With all the fuzz around their 3D Vision NVIDIA surely too often took credit of “inventing” the stereoscopic 3D (S3D). Of course it’s not true, but NVIDIA sure did a lot about spreading the word about it. In fact – so much that any average 9 years old (at least those that didn’t go for the better 3D performance ATI’s card currently have) can recite you what do you need to set up a 3D Vision rig – NVIDIA graphics card, 120 Hz monitor, 3D vision glasses, all costly beyond reason if you never played a game in S3D mode. Once you play a game all fits, as the systems can be breathteaking to anyone who’s not picky about small bugs and such. The time came for other manufacturers to get the clue and see there are money to be made out of the S3D. And here we are, playing with a new toy – the first widely available notebook with S3D capable screen – Acer Aspire 5738DG.

This might not be the first review of Acer Aspire 5738DG, but we could and should tell you the story how this one got into our hands unofficially. First – the official Acer representative in Bulgaria promised to deliver us a sample, as we actually own the biggest and most trusted online media around. Then some smart-ass over one of the two official distributors though that it will be a better idea to give the sample to a local notebook shop to test it and write a positive review in their small blog (not like they could do better anyway, they have to sell it, we don’t). The rest became a good story to tell while drinking with friends as we actually did the better and truthful review of Acer  Aspire 5738DG (in Bulgarian). Anyway, it’s obvious that Acer or at least their distributors really wanted only positive feedback from their media partners to their potential customers, but that’s common, so just wanted to mention it.

Back to the notebook itself, you’ll get the well known model Aspire 5738G upgraded with Windows 7 and with added 3D support. Everything else remains the same – the Core 2 Duo T6600 processor, which became standard for entry level multimedia notebooks, ATI Mobility Radeon HD4570 videocard, which also sets a standard in this class and 4 gigs of RAM plus the 500 GB hard drive. The most interesting thing is the screen and the pair of glasses you will find in the box.

Acer Aspire AS-5738DG-664G50Mn uses regular 15.6-inch TN panel with resolution of 1366×768 pixels. The old wide XGA resolution stepped away for its HD Ready variation, and we think this is wrong step. 16:9 aspect ratio is supposed to be better for movies (when it comes to 720p and 1080p, bot most movies you will watch use even wider aspect ratios and you will still get the black stripes under and above the picture. What you lose is those 32 pixels on the vertical axis that could be your taskbar instead.

What makes this notebook screen different is not the shiny CrystalEye filter it has (which is the same as <insert random manufacturer>’s <insert the name he gave to the plastic filter>, but the fact it can work with those glasses from the box to deliver to you a new, completely 3-dimensional experience. The technology Acer used in 5738DG is DDD’s TriDef and it rates second in cheapness after the anaglyph glasses that can use any screen. In our case TriDef’s software requires the polarized filter above the screen and what the screen does is to transmit the light in such manner, that the two differently polarized glasses show different images to each of your eyes. You can see the effect with bare eyes, ad also on the picture below.

This solution has one terrible side effect on the image itself – it halves the vertical resolution and gets us back in the time we played games at 640×480 resolution. Even worse, it makes 386 pixels screen height, and that is if you somehow miss the options in TriDef Ignition OSD, as entering Virtual 3D mode (required by many games and in some – more natural) will cut some of the horizontal resolution too. To launch a game in TriDef’s S3D mode is enough to activate it through TriDef Ignition software. If it’s not already profiled you can further tweak it in the in-game menu (default Numpad 0) to get the best out of the mode.

All this is far from NVIDIA’s 3D Vision stutter glasses, but it also requires less 3D power. Problem is that you don’t get a GTX 285 in the laptop, but HD4570, which is painfully slow compared to any decent desktop graphics. You will also lose some performance (like 30-40%) every time you start a game in Ignition, but that’s subject to change as the 3D driver evolves in time. Right now you pray the Gods your game is supported – the best should be if the game has profile in Ignition, but if it can work with your settings without a profile, it’s one step only to save one. Also check DDD’s forums as there are people with similar problems and answers to help you or guide you (we won’t).

