Acer Aspire 5740G Owners Lounge

I bought Acer 5740G 434G50Mn couple of days back.
It's nice and with the updated Bios (don't know whether my dealer did it or the acer guys). Plus the single beep sound on charger plug in/out is not that annoying!
Though I found the Win7 booting time is quite high, any tips to improve that?
Also, I have problem in creating recovering discs using Acer eRecovery software..
I chose the Create Factory Default disc, and it estimated around 9.7GB and informed that it needs 3 DVDs. So, I inserted the first DVD and began the process. It burned completely but during the verification stage it gets stuck on 29% (It was on it for almost 2hrs). The problem is whenever I start to create the recovery discs, it always starts from the first recovery disc and then gets stuck and hence I am not able to burn all the 3 discs.

 

I would like to know if it's possible to burn the third recovery disc only as well, cause I botched that one. I have the other two, though.

 

I thought the HDMI was an output port, not an input port.

 

Poor quality discs perhaps? There's no point in trying this again on the same DVDs. Use a good brand like Verbatim or TDK- if it fails verification it's unreadable hence useless.

I don't think you can burn just the third one but you can use DVD-RW for the first two recovery DVDs and DVD-R for the last one.

 

Hi,
about the BIOS...if you still have the original box that the laptop came in...there is a sticker with all the specs....at the end of it, it shows what BIOS is installed...mine has the 1.09

I also have a tight power adapter fit...maybe they improved it.

 

Mine was exactly the same...1.22 from the factory, good fit on the PSU socket and the same exact HDD. I think my Euro spec is the same as yours except I get a Blu-Ray drive thrown in. Getting a brand-new one sent out for Monday after my first one had a keyboard fault. Think I'll be trying QuietHDD, but I didn't see any freezing in HL2 or WoW in the few hours I played with it before I sent it back.

Good luck!!

 

Also, I think I figured out what killed my first 5740G. It was most likely due to a faulty power brick because the first power brick was burning hot after an hour of usage. It probably shorted out the laptop due to unstable wattage.

My new power brick on my second 5740G isn't that hot after 6 hours of usage. It's just feels warm when I touch it. Also, the power adapter plugin now fits perfectly in the laptop power socket and doesn't easily get knocked out.

I am just giving you guys heads up on what happened to my first 5740G and maybe you guys should check to see if you guys received a faulty power brick too.

 

Thanks for the tip Aylafan!

I've got to say that I've been VERY pleasantly surprised with the lack of heat coming off of this thing. Relatively quiet as well.

Additionally, no issues with the power socket, but more than a few folks have had similar complaints (read some of the reviews for the 5740G variants on Newegg).

 

guys is the keyboard sturdy enough to handle gaming or do u suggest buying a usb keyboard or a game pad? any specific brand? i stay in india

 

It should be sturdy enough to handle gaming, unless you break keyboards on a monthly or yearly basis, then I would buy a usb keyboard.

 

I'm such a power-gamer I managed to break my 5740G keyboard BEFORE I EVEN RECEIVED THE LAPTOP!!

Although I played a bit of HL2 and WoW before I sent it back, and the keys seemed pretty sturdy. If you're going to use it regularly on a desk though, I'd still get a good external keyboard and mouse, it's just better.

 

Hi guys!
I'm an (almost) happy owner of a 5740G from Hungary
My laptop: 434G50MN (i5, HD5650, 500gb HDD)

First time, the Enter key made a rusty or squeeky sound when I pressed it. So I sent it back, and they replaced the keyboard, I'm going to get it back today or on Monday

The Question: Is smooth scrolling possible? I couldn't find any options. And can I set for example "three finger touch = right click", and things like these?

 

Update info for those who are not afraid of the beep

New Realtek audio driver 2.48 is available. Probably the usual "customizations" in the change-log- I can't say as I'm still downloading at a whooping 22KB/s

------------------

Another interesting note for 5740G users who wonder why don't we have the switchable graphics. Some of you may remember that 5740G was supposed to have this feature according to the original press release.
Acer used Intel HM55 chipset that enables switchable graphics for a reason- otherwise they could have used PM55 which is probably cheaper anyway.

Well it all seems to be Intel's fault as they apparently had no functioning video drivers at the time Acer launched 5740G and others like 4740G. So the feature was untested and not working hence it ended up as disabled one.

Based on info provided by user AcerInsider in a thread about Aspire 4740G here

 

So instead of testing it and providing it as a very cool update, they're just going to leave it locked?

That's not very sporting of them.

On the flip side, it'd be a very cool DIY project for those who are into hacking the bare metal and writing drivers from scratch.

