Acer Aspire 5740G Owners Lounge

Battery shouldn't get hot. Remove it and verify that your computer is not overheating without it. If that's the case- DO NOT USE THE BATTERY AGAIN- it might errr... explode
No- I'm not making this up.

As for RAM usage- 45-55% of 4GB is quite alright.
You could probably make it a bit slimmer by removing unnecessary startup items and disabling Windows services that you don't need but 2GB RAM that stays free should be enough.
You were not specific though- is 45-55% your idle usage or when you have some apps open (browser, outlook etc)
If that's your idle value it's a bit high if it includes some apps it's most likely OK- either way not very alarming.

 

Yes i know, but it still won't work.

Reinstalled drivers again, restarted again. Still no use :/ .

The place where the scroll is ( on touchpad ), it acts same as moving mouse.

 

Since you've already eliminated hardware related issue, you can try to install different drivers from the ones you have (older/newer). No more ideas ATM.

 

Hmm.. i restored system. Now it works .. That's weird :/.

Anyway, wanted to ask : Does this fit in acer 5740g?

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/genuine-transcend-jm1333ksn4g-284-4gb-memory-1333mhz-ddr3-sodimm-82671

 

Yes, it will fit and work

 

What about :

A-DATA 4GB DDR3 SO-DIMM 1333 256x8 9 - Single Tray

or

Crucial 4GB 204-pin SODIMM DDR3 PC3-10600, CL=9, Unbuffered, NON-ECC, DDR3-1333, 1.5V

Whats the differences?

I want to make sure before i actually buy new memory.

Thanks!

 

Hello again dear Acer Aspire 5740g laptop users. Recently i discovered a windows option that can be added to every USB storage device , called ReadyBoost ( I am using the 8GB version : SanDisk Cruzer Contour USB drive review ). I honestly hate my HDD ( WD 640GB 5400 rpm ) . I've had a few problems in which the windows uses the HDD at 100% activity and basicly my laptop dies until it finishes what ever is doing. A few times i had to format it to be able to use my laptop again. Loosing desktop stuff and such problems . So when i stuck that USB at one of my 4 ports , i DO feel that my laptop gets any faster. Maybe by a 1-3 seconds faster start up , faster loading programs and the windows did not stuck that recent when i watch movies. The only disadvantage is that it is so long that i am afraid of hitting it and break it or the port . I am not thinking of removing it until the SSD prices get lower or it dies. But i found out that i have an alcor reader , which i never use. So i am thinking of buying another 8GB of that kind of card. After all that story my question is: What are the top speed that card reader can reach and what is the limit of GBs i can put in? USB 2 has no practical limit of GBs so far but has a speed limit of arround 30 MB/s. I guess that if i stuck another readyboost storage in it i will see more speed out of my laptop . My second question is ,which of them all SDcards is fastest and 8 GBs big that you can recommend me ?

 

@lp515

I've tested ReadyBoost a while ago and found no difference at all. Keep in mind that 5400rpm drive averages some 60MB/s which is twice as fast as USB 2.0 allows. I would recommend you spend some money on a 7200rpm drive which will boost your average read speed to some 90MB/s- way more than any ReadyBoost device will.
BTW something must be stalling your HDD. What happens ot you shouldn't happen and doesn't happen to the rest of us. Check SMART status and verify that your AV software doesn't constantly scan something (i.e. log files).

@sykrot

All of those should work but no one can guarantee it actually will especially if you want to mix this 4GB stick with another sick i.e. to create 6GB rather than 8GB.

-------------------------
BTW- my battery officially died. Wear level is supposedly 63% and it will initially show 1h of battery run but then out of the blue it's suddenly 4% and laptop hibernates.
It's annoying so I ordered an extended battery- twice as big as the original one -one that sticks out of the back of the laptop. It should easily give me between 5 and 6 hours of browsing and close to 7 hours idle.
That's theory- I'll get back to you on this when I receive it and test it.

