd, 2007:

    

    Tom,
    Welcome back on dry land!
    Did you know that 22% of The Acer Guy’s readers are from the USA? Add on the 7% from Canada and you guys have got an overwhelming majority…
    If you fancy doing a full review of your own, US-spec laptop, I’ll gladly publish it. I’m sure an awful lot of readers stateside would appreciate it too

42. Tan wrote, on August 4th, 2007:

    

    Hi,

    I stumbled upon this forum and was hoping if you guys could perhaps answer a question regarding the 5920.

    Does the model that Comet are stocking have the 1gb Turbo memory.

    Many Thanks if you can help with this.

    Tan

43. Nick wrote, on August 4th, 2007:

    

    Hey Tan, the Comet model doesn’t have the Turbo memory. I spent almost an hour altogether on the phone to Comet and Acer to find out.
    Nobody at Acer seemed to have a clue (Well basically the guys I ended up talking to weren’t really bothered with helping) and the guys at Comet didn’t know. I finally got through to a guy at Comet who called some other people, who told him that Acer and Comet no longer have the same strong relationship so they only get the standard models on the Acer site, and as it has Bluetooth it doesn’t have turbo memory. (Apparently it definitely does have bluetooth, they were 100% about that much )

    I couldn’t believe how long it took to work all this out, I called Acer to make sure there were only 2 models available and they confirmed that you can only possibly get turbo memory OR bluetooth.

    If you do want the bluetooth version, then you can get it for £730 here:
    http://www.laskys.com/pcs_and_laptops/laptops_and_pdas/laptops/acer_as5920g_302g16n.html
    which saves you £70 on what Comet is charging on their web price. I don’t think you pay for delivery on that either. Personally I’d prefer the turbo memory, as you can just use a USB bluetooth dongle but it is a little more expensive.

    (A very long winded reply for a very simple answer)

44. Tom wrote, on August 5th, 2007:

    

    Working on a review this weekend, look for it monday-ish. in my review I give a quick overview of my opinion on some of the things already said then dive right into the differences between the USA and European versions. I will give out the results of my test on battery life and video game performance as well as open up the case and take a look inside. expect a full spread of pictures, mostly of the inside. I’ve done 90% of the work, I just have to finish typing it up an put it all together. then I can upload it Monday when I get home from work (duty weekend).

45. mos wrote, on August 5th, 2007:

    

    Hi Jing

    I was wondering if you could post some real world benchmarks for the Aspire 5920, something like FPS in Oblivion, FEAR, Quake 4 and lost planet Directx 10

46. Michael Walsh wrote, on August 5th, 2007:

    

    Hi mos,

    I’ve asked Jing to do more or less the same thing and if I’m not mistaken, it should be a cracker as, to put it his own words, he promises to “mention how rubbish the Acer stock display drivers are”.

    When he’s ready with it I’ll put it up in a new post as this one’s getting a bit long.

    This could turn out to be a real eye-opener, particularly if there are ways to improve on the standard performance just by getting better drivers. Great stuff to share.

    If there is, maybe I should change the Tricks and Treats to Pimp my Laptop!

47. Tan wrote, on August 5th, 2007:

    

    Hey Nick,

    Thanks for the reply mate, and thanks for the link. I agree with you, turbo memory is perhaps the more useful tool.

    I will probably purchase it when I start university in October and hopefully the turbo memory model will have come down in price from the £799 it is currently priced at, unless it is cheaper anywhere else?

    Thanks

48. Nick wrote, on August 5th, 2007:

    

    Somehow I can’t imagine the turbo memory version coming down in price, the laptop already seems a real bargain and ahead of most competition. I’ve done some serious digging and I can’t find it cheaper than £799 anywhere either. Although if Tesco were to get this laptop in hopefully it’d be the turbo memory one and perhaps just a little cheaper… It’s all a lot of hoping though really I’ll be ordering mine sometime in the next few days as soon as I get paid, I’m a little too impatient to wait. Just as I can’t seem to ‘compromise’ very well, I need to have the biggest and the best all the time. Not very healthy for the bank balance though *slaps head*

    What university are you going to by the way, and what will you be studying?

49. Tan wrote, on August 5th, 2007:

    

    I am pretty much the same as you Nick, want the best but at the same time dont want to be ripped off. As you can probably imagine being a student my budget is severely restricted although I just like this laptop too much.

    I may perhaps have to go for the bluetooth model, as i intend to also purchase the 3 year Acer extended warranty, with accidental damage. (Although I seem to hear very negative feedback about the quality of service, Mike perhaps you can elaborate?)

    I am going to start my final year at Aston University in Birmingham (England, not Alabama!!). I am studying business admin BSc.

50. Nick wrote, on August 5th, 2007:

    

    I live only a short distance from Birmingham. I’m studying computer science at The University of Liverpool though in September.
    My budget started off at around £600, but then I decided I wanted this, and then I saw that so my sights went higher and I was thinking of getting the Samsung R70 at £670, then I was looking at the Rizeon FL90E at £750, then the Rizeon FL90 at £830 but I’ve come to my senses and found the Acer 5920. Has everything I could reasonably ask for, and is rather cheap in comparison to others with the same spec (And I think it looks pretty darn good too)

51. Michael Walsh wrote, on August 5th, 2007:

    

    What? You want me to tell you how bad Acer’s service record is? Not a chance mate.

    I personally think that warranties are where companies make quite a lot of extra cash, and that if an electronic device is going to go wrong chances are it’ll go wrong within the first week, although that hasn’t stopped me from extending my own warranties on computers I use for work…

    Have a close look at the small print here before choosing. The price list link opens up a PDF explaining precisely what you get and how much it costs (excluding VAT). It seems you can activate it online later (within 365 days from the Notebook purchase date, for standard cover and within 90 days from date of purchase if accidental damages are covered too) which means you could also spread out the cost or get your parents to chip in!

    The worst side of any IT company at the moment seems to be with the support offered, although the other day I had a meeting with the guy in charge of all 8 call centres across the EMEA (Europe Middle East and Africa) region who explained how their quality measurement system worked, how they were slowly getting call waiting times down and customer satisfaction gradually up, and that they handled something like 100,000 “contacts” per week.

    I must say I walked away impressed although all it takes is one nervous match to spark off a major catastrophe (Jarvis Vs. Dell anyone?).

    I can’t tell you about how good or bad Acer’s call centres are but I can say something about this blog. The Acer Guy is nowhere near call centre status, it’s getting a little over 4% of the attention those places receive, but you’ve got some serious support here.

    Think about it. If you run into trouble, someone’s bound to be able to help. Free too

52. Michael Walsh wrote, on August 5th, 2007:

    

    I was just thinking about the maths there.
    If there are 8 call centres across EMEA and they’re getting a combined 100,000 contacts per week, I’m way off because it means that each one is getting 12,500 contacts per week, which is a little over three times my unique visitor totals.
    Sometimes it’s probably best not to think. At least not out loud!

53. Jing wrote, on August 6th, 2007:

    

    Regarding Acer’s warranties, a few weeks after purchasing my 5920 from laptops direct, they sent me a mail about extending the warranty to 3 years, with a free leather bag and acer mouse for £99. I’ve no idea if this offer is still around, but it seems a good deal, if you want peace of mind. It is slightly better than Acers included 1 yr travellers warranty, since if your notebook requires maintenance, Acer collect it without cost to you. My mindset when purchasing this notebook for Uni in September was
    “If its gonna fail, it’s going to fail in the first 2 months!(*touch wood)” Thus I purchased it as soon as I could (end of June) to give my ample time to test its reliability. So far so good. Rarely have I read about people actually having to use their warranty cover on various notebook forums, but Im pretty sure there are options to extend it within the first year.

    About the games benchmarking, its not professional, its just me telling you how good the games play with some FRAPS screens. I actually can’t fathom how Michael dares ask me to write these small articles given my tendency to go off on tangents… . Anyway the lineup Im currently writing about contains Halo 2, Lost Planet Demo, Guild Wars,CS:S and Half Life 2 +Ep1 I don’t have FEAR, Oblivion or Quake 4 sorry. Most of my games are pretty old as they were all bought to run on a Geforce 4 Ti4600 which celebrates its 5th birthday this year.

    I might get Oblivion this week as I’ve always wondered what all the hype surrounded (swords melee, magic and pet bears?) but If I don’t mention it, go figure.

    Hope I don’t keep you all waiting too long.

54. Jimmy wrote, on August 6th, 2007:

    

    Hi Michael,

    Did you get any info regarding the 5920 without HDDVD in US market.

    I found 3 versions 5920 -6661 -6649 -6313. But all have HDDVD.

    Lots of people are talking about Turbo Cache memeory….
    Hmm is it a waste of money?
    Notebook manufactures would not have included it unless for Intel’s persuation(read in many reviews). Also some of the rating website showed clearly that there isn’t any valuable performance increase with this new stuff (I think Anandtech is having a review based on this.)

55. Michael Walsh wrote, on August 6th, 2007:

    

    Hi Jimmy,

    Nothing yet I’m afraid. Every time I need to talk to someone in Acer, they go on holiday. The guy I need to talk to gets back this week though.

