back to article Acer Aspire Ethos 8943G 18.4in laptop

Stylish and powerful, the new 18.4in Aspire Ethos 8943G will appeal to those looking for a desktop replacement that doesn’t hold back on performance. Each of the four cores on the Core i7-720QM purr along at 1.6GHz, while ATI’s Mobility Radeon HD 5650 is on hand should you want to indulge in a bit of gaming. Throw in a Blu-ray …

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  1. Alastair 7

    How big?!

    I really don't get these kind of laptops. They're so heavy that you'll never take them anywhere. Why get a 'desktop replacement' when you could just get a desktop?

    Sure, a lot of them are big and unwieldy, but for the price of this laptop you can get an iMac, or any other integrated all-in-one machine. Bigger screen, better keyboard, smaller price.

    1. Stefan 2
      Thumb Up

      Me, me, please sir, me!

      I used to leave 2-3 years between upgrades of my 'proper' workstation. Every time I wanted to upgrade, there was a new CPU socket, GPU connector and a different type of RAM. So, every time I wanted to upgrade, it was: New motherboard, graphics card, RAM and CPU. Every 2-3 years.

      This became somewhat tiresome, so I put off my last upgrade a little bit longer and instead purchased a Dell M1730, almost on day of release. As desktop replacement laptops go, it's an enormous (and enormously heavy) beast. Portability and looks completely suck, but performance is drop-dead gorgeous. I don't take it out of the house more than twice a year, but it does make the trip between upstairs office, bedroom and front-room quite often. Not something I'd like to do with tower workstation. It's also now more than 3 years old and I'm only just now feeling the need for an upgrade.

      The Acer reviewed here doesn't look particularly attractive as an upgrade option for me, but it's not a bad price for what it is.

      1. lglethal Silver badge
        Go

        Heres a reason...

        I work in an industry where i move location every 6-12 months - usually to another country (im up to 8 countries in 5 years so far). A desktop is just not an option. And whilst lugging a large desktop replacement to another country is something of a pain for the short time your on the way/at the airport, it is actually achievable and having the power and speed make it worthwhile when you get to your destination.

        Additionally, buying a top of the line desktop replacement means you can usually last a good 3-5 years before needing to replace the laptop. If i bought a regular laptop id be replacing it every 2 years or so...

  2. simon gardener
    FAIL

    eye catching???

    greeted by a rather eye-catching keyboard"

    eye-sore more like

    from the photo the laptop looks like it fell off the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down.

    either the reviewer is related to the "designer" who decided to have a silver-ish keyboard area and a black palmrest area or is taking backhanders to say nice things about the product

    or perhaps i don't have a clue about aesthetics.

    heres hoping its not me

    plus doesnt having a numeric keyboard on a laptop mean you end up having to sit off-center to type ?

  3. Robert E A Harvey
    Unhappy

    Hmm.

    wobbly keyboard, dull screen, tinny audio. And windoze. Is there any reason to lash out on this?

    1. This post has been deleted by its author

  4. iamapizza
    FAIL

    That keyboard...

    I'm guessing that keyboard was designed for people who only ever use the mouse.

  5. Tom 7

    A new paradigm in computing

    the whole desk?

    1. MrT

      yup...

      that fake subwoofer is actually the screw mount for a tripod.

  6. Wallyb132
    FAIL

    Well Actually...

    I'm a gluten for punishment, i would actually carry this thing around, as it is, i tote around my HP DV7 daily to job sites. i love having a fully capable portable powerhouse with me when i'm doing network support.

    The day one these retarded laptop makers puts out a beast like this powered by AMD, they'll have a chunk of my coin, any of them, it doesnt matter who. unfortunately the stupid fucks at acer, along with HP, Dell and every other laptop maker think that laptop of this size are only worthy of intel CPU's, so until they decide to pull their heads from their asses, It's on with my DV7...

  7. Anonymous Coward
    WTF?

    Eh?

    "Acer’s done a good job with the Ethos – it looks great and performs well"

    Are we reading the same review? It's got a poor screen, iffy-keyboard, dodgy trackpad, tinny sound, sub-2h battery life, weighs 5 kg and is hard to open. What gives?

    I wonder what a laptop would be like if Acer did a bad job on it?

  8. frank ly
    Unhappy

    Why oh Why ?

    Can somebody please tell me why so many laptops have the trackpad well to the left of centre?

    I'm right handed (not that I see it should make any difference). I operate the laptop with it placed 'centrally' in front of me and I type equally with both hands. I use my right hand to operate the trackpad and I move my right elbow back to place my right hand over the trackpad. Is this left-side trackpad positioning meant to make it easier for me to 'swing' my right hand over to operate it or something like that? If it is, it doesn't work for me, I've tried them and don't like them.

  9. MrT

    The previous model...

    had the media touchpad mounted separately to the left of the keyboard, which seemed to me to be a more sensible place.

    One step along the way to LCARS, but instead of making the entire keyboard from a touchscreen, they've backed off to the Appletastic chicklets... not that it's a bad design, but just saying they could boldly go that bit further with their active media control panel idea for at least one of their models.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Re:How big?! #

    the new 18.4in Aspire Ethos 8943G will appeal to those looking for a desktop replacement that doesn’t hold back on performance. Each of the four cores on the Core i7-720QM purr along at 1.6GHz, while ATI’s Mobility Radeon HD 5650 is on hand should you want to indulge in a bit of gaming.

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