 

I decided not to use AV at all. It only stalls my pc. Usually when i start up the laptop , i am waiting more then when i first bought it . It is the same windows copy. While i see that the HDD light is full time on with 0.5 seconds off for like 5 minutes , i enter the resource monitor to see which process is doing it . And after a few formats i confirm it is only svchost.exe or some path to system32 ... It is only this or that process/es that stall my computer. Another scenario ( which is all my fault ) , i start up the computer but after 1 minute i noticed that it took it too long to load the logo of win7 ( the flag with the name that first shows up on black background and loading bar if i remember correctly ) , in which point i just hit the main button and hold it until the pc shuts off . After a few seconds i am turning it on again and no surprice , the windows could not start , so format. 3 weeks later the windows could not load my desktop ( this is the message i was getting ) so i formated . After that last format i decided to buy an SSD and buy a 5kg hammer to smash the HDD , until i discovered the readyboost. As we all know , the HDD is the slowest part of the whole computer system . If i am guessing right , the readyboost option is some kind of buffer allowing the system to operate a little faster/or somewhat without lagging , in other words the windows is separating the work of the hdd = HDD + readyboost . Another wild guess of mine is that readyboost= USB2+card reader , would make the HDD job even easier for small parts of time. And where can i read the tech specs of that alcor reader we all have ? Oh and another thing , this HDD is suck a furnace that i can't wait to get rid of it and replace it by SSD.
Btw: my idle HDD temperature was 44-46 C , max i've seen is 62C . Now currently is open and my laptop cooler is managing to keep it at top of 47 C or 37C idle.

Also a lot of thanks to the quietHDD and the fan speed control , and every respond i am getting .

@skyrot,
for best perfomance of your DDR , you should have a 100% familiar components ( if you are going double or triple ) . Maybe all , not sure if yes , the manufactures are making internal tests in which they match the pairs and sell them that way. It is better you buy a pair that a manufacture has matched than you match it your self !!!

Edit: Somewhere on the earlier post , i asked the same about DDR speeds. The answer is that there is no point getting 1333 MHz of DDR because the CPU can't handle it , so the RAM will have to downclock it self . So before buying also look that it is 1066MHz , it should be cheaper .

 

I think I'm getting tired of this laptop...
I love how fast it is, but here are my current gripes which are making me think of buying something else:

1. The 5400RPM harddrive is slow. It slows down compiling time and bootloading time.
2. I don't game anymore and the ATI just sucks battery power and creates heat.
3. ATI drivers in linux suck... and if I use the open source drivers (mmm... kms support), my battery life goes down to useless and the laptop overheats.
4. I can't run certain OS's on it to test code.
5. The screen resolution kinda sucks... I know it's standard for a laptop this size, but stil...
6. The keyboard is a cat hair magnet...
7. I hate glossy laptops... they scuff easily and are fingerprint magnets.
8. The Sony battery on this thing SUCKS. It charges less and less every week.
9. I can't go through a programming class AND a lab without needing to plug in to power.

I could go on.... Needless to say now I'm wondering how much I could get for this laptop. I mean, it's still a great laptop. It's the model with the i5-520M. Has anyone sold theirs, recently? If so, how much have you gotten for it?

I almost want something 14inches, with a higher resolution if possible (or 15.6 with a higher resolution as long as it is thinner), with a matte finish, with a sandy core i5 or i7, with a 5 hour battery life or better and... dear I say it.... with Intel graphics! >.< And maybe a faster hard drive and keyboard with less gaps between the keys.

 

Sony makes a 14" CA with 1600x900 screen and you can get it with or without a discrete GPU as well. The 15" CB is available with a 1080p screen. Either can come with anything from an i3 to an i7 sandbridge CPU.

 

1. Can upgrade HDD to 7200 RPM one. Other notebooks also come with HDD 5400 RPM.
2. Can set PowerPlay to Maximum Battery Life.
3. No comment but I'm sure there is solution out there.
...
5. You get what you pay for. Even some expensive laptop also have sub-par screen.
6. No comment.
7. Yes. Glossy laptop look great when they still in the box. The first minute you removed it from the box, it already started to have micro-scratch.
8. Battery have very short life time compared to any component on a notebook.
9. You should know batter. Any notebook with (only) discrete GPU will have worse battery usage. You should get ultra-portable notebook instead.

Acer notebook with best battery life I know is TimelineX 3820TG/4820TG/5820TG. I don't know how well SB TimelineX (x830TG) will do but I read many owner complain overheating (I do think they're being overly paranoid). If you're going to get a Dell, choose business laptop instead. I don't know how well Asus ultra-portable notebook though. Any notebook with top-end i5 & i7 won't have better battery usage.

 

Newbie alert!

Just a quick hello before I read this long thread, I have 5740G with SSD but otherwise original, bios, clock speed and drivers etc.
My current windows experience is 5.9

I do have one question, I have quick start and generic user manual but can't find full user manual anywhere, any thoughts?