    Talk about Murphy’s Law…

56. mos wrote, on August 6th, 2007:

    

    Correct me if I am wrong Tom but isn’t it Monday ? so where is your aspire 5920 review

57. Nick wrote, on August 6th, 2007:

    

    Hey Jimmy, the thing with the turbo memory at the moment is that there just isn’t the support for it yet. Vista can use it, but not properly (yet). By the time Vista gets a new service pack it should have updated it’s turbo memory support so it will really come into it’s own then.
    I think the problem with it at the moment (if my memory serves) is that currently Vista isn’t “learning” what to put in the turbo memory. As far as I can tell when there is proper support for it the turbo memory will be well worth it (in my eyes at any rate)

58. Nick wrote, on August 6th, 2007:

    

    After saying that I just found this:

    http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/intel/showdoc.aspx?i=3009&p=1

    I’m guessing it is still largely down to lack of proper support both on Intel and Microsoft’s side, but from what I gathered from reading on other sites it should be a lot better after Vista gets a new service pack

59. Tan wrote, on August 6th, 2007:

    

    Nick, Mike

    Thanks for you offer of support, no doubt that i will be using this forum a lot more now, but like I said earlier, wont be able to afford it till October comes around.

    Nick thats cool, I live in Moseley if you know the area.

60. Michael Walsh wrote, on August 6th, 2007:

    

    Jing,

    “I actually can’t fathom how Michael dares ask me to write these small articles given my tendency to go off on tangents… ”

    That cracked me up.

    It’s exactly the reason I ask anybody to do anything, Jing. Because there’s no predictability in the response.

    My guess is, for a blog to “work”, there has to be as much participation from outside than from the inside. So what’s the point of expecting you to just answer my posts as if I had something earth shatteringly important to say? That’s not me at all. And let’s face it, it’s not you either.

    I like the fact that conversations are unpredictable and am trying to find a way of getting you guys on the outside to bridge the gap that some (many) people have accused Acer of building between it and its customers (you). Besides, if we wait for Acer to do it, my three-year old son will be at Uni

    And funnily enough, it seems to be working.

    So go right ahead: propose weird reviews, team up and find the best deals on laptops and share them publicly alongside the rip offs (somebody could write a Widget for that surely), set the Trick and Treats section on fire with the knowledge that’s already out there.

    But have a laugh while doing it though. Otherwise I’ll go all corporate on you, just moments before I resign.

61. Michael Walsh wrote, on August 6th, 2007:

    

    Tan,

    Your comment worries me.

    These threads are, admittedly, extremely long and have all the hallmarks of forums, but this blog is and wants to be anything but.

    Sooner or later I’m going to be reigned in and will have to tone it down a little. That’ll happen the moment it starts to produce the kind of numbers that get noticed and/or give it influence. I think you’ll notice the difference immediately.

    But until then, it’s free to be what you want it to be. But it’s not structured as a forum. Actually I don’t know how to structure a forum. The only thing I can think of is recruiting the lot of you and turning the whole thing inside out.

    Scared? I would be

62. mos wrote, on August 7th, 2007:

    

    Here is a side by side game performance comaprison between the 5920 and Asus G1s, unfortuantely everything is in German.

    I am looking forward to see something like that made by the owners of the Aspire right here in this blog.

    http://www.notebookjournal.de/tests/262/1

63. Tom wrote, on August 7th, 2007:

    

    MOS,
    I Emailed my review complete with pictures to Michael last night. it was a tad late due to the fact that I got slave driven until quite late yesterday. I don’t know what sort of lead-time Michael has to get it up, will all depend on his work-load I imagine. hopefully the pictures I sent aren’t too large, I did chop them down for internet use and i don’t think they are larger than the pictures Jing sent in. Admittedly I didn’t format a web-page out of them, just sent in a word file and a handfull of loose pictures. wasn’t sure what method would be best for Michael.

    @Michael,
    Did you get it? do I need to change anything?

64. Michael Walsh wrote, on August 7th, 2007:

    

    Tom, I got it and it’s up here. Hope I got the pictures in the right order.

    It’s a stunning review and you have my sincerest thanks for taking the time to write down and publish your thoughts.

    Sorry it took me a while to get everything up. I had to work on a 56K modem for a day (remember those??).

65. Michael Walsh wrote, on August 9th, 2007:

    

    Jimmy,

    A while ago you asked me for info regarding the 5920 without HDDVD in US market.

    I just got this reply from Acer US:

    Regarding the Aspire 5920…at this time there are no plans on bringing a non-HD version to the market. Since this platform has a built in HDMI port, we do not plan on changing the optical configuration at this time. I cannot change anyone’s thoughts regarding market leadership and long-term availability of the optical but I would be interested in finding out the budget of the reader who was looking at the Aspire 5920. This system may be a bit more affordable in the near future….

    Now’s your chance to name your price

66. Cosimo wrote, on August 9th, 2007:

    

    Intresting blog poeple. I’ve learned a lot from it. After reading all there is still one thing i am burning to know about the 5920. Has anyone first handedly tested the HDMI port in varying levels from 420 to 1080 i and p. Can it run all levels of HD, or only a few.

    I have ground my decision down to the Laskys option of 5920 at £730, or a Dell Vostro 1500 that is spec’d exactly the same apart from the screen being a WSXGA+ (1680 x 1050)that comes in just under £700.

    The Dell has the much higher screen res, but the vostro is a very bland design, and no HDMI port. The Acer has the HDMI port, nicer design, but standard screen res. Everything else is spot on the same, apart from just over £30 in Dells Favour.

    If someone could elaborate on how this would look on my 42″ 1080i Plasma, it may help my decision.

67. Justin wrote, on August 10th, 2007:

    

    I need help with my 5920. The Acer Arcade software for running the HD-DVD movies is the worst I’ve encountered. You cannot select from menus, you cannot use chapter jumps, or fast forward/rewind without it going crazy, and the movies go haywire about halfway through (running in high speed, chipmunk voices and all). Is there a fix? Is there a recommended software that actually works.

68. Mihail wrote, on August 12th, 2007:

    

    What about the temperature how long can i use it under gaming (for example stalker fear ,dirt) ?I,m askin it cause it gets pretty worm

69. Jimmy wrote, on August 13th, 2007:

    

    Hi thank you for updating about the 5920 without HD-DVD.

    Hm did he mention a price reduction for 5920 in the recent future…?
    Am looking for the 5920-6649 model…
    I will sure go for it if the price comes down a few 100’s from the current &1499 at bestbuy.com(My Budget $1200-$1300).

70. mos wrote, on August 13th, 2007:

    

    Finally the Dell inpiron 1520 has reached Egypt yet increasing my hesitation about my next laptop.

    Here are the facts guys:

    The inspiron 1520 featuring only 1 gb of Ram and 120 gb hard disk costs about 1500$ and shares the rest of the specs with the aspire, while the aspire features 2gb Ram which I find more suitable for VISTA and 160 gb Hd; however the Dell can be upgraded with a 1 gb Ram which costs an extra 100$ totalling 1600$ and being head to head with acer in the price and the specs (except for the 160 gb Hd which is not a big deal)

    Now the big question is which laptop would you choose guys? (I need answers based on a real world experience)

71. Mihail wrote, on August 14th, 2007:

    

    how long aproximately can I play games on acer 5920 Im askin it ecause it gets pretty worm ? or it is nothing towarry about ?

    Mihali From Riga ,Latvia

72. Jimmy wrote, on August 16th, 2007:

    

    Hi friends,
    I found that there are 3 versions of 5920 available-6661($2000),6649($1500 microcenter.com),6313($1300bestbuy.com).

    The biggest variation between last 2 is that 6649 has a Vista Ultimate($399) while 6313 has a Vista Home Premium($239)
    That means Vista Ultimate will cost me $160 more which actually refelts on the lappy price….$1500-$1300=$200

    So is Acer trying to tell me that they will give me a/b/g/n wireless and internal bluetooth for $40. Or are they forcing me to buy Windows Ultimate by adding the gizmos………… I thought Acer also sells laptop.
    These guys need some better people for marketing strategy.

73. Ralph C wrote, on August 21st, 2007:

    

    Hey, I got the Aspire 5920 yesterday. Configuration: T7300 2.0 Ghz / 512MB GF8600 / 250GB HDD / 2GB Ram / with BT (didnt try it yet, but it does light up when you press the BT button) – (without HDDVD – normal DVD RW. Still it comes with an HDTV out)

    I spent some time to update, register, and clean up and personalize the desktop and startup software. Once that stuff is done, I started enjoying the Acer

    -I tried it with a couple of games (Lord of the rings battle for middle earth, and STRIKER). Both games run smoothly without any problems or slowing from the graphic card. STRIKER loading is longer than i would like, but maybe the game is just big
    -Wireless card is very powerful compared to my older dell Inspiron 5100. IT gets better signal ratings
    -The Dirty-white (as i like to call it) interior with blue lights really give it a unique design, and quality feel. Its plastics are nice and flattering in their look and feel
    -It all seems to work well. Except it doenst (or may version only?) come with software CDs. Only preinstalled stuff that you have to backup in an annoying procedure to save a few $$ i guess
    -I’m not sure if the 512MB Geforce is better than the 256, but i guess it leaves more RAM memory for other operations:
    When playing STRIKER (which needs alot of loadings), i just alt-escape out, the games closes in an instant, and just do whatever in the internet explorer, etc. and go back to the game without delays.

