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    Acer Aspire 3690 Tips & Tricks

    Discussion in 'Acer' started by garciarussellchem, Jul 18, 2007.

  1. garciarussellchem

    garciarussellchem Newbie

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    I have recently been working on my new Acer Aspire 3690. I would like to know if the modifications I have made would require any additional work or if I have done any damage. If not I will report on the sucess of the changes made to the notebook.

    Changes:

    1. Swapped DVD-ROM for Supermulti-drive GSA-4080N
    [Specs available at www.hlds.co.jp/e_products/HLDSProductList.jsp]
    There must be some conspiracy to selling these things because
    I could only find one on e-bay and NOBODY sells them retail.
    2. Added one stick of Hynix 512mb 2Rx16 PC2-4200S Laptop memory bringing it up to one gig. This added speed to the system but the speed does not apply to opening the wireless network icon in the tray at the lower left of the screen. After installation of the ram the windows and maximize/minimize/close buttons changed their color format and the fan comes on more frequently? What's up with that?

    3. Cut the covers out that were blocking the air vents. Why would someone cover up air vents? I think this may have cooled down the laptop some.

    4. Last but not least I rearranged the wires that led to what I believe was the wireless network adapter chip [it says "main" and "aux" on it where the wires connect]. I did not change how they were plugged in; I just routed the wires in a different orientation around the fan area where there were some grooves to form a circular orientation [instead of a shove it anywhere orientation-factory setting] and now the wireless internet signals are stronger.
    [Update 1: I don't think that this worked because the signal is
    slow again. Does anyone know how to boost your
    signal grabbing power from the laptop?]

    [I was thinking of buying some more of this wire and routing it around the LCD like they do with the Ferrari version to see if I could take advantage of the performance.] Let me know what you think?]
     
    garciarussellchem, Jul 18, 2007
    #1
  2. alexjwalker12

    alexjwalker12 Newbie

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    My Acer was bought in Nov '06
    It came with 1gb RAM but upgraded to 2GB soon after
    its a great pc and fast with decent games too
     
    alexjwalker12, Jul 23, 2007
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  3. boomslang06

    boomslang06 Notebook Guru

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    boomslang06, Jul 23, 2007
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  4. arnesr

    arnesr Notebook Enthusiast

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    I have a similar model Acer (3680). I too swaped out the DVD-Rom Drive and added Ram. I went with a Samsung drive ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151132) It was an easy swap from the old drive and I didn't bother trying to change the front bezel, as it matched up pretty well.

    I'm guessing Acer covers some vent holes because they use the same cases on many different models and by closing some vents they can draw air through the case better.

    I haven't had any trouble with my wireless signal. In fact on a good day I can pull in signals from half a dozen neighbors down the block.

    Still running XP here.
     
    arnesr, Jul 23, 2007
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