 

I don't get my hopes high about that but it's still remotely possible they can do that.
As for DIY projects it's easier than you think- no bare metal and no driver modding- everything is connected and drivers are available from Intel. Acer probably had this option ready in BIOS but left it disabled and hidden.
There are guys on this forum who specialize in modding Phoenix BIOSes to unhide more options. In my opinion it's all you need because this option had to be there and it was easier just to hide it than to remove it all together.

 

At least we can update to the latest Catalyst version.

 

Yeah but judging from the beta drivers available Catalyst will work with integrated Intel HD starting from Cats 10.5 or 10.6 anyway.
They have to make it work as the same users who buy the most powerful cards are interested in both the best performance and game fixes provided by the most recent drivers and the least possible amount of heat generated when they are not gaming.
Cats 10.6 mobile pre-beta do contain Intel video drovers in its package BTW- so it's gonna work sooner or later.

 

Double posting but for important reason (meaning another update post)
This time it's:

Atheros Wi-Fi driver v 9.0.0.173 (from Station Drivers)

Synaptics Touchpad driver v 15.0.13.0 (from laptopvideo2go)

Chicony WebCam Application 1.1.164.323 (from Aspire 5551G page)

Second post updated, all tested and working.

 

I just bought this model yesterday, and i'm annoyed by the beep/squeek the notebook makes when the fan revs up. I did see on or two people in this topic who experienced this too. Did you find any solutions for the problem?
(or at least found out what causes it, cause using the no sounds soundscheme, or turn off the system beep doesn't seem to help)

 

I thought the challenge on dual graphics was to be able to hot switch between the two . . which needed a new driver/layer created between the graphics output and the screen so a seamless switch could occur.

The ability to boot into either mode should be fairly easy to implement (just like booting first time with different hardware - and ATI provide both drivers in one install) but I don't want to reboot before playing a game and then again before checking my messages.

 

You can always just hit mute before you decide to put the plug in or out.

 

It ain't the sound it makes when you plug in or plug out. I have that too, but it doesnt annoy me. It's the soft beep you hear when the fan revs up, and you hear it too when the sound is muted so I'm afraid it's just the fan and its bearings.

 

Just updated to the v1.22 BIOS and now having wifi problems

Sometimes won't go online for the weirdest reasons... sigh...

Anyone know how to revert back to v1.09 BIOS?

 

Update wifi drivers..

 

one person in a review wrote it does not.

 

thanks a lot

 

Hi everybody!

I came to seek help with some annoyance that i'm having. Well the computer itself is so quiet and nicely cooled down. But i hear like after every 10 seconds some weird sound, like something is trying to spin but stops right away.
I put my HHD to never stop spinning but it stills does the sound.
I investigated a little and found out that it comes from the middle of laptop under keyboard.
So i played with my powerplay and non of those options would shut the noise.
It does the sound even when compleatly idle, processors working percentage is nearly 0.
Sometimes it doesn't do the spinning voice that often but sometimes it does it so often that drives me nuts cause i don't know whats going on!

And i also hear some high pinch (hertz) voice when i put my ear at the back of my laptop while it's on. I guess that's GPU doing some business.

Yeah, and my down arrow key still functions so bad that i gotta press it so hard that i'm afrain i broke the keyboard. I tried to use compressed air on it with every angle possible to clean of dirt but no effect. It functions well when i press the upper part of down arrow but when i press it like in normal use nothing happends .It's important button for me cause i play alot games and most need it for changing angle and stuff.
I'm out of ideas of how to repair it.

I don't think i can send laptop back cause i ordered it from so far and it would take month to just arrive there.

Thanks for reading my little problems. I hope i'm gonna be happy 5740G user again (or not?).

 

Hey guys,

just wanted to update and confirm that the Hitachi 7K500 fits within the chassis with no problems (same dimensions as the stock Hitachi I reported in the laptop earlier). Biggest issue with installation was being cautious when removing the external panel covering the drive (i.e., since I wasn't used to Acer designs, I was very slow in removing the panel; often consulted the service guide for the 5742G provided via this thread, which was perfect as they use the same chassis).

Minimal loss to battery life (I haven't really noticed any, but I know that it does - 1.4/.5W for the stock drive, 1.8/.2W for the 7K500 TravelStar.

The usual performance increases expected with moving from a 5400RPM to a 7200RPM drive.

No heat issues have been noticed, and no additional triggering of the laptop fan.

Big thing of interest is that the 7K500 is VERY QUIET. I've yet to hear it without the aid of a Sennheiser 416, even when transferring large file batches.

We'll see about long-term dependability, but so far it was worth the $75 paid.

My biggest problem right now is that I've got an issue with the PCI driver in device manager (I don't know which driver it is, and I thought I tried them all). Minor issue until I can find the right driver for the device. Otherwise, it's was painless.