    A few early cons:
    > While doing something far from internet or other connections, the “Network Disconnected” message keeps popping up. I need to look futher in the settings to see if i can fix it
    > I found the ACER empower software somewhat intrusive, although it provides the right shortcuts. I prefer to call on things when i need them, without it starting by itself… There are 3 ways to change the type of sound (game, movie, music) just from shortcuts!
    > I was emtying the battery for the first time, on “high performance” battery settings. and when the battery emptied (i had only the desktop open, no programs, doing nothing) it just made a “click” sound and turned off suddenly (non-proper shutdown) without warning or normal shutdown. Thats really strange. I have to recheck the battery settings and see if this is normal or not

    Overall, I think it is a really good and complete package for its price

    Ill add some stuff once i get more familiar with it

74. Moe wrote, on August 23rd, 2007:

    

    I have the 5920-6313 from Best Buy. One of the reasons that I bought it was for the HD DVD. I have been extremely pleased with the overall performance of the laptop, but when I try to watch an HD DVD through the HDMI port I get an error saying incompatible video driver errror 0122 try updating your graphics driver. The problem is that it already has the latest drivers installed. I contacted Acer tech support, but they told me to download the updated driver from their site (exact same driver I have)so it did no good. I was wondering if anyone else is having a problem with HD-DVD’s through the HDMI port.

75. Jan Andersen wrote, on August 25th, 2007:

    

    Just a remark on noice and heat !

    The fann is placed at the left upper corner, and exhaust air mainly downwards – if you keep the fan-vents clear, the unit will not get hot ! … and the fan will run more silent … If you place the unit flat on a table it will get lap-top-hot. ( suppose its the fan for the GeForce graphic card ).

    Else – very nice machine ! Build like a tank.

    I use it as a replacement of a Desk-Top PC. The unit is placed on a “socket” with plenty of space around the fan, also below.

76. JSD wrote, on August 25th, 2007:

    

    I’m planning on using a graphics-intensive program on the 5920-6313, AutoCAD. Can anyone tell me what kind of difference I’ll see between a 1.5 gHz machine vs. one of the other processors that I’ve seen listed? I was thinking that the amount of RAM would be more important.

    Thanks.

77. morrislee wrote, on August 27th, 2007:

    

    JSD, its not a big problem, since its grphics intensive programs, CPU is not such a big deal, as a matter of face thats its already dual core and a Core 2 duo technology, can’t expect more. the only 2 things holding this computer back is the harddrive too slow(slow loading speed on everything) and 8600M GT is too much underclocked even on full speed, if I remember right it is 475MHz core vs desktop 540MHz core. But you CAN use riva tuner on it i think

    Morris Lee

78. silas wrote, on August 29th, 2007:

    

    Thans for the info’s guys, especially Jing and Michael. Another brummie here as well, my acer travelmate 220 is getting far too slow for my needs and now has a broken latch so its the perfect excuse to upgrade. The 5920 seems to be the perfect sweet spot between my budget and high spec I can afford. Although that test article about turbo memory has now added a further twist to my quest. Do I go with Laskys bluetooth (which I’m not too bothered about) or stick with the Turbo memory.
    I am also interested in the HDMI facility as I want something to team up with my Sony W series 42″ HDTV, although I am definitely not a gamer here.

79. Jimmy wrote, on August 30th, 2007:

    

    Hey moe do the bestbuy model has a firewire port and Irda (p presume infra red )

80. Colin Welch wrote, on September 3rd, 2007:

    

    to jimmy, yeah i got mine at bestbuy june 29th, mine has both, very nice machine.
    is there any way of making the media touch buttons on the right usable with winamp or any other media player than windows media player?

81. Michael Walsh wrote, on September 3rd, 2007:

    

    Hey Ralph,

    Want to do a review of your own of the 5920? I’d be more than happy to publish it.

    Let me know…

82. Michael Walsh wrote, on September 4th, 2007:

    

    Moe,
    You still around??

    I got an answer back from my support guru, simone:

    Moe,
    Please let me know the vga driver version of your NV 8600 GT video Card and the release of AcerArcade you have installed .
    Thanks

83. Colin Welch wrote, on September 5th, 2007:

    

    so why did u guys just skip over my question?

84. Michael Walsh wrote, on September 5th, 2007:

    

    Hi Colin,

    I’ve been looking into this and yesterday published a new thread on the subject here but it doesn’t answer your question 100%.
    I’m hoping other users will tinker around and discover the trick.

85. Patanin wrote, on September 13th, 2007:

    

    hello,

    I’ve got two questions.

    1. My USB seems to have a problem. The problem is that whenever i plug in a new hardware, like a new USB thumb drive, the computer will try to install the hardware drivers, and will always end up saying that there was a problem. I’m running on the XP drivers as mentioned in the comment at Tom’s review. Is this possibly the unauthorized XP drivers’ fault? I’ve put in an ordinary usb wheel mouse previously, and the driver was installed without a poblem. I’ve already successfully installed my 512MB kingston USB drive as well. Or is it a virus’s fault? do i need to format it? or do i need to turn to a Vista OS and the official drivers instead?

    2. Jing, i’ve already read your review on how well the aspire 5920 can handle the games, and i’m really interested in your modified version of the graphics drivers. Is it possible if you can tell me where to get it?

    Btw, Thank you very much for your reply on Tom’s review, Michael. However, that maybe the most i’ll write about it, i’m too lazy for a review. Just very sorry bout that.

    I’d really appreciate if you could help me with the two mentioned things. If not possible, then i’ll understand that i need to get to an acer service center and claim for a new laptop.

    Thanks,
    Patanin

86. Ryan wrote, on September 20th, 2007:

    

    Hey lads,
    Decided i want of these but just need someone to recommend where to get it from. Amazon.co.uk are stokcing them but cansomeone confirm if it’s the .015 model which has the turbomemory rather than the bluetooth?

    Or better yet if someone knows where i can pick it up for less than £799.

    Thanks

87. Mike H wrote, on September 23rd, 2007:

    

    After finding the 5920 on tesco at £800 and ~ the same everywhere else http://www.acerdirect.co.uk/Acer_Aspire_5900_Series/prod.asp was excellent both options are availible (£770 for bluetooth, £800 for Turbo+HDdvd drive) They have reasonable options to up the warranty cover as well (i’m taking out £50 for 3 years)

    So roll on tomorrow morning when I order the excellent beast this is. Plus with that extra £30 is going towards a belkin n wireless router…

    I’ve demo’ed this in my hands in Tescos (Try their ‘home’ stores) and it performed magnificently. I was only on it a few minutes but asked the assistant a multitude of questions but as usual I got the impression the customers knew more than him..

    An excellent choice of a laptop in all.

88. silas184 wrote, on September 23rd, 2007:

    

    Just a quickie to make sure you know the other differences with the Acer Aspire 5920G (H) Gemstone Laptop – LX.AN60X.001.
    I bought one a fortnight ago and am pleased with it
    Two further differences:
    It only has a/b/g rated wireless networking.
    It has a different graphic card
    NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GS – believed to be important if you are an high end gamer (I’m not!)

89. dannywanny wrote, on September 25th, 2007:

    

    By way of an introduction, I’m from the UK and have been looking at getting a new laptop for most of the summer! Kept stalling until now, but I’m quite settled on the Acer 5920. Just have a few queries.

    I’m trying to get my hands on the .015 model with 1gb turbomemory. Can anyone confirm which model Tesco Direct stocks, from there own experience perhaps?

    I’ve also heard mixed opinions on the turbomemory – is it a pro or a con!?! Some seemed to reckon that there were disadvantages to it (at this early stage in its development) and that it could also wear out faster than the laptop..? Is this a driver issue, or is this early version of the hardware flawed?

    I’m still leaning towards the .015 model though, because I have no bluetooth devices, and no external HD monitor to benefit from real HD display (and I think I would prefer the 8600M GT to the GS on the HD-drive model). The performance (incl. games) is quite an important factor for me – to use the phrase, I’m looking for “bang for buck”, but it seems like a reliable machine as well!

    Thanks for the help already posted on this forum. Really helped me over this summer!

90. Martin G wrote, on October 1st, 2007:

    

    Hi Michael, and thanks for the review – it influenced my decision to buy the 5920G with HDDVD. However, like Moe, I’m getting an 0122 driver error and a message to update my already up-to-date driver on my 8600 GS card. Did Moe ever get any sort of resolution on the issue?

    That bug apart, very happy with the purchase!

91. Michael Walsh wrote, on October 2nd, 2007:

    

    Hi Martin G,

    Never heard back from Moe about this issue so I’m assuming he got it sorted.

    Having siad that Simone doesn’t have a HD-DVD 5920 to play with which is leaving us a little short on answers at the moment as the graphics card is not the same as the “standard” 5920G.

    Over on another post, Jing does give advice on modded drivers but it’s something you’re going to have to do alone I’m afraid for now, but at least you’ll have Jing…

92. narrator0 wrote, on October 3rd, 2007:

    

    instructions to allow media touch (mediatouch) keys control winamp as you would expect

    http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/529684

93. Eggsy wrote, on October 4th, 2007:

    

    I have the .169 model (bluetooth,no turbo memory) for about £20 (Amazon) you can get an intel turbo memory module. Fit it yourself or get someone to do it for you, then you have the best of both!

