Acer Aspire Timeline Owner's Lounge

[Hi

I have the AS3810TG-354G50n wisth ATI 4330
now I install Windows 7 and Video card show ? on device manager
I can only find windows 7 driver for 4350 and 4400 ATI
I have also try the drivers for Vista from ACER but still it will not start
HELP
what driver could I try ?

 

where can i find that setting? i tried looking through there but nothing like that comes up.

also, it's not just a dimming of the screen, the color depth seems to go awry as well. to my knowledge, the room lighting conditions aren't changing when it happens either.

 

@gtbuzz

I don't know, I've got no timeline, yet. Some other guy on the board mentioned that the setting is somewhere in the Intel graphics panel. The automatic backlight adjustment is used to lower the power draw of the backlight. What you experience might be a malfunction of that feature. I'm just guessing here, but it's worth to try it, I think.

 

Well, I purchased my 4810t from Microcenter two nights ago for 599.99 plus tax. I fired it up and it's running youtube HD no problem. Have you tried different HD videos? Because I am pretty sure that a few of them (the higher bit/rate ones) are going to prevent it from running smoothly, but other than those, you should be able to run 85-95% of Youtube HD videos no problem. You are using firefox to run Youtube HD right? I believe it has ran the best so far, though I tried Chrome last night and it worked pretty well too.

lol, of course I was... Silly. I can also confirm that this was HD not just HQ. And I can also confirm that they ran well full-screen and in window.

 

It is Intel's power saving features that works with Win 7/Vista's power scheme.
Go to Intel Graphic setting (find that in Control pannel or just click on Icon on your taskbar

Click Display setting and adjust power setting. (by un clickng power saving features by Intel)

However, the symptom you described is not a *problem* but a way to saving power to longer battery life. You also notice this *only* happens when green leaf LED is lit/pressed. If you don't like it either deselect the power saving features by Intel or don't use power saving feature (green leaf LED).

 

buddy, you just made my day! Frankly when i first heard people say it just couldnt handle youtube HD i was super skeptical, i was sure even a 1.3 Ghz processor should be able to handle youtubeHD, especially on the faster core 2 architecture and with oodles of RAM. Today when i get home from work, im opening up my timeline, getting windows 7 on there and getting to work!

 

The "Discovery HD Astroid Movie" is fairly choppy even on a powerful desktop (C2Q6600 + 9800GTX). So, when playing HD videos on the internet you browser is a factor too!!! (IE8 plays it fine)

 

I'm just curious, as one of the main selling points of the Timelines is battery time (i.e., portability), and the nature of li-ion batteries being what it is (about 20% loss in capacity per year, according to Wikipedia, which translates into roughly 1.5 hours after one year's use, and another hour by year 2), are they really worth considering? The other specs aren't that amazing (weak cpu/gpu, low screen resolution, so-so connectivity...) Of course, you can buy a replacement battery when the capacity drops, but those things don't come particularly cheap. What do you guys think?

 

I wouldn't worry about the battery life dropping because no matter what laptop you buy all of them will have battery life that drops as time goes on... so it doesn't really matter...

Really, this laptop is all about meeting the needs of those who don't need a really powerful cpu/gpu (gaming... video editing... etc.). I think the resolution is actually really good for a 13.3 or 14" laptop. It's just as good as just about every other laptop resolution, even most 15" have the same resolution. So I think it's a good resolution.

 

1. Timelines are CHEAP. For the specs, the value is amazing.

2. Like you said, get another battery. And why get another laptop with a powerful processor that gets 4 hours of battery life, and in 2 years will get half that? With the Timeline, in 2 years we'll be getting the battery life of a normal processor.

3. Timeline specs are not weak. For $799 you can get an ssd and a dual core processor that used to only be in machines that cost $2k (Sony Vaio 11" for example). Some even have ATI 4330 graphics along with 4GB of DDR3 ram.

4. Obviously for us a SU3500 or SU9400 is enough horsepower. We knew when we bought the machine that it wouldn't be the most powerful.

 

Actually the battery loses capacity when you attempt to drain it beyond 10%
Lithium Ions have to have at least some power stored in their cells as they have information regulators in the battery pack themselves.

 

Wow, prices really differ from country to country... In Norway (where I live) the dual core/4330 version costs $1,300 - and that's without a ssd. I guess that accounts for our difference of opinion regarding the Timelines, at $800 I definitely see the value for money (although I'm guessing the 4330 version is a bit more expensive in the US as well). But still, battery life is a main selling point with the Timeline, and seeing as the 8 hour claim will only be valid for the first year of use, that kinda cools me off it a bit. Besides, what can you do with it if you want those 8 hours except sit and watch it idle? Word processing?