 

You meant 5738G, right?

BTW Congratulations on the successful update. Could you attach a HD Tune screenshot with read test result?

 

hey!
a quick question- is the mouse button actually a little depressed or I have done that by using it heavily ?

 

They are often depressed. Tough life as a mouse . . .

No seriously it seems pretty common that one side of the 'see-saw' is higher or lower. Not an inspired (sic) piece of design

 

Why yes I did mean the 5738G. My bad

I'll give the HD Tune screenshot later tonight.

Big thing holding the Windows score down... video card.

I also need to check which version of the BIOS I'm currently running. If the current working version is worth it, I'll bump up.

UPDATE: Wow... running 1.09 for BIOS. Needed to bump that up.

Haven't had a chance to post up a screenshot of HDTune, but here's what we're looking at so far:

Minimum Transfer Rate: 51.7 MB/s

Maximum Transfer Rate: 107.5 MB/s

Average Transfer Rate: 83.3 MB/s

Access Time: 16.7 ms

Burst Rate: 118.4 MB/s

CPU: -1.0%

 

My acer aspire 5740g-6979 stutters during video game play where it shouldn't... i ran a dpc checker and it spikes every 30 seconds or so. My drivers are updated and i have the 1.22 bios.. i could use some serious help

thanks

 

Nice number- certainly a good update. You need to update your BIOS before your battery calls it quits though.

Have you tried quietHDD?

 

Usually the WiFi card . . Apart from updating drivers or turning it off not many options

 

Yeah, as soon as I saw the BIOS version, I upgraded to the current version. No issues

 

Have you tried quietHDD?[/QUOTE]

Doesn't help, thanks tho

 

newbie here and i want to thank downloads and others for this thread...i have been following this thread and finally registered so i can post...

i have a 5740-6378 for almost 3 months which i got from costco...this is the model with the integrated graphics...

for $70 more i decided to return it and go with the 6979 so i can get the 5650 card...

i already made the 3 recovery disks for the 6378...can i use this disks for the 6979?...

i have an external hdd where i have a complete backup of the 6378...how do i transfer all my programs and files to the 6979?...

thanks again guys for a great resource thread...

 

just use acer backup manager and select restore from ur external hard drive that sud work

 

thanks for the response shedear...

do i have to make the 3 recovery disks for the 6979 or are the 3 disks for 6378 okay?...

 

I would think you have to make new ones since the other computer did not have the driver for the ati card and maybe other hardware that's different.

 

thanks lacienega...i should be getting the 6979 tomorrow...

 

gitoy
I am not confident that restoring an image of a different system with different hardware will be trouble free. (but then I am an experienced pessimist)

I would recommend a separate copy-paste copy or move of your directories of documents, photos etc to the external drive, and a full copy (or all you can copy) from app data, settings etc to include e-mail settings, favourites, address books etc.

By all means do the acer backup as well.

Ensure you have any licence codes etc too

With the new machine reinstall your own programmes, replace documents etc and use import in your mail programme pointing to the directory structure containing your mail message files that was copied to the HDD

Then undertake whatever level of deletion/uninstallation of c drive files your data deserves/requires before restoring the original factory system (alt-F10 at 'acer bios screen) for the next user of your current system.

Better be quick thought - think Costco USA only take laptops back up to 90 days ?

 

Here's a dumb one...

Which of the drivers on the backup disc are used for the PCI controller.

Apparently I missed that one while installing drivers on the new HDD, and since there isn't a "PCI Controller" one listed, I didn't want to go through all the drivers at random, reinstalling.

I know it's one of the Intel ones, just not sure which one... and despite the Acer website, it wasn't included with Win 7 Ultimate.

 

Try this first.

 

Whenever I boot Windows, Wifi is automatically enabled. Is there an option to change it to default disabled?

 

i wanted to install xp, but there was bsod wen ever i tried it install xp 32bit.after researchin got to know in bios i had to change sata from achi to ide...then xp got installed..i used easy bcd to restore windows 7 boot manager, the prob now is i have to keep changing sata in bios to ide to boot xp n to achi to boot to windows 7 every time.....otherwise bsod appears...any help anyone?????

edit
in my hp desktop bios for sata both ide n achi are enabled simultaneously ...is it possible to do the same in acer bios???i think that cud solve the problem

 

also in xp internet is not working

 

yes look in windows service n change auto entry to manual

 

Do any of you guys have this little bug/issue?

I have a 5740G-6395 running the stock Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit OS install (only driver I updated was the video card to 10.4 cats) and whenever I put the computer to sleep when I wake it back up I lose the LED backlit brightness control. A reboot fixes this but its really annoying.