94. Doc wrote, on October 10th, 2007:

    

    My orange light for the wireless adaptor keeps flickering on and off whilst connected to the internet.
    When I try to stream video etc it keeps pausing.
    Does anybody know if the orange light should be constant whilst connected to the internet?
    I,m sure it used tobe always on whilst connected. I’ve tried resetting to factory image to rule out software conflicts.
    thanks in advance

95. silas184 wrote, on October 10th, 2007:

    

    Thats how its supposed to work I believe, when its blinking its downloading data. When its lit its connected but not necessarily downloading large chunks of data.

96. Mike h wrote, on October 11th, 2007:

    

    HELP!

    I posted that link beforehand with 20 left in stock about this with the .169 version. THey sold out before i could order! Thats what i get for being helpful, but can anyone help me? i’m looking to buy one and unfortunately i cannot find one with bluetooth. Tesco weirdly has a version without bluetooth or turbomemory.

    to contact me: Intelllectualpanther at gmail dot com

97. Sorin wrote, on November 1st, 2007:

    

    The sim card holder behind the battery serves for an HSDPA conection for a 3G carrier that I can’t mention here. If you bought this laptop and you find a SIM card in the holder and you have on the desktop a special icon especially for this connection then you can use it. If it’s empty you may forget this feature. You can’t use it. More info here:
    http://www.shopacer.co.uk/main.asp?sitepages=Vodafone_3G_Embedded

    Best regards, Sorin.

98. Michael Walsh wrote, on November 2nd, 2007:

    

    Hi Sorin,

    You can mention what you like here because no-one benefits from censorship (foul language apart).

    This conversation has been mentioned before.

    The slot is a dummy slot (for now) to avoid re-jigging the chassis should Acer decide to introduce this feature as an option at some point in the future.

    Let’s just say it’s there if the market decides it wants it…

99. Pete Rothwell wrote, on November 4th, 2007:

    

    Has anyone else struggled with audio through the HDMI output?

    We’re finding that it’s (1) carrying a stack of backgound noise/hum constantly and (2) is distorting the signal pretty badly.

    A temporary fix to (2) is to click the (Realtek HDMI)’mute’ on and off a few times; but that still leave the background noise.

    Any ideas? I’d be grateful for some guidance on this.

100. Michael Walsh wrote, on November 5th, 2007:

     

     Hey Pete,

     This did come up before (although that time the sound was non-existent, not disturbed). So I got Simone to help me write a post on the subject.

     Anyway, this is the answer Simone wrote to the original question. Hope it helps you too.

     Check the control panel – audio settings. You can find a picture of what to look for in the “How to get sound from the HDMI output” post.

     First of select the Speakers – Realtek High-Definition Audio and then try to play audio files with Media player.

     If nothing happens, check to see if the audio driver is correctly installed, open Device Manager from Control Panel -> System select audio & game controller and expand it, check if any “realtec” item is present…

     If yes, select it and remove it, then reboot the machine If not, try to install it again by using the eRecovery tool and restoring the audio driver.

     If you still can’t get anywhere, then you’ll have to get in touch with your closest Acer service point.

101. Prometheus wrote, on November 5th, 2007:

     

     Hi, this is my first post to acer guy and wondered if anyone has cures for some of my acer annoyances:

     1. the little red media record button sparks up NTI cd/dvd software. not only is this inappropriate (i want to invoke cool edit to record something) but i have to click the X in top right, rather than right-click taskbar button to close the stupid thing.

     2. although touching the play button brings up Windows Media Player, I would like to invoke another media player. can this be done?

     3. this is just a tiny one – the usb symbol on the right of the keyboard looks like someone’s squashed a fly on it. it is positioned so that you’ll plug your data chip into the DVD drive… poor design. how did that one slip through?

     4. the biggest one: I put laptop to sleep when i go to bed. I shut the lid. I go to bed. when i get up in the morning the battery is dead and the machine is too warm. has it switched itself on or has the battery leached all its juice somehow?

     5. the touchpad is quite annoying as it’s so large, and unlike my girfriend’s acer laptop the flush pad makes it hard to find the edge to scroll web pages and documents etc. the mouse buttons are loud and at night (when i do my stuff) the clicks echo throughout the house.. This is a gripe as noone can do anything about that. I have bought a £4 mouse from tesco…

     6. It gets very hot sometimes. i like to watch movies in bed, but the exhaust ports placement mean i have to have it on an unweildy surface.. how badly can this machine heat up before it fries?

     7. why do i have click buttons on the left and touch buttons on the right?

     8. can i disable the media centre button completely? i just want a laptop!

     9. i get a fizzing buzz when i play back sound through my PA. it’s subtle but annoying. this only happens when plugged into mains. It’s not an earth loop, it has some relationship to the movements of my mouse or display.

     Now don’t get me wrong – I love this laptop. the keyboard is good and clear, black on white (grey) is easier to type with. the wifi is reliable and fast enough. gigabit ethernet even more so. the surface is a nice texture on the keyboard etc.

     sound (which is one of the things i use it for) is pretty good for a laptop, i use it to play backing tapes and recording singers. using the blue media keys is handy as i can record with cooledit in the foreground and operate windows media player in the background.

     The screen is perfect for demonstrating movies i have made on this laptop (pity adobe premier cannot run on vista and Ulead videostudio now restricts me to a smaller number of formats i can produce.) you can get at least 4 people watching a clear image.

     anyway i’ll stop now and see if anyone else has manahged to get around my little annoyances.
     thanks.

102. Darren wrote, on November 7th, 2007:

     

     I’m looking to buy a 5920, but need some clarification on the spec and I’m wondering if someone can help.

     The one I am looking at is LX.AKV0X.146.

     Can anyone confirm which gfx card this has?

     Thanks in advance

103. Michael Walsh wrote, on November 9th, 2007:

     

     Hi Prometheus.

     You certainly have one or two niggles there don’t you?

     Simone has some answers for you…

     1. You’re free to buy your preferred Media software. However, NTI is a free (for customers) Acer utility but you’re not forced to use it.

     2. Not easy to change, officially the player is MS MP.

     3. Agreed, but…

     4. Sleep is not hibernation!!! In sleep status the machine is still on, change your settings to hibernate instead of sleep, or change the timings of
     Sleep and Hibernate, so that even if the first state is sleep, after a while it will hibernate and turn off completely.

     5. Agreed: In fact I prefer to use a mouse when I’m working on a table, I use the touchpad only when I’m away.

     6. Make sure you’re not covering the fan exit with the bed sheets or that the air flow is blocked.

     7. Because that’s the way it was designed…

     8. it’s not possible to disable the media cetre buttons completely – sorry.

     9. Again, I’m afraid I don’t know how to answer that one.

104. silas184 wrote, on November 11th, 2007:

     

     Just so the powers that be get another point of view and see the little annoyances that users feel, here are my comments:

     1. the little red media record button is a big pain in the butt. I must close the NTI utility six times a day.

     2. although touching the play button brings up Windows Media Player, I’m happy with this one.

     3. this is just a tiny one – the usb symbol on the right of the keyboard looks like someone’s squashed a fly on it. False alarm with this one don’t get too picky – what about the seven labels on the frigging machine.

     4. Simone’s answer will cure that one

     5. the touchpad is quite annoying as its edges are flush, even after couple of months I still have difficulty and yes the mouse buttons are loud.

     6. It gets very hot sometimes. I always leave it with a clear airflow underneath and never ever place it where bedclothes etc could block the ports as danger of overheating or worse is very possible.

     7. why do i have click buttons on the left and touch buttons on the right? Thats life.

     8. can i disable the media centre button completely? i just want a laptop!

     9. i get a fizzing buzz when i play back sound through my PA. it’s subtle but annoying. this only happens when plugged into mains. It’s not an earth loop, it has some relationship to the movements of my mouse or display.

     I don’t get that here, maybe you could try a couple of ferrite rings on your lead to your PA or try a better high quality shielded cable – that might help.

     Now don’t get me wrong – I love this laptop too.

105. Prometheus wrote, on November 11th, 2007:

     

     Well, thanks Michael/Simone,

     yes, but these niggles have been building up since i got it a few weeks ago. i finally found somewhere i could let them all out to…

     1. what registry keys do i need to get to to change the action of the record button and also change (if poss) the media player?

     4. I will mess with my sleep settings and see how it goes.

     8. if not possible to disable the media centre – can i replace it with Arcsoft Totalmedia (which it looks a little bit like) which comes with my TV chip?

     9. various other places i have checked, it seems to be something to do with the power supply that comes with the laptop. the internet has not come up with a useful fix for this yet. It is important to me as I use the laptop in my performance. people complain about “what is that noise?”. I get the noise whenever i have a connection to a PA or mixer, if i am using my USB sound card or if PA plugged in to headphone/lineout socket. it’s not just this laptop, my old acer TM240 did it too.

     I still love it. I’ll love it more when i get the hack for the little red button. BTW, Silas184, it is possible to reduce the sensitivity of the media buttons, it’s in control panel-mouse properties-acer media touch. this wont cure it completely but you’ll probably only close it 1 or 2 times a day…

106. Matt D. wrote, on November 17th, 2007:

     

     I have been reading the different reviews and comments on the 5920 here and a couple other sites. I purchased one about three weeks ago here in the US – the 6313 model. I can’t say I really like Vista, but there are some things I see that have improved over XP. The 5920 has performed wonderfully in every area except one. I can not get it to play HD DVDs.