 

You know, I was watching those HD videos on my desktop (C2D at 2.85GHZ) and at times my CPU usage was near 45%. Clock-for-clock that would be over 90% cpu usage on the SU9400. I wonder if flash has optimizations for lower clock speeds.

 

probably not.. it really depends on the cpu and programs that you're running at the same time.

 

Well, to put it into perspective. My idle CPU usage shows as 0% and fast mouse action can push that up near 11%.

What I wouldn't give for a timeline with the SL9600

 

No, it doesn't. However, Adobe has repeatedly promised GPU acceleration of Flash in the next 2-3 quarters.

 

has anyone used Netflix streaming on a timeline with the SU3500?

 

Runs flawlessly. Netflix is more optimized than both Hulu and Youtube HD.

 

I just ran a benchmark test with CS:S. I got 25.6 FPS with everything on Low at 640x480. I got 24.5 with low settings on 1366x768. Kind of weird that the FPS didn't hardly go down when I upped the resolution.

From my experience this really wouldn't be enough to run CS:S well since actual in game FPS are usually even more demanding than the stress test. But if you were in a pinch and you just wanted to play with your friends one night or something... I suppose this could work alright.

 

Check you downloaded DX9 runtime update + latest graphics driver.

 

im getting 70.54 fps in the stress test.(with x4500 +Su3500)
resolution: 800x450

imo: you should use an fps config ,for example CEVOs
de_dust @ >=19fps @27player

 

Can anyone give me some example of gcc compilation time with 3810T? Compiling a software of your choice (I can run the test at my machine and compare the results).

 

Just got my 4810T this weekend as a replacement for my stolen Dell (It was a POS anyways...) So far, I am definitely impressed. First thing I did was to format the drive and install Win 7 build 7600. Everything installed correctly on the first try, all the drivers were installed automatically, and everything was usable as soon as it came up. It even installed the Intel GMA drivers! Win 7 keeps impressing me more and more...

Ok back to the laptop. So, my first issue was HD playback. My laptop is the Staples variety (got it on sale for $550 + tax), so it has the SU3500, 4GB RAM, 320 HDD, etc. I installed MPC-HC, and attempted to play a 720p rip of Battlestar Galactica. It played very well (I even hooked it up to my LCD through HDMI), but CPU was at 95-100% the whole time. Today, I tested out a 1080p trailer, and the videpo was choppy. Not unwatchable, but definitely noticeable. So, I went searching for something else. I found an article saying that Win 7 has native support for h.264, MKV, DivX, and other formats, so I figured I would play it in WMP11 to try it out. Well, it works perfectly! The 1080p trailer looked loads better in WMP. I tried other trailers as well, and they all played very well. I did have the occasional pixelation of a frame, but it doesn't bother me.

Other than that, the machine has been working great. Boot up is very quick (less than a minute!), as is shutdown. Battery life in Win 7 is about 6.75 hours.

However, I have a couple questions. First, the audio jack says that it supports SPDIF, but no adapter was included with the laptop. Where can I get such an adapter? Second, I was able to scroll with the side of the touchpad in vista, but in Win 7 I am not able to do so anymore. I installed the ALPS driver for the touchpad, but I cannot find a setting that enables the feature. Anyone else have this problem?

-Dan

 

For the touchpad, download the syaptics drivers from acer.com, ive got 7 RC with all the drivers and its working well... this does bring me to a question though for other windows 7 users. I am running the intel GMA drivers that the first post recommended, version 7.15.10.1752. Windows wants to update me to a newer version (i think it starts with 8 rather than 7) has anyone done this and had success?

 

Hmmm interesting. I installed the ALPS driver because I thought that it was what I had before redoing the machine, but maybe not. I will give the Synaptics one a try and let you know how it goes.

As for the Intel GMA drivers, at first, I let Windows install whatever version it had, and then I installed the recommended driver. It told me that it was an older version than the one that was currently installed, but I went through with it anyways. Then, yesterday, Windows update applied some update that uninstalled the current driver, and then reinstalled the Win 7 driver.

The driver has been working fine for me so far, and HDMI works perfectly in combination with the Realtek digital audio driver. The only weird thing is that when the screen brightness adjusts itself, the contrast of the display changes and the colors look washed out. I think that is an issue with the Acer power manager though, as none of the GMA settings change when this occurs. To get out of it, I have to reapply the GMA settings, or turn up the screen brightness and wait.

