3820TG Owner's Lounge - Part Two

RANT:
I hate how the guys at Engadget "refuse" to acknowledge the brilliance of the 3820TG and Acer's overall achievement with the machine. When reviewing new machines and rating performance they always leave readers thinking "the few we review are it" on the market that are portable and powerful.

Arg.

/End

 

Acer was its own worst enemy with the 3820TG. First, they took forever to get it to market and when they did, they didn't even import it into the US. When they finally distributed units to Canada, they were I3 units. And then, of course, the redesign walked away from all of the great points of the unit.

It's as if Acer made such a beautiful notebook by accident and, not understanding why it was so great, redesigned it and created a notebook that I would not consider buying. It's wierd. I'm just glad I have one.

 

maybe acer figured the laptop was too good, decided to redesign some crap to increase future market sales...cant put out a monster laptop like the 3820 for 1000 bucks and expect people jumping to upgrade to the new model a few years later...the 3820 wont need to be upgraded from for awhile, as for the people who bought the 3830, they will be looking for another laptop maybe a year or two from now...that is unless they like throttling and hot laps

 

Someone noticed the high-frequency pitch when the fan is off and the notebook has an SSD? I wished my 3820TG would be really silent with an ssd.... 150€ for nothing...

 

It's known. I have the same problem, that are the coils of the voltage controller for the 5V line. But without a schenatic of the 3820TG motherboard it is risky to redesign the coils.

Has anybody a link for the schematic of the 3820TG motherboard?

 

There is no way to fix the coils with hot glue perhaps?

 

I'm not the hot glue person.

Do it right or let it be.

Edit:
The second problem will be to locate the coils. Acer has used SMD coils.

 

ok possibly a more professional solution to prevent swinging coils? Besides redesign.

 

You can dig around the motherboard to find the right coils and fix them, but they are not as easy to indicate as on the typical motherboards for "Desktop PC".

 

what do you mean with "fix them"? hot glue?

 

just in case anyone here is a gamer...i got this laptop to run my wii/gamecube backups with the original wii remote supported I <3 bluetooth!

 

Just picked up a 3820tg with intel 480m and 6550 mobility off of ebay. I must say this laptop is sweet looking. Didn't realize how compact it was till i saw it in person. Anyway, I've read thru about 400 pages of threads, part one and part 2. The more I read, the more i get confused. I'm about to clean install windows ultimate x64. My iso already has sp1 included.
After I install windows, I want to be able to run switchable graphics. First I am supposed to install vga driver 8.771.1 from acer site. Then what next? Is that it? Is there additional software that controls the switching function? And which catalyst version does above driver come with?

Sorry to ask q's that probably been asked 20times already, but the threads on the 3820tg are hard to sift thru.

 

I just did this today, so here it is in bullet point form.

- do your clean sp1 install
- install the 8.771.1 drivers
- get into bios, and then switch the graphics to "discrete" (you may need to be on the modded 1.19 bios for this, I was. you'll need to figure that out.)
- boot into windows, and now you can install the catalyst 11.8 drivers
- get back into bios, switch the graphics back to "switchable"
- enjoy the latest 11.8 drivers with switching capability.

I'm not sure you'll have the automatic switching after this, intel on battery and ati on power (I don't at the moment and am researching it) but this is what you want to do to have full switching functionality with the latest drivers.

Hope this helps

 

Incidentally, I tried this a couple of times on a non sp1 windows 7 but the 11.8 drivers always fail to install over the latest acer driver in discrete mode, citing that device not found. Going back to switchable mode also confirms that 11.8 is not installed.

In the previous acer driver version, I was able to successfully install 11.7 over it with no fuzz but not with the latest acer driver.

Any one with this experience?

 

Thanks for the instructions. That certainly clears up alot. The modded bios you speak of is the tutorial given by forum member Zsero right?

 

No, you don't need a modded bios for this. You only need a modded bios if you don't want the problems that come with the Switchable graphics drivers.

 

If you do this, you will lose the automatic graphics switching capability. Only the stock Acer drivers or the hybrid drivers still offer automatic graphics switching with the latest drivers.

