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Avoid the 8204!!

post #1 of 57
1/23/06 at 11:05am
Thread Starter 
Ok I just got it now, and I can't believe how crap the LCD is. It looks very grey and dull, its actually hurts my eyes trying to read stuff (even on large font). It just very dim and the uneven colours etc.

I can't believe Acer would not put a highend matte LCD in this machine. Very disappointing.

Gonna have to start looking all over again.
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post #2 of 57
1/23/06 at 11:33am
Sounds like a hardware issue. None of the reviews indicated any problems. Where are you, by the way, that you've already received one? Everyone else (in the US) is on backorder...
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post #3 of 57
1/23/06 at 1:24pm
Thread Starter 
I don't think so I remember ppl complained aboubt the 8100 series screen not being great as well and were wondering if they were gonna do LCD upgrade.

I'm RMA'ing it just to make sure its not a one off hardware issue. But seriously I was so excited to get it and so bummed when the LCD looked crap. I'm in South Africa btw.

Another problem as well is the viewing angles seem really bad. So much so that even look directly at it on half of the screen is gonna be dimmer (either top or bottom) no matter how much you fiddle with the vertical angle.
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post #4 of 57
1/23/06 at 1:31pm
!!!!!! I was gonna buy it and now i am having doubts....
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post #5 of 57
1/23/06 at 1:42pm
Thread Starter 
I mean featurewise and looks etc its really the best notebook you can buy at the moment IMO. I'm sending it back and hopefully its just a defect - but I have my doubts.
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post #6 of 57
1/23/06 at 2:04pm
My 8104's screen is pretty bad, or at least I thought so until I got a Dell M70. The matte screen on the 8104 is grainy and has a slight shimmer, but the matte screen on the Dell is so dim as to be almost unuable for general work.

I've never bought a monitor mail order that I did not reqret. The same goes for laptops since the monitor is built in. Make sure you know your return policy before you buy. A bad display is the worst problem possible because you can't ignore it.
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post #7 of 57
1/23/06 at 2:05pm
I was going to get the 8204....until I discovered Sager's NP5720!
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post #8 of 57
1/23/06 at 2:29pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by artem1985il
I was going to get the 8204....until I discovered Sager's NP5720!
They not even in the same league. The NP5720 is just a 17" bulky gaming beast.

The 8204 is new generation tech. dual core x1600 etc.
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post #9 of 57
1/23/06 at 3:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mattrix
Ok I just got it now, and I can't believe how crap the LCD is. It looks very grey and dull, its actually hurts my eyes trying to read stuff (even on large font). It just very dim and the uneven colours etc.

I can't believe Acer would not put a highend matte LCD in this machine. Very disappointing.

Gonna have to start looking all over again.
What are you comparing it to? For the record, I am happy with my 8104's screen, it's not the brightest screen around but I have never had any problem reading it except outdoor. That said, when I had my 8104 side by side to a 8204. the 8204's screen will go about 3 steps brighter than mine so I was pretty happy with that. had the viewcam going and the image quality and colors looks good in an indoor envoirment.
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post #10 of 57
1/23/06 at 3:28pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mattrix
They not even in the same league. The NP5720 is just a 17" bulky gaming beast.

The 8204 is new generation tech. dual core x1600 etc.
I'm assuming you have it plugged in and are not seeing the dim-down effect while running on battery?

Did you check the bios? Just wondering if there was a setting from the factory that had the brightness turned down. Just a thought.
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post #11 of 57
1/23/06 at 3:38pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by jjfcpa
I'm assuming you have it plugged in and are not seeing the dim-down effect while running on battery?
Yip

Quote:
Originally Posted by jjfcpa
Did you check the bios? Just wondering if there was a setting from the factory that had the brightness turned down. Just a thought.
I did yeah. There is no special brightness setting in there.
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post #12 of 57
1/23/06 at 3:50pm
you have pressed function and [>] on arrow keys to adjust brightness and set it to full? Wierd.. The one I have seen was at least as bright as my ferrari..
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post #13 of 57
1/23/06 at 5:21pm
go to a local store and look at a i6000 screen then you will start to love your TM8204´s screen.
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post #14 of 57
1/23/06 at 5:22pm
Well, again, there have been a few reviews that haven't noted any significant issue. I think one might have said it's not one of the newer XBrite (or whatever) screens, which to me are 1) too bright and 2) suffer from glare. They said it's not the best screen for watching DVD, but good for general business work.

Screen brightness is very relative, I think. For example, I know that my Toshiba M200 Tablet has a very matted screen, grainy almost given the extra layer in there for the digitizer. However, I'm fine with it, while I've seen plenty of complaints from others. And, the newest screens are too bright for me. So, perhaps I'll like the screen where someone else would find it too dim...

It'll be interesting to see some other impressions of shipping units. I'll be buying mine from Sam's Club, so I'll have a 6-month return policy for issues just like this...
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post #15 of 57
1/23/06 at 11:53pm
dude this just looks a like factory error on the product, just call acer, and they will have it fixed within a week, and you are good to go!! they will provide free shipping too. Dude please don't give up such a fine ass machine. IT can be fixed!!!
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post #16 of 57
1/23/06 at 11:57pm
i agree with pilot101. rma it and have them replace it, sounds defective to me. all the reviews i've read didn't complain about the screen.

-ws
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post #17 of 57
1/24/06 at 12:58am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mattrix
I mean featurewise and looks etc its really the best notebook you can buy at the moment IMO. I'm sending it back and hopefully its just a defect - but I have my doubts.
How long do you think it will be before you get a replacement? I have one on preorder and I will cancel if it looks like a bunch of the screens are defective...
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post #18 of 57
1/24/06 at 6:01am
I would think the 8204 uses the same display as the Ferrari 4005. The display on my 4005 is gorgeous, definitely nicer than I expected it to be.
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post #19 of 57
1/24/06 at 6:26am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Turtle
How long do you think it will be before you get a replacement? I have one on preorder and I will cancel if it looks like a bunch of the screens are defective...
Acer is picking it up today. They will first try replace the LCD (if they concur its faulty) otherwise swap it out. I'll keep you posted.
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post #20 of 57
1/24/06 at 12:36pm
I would imagine it has the same screen as the new Acer Aspire 5670 (albeit the resolution). Someone has pictures up of that ( http://www.notebookforums.com/showth...80#post1595680 ) and it looks fine... but maybe that doesn't portray the brightness properly.
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