As for now, I currently inherited the Acer Blue Gemstone 6935G. This is what should be keeping me alive for the next five years. Hopefully it does last that long..
This is my first review in this blog and I intend to make this a good one. I’ll be looking in the Value, Performance, Design, User-Friendliness, Hardware, Software, Sound, Accessories Weight, Portability, Net Surfing and just about everything in this powerhouse machine.
Hardware Specifications
For those cannot catch a glimpse on what I just took, I guess I’ll type all of it out. Prepare to be astounded^^
- Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 (2.4ghz, 1066 MHz FSB, 3MB L2 Cache)
- 16” Full HD 1080P Acer CineCrystal LCD (1920 x 1080 = Crazy Ass Resolution)
- Up to 2303MB NVDIA GeForce 9600M GT TurboCache ( Alright, I am in Love)
- 3GB DDR3 (DDR3 not those obsolete DDR2)
- 500GB HDD (Sadly, it is more than my Uber Awesome Rig)
- Blu-Ray Disc (This could be the most expensive part of the laptop)
- 802.11a/b/g/Draft-N WLAN
- Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR
- Acer Xpress VoIP Phone
- Windows Vista Home Premium 32-Bit
- Surround Sound Enabled (by something called TUBA)
- Built in Webcam 1.3Mega Pixels/2Mega Pixels (I am not too sure about it)
- Built in Fingerprint Security
- Built in Mic
- 1 year international warranty
Software Provided
- McFree (Like most laptops)
- Microsoft Office Student 60 day Trial (Though I quickly reinstalled it with a pirated one)
- Some Acer Stuff
Accessories given
- Acer VoIP Phone
- 16GB Kingston Thumb Drive (We paid an extra 50 to upgrade it from 4 to 16)
- Headphones with Mic
- TECOM mouse (It’s a little small for my hands)
- Laptop Lock (Don’t really know how to use it)
- ACER laptop bag (Barely manage to fit my laptop inside)
- An outdated blu-ray disc showing some trailers
Performance and Multi-Tasking
I have this laptop for about two weeks and it seems to be running quite fine without any BSOD (Blue Screen of Death) or frequent lag happening now and then. I normally run my Windows Messenger, Windows Media Player, Few tabs from Mozilla Firefox while posting this blog with Windows Live Writer with no cinch of lag. Besides that, with the provided resolution, 1920 x 1080 pixels, you can guarantee that you never have problems not being able to do stuff all at once.
Adobe Photoshop CS4 opens in like about 5 to 7 seconds the moment I click it as it loads all its resources. The Firefox on the other hand loads in about 3 to 2 seconds. Most Windows program though load in less than a second. But one thing I hate is it seems to show the Welcome screen after you access an account a little longer but its forgivable.
It also achieve a 4.9 rating for the Vista Experience Index.
Entertainment and Video
From the picture above, you can see that it has an extra large sound system. Though if your one who love bass heavy songs, you may hear a slight interference every once in while but it’s not quite audible. But it has no problem with songs that are softer.
With a 16 inch screen at your disposal, you cannot give up trying to see the latest (pirated) movies with this machine. The picture is very crisp and sharp. I have no problems with playing DVD’s with the machine though I have not tried any blu-ray disc being it is to expensive for my puny budget.
Though, my main problems is the blu-ray disc drive seems to be making loads of noise while reading certain disc. The crackling sounds that you may hear may fright you for awhile and probably tempt you to take the disc out but I have not see any problems so far if you leave it in there. The drive can burn CD, DVD and most probably HD-DVD also but sadly it doesn't burn Blu-Ray disc.
Yes it does look very catchy and it works pretty catchy also. It seems like they stole this design from some Star Trek Movie and slap a sticker next to the keyboard. But it is not any sticker, but it is some flashy touch sensitive buttons so you won’t need to press or anything but just brush your fingers over it. It did have few problems when I wanted to change the volume though.
User-Friendliness and Design
The keyboard I would like to say is alot smaller than usual. You can see that the space bar seem to be cut off due to the space the CineDash Console taking part of the space. With that, for first time users, you may have some problem getting use to the keyboard but it is not impossible. But one thing I don’t really like is that dust or some other foreign object seem to like come out from nowhere and hide itself under the keyboard. The keyboard seem to have holes here and there. I don’t know whether it is dangerous or not to leave it in there but it is just so silly when you get bothered by the same thing you see every time you type.
Anyway, the power button looks very sci-fi like and that seems to make eye go ogle it everytime. The one thing I love more is the circular shinny oject at the side of the laptop where you plug in the power cable and probably also the blue illumination around the laptop. The touchpad material also follows the body of the laptop which is carbon fibre. Yes it does sound strange but it works well since it doesn’t spoil the design of the product. No wonder this lappy had won the Best Product Design of 2009 though it didn't win the Dust-Free Award.
The top/dashboard/or whatever you call it seems to be the most attractive feature of this laptop. But yes, it does collect alot of dust also and probably smudges from your hands. So be sure to wipe it almost every time which is getting pretty annoying.
The weight is about 3kg plus. That is pretty heavy for a laptop. But consider it has 16 inch screen it is pretty average in its category. Though with this weight, it can easily be as heavy as a desktop replacement. But the hardware inside the computer is not to be miss as it is the main reason that it is this heavy.
Gaming
With the 9600M GT, it does pretty well in gaming. With playable frame rates in games like L4D with medium-high settings and L4D in medium settings with about 60 Frames per second, I do say this is the best laptop which is bang for my buck with such a great graphics card. Though I didn’t benchmark much on this laptop but I do say, you can’t go wrong buying this laptop as a gaming machine.
Though I didn’t test this beast on Crysis or more of the top end games but this will certainly appeal to the casual gamers and possibly the hardcore gamers also.
Internet and other wireless capabilities
It has no trouble in connecting internet outside and WIFI. Though it is not tested thoroughly, but it does pretty well in finding connections outside. It also has Bluetooth for those who want send files in a jiffy from your phone.
It can view webpages with no problem as the resolution is ultimately quite big. Though it didn’t had JAVA the first time I got it.
The webcam was pretty fine and it takes pictures and videos also. Though be warn that the videos taken have a slight delay with the sound which is pretty annoying as you can’t record yourself if you intend using sound with it. The microphone was possibly hidden very well as I can’t find it but it does read sound pretty clearly even when afar.
Value
I bought this for 4499 (Though it got a discount of 99 bucks). With extended warranty of 3 years domestic only (add another 200), I say this may be the best laptop around with this kind of specifications. I did not regret as I have made this purchase and I will absolutely take care of it like its my baby.
Verdict
This is should be the best laptop at its price around and you can’t find it anywhere on other companies. I do say few things bother me but still it is easily forgettable as it brings so much that you can as well get from a desktop. I dare say that this will be something I can’t live without when I am at Aussie.
Pros
- Cheapest laptop you can find with specifications like that
- Extremely wide resolution
- Blu-Ray
- Mainstream to High-End Graphics Card (Gaming capable)
- CineMedia Dash Console
- Beautiful Design
- 500GB HDD
- Crisp Videos
- Bright LCD
- Some nice Acer Programs fitted in there
Cons
- 3 USB Bays only
- Reflective LCD Screen
- Smaller than average keyboard
- Heavy
- Collects dust and smudges easily
Final Rating : 8.7
2 comments:
can you play gta4??
I’ll be looking in the Value, Performance, Design, User-Friendliness, Hardware, Software, Sound, Accessories Weight, Portability, Net Surfing and just about everything in this powerhouse machine.
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