 

Wow, how did you do that ??? what emulator do you use, and I guess you just bought the Wii controller and that's it ?

 

I have the 3820tg with the HD 6550 and I'm playing Portal 1 and getting choppiness in the framerate that seems to recur in cycles every 3-4 seconds no matter what graphical settings I use (including vsynce on/off). I'm using the modded hybrid drivers, but I tried reverting to stock and the issue persisted. Anyone else have this problem or know of a possible cause?

 

try going into your device manager and clicking on "scan for hardware changes" also see which adapter is active when your in discrete mode...should only be the ati adapter that is visible when your in discrete mode...seems like for some reason that its not active for you...check and let me know.

@beast1944 check this out Dolphin - Gamecube and Wii Emulator

 

Could someone direct me on how to install the synaptics touchpad driver?
when i try to install the synaptics driver on the first page, the installer says the driver was installed successfully, but I do not see the synaptics pointing device in device manager, nor can I use any gestures or scroll. Under device manager, the mouse is still listed as ps/2 mouse.



edit: nevermind, i figured it out. Have to install the synaptic driver on Acer's page. I initially tried to install the driver on too456's driver update page, and it didnt work. Think you have to install the one from Acer first before you can install the newest updated driver.

 

To be fair, the 3820 is lacking a good screen, you have to admit it's pretty poor in terms of brightness and contrast ratio.

The keyboard isn't fantastic either, it catches dust in the grooves very easily and the touchpad is placed slightly off-centre to the left, for no reason.

The webcam isn't great and it also does get pretty warm on the bottom. Probably not as hot as the 3830, but it's not exactly comfortable, partly because of the way it was designed, with 2 fans on the bottom, sucking air in.

The 3820 is a far from flawless machine, it would have benefited from some improved designed, which Acer didn't bring to the 3830 either.

If we want to mention the operating system, it's clear that the 3820 is let down by poor software and driver support. Windows 7 doesn't include native multi-touch support which is a big let down and the support for switchable graphics is practically non-existent from Acer, ATI or Intel.

This is a far-from-perfect machine, but with the price in mind, considering the great performance, you can forgive its flaws.

 

Granted, not many like the screen... But... I've adjusted the levels through windows built in calibration tools and ATI color adjustments and I've got excellent results. Screen looks great in my favorite games. Very vibrant.

I ordered a US layout keyboard from china for dirt cheap. The first one was poor quality and the 3 key was slightly broken. I told the seller and they sent me a replacement without asking for the original back. The second was of much better quality and has been perfect.
Touch pads usually are off center on most laptops. I agree it's pointless, but that's the way most are.

I don't use the webcam. It still has the plastic sticker over it from when I bought it
As for the dual fan design! It's amazing and keeps the laptop cool. Also, proper use of a laptop suggests laptops should be used on flat surfaces. So if it's getting warm then it's on your lap, and it shouldn't be. I use a lightweight clipboard with no paper clip on it as a flat board to put the laptop on when I want to use it on my lap. The clipboard fits in my laptop case perfectly and its very lightweight. I've never had the 3820 physically sit on my lap.

Out of the box it works and does everything it was designed to do. I use the machine almost stock (I use the fan mod). I've never had any driver or graphics switching issues, ever, with either of the 3820TGs I've owned. It seems when people start playing with modded bios', over clocking and such they run into driver and support issues. But stock I wouldn't say it has poor software and driver support at all. Quite the opposite, everything works.

Nothing is flawless but the for a powerful, cheap, portable laptop I think the 3820TG is the best on the market...

Edit: Also, i'm not trying to start a fight. Sorry if my post sounds pushy at all because that's not my intent.

 

Come on... a laptop should be used on the lap as the name suggests!!

I still don't think the machine is very cool, running on the IGP, I'm frequently getting temperatures of 50°C+ on the CPU and temperatures uncomfortable to touch around the fan area. My work thinkpad (T410s with i5 580m) runs equally quiet and much cooler to touch (cores currently running at 39° and 48°) - I believe that's all down to build quality and the plastics used, though.

Though, maybe it's down to windows power management again?