Thanks

 

fifa 12 is about to release this month. and i'm all hyped up. do you think the ati 5650m with i5 would've enough juice fer it??

 

True, I can spend $50-100 on one.

It's already set that way but being a dedicated GPU, it still sucks a lot of power.

Unfortunately, the only two options are:
1. The open source driver with great 2D acceleration, ok 3D acceleration, HORRIBLE power management.
2. The closed sourced driver (the one ATI provides) with okish 2D acceleration, great 3D acceleration (which I don't really use), okish power management.
...

I know, this one is an iffy one as far as "fixing" it.

lol

Yea, I was so blinded by the decent gaming performance back when I first bought it (before I had bought a PS3 and completely stopped using this as a gaming laptop) that I ignored the sirens in my head telling me "noooooooooo, it's glossy!!!!"

This laptop has the worse battery life time of any laptop I've ever had. (It also started with the highest battery capacity of any laptop I ever had.) I bought my wife's current laptop around the same time I bought this one. Her battery life is BARELY any lower than it was when we first got her laptop.

I still do enough compiling of very large programs to peg the i5 at 100% on all cores very often. I'd want something powerful. The issue is that I bought this laptop prior to taking any programming classes on campus. Back then, all I cared about was gaming performance. Obviously, if I had a PS3 back then and I have classes on campus instead of online, I would have gone with something else.

My sister in law's i5 HP gets about 5 hours battery life. I'm going to be searching for something around that range.

 

You can just replace the crappy Sony battery with something twice the size and see if it does the trick. I've ordered an extended battery lat week- twice the size of the original one. It should give me 5-6h.
I'm gonna get back to you on this when I get it.

As for the glossy screen- it's not like you had a choice. Everything is glossy these days.

 

please help me i have acer 5740g
the screen brightness doesn't adjust when i press fn+ more bright or less ,
until i turn the screen light off with fn + f5 i try to format windows and nothing happened and i try to re flash bios and nothing and i try to reinstall the Launch Manager 3.4 and nothing what i have to do?

 

Hello yahyoh. Welcome to the forum.
At some point there were issues with this caused by ATI videro drivers. Make sure you use the latest ones. Also test if it works like that SHIFT + Fn + arrow.

---------------------------
On an unrelated matter- just did a test run to measure my battery's performance and I achieved whooping 32 minutes (Wi-Fi on, lowest brightness and light browsing).
When the laptop was new I got 3h 20 min under similar load.

 

thx bro i changed the display driver and the problem gone

 

@IVANMMJ

Why don't you want to try ATI's drivers for linux? The only problem with them is proper installation, follow distribution's guide and everything will be all right. If you are using Arch linux -> look in AUR (the simplest). Ubuntu -> only way is the package manager

 

Never said I didn't. I actually run the closed sourced ATI drivers. It's the only way to get the little bit of battery life that I get. The issue is that the drivers still kinda suck. Furthermore, it's annoying that I can't play with newer kernels without patching the kernel and/or the ATI driver/installer up. And even then, most of the time, installing the closed source driver, even when it's a compatible version with a compatible kernel, can be a pain with it just flat out killing the xserver. I like the idea of one day being able to compile the newest kernel without fear of breaking everything and then having to spend the time to fix it before I can use my laptop again.

EDIT: I also forgot to note: The close sourced drivers break Mutter and thus I can't play with Gnome3/GTK3.

 

I agree, recompiling kernel and fixing all the errors after updating popular linux distributions can be a pain in the ... Almost everytime when there is updated Xorg on the servers I need to completly reinstall whole Arch linux. That's why I've decided to try Debian next time without bleeding-edge software but with more pressure on stability. If that don't satisfy me, I'll turn away from linux for a long time...

 

When I use linux, I don't update kernel frequently unless there is major bug/fix. It is not necessary to update frequently though.

 

Just a quick question because I couldn't find this problem with the search-function .. even though I didnt go through all pages. However, my 5740g has freezing issues - and with freezing I dont mean that a certain programm doesn't respond, it means that the whole laptop is irresponsible, meaning that:
-the sound stops or stutters, you just hear noise then
-I cant move the mouse
-it basically doesn't respond at all(no ctrl-alt-del etc)

after some seconds(10-15) everything goes back to normal, I see that my cpu was at 100% for a second(as it doesn't display the time that went by but just the period where it is responsible)
Its obvious that this most likely is hardware-related and at first I thought it could have something to do with the CPU getting too hot but now it(more and more often) also happens on startup, when it's not really heated up. Did anyone else here experience this? And if yes, is there any way to solve this WITHOUT having to send it in? I'd rather not, as I have to work with it ..

thanks in advance!