     The playback of HD DVD was a selling point for me as I was looking at different notebooks and then realized it was available. In the first week I went out and purchased an HD DVD to try it out. I have searched the net and found updated firmware for the Toshiba HD drive. I was nervous initially about trying it because it was not to be found on Acer’s site or on Toshiba’s site. It was Acer specific firmware. But also I could not find the current firmware version anyware under Vista. There was a link for HP firmware for this drive, but I was more unsure about running HP’s firmware than Acer’s and what difference it would make in my machine.

     I did the upgrade and went from A05 to A06. I also uninstalled the Acer Arcade, downloaded it from Acer’s site and reinstalled it again. After the software patch was installed, the image initially was jumpy and somewhat distored,though less so than before. Once the movie began everything smoothed out and it played perfectly. I was excited, but didn’t have time to watch so I stopped the movie. I have not been able to get it play again. The usual result of attempting to play, if it will play, it the distored images and system lockup.

     It plays normal DVD’s very well so I know this is purely a software, firmware, or driver issue. Can anyone here offer any advice?

     I should also mention I can’t find bios updates anywhere. I have seen mention of it here and elsewhere, but the Acer site doesn’t seem to list any on the pages I have found.

     Other notes . . . I have not found the keyboard to be collecting anymore dirt or grease than my other keyboards. when I notice any smudges I just clean them off. I really like the glossy black outer casing. I expected it to scratch easily, but it doesn’t appear to at all.

     I purchased mine on ebay, the 6313 model for $575US in the original box and restored from the HD partition. It still had all the protective papers, foam and film over it.

     The slow hard drive does make boot up seem to take forever. But I might look at upgrading it someday since it is a sata. I have thought of swapping out CPU for 2.0GHz or bigger if I can find one at a decent price. But so far, I really love my 5920 – cool design and a wonderful set of specs.

     Thanks in advance.

107. Dan wrote, on December 4th, 2007:

     

     Hello
     I have a 5920. I can connect up to my TV via HDMI and it works fine, however i get no sound, if i enable the HDMI as the default speakers etc i still get no joy, any ideas?

     Cheers

     Dan

108. Michael Walsh wrote, on December 5th, 2007:

     

     Hey Dan,

     This has come up before. Have a look here (a few hoops to jump through )

109. Korgun wrote, on January 26th, 2008:

     

     I have Acer 5920G ,i have this problem for the last 3 days and makes me crazy . Notebook shutdowns for no reason .Sometimes it does not. Can it be because of overheating or is there a hardware problem. it was working perfect since the day i bought it. i checked the acer website but there is no info .

110. Ron wrote, on February 5th, 2008:

     

     I’ve been having the same problem as Korgun. I’ve been working on the notebook and it suddenly shuts down. I plug it in and it works fine, if I unplug it I’m almost certain it will shut down.

111. Ron wrote, on February 5th, 2008:

     

     I forgot to mention that I have a Acer Aspire AS5920-6727

112. Prometheus wrote, on February 7th, 2008:

     

     well here I am back again, and here my issues are a bit more serious. I am a multimedia editor, and I’ve been using my notebook for 6 months now. My serious point is:

     I cant record from anything except my microphone (the built in one). the Line-in and the stereo mix neither work, though I have managed to find them (they disappear when nothing is plugged in).

     I use cool edit and nero and nothing comes in on the recorder. I get a silly error message after a while of it not reacting (external device error).

     I want to netcast on this PC. I am not happy. why can i not record using the original sound card driver?

     help me!

113. Prometheus wrote, on February 7th, 2008:

     

     ok so heres the answer to my own question:

     i asked vista to find an update for its driver – no use, it said it was already the best (as usual – has anyone ever got a decent result from this so
     called “facility”)

     hmm. realtek…
     realtek.com – that took me to one of those fake search sites that never lets you go – then i remembered :

     http://www.realtek.com.tw – there you go thats where to get a driver. and there it was the link on the right – realtek HD audio driver under its quick links section:

     to save you all time, here’s the direct link:

     http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/downloadsView.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=14&PFid=24&Level=4&Conn=3&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false

     thats the one! i downloaded it, installed, rebooted. opened cooledit, selected line in, plugged in my mp3 player and hey! it works!, then came the really serious test – I went to my myspace page, clicked on one of my tracks, went back to cooledit, selected stereo mix, and OMG! my prayers answered! there is my hidefinition recording. I’m so happy! thanks realtek, why not grab the .com domain? then everyone who has this laptop can benefit easily.

114. Discrucio Anima wrote, on February 13th, 2008:

     

     1. what registry keys do i need to get to to change the action of the record button and also change (if poss) the media player?

     Open regedit, goto
     HKLM\Software\Quanta\QtZgAcer\Settings\Buttons\Rec

     Change to:
     Command: nero.exe (or filename of your preferred application)
     Command Type: 1

     Media player started should be the default media player registered with Vista if I’m not wrong

115. hilary wrote, on March 1st, 2008:

     

     i have the acer aspire 5920 love the computer but as anybody experienced it shutting down for not reason then windows says it shutdown and do i want it to run in safe mode or windows normal please can you help

116. toozie wrote, on March 18th, 2008:

     

     Hi people!
     Before I bought My acer aspire 5920 (two mounths my cousin bought it for me in USA in circuit city Michigan and he bring it to me in Montenegro) I read reviews on internet about it and than I found this forum and read most of reviews and comments. But Here is no explanation about the problem that some users wrote, and I think I have the same one.
     When I got it it was installed the Vista operating system and it had to many applications installed and processes in background, so I decided to format my notebook and install windows XP. After that my laptop worked good at every software application. But three days ago it start to turn off automatically and it does not response when I would like to turn it on again. These three days I am hardly trying to turn it on but when I pres power It turns on and before (after 2 sec) booting it turns off autmatically. I tried to take off battery and put it on place again, i tried to power it few times, but every time same thing, it starts 2 seconds stays turned on and again it turns off.
     Please tell me what to do. I am so disappointed. I spent 700$ dollars. I don’t know really what to do, who would think that after 2 mounths my laptop will not work more. I know that I have one year warranty and I would like to know were can I sent it on service in Macedonia or Montenegro.
     P.s: can any one tell me is the warranty valid eventhought I don’t have receipt.
     I hope you will inform me as soon as possible!

117. Yudi Priyanto wrote, on March 18th, 2008:

     

     Hai toozie,
     Maybe you can try this.
     Go inside bios setting by pressing F2 when u turn on the laptop. Then go to the main page, change the sata setting
     from ahci mode to ide mode, then pres F10 then enter.
     I hope this solve ur problem.

118. Nat wrote, on March 19th, 2008:

     

     hey guys

     I have a negear router and a ascer aspire 5920 and the internet is realllly slow. I call the netgear place and they told me to change the MTU size from 1500 the normal size to 1498. It is stilll slow how can i improve m internet speed with purchasing a new router or laptop?

     From Nat Plz reply asap!!!!! i neeed fast internet!

119. Nat wrote, on March 19th, 2008:

     

     mann i loook like a idodiot i got sooomnay grammar mistakes lollll

120. Suresh wrote, on March 31st, 2008:

     

     I buy this model before two days. I am new to this device, and trying to understand its functions to use properly. I feel good to buy this laptop model because of features, specification and reasonable price.

121. Akhil wrote, on April 10th, 2008:

     

     Bought new Acer Aspire 5920-5A2G16Mi a week ago.
     T5550 @ 1.85GHz Core2DUO 2GM RAM
     Directly installed XP SP2 on IDE mode.
     Performance=Fantastic
     Initially had no sound issue despite installing the Realtek drivers. Resolved with clean install of OS and preinstallation of MS HD Audio drivers before anything else.
     Had shutdown hangup problem caused due to AcerCrystal eye driver conflict. Now resolved when using drivers provided by Microsot.
     No apparent issues till now.

     Does anyone know how to monitor Acer5920 Fan speed?
     Programs like HWmonitor, speedfan, Rain meter can only output CPU temp.

122. Michael Walsh wrote, on April 10th, 2008:

     

     Akhil,

     The fan discussion has come out before, but unless someone has discovered a hack, you can’t adjust it. Or do you just want to monitor it? In which case I’ll leave you in the capable hands of everyone else.

123. Dorin wrote, on April 21st, 2008:

     

     I have a big problem with my Graphics card/driver…and I prefer posting about it here, than asking ACER because I just can’t be bothered with sending my laptop to them.

     ACER ASPIRE 5920
     GeForce 8600m GT 512 MB

     DRIVER-VGA_nVidia_v.7.15.11.5672_Vista_SP1 (from ACER)

     The driver keeps crashing with most games. Windows just says that the driver has crashed and succesfully restarted, but it really doesn’t.

     Does any1 know anything about this? Is it a HARDWARE or SOFTWARE issue?

     thx.

124. Morris Lee wrote, on April 21st, 2008:

     

     Try http://www.laptopvideo2go.com, use 174.16 I think it is the one I am using, the newer ones are not very stable when playing games. The ones from acer site is like 15X.XX driver, abit old

     Morris Lee

125. Dorin wrote, on April 21st, 2008:

     

     Thank you.
     I will try installing it later today.

     Is there any chance this is a hardware problem?
     And if it’s not…does this mean that the acer new sp1 driver is unstable?

126. Morris Lee wrote, on April 21st, 2008:

     

     nope, i am using SP1 now, just replace the inf with the one that laptopvideo2go provided, other then that, even the mac 8600m gt works with it. when you install the driver, just click install anyway for the messeges.