Anyone can get used to the screen, but the screen is not good, simple as that. If you compare it to good quality displays like in the MBA, you'll instantly notice the difference.

Not at all, it's good to get a discussion going, a lot of people give this laptop praise and rightly so but it is important for new buyers to know the flaws of this machine.

 

Try this driver and see if it works. It's a newer version.

 

Hi fellow 3820Tg lovers

I just want to ask, I need to reinstall Windows on my machine. So I decided to go with clean install (Preinstalled/recovery is bloat-fluded).

So I want to ask, as for any drivers, I will hapilly install them from Acer site, BUT Ati and Intel GPU drivers. Since I sometimes play games and I would love to have them up-to-date. I know there was this method (install original from Acer, switch to discrete only, install Ati original, switch back) but since than I discovered my friend has in his notebook also switchable graphics and original drivers from Ati now seem to have option to switch graphics.

So, if anyone has experience with this, is now possible to install original Ati drivers straight from scratch? If yes, which order is better? Intel -> Ati or Ati -> Intel? Thank you

 

Well, my friend just bought Lenovo T420, for almost twice the price, and is has as bad display as 3820TG has. Just higher resolution (which BTW doesent bother me on 13.3" at all).

I am pretty unhappy with notebook displays in general. I have IPS Dell panel on my desk, and I would love to have at least half the image quality on my notebook. But in price range of 3820TG, this seems impossible.

 

It depends, the AUO screen I got isn't bad for colour reproduction and the viewing angle is almost 180 degrees.

 

Me too... I have to say that the MBP and MBA displays are generally pretty good for reflective. My T410s is probably quite expensive, but its display is fantastic and matte.

My next laptop will definitely be one with a great display.

 

Thanks Too456, I finally got all my drivers working in good order. This machine really blazes when everything is in order.
As for the critiques on the screen, yeah i agree the screen isnt the best, but are there any alternatives? I thought 13.3" screens were pretty lacking in terms of different suppliers.
As for battery life, maybe I have my settings wrong or something, but after clean win 7 sp1 install and driver's installations ( I'm using switchable in bios and just the 8.771 vga's from Acer), I only get about 2:30 hours when i unplug the power. I'm pretty sure it switches to Intel graphics because the "P" light turns on. When the machine auto switches to Intel graphics, does the ATI graphics turn off? Or is it still running? I'm just going by what the battery icon in the system tray says, I havnt actually ran down the battery and timed it.

 

I can't really advocate using most laptops on your lap. I've owned 4 different laptops over the last 15 years, and setting it on your lap makes it run alot hotter than normal. And for laptops that have vents on the bottom, you pretty much block them.

I agree that the screen is not the best, It's hard to contend with Apple screens. I have a retina display Ipod 4, and the screen is really exceptional. Having said that, I'm pretty confident that the majority of people buying the 3820tg know what they're getting into. Reading thru the 3820tg threads, most folks seem to be best bang-for-buck performance users, willing to tinker, mod, and overclock, while spending the least amount of money.
Take me for instance, I had no idea this laptop existed til a week ago when I was doing google searches on "laptop" and "overclocking". I showed my brother this laptop yesterday, when I fired up League of Legends on the highest settings and played it with no lag. He was in disbelief that I could do that with a 13 inch laptop. He was in even more disbelief when he asked me how much it costs, assuming it was 900 bucks or more. I told him 500 bucks off of ebay, and he was like "holy @%$!"
This is the crowd that the 3820tg attracts, and those looking for this will not be dissappointed.

 

Very much on point, we didn't mention yet that for portable gaming, this laptop is great!

 

Just finsihed GTA IV, it ran it like a charm at 1366x768 all high.

 

Actuially there's a very good reason the touchpad is where it is. If you're a touch typist, and you place your hands on the home row, you'll see that the touchpad is now exactly between your palms without either one resting on it, and you can swivel either hand's index finger down to use it. If it was to the center of the laptop, then your right palm would be resting on it when typing.