 

It doesn't sound as obvious hardware issue for me- to the contrary actually- I would advise you to use eRecovery or do a clean install first- if the issue persists it may mean it's a hardware one.
Also make sure that your drivers are up to date, system is virus free and disable AV for a while to see if it's not stalling the OS.

 

Does the HDD activity indicator show constant HDD activity when those freezes occur?I had similar issues with my original HDD that came with the laptop.I even tried to reinstall Windows 7 but after 1:30 hours it was still trying to enter desktop for first time.Turned out the HDD was failing and had bad sectors.I got it replaced.Can you post a S.M.A.R.T status report for the HDD?

 

Hello everyone!

I've been following this thread for a while and I'm confident someone might be able to help me solve some issues with my 5740g.

For a few months now, I've found that my laptop overheats extraordinarily quickly. It idles at a worrying 65C and whilst gaming (or doing anything CPU intensive) my laptop reaches temperatures of 90-95C within minutes.

Understandably, it is only a laptop... but a Gaming one nonetheless and I find I can't do just that. The heat causes my laptop to slow down in every capacity ( or at least I THINK the heat is causing my laptop to run very slowly.).

I challenge anyone to offer me any advice or ask for any information (I consider myself tech savvy enough to try anything). I'm worried I'm going to hear that it's time to search for my warranty.

 

Lol, I own somehow 'old' Compal Hel80 with Core2Duo with exactly the same symptoms. In my case it is hardware related issue -> probably realtek audio chipset. When internal sound card is turned off and external one is used, stuttering disappears. I hate realtek for their 'quality' and drivers, but what to do when all laptops use their chipsets?

It was discussed like 50-100 pages ago You need to clean cooling system and reapply good quality thermal compound. Nobody will do it better than you with so much care about proper applying technique. Look for service manual on google with all the instructions of how to disassemble laptop. Good luck.

 

Ladies and gentlemen. I give you an extended battery for Aspire 5740G (and similar models)
11.1V, 8800mAH, Designed Capacity 97680 mWh, Fully Charged Capacity 98091 mWh (meaning it has slightly more capacity than it should)

I'm gonna post some battery-run times as soon as it gets fully charged (came 70% charged). For the time being here are some photos of the original one and an extended one- you should guess which one's which on your own









One photo is slightly out of focus which is all because of the camera and has nothing to do with me being to the pub tonight...
Bad news is... the battery is SONY

EDIT:
Power-saving profile and low brightness with normal browsing activity gives me an estimate of 5h to almost 7h of battery run which is what I expected. I'm not gonna do a full test because I intend to go to bed in an hour or two but it's looking good so far.

 

Oh LOL, that's gonna be your nightmare if it reaches high wear level so quickly like your last one

 

Yeah but then again it's twice the capacity so if the old one worked for 18 months the new one should do until I switch to a new notebook even if it's crap. We'll see about that soon enough I guess...

 

Any discussions concerning hackintosh are against forum rules.

 

Just for info... my battery is Panasonic and for 10 months I have 1.4% wear level. I guess that is good. Cheers !

 

How ironic, as I was just about to ask.

 

i have problem with mic in this acer - very bad quality, and quiet when i record, skype etc.
i changed settings (+20db loudnes but quality is horrible), test with old and new drivers any idea?

 

I can't seem to update my graphics driver on the 5740G. I am at version 11.4 right now and every time I attempt an update to a newer version, it hangs at "Detecting basic system configuration" and I need to force end the install manager through task manager. Any ideas as to what I should do besides an OS reinstallation?

Also, my microphone quality is also very poor, as newuser3 mentioned above. I've read on this forum that some of us have great microphone quality with the 5740G so are there any specific settings we should be using? When using Skype, I was told my microphone was very quiet and when I turned on my microphone boost, they said the quality was terrible and couldn't understand a word I was saying. What should I do?

 

Does the Acer Aspire 5740 have some sort of motion detection while in sleep mode? Too many times when I approach my computer while it's asleep it will wake up without me having to push a button at all. It's sort of convenient, but since I like being in control of my machines I don't like it too much. Does anyone else experience this?