     Morris lee

127. Bogdan wrote, on May 3rd, 2008:

     

     Problem with the display:

     Hello. I have a 5920g with the 2Gghz proc and 8600GT video. For a few days now, the screen flickers, and sometimes it turns itself off for 1-2-3 seconds. At random. Although it does seem like it does it more when I play games (I’m a Civ4 fan ).

     Any ideas? It sounds like a hardware problem, no?

128. Morris Lee wrote, on May 4th, 2008:

     

     tried driver update? try http://www.laptopvideo2go.com follow the instuctions there.

129. addy wrote, on May 6th, 2008:

     

     can sum 1 help me out to connect my 5290 laptop with tv via s-video cable?

130. Morris Lee wrote, on May 7th, 2008:

     

     if you have the driver installed correctly(including Launch Manager) then press “Fn + F5″ with Fn key holded down, press Fn key again to select the other displays in the box. if the above solution does not work, press “Winkey + X” click “connect display”

131. Rachel wrote, on May 10th, 2008:

     

     Heya.

     I got my Acer 5920 in for xmas 2007. I was really very pleased with it. However, in about February the wireless capability on it simply broke. It refuses to connect to any wireless network at all, it simply says that there are no wireless networks available. It’s doing my nut in.

     I’m not sure whether to send it back to get this fixed, or if it can be done by me or someone i know.

     Any ideas????

132. Morris Lee wrote, on May 11th, 2008:

     

     did you press the wireless button above the internet button? tried ePower settings make sure it is enabled? what was your last action before it stopped working?

133. Michael Walsh wrote, on May 12th, 2008:

     

     Hi Rachel,

     There’s something else that catches a lot of people (like me) out.

     Have you installed Norton/McAfee internet protection or similar products lately? These have a wonderful tendency to disable your Windows wireless configurations which is why you don’t see any. You have to access your wireless connectivity options through the antivirus software.

     If you’ve followed Morris’ advice above and have installed antivirus software recently, this could be it.

134. Simon Loach wrote, on May 19th, 2008:

     

     “Bogdan said …

     Problem with the display:

     Hello. I have a 5920g with the 2Gghz proc and 8600GT video. For a few days now, the screen flickers, and sometimes it turns itself off for 1-2-3 seconds. At random. Although it does seem like it does it more when I play games (I’m a Civ4 fan ).”

     I’m having a similar problem with the screen flickering every now and then. Thing is I can’t seem to reproduce it.. It only seems to happen when I’ve been watching videos for a while or playing games (maybe an overheating issue) is it worth sending it back?

135. Morris Lee wrote, on May 19th, 2008:

     

     tried updating the driver? update the driver from http://www.laptopvideo2go.com. if this does not solve the problem, check the smart dimmer or something in windows, put all power plan to default.

136. Simon Loach wrote, on May 19th, 2008:

     

     I updated my drivers using laptopvideo2go’s instructions last week (thanks to this website ) as for the power settings I don’t think that would be whats causing it and they are all set to default anyway. It just flickers with parts of the picture coming up a bit mangled, sort of like bad reception on a tv. I’m just wondering if it would be worth sending back as it only happens occasionally and I definitely dont want to have them send it back saying theres nothing wrong..

137. Morris Lee wrote, on May 20th, 2008:

     

     parts of the picture you say? thats a different case then, more like a defected graphics processing unit. send it back…

138. Simon Loach wrote, on May 21st, 2008:

     

     ok, thanks for the advice

139. Taff wrote, on June 13th, 2008:

     

     I purchased a 5920G just a week ago and am quite pleased with it bar one problem that I have seen come up on this forum but no answer to. It has started shutting down for no reason when running off the battery. It does this after running for 5-10 minutes. I am thinking of taking it back to the store this weekend but does anyone have an answer for this?

     I also have just got my first wireless connection set up for this and my desktop, a netgear wireless n router which my laptop is also wireless n. But when connected the laptop connection reads wireless g. Do I need to change a setting that I have not found yet to be sure of being connected on n?

140. Morris Lee wrote, on June 13th, 2008:

     

     is it a normal shutdown? or does the computer just power off like snap? if it is a normal shutdown, means your config in windows are set to maybe like shutdown when battery is at 85%, change that to like 10% or something, this means only when 10% of the battery is left, it will shutdown for you.

141. Taff wrote, on June 14th, 2008:

     

     Hi Morris, thanks for replying but no, it is not a normal shutdown. It is a sudden power gone thing, then when I restart it gives a message stating an unexpected shutdown and gives an option for starting in safe mode. I am about to check what you suggest though as a matter of course. Still finding my way with both my first laptop and Vista!

142. Morris Lee wrote, on June 14th, 2008:

     

     I would recommand gettting it exchanged then, only sounds mroe like a hardware problem.

143. Bratac wrote, on June 20th, 2008:

     

     Hi All,

     I got one of these in September as a back up tomy desktop and to take on my night shifts to study with. I am now using it as my windows desktop. I had a faulty motherboard at first and sent it back and Acer swapped it immediately – very impressed as I had it back in 4 working days.

     Since then I had problems but put these down to Vista teething probllems so I slipstreamed the sata drivers into xp and installed xp. Only thing that doesn’t work is the Turbo memory as it is a vista function. Run like a dream ever since……

     Apart from one thing that does my head in, the only thing I can do to restore it is a full reboot. Transferring files over my LAN 100mb or Gigbit.Usually starts up and I get full speed but after a few transfers or maybe a short while of no use it suddenly struggles to get a above 100k. The drivers are correct, and it is set to not power off etc. It even happens if I have it plugged into the mains. This is with a cat6 ethernet cable being used. I do alot of video transfers so am usually using files above 500mb. I know i is not the sending server as the old desktop never had this issue, only this laptop.

     Has anyone else experienced this? Is this a laptop setting that I may have missed (Pretty sure I haven’t but suggestions are welcome)?

144. Morris Lee wrote, on June 21st, 2008:

     

     humm, to kind of get the turbo memory working is easy, just swap the paged file to the specific drive, there for it is not using your harddrive to store paged files(requires reboot)

     For your LAN controller problem, sounds like your harddrive might be going to sleep mod or something, I don’t recall where you find the settings when the harddrive will go to “sleep” after idle for a certain amount of time. try that.

     Another possibility is your intel controller is not updated, try updating the intel chipset driver to the newest one from intel.

     To test if it is your LAN problem, try the wireless see if the samethign happens, just borrow a wifi router from work or school whichever is easier (I always have special connections with the computer teachers at school, very good second hand supplier for computer parts AHHAHAHA) or borrow one from one of your friends!!

     Happy testing, I wish you luck, don’t give up~~ ^_^

145. Michael Walsh wrote, on June 24th, 2008:

     

     Hi Bratac,

     Sorry it’s taken a while…

     Simone says: In WindowsXP turbomemory doesn’t work, so you can’t load the pagedfile onto your machine.

     As far as the LAN is concerned, my advice is to try the notebook on another network… maybe even trying to download something from a “secure” site, like a large file from MS(any SP for windows/office/vista will do) and see if you encounter the same problem.

     Finally, check the Broadcom site to see if there are updated drivers available for the BCM57 network card.

146. Erick wrote, on June 27th, 2008:

     

     Hallo,

     Please can somebody help to solve my acer 5920 problem !
     I bought the laptop december 07 untill last week I had no problems and everything worked perfect.
     This week, Acer Arcade starts up randomly, so I uninstalled Acer Arcade but then Windows Media Center poppud up randomly.
     I did the restore to factory default, but the problem did not dissapear.
     Sometimes it pops up about 40 times (in 2 minutes) and sometimes everything seems to be OK for several hours.
     When I use the laptop in another environment the problem is gone.
     Also when I am not connected to the internet (Wifi off)I disabled the CIR (perphaps it had something to do with my remote’s in the house , but the problem stays.
     Configuration : Windows Vista home ed. and no other extra installed programs after the restore to factory default.
     Is there someone who can help me with this problem.

     Thanks

     Erick

147. Morris Lee wrote, on June 27th, 2008:

     

     Erick, I think your Arcade button is probably malfunction, since it starts up Arcade if Arcade is installed, if it is not, it starts up Windows Media Center. you said different enviroment maybe the heat or the whatever the temperture setting is resulting expansion or compression to the button mechanism. you should still have factory 1 year warrenty, phone acer, send it in for repair (you pay for shiping to their place only)

148. Erick wrote, on June 28th, 2008:

     

     Morris,

     You’re right I found out that the arcade button isn’t ok. When I tough the laptop around the button, the arcade program start. The temparature of a different environment is also the cause that the laptop’s function is normal most in a colder environment.
     I’ve already contacted the Acer company and they will solve my problem.
     Thank you for your answer, I find it a verry nice and helpfull site. I will recommend it to other Acer users.
     Best regards,
     Erick

149. Morris Lee wrote, on June 28th, 2008:

     

     Erick, I am very happy that you found the cause for the problem.

150. acer tk 57 reviews wrote, on July 23rd, 2008:

     [...] someone who actually bought an acer laptop to review it and publish it here? No journalist bias orhttp://www.theacerguy.com/2007/07/12/acer-aspire-5920-user-review/Ending Compaq Presario V6719NR AMD Athlon 64 X2 TK-57 15.4 inch …Ending Compaq Presario V6719NR [...]