Agreed. The x820TG series has a powerful GPU and CPU in a small form factor. It is NOT going to be a cool running machine unless it has enough fan power running to sound like a turbine. This is typical of all slim high performance machines. If you want something that runs cool, look into the ULV processor machines or larger machines with lots of fans and cooling.

 

Gotcha. I've actually noticed it will switch to ATI when plugged in, but I have to manually switch back to Intel, even when I go to battery.

 

True on both accounts, I realised the touchpad thing right away, but I was just ranting

 

No problem. I have to say my only real complaint about my 4820TG is the keyboard is at best a meh grade unit. Space key is wonky / unstable / has to be hit dead center versus the front / back edge which won't work, and the right shift key and the enter key both do not work is I hit them on the left hand edge. They depress, but no keystroke. I'm now mostly used to it after 6 months but honestly it's the one part they coulda spent another $20 or so on and I wouldn't have complained.

 

No discussions concerning MacOS on non-apple hardware please.
Post deleted.

 

How much "discussion" is allowed.

For what it's worth - it's difficult, not impossible. Getting the WLAN running is the worst part.

Also, turn off switchable graphics and it can be done...

 

The important think may be, which Wlan part you have. Atheros,Broadcom or Intel ...

 

That much. There's a forum rule:

EULA prohibits this as far as I know. Whether EULA makes sense or not is a completely different matter but that's out of our hands...

 

A keyboard from china is dirt cheap. Again, the first one I got was crap, the keys had been sanded down and a US layout printed/glued(?) on. It was horrible, but it was broken. The replacement was the real deal. I should send you the seller. If you get a wonky one, say it's broken and he should send you a real one. Then keep the wonky one, and your current one as backups.

 

Fair enough if it is a forum rule. I won't discuss any further.

 

Got around to overclocking my 3820tg. All I can say is this thing is an overclocking beast. Got the 480m running stable at 160fsb. Got the Gpu to run stable at 780 core 1000 mem using afterburner. However I notice when using afterburner, if I switch to intel graphics and then switch back to ATI, afterburner will no longer see the GPU. Every line in the monitoring graphs read "0". As in 0 temp 0 core 0mem 0fan. I have to close afterburner and restart it for it to work properly again. Do the other overclocking tools such as AMD clock tool or Saphire Trixx have this problem?

 

Link me too please. My current US keyboard is pretty bad.

My sister also had trouble connecting to my old high school's WiFi network. Again, it's an Atheros chip with the latest Atheros drivers from Acer. The latest drivers from Station Drivers don't work for me.

 

Try this one- Atheros 9.2.0.439

 

This keyboard looks like the one I use as a back up for my backlit KB. It's from a US seller for 18.44. OEM New Acer Aspire 3820T 3820TG 4820T 4820TG Keyboard | eBay

It looks like the new Acer S3 Ultrabook will come with a combination wifi/bluetooth module (see red square). I wonder if it'll work in the 3820/4820 series.

 

If we get lucky, maybe this new ultrabook might have a decent 13.3 screen that we can swap into the 3820tg. Fingers crossed...

 

It you want to fix the issue with firefox becoming black after the graphic card switches from AMD to Intel you can disable hardware accelration under settings - general.

But when intel is activated I can't adjust screen brightness.
I will NEVER recommend this pc with switchable graphics to anyone. ty pc!!!!!!

 

i have a 3820tg-7360. im having a problem with the touchpad drivers. after i got the computer i installed w7 x64 ultimate so i didnt use the originally installed o/s for very long, but i could have sworn that synaptics touchpad drivers were installed and working properly.

ever since i installed ultimate i cannot get synaptics touchpad drivers to work properly or scrybe. when i try to launch mood pad or pressure graph from the tasktray icon i get an error telling me "this program requires a synaptics touchpad and the synaptics pointing device driver". i tried the alps touchpad driver and it seems to work fine, yet, when i check the device list using everest it lists a synaptics touchpad, and also the only touchpad driver on the driver disc is the synaptics driver... even the driver from the driver disc isnt working properly, nevermind more updated drivers...

anyone have an idea what the problem could be? any possibility it could be some kind of conflict with ms intellipoint driver (for external mouse)?

thanks in advance