Our first try was led by mistake – we tried to run S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky becnhmark in S3D mode with DirectX 10.1 renderer. It wouldn’t work. Next try was 3DMark06, but it looked awfully (and it also ran at half speed). Games as Tomb Rider, Drakensang, X-Blades, Fallout 3 and any other that can run on slow hardware and has a good S3D compatibility actually look amazingly well, given the low resolution, and will make you regtet you cannot play them at higher resolutions on a bigger screen. Time for some tests with 3DMark06 and Clear Sky before we continue woth more impressions from Acer’s 5738DG:

You will get mediocre performance just under the old Mobility Radeon HD3650 and non-overclocked GeForce 8600M GT. What’s worse is that ATI gives access only to Windows 7 drivers for the 4th series on their website, rest is available either form notebook manufacturers (it is somehow unlikely to get good support by them) or with modifying desktop Catalyst suite with Mobility Modder. No oerclock (no chance, believe us) plus a bug that sets the DDR3 memory frequency at 500 MHz when PowerPlay is on in Catalyst Control Center. You have to disable it to get full 800 MHz speed (actual 1600 MHz). You can also expect huge performance hit if you run 3DMark06 through TriDef Ignition.

The performance drop is not so obvious in Clear Sky, yet it is there, as well as in any game you run in S3D mode, no matter that you lose resolution too.Forget about Batman.

Another interesting thing abouth this particular Acer’s model is the TriDef Media Player, which supports 3D DVDs and can add S2D (not a mistake) support to XviD files and other media. Problems came from the obvious – movies that aren’t meant to be seen in S3D look weird. Somehow 3D but it actually only moves 2D plane and created illusion of depth above the image… Seems hard to explain this one. And again – you lose resolution, so imagine how bad will DVDs look.

The laptop comes with a decent set of extras like Multi-touch touchpad, HDMI video output, integrated Bluetooth, Gigabit Ethernet, Wireless-N and othe usefull or not so stuff. The normal set of additional features any multimedia laptop offers nowadays. Interesting news is that the laptop comes with the recently announced Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium OS and it is a 64-bit version, which is good, considering the 4 gigs of RAM.

Now to the second biggest problem after the S3D resolution – our sample stopped working a few times, even outside 3D mode. We cannot track any problem but this one: cooling efficiency, even if it is above average due to the low average consumption this notebook has, is literally blocked by its screen. What’s worse is that you have to open the screen as much as possible, because the s3D effect is best viewed from an angle a bit below the middle.

Combined with the polarized filters you are wearing (we’ll get to there, just wait) the huge screen angle will make dark areas to look almost as negative, hiding any details they may contain. As for the glasses… Well, the regular piece looks like cheap Polaroid copy made in China (it is made in China anyway) and it’s too small for people with big heads or brains (that’s it, you are on brain diet!). The second pair is meant to be attached to regular dioptre or PC glasses, but you won’t look like Morpheus by wearing them.

Conclusion
Before we get to tell you how twisted it is to put S3D solution in entry level notebook, here are some thoughts. Gaming in S3D is nice and interesting even with this affordable solution and most people that see stereoscopic 3D in action for the first time would be really impressed. The few demo videos and pictures that come pre-installed with the laptop are nice to look at (gets boring after the first few times though), but it is a bit of a shame that Acer did not think of also bundling some sort of a game that looks nice in S3D. To the problems – low performance and compatibility issues are expected at this price, but the low resolution this screen provides is simply a deal-breaker. But you know, the same notebook without  S3D capabilities costs 100 euros less, which makes it much cheaper than 3D Vision and yet much better looking than anaglyph S3D.

5/10 because the Acer 5738DG itself is a good deal with added value and brings 3D to the masses. We would give it less, if it didn’t crashed a few times for no reason.

Tags: 3D laptop, 3D screen, Acer, AS-5738DG, AS5738DG, Aspire, Aspire 5738DG, budget gaming notebook, hands-on review, Ignition, polarized screen, S3D, TriDef

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