151. Morris Lee wrote, on July 23rd, 2008:

     

     “acer tk 57 reviews” the reviews here are written by real customers. You may come across other reviews from like from cnet and such, but these are from the people who actually bought the product that is going to use it for their daily life. In my own opinion, these reviews are far more accurate and maybe even more in depth then the other online reviews. I think this was answer to your question.

152. Bratac wrote, on July 28th, 2008:

     

     Thanks all,

     I know the the turbo memory doesn’t work in Xp as it is a vista function – not really that convinced it did much other than make vista run at a more acceptable speed, pity about the rest of it but that just made it run almost as quick as XP.

     The broadcom drivers are all up to date.

     I have tested on various wired and wireless networks and it is all the same.

     If there is no setting that I may have missed I must assume it is faulty as the mainboard had to be replaced in the first month. I honestly thought this may have been a power setting issue but I run it on mains only now as a quiet desktop. (My first laptop you see). Got rid of the desktop and use a server for storage.

     S’pose I’ll just have to keep rebooting when it happens.

     Cheers

153. Bratac wrote, on July 28th, 2008:

     

     Oh and I thought the response from Acer was excellent when I sent it back. Was returned within a working week.

154. Tiago Batista wrote, on August 17th, 2008:

     

     Hello

     I just bought a ASPIRE 5920G/5920 Series 6 Months ago, and now I have a huge problem. The laptop didn’t bring any recovery disc and because of some virus I need to format my disk. Can anyone help me? Can anyone tell me how to do it?
     I’ve take the laptop to a shop near me and the guy told me that he doesn’t know how to fix it. The problem is that some pop ups appear on the screen saying “POWER BY ZEDO”. What do I need to do?

     Thanks

155. Scott wrote, on August 17th, 2008:

     

     I am experiencing the same problem as Taff.

     My laptop will randomly turn off when running on the battery. It is completely random and does so without warning. It did so whilst I typed this message ironically…

     Any suggestions other than taking it back. I only purchased it last week =(

156. Michael Walsh wrote, on August 17th, 2008:

     

     Tiago,

     I did some hunting on the web and it looks like you might have installed SpySheriff?

     If that name rings a bell, then have a look at this link and also the replies – particularly #6 by DR which was taken from this page.

     It’s Malware. System Restore probably won’t erase it but a good all-in-one protection suite like Norton 360 Version 2.0 Premier Edition might.

157. Morris Lee wrote, on August 18th, 2008:

     

     if you guys really want to use recovery to factory default, (everything to the first second when you got the laptop) press Alt+F10 on startup.

158. Sunit wrote, on October 29th, 2008:

     

     Just found this forum. I love my Aspire 7720 G and so far no major problem at all. It’s been 10 months.

     But recently, I noticed I can’t watch any TV via TV Joy. I used to watch it before but now nothing comes up. I have scanned the channels and taken the lappy and Aerial to my office and tried it..nothing..any suggestion.

     Thanks

159. Morris Lee wrote, on October 29th, 2008:

     

     disable and enable your tv tuner using your button on your laptop, or using the device manager.

160. jaime wrote, on November 8th, 2008:

     

     hi i have just bought a acer aspire 5920g and i love it ….only problem is i cant use it without it being plug into the main with the adapter????
     any help would be great

     jaime

161. Morris Lee wrote, on November 8th, 2008:

     

     can you be alittle more specific then needs to be pluged in?

162. monali wrote, on November 21st, 2008:

     

     hi

     I have a Acer laptop 4720 Z its gets very hot do you have any patch for it

163. Morris Lee wrote, on November 21st, 2008:

     

     you can try blowing out the fan with a keyboard duster, this removes the clogged up heatsink, usually helps greatly when you laptop is couple of month old.

     Check your air flow.

     Check if you have any unecessary processes running in the background wasting speed.

     Go on acer’s site look for BIOS update(last resort)

     Morris Lee

164. michael wrote, on December 23rd, 2008:

     

     hi
     the acer 5920 is bluetooth ,if not to what is this button?????

165. Morris Lee wrote, on December 24th, 2008:

     

     some 5920 comes with bluetooth, some does not.

166. Michael Walsh wrote, on December 24th, 2008:

     

     Morris is right. There was some confusion at launch of this particular model as they were specced with either TurboMemory OR Bluetooth but not both.

167. George Hilton wrote, on January 1st, 2009:

     

     I am a musician and use use both Midi and MP3 files.
     If I connect from the audio out on my ACER 5920 to my main amplifier, there is a terrible electrical sound interference.

     Any thoughts?

168. Morris Lee wrote, on January 1st, 2009:

     

     check the jack with a headphone

169. George Hilton wrote, on January 2nd, 2009:

     

     Hi
     I haqve tried a set of headphones and all appears ok. When I plug in my pc speakers, they seem ok, its just when I amlify the sound that the problem comes
     My previous laptops have never given me this problem.

170. Ferry wrote, on January 2nd, 2009:

     

     Turn off your wireless and not to put the laptop near the amplifier?

171. George Hilton wrote, on January 3rd, 2009:

     

     How do I turn off the wireless?

172. Morris Lee wrote, on January 3rd, 2009:

     

     @George Hilton,

     The little slider at the bottom right corner, slide it to the right all the way(note it will jump back) at this time, the wireless should be off, connections will drop.

173. George Hilton wrote, on January 4th, 2009:

     

     Thank you, that seems to have sorted the problem.

     Thank you very much for your kind help

174. Faizee wrote, on February 1st, 2009:

     

     How do I enable Blue tooth in my Acer 5020 G Laptop?

175. Morris Lee wrote, on February 1st, 2009:

     

     @Faizee,

     you sure your model came with bluetooth? if you got a bluetooth button, and pressing it only says “No Device” then you ain’t got bluetooth at all

176. Payton wrote, on February 4th, 2009:

     

     Hi.
     I have an acer aspire 5920. Any time that I want to shut my computer off the power button will work but whenever I want to power my laptop on the power button wont work. Also, I got mad and slammed it one day, & it powered on. Whats the problem?

177. Morris Lee wrote, on February 4th, 2009:

     

     @Payton,

     if it does not turn on when you press the power button, how do you even turn it on before?

178. Payton wrote, on February 4th, 2009:

     

     I got mad and slammed it because it wouldnt power on & when i slammed it. It powered on.

179. An-Ruo wrote, on February 5th, 2009:

     

     I’ve got a tad problem with my acer 5920 , just bought it. Love it but only 1 thing is bugging me. I normally dont keep the battery in as i just move it around in my room . However if i turn off my laptop and turn the mains off and then turn the mains on and the computer on again, The time will reset to the default 2007 time. I thought most laptops have a battery in them to hold time like computers. This does not happen with any of my old laptops, do you guys experience this?

180. Morris Lee wrote, on February 6th, 2009:

     

     @Payton,

     so you have to slam it every time you want to start the laptop?

     @An-Ruo,

     I think your internal battery has run out of power(it is a lithium battery for CMOS settings)

     unfortunately, I was not able to locate it last time I cracked open my 5920. it is best if you try having the actual battery in right now

181. KP wrote, on February 9th, 2009:

     

     I have the acer 5920 notebook(bought a year ago) and i re-installed windows vista premium edition on it because i had the french version before(factory setting) and now i switched to the englich one.

     Now i am trying to figure out how to access the crystal eye webcam on my laptop…but i cannot figure it out.

     I have tried to speak to technical support and they want me to pay for the support because my warranty ran out a month ago, which i am not going to do as of now(it will be my last resort). They were talking to me about the empowering technology and stuff(which i no longer have on my computer because of the re-format and re-install. Can anyone help me out and try to figure out what i should do to use my webcam?

     Thanks and hope to hear from anyone soon.

182. Michael Walsh wrote, on February 9th, 2009:

     

     Hi KP,

     I just got this from Simone (Acer tech support). Hope it helps:

     “Windows (Vista and XP) can recognize the webcam as “USB video device”, you should have it listed in device manager anyway.
     If you have it listed, then try first to check it with debut.exe or amcap.exe
     you should see that Windows Live / MSN Messenger works with it.
     on support.acer-euro.com there are two webcam drivers (bison and suyin) and you can select the right one for your notebook, just check the properties of your webcam opening device manager -> USB video device -> properties -> details.
     Then check the hardwareid code and look into inf. files for bison or suyin packages. Another way is to download “usbview.exe” from the internet, it will list all USB devices connected on your computer , reading the details for webcam you should recognize if it’s bison or suyin.”

183. KP wrote, on February 10th, 2009:

     

     Thanks for the help, i found it and it is suyin. Installed the drivers and it works.

     Is there any particular free programs that i can download from the net to use this web cam with?

     I do not have the ones that came with the laptop anymore.

     Thanks again

184. Shannon Rednour wrote, on February 14th, 2009:

     

     im wondering if there is any way to turn off the touch sensitive buttons on the right side of the keyboard. they are the buttons that control the NTI cd & dvd maker. any help would be appreciated

185. CList wrote, on February 22nd, 2009:

     

     Hello Acer Guy,

     I’m looking for an ACER Aspire 5920 ‘Power Button’ Guru.

     A few things…

     -When I press the power button the start up process begins but the computer shuts down before Windows starts.
     -When the computer is up and running it sometimes shuts itself down.
     -The power button does not depress.

     How should this button function? I feel as if it’s jammed.

     Thanks for your help

186. Morris Lee wrote, on February 22nd, 2009:

     

     @CList,

     Does it feel jammed when you press it? ever spilled anything on the laptop?

