Acer Aspire 8920G

Acer has finally revealed its new range of Blu-ray equipped Aspire Gemstone laptops. The UK launch was a pretty understated affair, and perhaps suitably so, with the restrained styling of the Gemstone Blue range contrasting wonderfully with the gaudy modernity of the Soho Hotel. We managed to prise a pre-production Aspire 8920G from Acer's grasp to give it an exclusive first look.
The 8920G's large footprint does have its advantages though. There's plenty of room for the CineDash, a full-sized keyboard and a numeric keypad. It's just a shame the keyboard is nothing special. We have no quibbles with the layout, but the keys themselves have a spongy, slightly indistinct action which isn't ideal for long stretches of typing. One of our pet hates, a half-height Enter key, proved to be an aggravation too.
When we say sizable, we really mean huge, as the 8920G can lay claim to being the first laptop available with an 18.4in display. With all but the most gargantuan of laptops settling for 17in displays - Dell's briefcase-sized XPS M2010 being one obvious exception to the rule - you might wonder why Acer has super-sized this aspect of the 8920G. What Acer's Aspire 8920G does offer, however, is a hell of a lot of laptop for a very reasonable price.