With the large screen taking its toll on the eight-cell 55Wh battery, the Ethos managed 1hr 45mins when looping PCMark Vantage. Considering the laptop weighs a hefty 4.8kg, portability isn’t high on the agenda and this relatively short battery life is to be expected.
Shininess aside, certainly a worthy contender as a desktop replacement
Finally, it’s worth mentioning that the Ethos isn’t averse to a bit of upgrading. Unscrewing the two back panels reveals two spare memory slots and a 2.5in drive bay.
Verdict
Acer’s done a good job with the Ethos – it looks great and performs well. Of course, the fast processor, large screen, Blu-ray drive and fancy design don’t come cheap, and many will baulk at the price tag Acer’s slapped on it. That said, it’s in line with similar 18.4in offerings, such as HP’s dv8-1110ea that retails for around the same price. If you want to ditch your desktop and can afford it, Acer’s Aspire Ethos 8943G is definitely worth a close look. ®
Thanks to SaveOnLaptops for the loan of the review sample.
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Acer Aspire Ethos 8943G 18.4in laptop
SaveOnLaptops' Acer Aspire Ethos 8943G page
COMMENTS
Hmm. x2
+ in the end it's just an Acer with their legendary support services.
What really stinks here is the "verdict" despite the shortcomings you mentioned:
"Acer’s done a good job with the Ethos"
Hmm.
wobbly keyboard, dull screen, tinny audio. And windoze. Is there any reason to lash out on this?
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.
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...
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.
