Acer Aspire 6920 and 8920G hands-on

We got a good long look at those new Gemstone Blue notebooks from Acer, the Aspire 6920 (16-inch) and 8920G (18.4-inch). We can't say we're crazy about the "CineTouch" controls to the left of the keyboard, and both laptops -- while certainly thin for their class -- are still bulky enough to make our chiropractor take pause. That said, Acer is certainly working a lot more design polish into its product, and the specs are, as ever, quite lovable. Hit up the read links below for official PR from Acer.

Gallery: Hands-on with Acer Aspire 6920 and 8920G

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Read - Aspire 6920
Read - Aspire 8920G

[BigDaddyM @ Mar 12th 2008 4:51PM]

I want one. I call it!
M

[Adam @ Mar 12th 2008 4:56PM]

OMG!
Nice!

[jd @ Mar 12th 2008 4:55PM]

lol. stupid design. Laptop should be slim.

[martin @ Mar 12th 2008 5:01PM]

they do look pretty thin... they just happen to be about 6' wide

[roach @ Mar 12th 2008 8:51PM]

Yeah, stupid acer laptop. Laptop should be thin, weak and free from foreign gadget connections.

[Conor McCann @ Mar 12th 2008 4:55PM]

If most of the worlds population are right handed...why would you put that thing on the left??

[Nipponese @ Mar 12th 2008 5:20PM]

I think you've just answered your own question.

[Brian @ Mar 12th 2008 5:23PM]

Yeah lefties!

[Tim @ Mar 12th 2008 5:55PM]

Numeric keypad > "CineTouch"
(Check the gallery -- the 16incher is lacking.)

[spass @ Mar 12th 2008 5:59PM]

Because you need your right hand for the mouse (which you use most of the times).

Most people use both hands on the computer. Right for mouse, left for media controls, for instance.

[nikster @ Mar 12th 2008 7:09PM]

Why would you put that thing anywhere?

I can tell CineTouch is going to be useless/annoying just from looking at it. It's touch-sensitive, so I am bound to activate it by accident. It looks way too complicated to be actually useful. And no haptic feedback. I wouldn't mind nice haptic volume controls (wheel or slider) and nice fat buttons for play/ffwd. It would still look bad but at least it would be useful. But touch controls? Nope, that's just a bad idea.

[Montusama @ Mar 12th 2008 7:34PM]

Acer's R&D people must be Left Handed.....
We Rule (lefties that is)

[William Blackwell @ Mar 12th 2008 8:04PM]

Because most likely your right hand will be on an external mouse or the touchpad....

[mrhammerstein @ Mar 12th 2008 5:07PM]

are you that much of a sissy to complain about a laptop and your chiropractor? just because it's light doesn't make it better.

wait for reviews.

[PS3guy @ Mar 12th 2008 5:14PM]

I'll take this over the Macbook Air lol

[AutoTom @ Mar 12th 2008 5:16PM]

predictable disappointment, another ugly design from acer.

and my god this this is huge

[AutoTom @ Mar 12th 2008 5:16PM]

*edit ( ish.. )

[Chris Brunstad @ Mar 12th 2008 5:39PM]

Looks really startreck-ish :) I like it!

[kevin.li @ Mar 12th 2008 5:39PM]

good concept. useful for multi-media playback, and maybe even editing.

but bad execution. the panel forces the keyboard to the right, very ackward typing position.

if ACER could incorporate the touch control into the palm rest (with on/off switch), then it will be a true winner.

[boussa @ Mar 12th 2008 9:26PM]

Actually, the keyboard is in the center, the numpad is on the right.

I love the star trek like interface, but not the laptop as a whole. 1080 resolution seems kind of gimmicky.
But thanx acer for introducing a great concept that you or others could further develope.

[David @ Mar 12th 2008 5:46PM]

Yeah glossy it might be, but the design is just a bit messy... + do I see stacked USB ports on the right hand side?.. bad times.

Still I'd be interested to see how 1920 x 1080 looks on a 16 inch.

[David @ Mar 12th 2008 5:46PM]

about the touch panel... wouldn't a remote be better?

[Peter @ Mar 12th 2008 5:51PM]

Stunning. I've never read so much bullshit compressed into a single press release.

[nikster @ Mar 12th 2008 7:15PM]

@Peter - The press release really is hard to beat - this is copied from the actual press release, I didn't make this up:

The Holographic 3D cover radiates true elegance. The Starlit backlight shines beneath the Floating Acer logo, the focal point of the iridescent, midnight sapphire sub-layer, which sparkles with varying gradations of black and blue when viewed from different angles.

The Enlightener power button shines flashes to life in a sharp line of bright blue neon when the notebook is turned on, along with the CineDash media console. This ultra-slick media control area is both magnificently styled and instantly easy to use. No other notebook offers the same degree of style and substance.

The intricate texture of the NeoWeave palm rest is both refined and rugged, providing a comfortable, ergonomic area for your hands.

A shining adaptation of the original Gemstone design, the DiamondBlack eKey flaunts the classic appeal of precious stones and launches a world of empowering technologies.

[poulan @ Mar 12th 2008 6:15PM]

It's smaller than the Microsoft Surface computer

[Qsat @ Mar 12th 2008 6:27PM]

I will change my 5920g this summer and really like those 2 laptop. But i hope they will make a version without the touch sensitive controls. On the 5920g, there is a touch sensitive button next to the right arrow that lauch the disc burning utility and i activate it about 4 time a day by accident, no way to desactivate it. Please Acer remove those.

