Acer trots out Aspire 8930, 6930, 5735 and 4730 laptops

If you've been looking for a Gemstone, Acer's got four new ones that your eyes should really see. The top-end Aspire 8930 gets things going with a borderline ridiculous 18.4-inch HD CineCrystal display, a 2.53GHz Core 2 Duo T9400 CPU, 4GB of DDR3 RAM, NVIDIA's GeForce 9700M GT, an optional (but completely necessary) Blu-ray drive, WiFi, 320GB 7,200RPM SATA drive and a starting price of just $1,699.99. The 6930 sports a 16-inch WXGA LCD and a few less niceties, though the $699.99 is entirely more appealing. As for the consumer-friendly 5735, it boasts a Pentium T3200, 15.6-inch WXGA display, 2GB of RAM and a $549.99 sticker. Picking up the rear is the 14.1-inch 4730, which coincidentally starts at the same price point as the aforesaid 5735. The whole happy family is available right now.

[Via PC Launches]

[happy_penguin @ Oct 4th 2008 3:33AM]

From the pic it looks incredibly trim considering the size.

[Patrick R @ Oct 4th 2008 9:40AM]

I agree...but if you look closely the edge is VERY thin, and the hinge is a little chunky...but still very excellent looking! if i wasnt so happy with my XPS M1530 then i would totally look into this...

[Alex @ Oct 5th 2008 10:13AM]

I have a 8920 and the case seems to be the same. It is a little thinner at the edge compared to the back, but overall it's not a thick laptop. I was quite impressed during the un boxing. It's not THAT heavy, either, for a 18.4 inches screen, about 9 pounds with the battery.
Overall, it's a great laptop to watch blue-ray movies.
Cons:
-so many leds all over that seems a christmas tree even when turned off.
-the buttons below the touchpad are a good example of awful design
-the palm rest is perhaps too wide (I have to take out my watch to type, it's annoying)
-it comes with vista preinstalled :)

[dhruv bhutani @ Oct 4th 2008 4:31AM]

I dont see too much of a difference between the new 8930 and the old 8920. Can someone point out the changes.
Maybe they have improved the cinedash......
Otherwise an awesome laptop definitely.

[Chin-Poh @ Oct 4th 2008 10:21AM]

The 8930 and 6930 are Centrino 2 vs the 8920 and 6920 which were first released in April which were not.

[Ayman @ Oct 4th 2008 5:46AM]

I have the 8920, and it is by far Amazing... (huge 18.4 FULL HD, built in Camera, numpad, card reader..)
they forgot to mention about the 5.1 Cinematic Surround it has

and my only disappointment is that it doesn't hover :(

[fediaFedia @ Oct 4th 2008 5:49AM]

I'm planning to buy a 6920, because the 8920 one had a ridiculously large screen. But it seems that 6930 is even worse than 6920 - no cinedash media console, less RAM, worse video card, only a 320 GB drive instead of 250... but have to admit, it's much cheaper.

[TareX @ Oct 4th 2008 6:38AM]

Excellent everything.... except for the 9700.

[nikster @ Oct 4th 2008 7:03AM]

Would be nice if they included dimensions and weight in the specs. I'd imagine the 18" is super heavy, but who knows...

[Jash Sayani @ Oct 4th 2008 7:08AM]

THEY ARE JUST LOVELY !!!!

However, I am looking for 10" inch ones.... So I'll go for an EeePC !

[majortom1981 @ Oct 4th 2008 7:50AM]

acers pc rocks but tech support is horrible. Yes Its US based but they are worse then Dells india based tech support. I had an acer that ram died within the warranty and if it wasnt easily diagnosed it event viewer acers tech support wouldnt help me.

[Trevor @ Oct 4th 2008 8:25AM]

I wanted to buy one of the new 18.4" laptops - Acer, Sony or HP. Acer were the only manufacturers who had stock available, so they got my dollars - I bought this machine yesterday, & it is great. HP & Sony lost a potential purchase because they simply have not had the product available. Well done Acer!

[sybgtwy @ Oct 4th 2008 8:39AM]

What kind of wuss calls the manufacturer tech support?