 

I only knew that when mouse is plugged in and you press a button on it laptop wakes up. Never experienced similar behaviour...

BTW: On my last laptop most of the time when I was leaving my computer I heard characteristic Windows sound meaning unpluged USB device xD

 

My bet is on USB mouse- see if it wakes up no its own if the mouse is disconnected.

 

i tried fifa 12 on the 5650m...works gr8 with 2x aa and medium rendering

 

Yeah- the card can still do it. I've finished Deus Ex HR with high details with all the bells and whistles apart from AA and it was perfectly smooth (with OCed card that is)

 

its thanks to this forum dat i bought this laptop(5740g= i5430m and 5650m) instead of the 5745g(i5460m wid nvidia 330m). i got it in sept 1 2010...last available piece in the capital.

 

awesome laptop

 

I am currently playing it on full specs with OCed 5650 on 649 MHz core and 949 MHz memory. I am having a little lag when loading a new area for 1 sec and after that it is all smooth with temps not above 85 C . I guess because fan is manually switched at 100% and HDD open with zm-nc2000 . Beside that i never see the HDD temp again above 44C ( idle is 38 ) , it has a lot of problems.
First: Heat. Iam cleaning it next week, hopefully i will get a 3-5 degree drop in the temps.
Second: HDD is everything bad that an HDD can be. I have the freeze problems , like the light of the HDD activity is 100% on for a few seconds with a little stops and then the whole laptop goes wrong. One night , i left it for 9 hours , hoping that it will finish doing what ever was doing . Guess what ? Nothing happened , i had to the a cold reboot , as usually . There is a picture of it's S.M.A.R.T. status:



Please advice me about this HDD. It is horrible and i totally dislike it . It is not as once .

Third: Can't find out what is my Battery company name.



The laptop was bought on may 3th of 2010.
I guess that my wear level is so low because i almost do not use it without the power cable. As i read somewhere in this forum , the best thing is not to use it at full capacity . Probably down to 50% tops.

Forth: The plastic that was made of , worse than a vodka plastic cup. The place where you put your hand to play games ( left of the touchpad , to use the w a s d buttons ) , gone from silver/grey (original colour ? ) to dark silver/grey even black maybe.

NFS Shift II is the enemy of this laptop. Everything on low and 1280x720p , i was able to get ~25 fps. All other good games so far i am playing at medium- high details . I think i can hang on with it for a few more years , if i change that freaking HDD!

Fifth: As far as i know , we do have a 5.1 sound card. Only a digital one. One needs SPDIF cable to plug in , so that the digital port can start working in 5.1 channels. Beside that , 3 RCA x 3.5mm won't work with 5.1 channel.

Sixth: Keyboard is a " cat hair magnet". Touchpad never used as i always use my wireless mouse. Never managed to open the laptop , was too afraid that adding too much brute force would cut some cables which i am unaware of their places, so left it that way.
----------

please excuse me for my bad English.

 

Your HDD is basically dead- back up your data immediately and start shopping for a new one- you have pending sectors waiting to be reallocated and load/unload count that indicates an imminent mechanical failure.

 

Is there something you can point me to ? I prefer having SSD 60 GB tops but very fast latency . For primary disk i prefer something really fast and i can buy secondary like 1TB for 40$ for USB2

 

Sorry, I'm not an expert on SSDs. As for the secondary HDD I would rather use it inside a caddy replacing DVD drive than as an external USB drive.
Not only is USB 2 too slow (up to 30MB/s) but external drive isn't too convenient either.

 

Hi there, i have extracted my original 640gb Hdd from my 5740 and i want to use it as an external drive with an enclosure i got. The question is, if i erase everything from the visible part of the drive and leave the hidden untouched, would i be able to use the acer recovery to original state if i need it again?

 

You would be able to use eRecovery from 640GB only if it was inside the laptop and recovering to itself.
It's probably better to burn recovery DVDs on a good quality media and forget the recovery partition

 

I was thinking that if something was going wrong i would be able to put the drive back and recover the laptop to its original state.
Having in mind that i've formatted all the visible part of the drive, would i still be able to do the recovery? or in the visible part are routines files etc that allow the hidden part to be activated?

This ALT+F10 is it a Bios/ Hardware capability of it is supported by software being in a bootloader within the C: / visible part of the drive?

Regards