[Josh L @ Mar 12th 2008 6:56PM]

The CineTouch controls are kinda cool looking; might make for a good multimedia laptop.

Looking through the gallery though, the thing that really made me laugh was that Acer apparently thought they needed to explain -- via three different slides and a pie chart -- precisely why they chose the color blue.

[Adrian Canoso @ Mar 12th 2008 7:25PM]

Are f***ing kidding me?, its as if they think they invented the color blue! Skimming through this story made me want to punch my face I felt so stupid for even feeling the smallest sense of anticipation because of that little fruity countdown clock.

[Neo-K @ Mar 12th 2008 7:50PM]

looks nice. wouldn't mind having that wallpaper for my asus

[ethana2 @ Mar 12th 2008 8:06PM]

Can individuals buy these with no OS preinstalled?

[Max @ Mar 12th 2008 11:43PM]

I have an Acer - this little plastic latch broke off a few weeks after buying it and their "support" insists that I pay to ship the laptop in so they can replace the entire case and ship it back - costing them money in shipping, man hours, and parts... instead, they could simply ship me a 10 cent part for the cost of a postage stamp and I could snap it in myself. Their support sucks bigtime.

[HeXeN @ Mar 14th 2008 12:26PM]

Today man from UPS took my acer to the acer center... i hope they won't be able to fix it .. their laptops sucks!!

[star @ Apr 8th 2008 12:49PM]

hi i wanna buy aspire 6920 or 8920.but donno about dere prices.if any1 knows about dere prices then do give me a reply.

[Rogue_Genius @ Jun 9th 2008 12:03PM]

If you plan on using that laptop to continue typing on engadget like an uneducated myspace junkie ('dere' ? REALLY??) then I won't give you the price.

You're better off spending money on Hooked on Phonics. Trust me.

[Navadeep @ Apr 22nd 2008 2:05AM]

Hi... can i know the price of aspire-6920 piece...

[Allison @ May 19th 2008 11:10PM]

Circuit City had the 6920 on sale for $699 through 5/17; regular price is $849. I purchased this computer 5/10 and I LOVE it!! I have had 2 Dell laptops, 1 HP and 1 Compaq; this is by far the BEST that I have had. I also love the CineDash Console which is very easy to use (even on the left hand side).

[Navadeep @ Apr 22nd 2008 2:08AM]

may i know the price of acer ASPIRE 6920 AND 8920 PRICE

[Navadeep @ Apr 22nd 2008 2:09AM]

HI.. MAY I KNOW THE PRICE OF ASPIRE 6920 AND 8920 MODELS...

[Heather @ May 13th 2008 7:11PM]

Ok, I have the 6920. I got it yesterday from Circut City for 699.00. But for some reason it is incredibly slow! I have top of the line cable internet but it runs like dial-up. It takes over 30 seconds for a page to show anything after I type in the address and hit enter. If anyone can give me some tips as to whats wrong that would be greatly appreciated.

Its not my connection. It says its excellent, and I have my other laptop next to it doing the same things and its 30 times faster, even with a weak card.

Is it vista? Should I just return it?

[Ozzy @ May 17th 2008 12:24PM]

i picked one up yesterday at circuitcity for 699... and i gotta say i love it! the cinetouch is a nice feature, its slightly narrower than a numberpad, and its got some nice controls on it. the screen looks good, i picked up the cheaper one of the models, 6920, it has no blueray, no bluetooth, screen res is 1366x768, so it isnt full HD, but i have to say i'm impressed with the sound, the dolby sorround is pretty cool! fingerprint reader is a nice feature, integrated camera and mic are also included... i havent tried those out yet.

I must say that i am happy with this computer, its pretty quick, with 3gb of ram, nice storage, 320gb, and a dual core processor. and no im not trying to sell you this laptop, just trying to inform.

[Baka @ May 20th 2008 6:55PM]

I bought my firs Acer laptop in 1996 and back then Toshiba was the No.1 choice but Acer had more features new and more power for less money.
It was the best back then.

I switched to Dell next and was happy for another 4 years. Then 2 years ago I got the Top Sony Vaio, nice design but big disappointment.

The Japanese partitioned the 100 GB HD at the factory into Drive C=2-GB and D=80GB ( how stupid is that?) and it stopped running in a week.

Needless to say that had to wait 3 weeks to send the recovery CD from Tokyo since every computer has its own. Then problems and problems It overheats and it shuts down in the middle of the work in progress.

I use a large fan under it to keep it cool now, had to upgrade the Dram to run website building software …more money… wish I spent al that money on Sushi, Sashimi and sake (3S;-) would have been happier. Sony sucks big time.

So Now I want to go back to ACER. Will get the 8920 -18.4” and though it is not the nicest design around it is half the price then latest Sony Vaio which only comes with 17” and 2 GB DRAM not 4GB as Acer does plus many other unique features… Did I mention the “Blue”? BRAVO Acer Xie Xie Nimen!

[mrjman @ Jun 9th 2008 6:07PM]

i just ordered mine a few days ago, i went for the 8920 and i camt wait to get it.

about the cinedash controls - it has a button for you to press when you dont want the touch sensitive controls to be active, so theres no need to worry about touching it accidently.

i personally like the design and the way it looks, its by no means the prettiest, but to be totally honest that is the last thing i look for in a notebook. i was looking for good performance, a good screen and blu ray, so this lappy (on paper anyway) seems to fit the bill.

of course i may end up a disappointed acer owner. im getting this mostly for viewing blu rays, web browsing and doing 2d animation (maybe 3d animation too if it can cope) and i'll let you know how it is when i get it and play around on it for a bit.