ACERS ASPIRING EDITION FOR HOME PC’S- ACER ASPIRE 2920 REVIEW

Aspire 2920 size is what first catches your eye. Measuring in at 304 x 223 x 32mm, it’s not exactly a Mac-Book Air class of breed, but the Acer is positively on the smaller end of the weighing machine. This intermediate cross breed between the ultraportable and the sleek builds is quiet an interesting swings of idea. Read further to know more.

Design
Primary impressions are very favorable but they take a bit of a knock on the head when you lift the lid and turn the notebook on. The screen only measures 12.1 inches on the diagonal conceivably the screen could have been a bit larger. The aesthetic side of things is a bit gloomy as the screen bezel, keyboard and keyboard surround are made from a pale stale and pale grey plastic that looks quite revolting in the flesh. The power button has a blue backlight and there’s another blue LED to steer you to the power connector.

Performance
The processor in this computer scheme is a Core 2 Duo T7300 that clocks at 2GHz, and it's ably backed up with 2GB of 667MHz DDR2 memory in 2 modules. The Intel GM965 chipset's integrated graphics influence the 1280 x 800 display. Wireless connectivity deals with an Intel 4965AGN 802.11a/b/g/n wireless and Bluetooth, although the lower end Aspire 2920 models lose the 802.11n feature. The higher ends has stacks of storage in the 250GB hard drive and LG DVD-RAM drive, but other models are less comfy, although the lower end variants are balanced by prices as low as £449.

The choice of Windows Vista Home Premium as the operating system is right for the mass of notebook users, particularly if you plug in a TV tuner, and the condition will cater for the needs of anyone who do not prefer to play games on their notebook.

The only obvious weak link is the Intel GMA X3100 graphics unit. However, they're flawlessly sufficient for day-to-day use. The screen is brilliant and clear with colors that are enhanced by the usual shiny coating so you’ll want to avoid any bright light sources nearby that might origin reflections.

The list of ports and connectors is standard, with 3 USB 2.0 ports, a 5-in-1card reader, Gigabit Ethernet for LAN connectivity, modem, VGA and s-video output. On the front edge of the Aspire there are headphones and microphone jacks along with a volume control wheel built in.

In our vigorous testing, the performance was exactly in-line with similar Core 2 laptops which are all that you can ask of a notebook. The 4800mAh battery life is fine for one hour 20 minutes of continuous use which is about 2 hours 40 minutes of regular use but let’s face it, the Aspire 2920 is never the one to be used more on the move too often so the battery life isn’t critical.

Conclusion
The Aspire 2920 is a decent conciliation of weight, size and features. While it’s not the perfect, the price makes it unbelievably tempting.

Pros
+ Decent performance overall
+ Acer’s trump that packs a good punch of features
+ Pricing that even tempting than the ice-creams of the BR’s

Cons
- Very basic graphics option
- Screen size could have been bigger.

Value For Money

Our Rating