Acer makes a very good laptop, some are even CPU-expandable, but the battery life is often far less than what you'd expect. The Aspire series, specifically, only had about 100 minutes of usable WiFi with a decent LCD brightness. For this reason alone, I tend to choose Dells or HPs with expanded batteries. The corp Dells (Latitudes) are very good in this arena.

These laptops looks gorgeous though. Compare their pricing with Sony's AW Vaio laptops and you'll get a better appreciation of how inexpensive these Acers really are.

--#

[Backlin @ Oct 4th 2008 9:31AM]

That is an awesome laptop. It will probably get more looks than my best friend's ex-wife! It's pretty cheap too, considering the specs.

Although I have one question, where's the power button on this thing? [/sarcasm]

[pete @ Oct 4th 2008 10:27AM]

Where are you on this?

http://www.gadgetreview.com/2008/10/asus-s101-ultra-slim-and-trim-laptop.html

[gonintendo @ Oct 4th 2008 11:35AM]

http://www.engadget.com/2008/10/03/asus-makes-eee-pc-s101-official-904ha-images-leak-out/

[Paradox @ Oct 4th 2008 12:02PM]

There is only one problem with those laptops...they are Acer.
I had 2 acer's in the past and both had visual problems, keys jumping off, screen going to 4bit colors (or whatever that was) all this past 1,5 year.

[Adam @ Oct 4th 2008 4:46PM]

Yeah, I bought an Aspire last August. The power supply and the screen both broke twice. The first two times the computer was under the year warranty. The next time I parted out the computer

[Levi @ Oct 4th 2008 12:05PM]

Uhh that $700 comes with GeForce Go 9600M GT? For that price we can play new games on a laptop? I have to be missing something here...

Maybe the graphics are options that cost more? Someone help me out here - $700 is my sweet spot for a lappy, and I want a graphics chip that can at least handle FEAR and Doom3 engines and below. (No I don't care about Crysis...)

[loosely_coupled @ Oct 4th 2008 5:10PM]

Why does the hinge portion of that look like a complete rip off of Sony VAIO laptops?

[Jake @ Nov 3rd 2008 10:47PM]

Answering the questions about the hindge. Well Acer came out with the first 18.4 and HP and Sony followed and also they both may have been made by the same ODM.

[nicholaelaw @ Oct 4th 2008 5:11PM]

Another heavy-book, can't they just use a suit case for that thing? It'd be a lot easier to carry around.

[luke @ Oct 5th 2008 12:55AM]

wow the Aspire 8930 seems like the best deal ive seen for a laptop since the new hp notebooks. will probably pick one up for when i got to college in like two years. the price will be way down by then

[dhruv bhutani @ Oct 5th 2008 1:05AM]

Can someone comment on the graphics capabilities of the 9700 ? i guess crysis at max settings is def out of the question. i am eyeing one for college next year but i need something to last me 4 years min......
I guess a desktop is too much of a hassle.
I might buy a wind or eee for classes along with this.

[Tom Servo @ Oct 5th 2008 11:24AM]

I just went to the Acer web site, and from what I saw they only list laptops through the 8920. I wasn't able to find any retail outlets that have the 8930. Anyone know if this laptop is actually available in the wild?

[Chris @ Oct 11th 2008 11:34PM]

I have the 8930 at my local futureshop. The thing just oozes of
sexiness IMHO. amazing to see up close and touch. I love the controls
on the left. Centrino 2, 4 GB PC3-8500 DDR3 RAM (Not DDR2), 320 GB HDD, 18"
screen, Blu-Ray and it's only $1,299, which is just amazing.

[Jake @ Oct 31st 2008 3:52PM]

I have the mammoth 9810 with a 20.1 screen that weights 17+ pounds. This laptop is around 8 pounds which is comparable to most 17" screens. This isn't a gaming computer it's a multi-media computer. It has all the features to enjoy Blu-ray movies and not play the most current games. I've seen it available at Comp-USA & Tiger Direct and Circuit City.

[Marianos @ Nov 24th 2008 8:23AM]

Can i download CineReal! sens video somewhere?