187. Willem wrote, on March 1st, 2009:

     

     hi there,

     Euhm I,ve got my 5920 for around 2 years now.. and i’m having some trouble.
     My date and year keep returning to 7th of march 2007.
     Now i’ve been wondering the internet looking for answers and have been told that the battery from my BIOS is down. Now how can i replace that? what type of battery is it? Already opened my laptop and couldnt find it…
     Thanks!

188. Willem wrote, on March 1st, 2009:

     

     hi there,

     Euhm I,ve got my 5920 for around 2 years now.. and i’m having some trouble.
     My date and year keep returning to 7th of march 2007.
     Now i’ve been wondering the internet looking for answers and have been told that the now.. and i’m having some trouble.
     My date and year keep returning to 7th of march 2007.
     Now i’ve been wondering the internet looking for answers and have been told that the battery from my BIOS is down. Now how can i replace that? what type of battery is it? Already opened my laptop and couldnt find it…
     Thanks!battery from my BIOS is down. Now how can i replace that? what type of battery is it? Already opened my laptop and couldnt find it…
     Thanks!

189. Morris Lee wrote, on March 1st, 2009:

     

     @Willem,

     I really don’t know the location of the CMOS battery on 5920, I opened mine up before too, I couldn’t see one.

190. Willem wrote, on March 2nd, 2009:

     

     Hmm kk,

     I’ll look further

     Thanks anyway!
     Cheers

191. henry wrote, on March 11th, 2009:

     

     hello, i bought an aspire 5920 with the intel graphics although i wanted the
     nvidia brand, my uncle bought this one for me. I was having issues with the
     notebook. in the sense that, the screen kept displaying blush stuff as if my
     display adapter was not working so performed a restore to
     factory mode with the
     backup partition, unfortunately, the restore would not complete. After several
     weeks of trying i was able to have it complete. what i was initially being told
     was that, the vista installation could not complete because of a hardware
     problem. After i was able to complete the installation, after almost every
     subsequent boot, the 5920 asks for a valid windows key, whereas i just did the
     recovery with the recovery partition. after several restarts it logs on and but
     the notebook is not
     able to install the empowering technolongy framework to complete the
     installation. And the blusih patterns are still appearing especially around the
     task bar and the gadgets bar. And sometimes when i open windows explorer, the
     form draws but the content of the forms do not draw, just the title bar appears.

192. Morris Lee wrote, on March 11th, 2009:

     

     @henry

     the intel version of 5920 does not have the MXM slot, you will not be able to change it. I think it is your video card problem, you can only contact Acer for repair.

193. Lisa wrote, on March 12th, 2009:

     

     Help! I purchased my Aspire 5920 exactly one year ago and now it won’t turn on. When I plug in the ac adapter the green light flashes, never did that before. I have taken the battery out and tried to power up using only the ac adapter but it still won’t turn on. Any idea on what could be wrong? I am at my wits end with tech support. They can’t tell me exactly what it is and have suggested I spend money on a new battery, if that doesn’t fix it then I should buy a new adapter. I can’t afford to randomly buy these things not knowing for sure which it is, if either. I have found other sites where people are having the same problem. Any help will be appreciated.

194. henry wrote, on March 15th, 2009:

     

     so the vga was the reason for me not being able to validate my windows?
     Now i have been able to validate it, however the bluish patterns are still in the taskbar and gadget bar areas. And, i cannot run any of the empowering tech tools. i cant even instal them they crush as soon as they start. is that also a vga problem?

195. Morris Lee wrote, on March 16th, 2009:

     

     @Lisa,

     looks like either the AC adapter is broken or the motherboard. find a local computer store(not like best-buy, but a small professional store) and see if they have some universal adapters to test with.

     @henry,

     do you still have warranty? I think the machine needs to get repaired.

196. henry wrote, on March 16th, 2009:

     

     yea i should still have international traveler’s warranty at least. I got the note book in september 2008.

     As i said earlier, i been able to do a new installation. i have found the reason for the occasional validation problem. It is happening because most of the services, including the Microsoft software validation checker stop working as soon as the machine starts.

     This morning i tried to install XP on it but i wouldnt because it couldnt fine the hard drive.

197. henry wrote, on March 16th, 2009:

     

     You know i keep hearing static like sounds in the system whenever the dialogs box pops up.

198. Morris Lee wrote, on March 16th, 2009:

     

     @henry,

     to install XP, update your BIOS, then in the BIOS settings change AHCI to IDE mode, then you will be able to install XP flawlessly.

199. henry wrote, on March 17th, 2009:

     

     yea,
     i already did a bios upgrade to the version v.1.3813 release. i was hoping that upgrade would upgrade the vga bios too but it didnt. because i am suspecting that it is possibly the cause of my problems. ( i am praying that is the problem, not hardware actually) so yer i was wondering if there was a way to do an upgrade on the SantaRosa 1478.
     I installed ubuntu on the machine and that works well except i still get the bluish/pinkish stuff when i watch movies. wmv files play fie but avi and mkv or xvid files keep the pinkish drawing square patterns. Besides that the ubuntu works fine with the normal wifi problem which needs a suspend to turn on.

     so yer is there a way to flash or upgrade the vga bios. And thanks for the ide tip.

200. henry wrote, on April 9th, 2009:

     

     how much would a new 5920g motherboard cost? and any idea where i might get one?

201. Morris Lee wrote, on April 10th, 2009:

     

     here, just found it

     http://cgi.ebay.com/Acer-Aspire-5920-Laptop-Intel-Motherboard-31ZD1MB0080_W0QQitemZ230330731126QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item230330731126&_trksid=p4634.c0.m14.l1262

     but I don’t think it is worth buying one unless you have an actual problem with it

202. henry wrote, on April 11th, 2009:

     

     yer i saw it. i understand why u think its not worth buying. i was hoping to get one from an acer branch because my other option is to ship the notebook back to switzerland to claim warranty. those are my only option so i do wanna make the best of them. besides buying a new mb allows me to buy a ‘g’ which allows for future vga expansion.
     anyway, i installed xp and apart from the browsers, the crashing is not as fast as it was happening with vista and i am not getting any validation issues so yer the notebook is quite useable now. yer and also i can run the java jvm so yer i cant code on it and yer the vga is still doing the pinkish stuff wen im watching movies.

     pls do you think i have any other option. i could try flashing the vga bios if there is a way that is.

203. Morris Lee wrote, on April 11th, 2009:

     

     if you get e new motherboard, you need to get the video card as well, the one with the MXM slot does not have a build-in graphics, which means you have to get both at the same time to test it out, it is a bigger investment.

204. henry wrote, on April 14th, 2009:

     

     wow, so the shipment back to Switzerland is a better option then ryt???

205. Morris Lee wrote, on April 16th, 2009:

     

     @henry,

     Yes, I would recommend that option.

206. joeseff wrote, on April 26th, 2009:

     

     When I use the pwr cord to pwr on the system, I plug it in, open it and the Blue ‘L’ shaped light just left of the pwr botton is on solid. The blue light surrounding the pwr button is on solid, and the battery charge light is on solid green. Nothing else turns on. Not the fan, no sounds from anything either. When I try to pwr the system on without the pwr cord and just the battery absolutely nothing turns on. Can you please help?

207. Morris Lee wrote, on April 28th, 2009:

     

     @joeseff,

     Rather than pressing the power button, can you try the button on top of the media keys(the button that looks like a small guy dancing), if that powers your laptop to the instant on, then it is just the problem with your main power button

208. joeseff wrote, on April 30th, 2009:

     

     Thanks for your quick reply Morris. Unfortunately that didn’t help. The hunt continues.

209. Morris Lee wrote, on May 1st, 2009:

     

     @joeseff,

     Weird, sorry, I am out of ideas now.

     Unless you are willing to risk alittle, you can take out the battery, and just unscrew the top few screws at the bottom of the laptop. This enables you to prop open the cover for the power button(the cover that has the L shape light embedded), check if that the cables to the power button board is connected properly

210. George L wrote, on May 5th, 2009:

     

     Good morning to all.
     i have the aspire 5920g and i have install windows xp. i have a problem with the camera.
     When i’m trying to start the program it appears a message “camera is busy” or something like that.I install the Suyin driver and i didn’t found another one.when i had Vista the camera was working OK.
     does anybody knows how to install the camera?
     thanx.

211. Morris Lee wrote, on May 6th, 2009:

     

     @George L,

     Please uninstall all the webcam driver and softwares, reboot, then install the suyin one ONLY

212. George L wrote, on May 13th, 2009:

     

     @Morris Lee,

     thanx for your answer.
     i tried that but unfortunately my camera didn’t work.
     The problem now is that when i try to run the skype application the camera freezes the picture.
     I have another program that uses camera and it happens the same think.

213. Morris Lee wrote, on May 15th, 2009:

     

     @George L,

     I would recommend asking acer support, unless you are willing to try a factory default.

214. jim wrote, on June 1st, 2009:

     

     i have an acer aspire 5920 laptop, though as shown in the above pictures there is an hdmi port on the left hand side. there isn’t one on mine. though it is exactly the same model. why is this?

215. Morris Lee wrote, on June 1st, 2009:

     

     @jim,

     Every model has a sub model too, equipped with different hardware, I would suspect you have the edition with X3100

     Morris Lee

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