Weird, some of the keys on my keyboard aren't working... the right arrow, the "t", "u", "j", and "p" are not responding.

 

hmm... well for now i think im going to stick with the older drivers because they work just fine and until there is widespread agreement that the new ones are fine i wont update. For me the only time screen brightness changes is when i unplug it or change the power profile or manually change brightness. I guess my thinking is why fix something thats not broken. As far as keys not working, the only things that dont work for me are the acer backup touch button (the software just isnt installed on 7, and i dont know where to find it and dont care too much anyway) and the disc eject button is super super slow and unresponsive. i click it like 10 million times, then 3 minutes later it pops out...

 

Yeah if it works, don't bother unless you need to. I just let Win 7 do its thing and it seems to work. Oh and by brightness changing automatically, I meant due to plugging it in, or manual adjustment. The contrast changes when I do that.

As for the keys not working, I have to use a USB keyboard to type in my password, as it contains a couple of those characters. I'm going to try and uninstall the keyboard driver and reinstall it to see if that helps...this thing is only a couple days old, I hope this doesn't foreshadow problems to come.

Oh and I don't have a problem with my eject button...not sure why you are having an issue. What Acer software do you have installed on the machine?

 

i think that acers power management software changes the contrast when it lowers brightness to make it seem like it is not as dim as it is... however, if the contrast is very poor, its probably worth dealing with and not caused on purpose

 

I'm screwed. The keys that don't work are dead. They don't even respond in the BIOS. Must be the keyboard controller. This this is only 3 days old! Ugh.

I'm going to image the HDD (I -do not- want to go through installing everything again!) and return it to staples. Damnit. Even my crap Dell lasted longer than this out of the box

 

Apologies for the double post...

Acer tech support was no help to me. They wanted to do a recovery, but since I installed Win 7 they can't do it (I made the mistake of telling them that...). They told me to install the old Vista Premium it came with and then they could help me. Only problem with that is the keyboard issue is hardware based. Reinstalling the OS would do nothing. I tried to explain that, but it went unheeded. Oh well.

Good news though, I called Staples and they said that they would gladly do an exchange for me. So all is well, and I should have a new laptop by tonight, assuming they have one in stock.

 

Can someone summarize if the 3810 (su2700) can run youtube HD or not? I've seen a lot of conflicting posts on this thread and just hope someone can clear it up.

 

Depends on the bitrate of the particular youtube HD video.

 

So in other words, no. This is why I have decided against purchasing the Timeline series, what a shame.

 

Hey, is there a 4810t with the SU9400 model?
If so, where would I be able to order one from the states?

 

First attempt to boot on an alternate OS like Linux LiveCd to check if the issue is software based or hardware based

If it is software based do a clean reinstallation of the Vista OS

If it is hardware based dismantle the laptop and try reconnecting the flat ribbon keyboard cable back to the connectors

 

You should look into the su9400(1.4ghz dual core) models. They seem to be quite capable of handling almost everything including HD youtube and flash videos.

 

Timeline Series CAN play HD videos flawlessly.... I don't know where you got the idea that it cannot.... Cheers.

 

I agree that Timeline is cheap for the value, but depends on which store we get it from.
Got mine for $759 with SU3500 and no SSD. The dual core is priced at over $1,000 when I checked recently.

 

All, I'd like to ask your experience with SD card on the Timeline.

I have 3810 and 3 SDHC cards - each card with different capacity and brand.
Everytime I plug in the cards, I can only copy the content but cannot cut or delete.
I already make sure that the cards are not write-protected.
Now the strange thing is...I can cut or delete if I plug in the cards using a USB adapter.
Is there some sort of setting that I need to do on the Timeline?

Please share your suggestions, and thanks for your help.

 

So I just got back a little earlier from a day trip in NYC yesterday, took the 3810T. We took Megabus from Philly to NYC and back. The bus was double decker and had free wifi. I used the 1810 on the way there and back, and by the time we got back to Philly, I had about 60% of the battery left. I love this thing, but really can't wait to get an Arrandale version of the 1810 next year. The bus seat space was a little tight, so it was kind of uncomfortable to hold the laptop on my lap and try to browse the web. The 11.6" would have helped a lot. The whole time the 3810T stayed cool and was quiet. Screen even at lowest brightness was easy to read.

While walking around in NYC, I had the computer in a case inside one of those pull string bags. Being out the whole day from 10:30am to 8pm, I definitely noticed the weight of the computer since I had little else besides my camera, wallet, cell phone, and DSi. But still I love the computer, think it is great, and am glad I got it.

 

Took the laptop back to staples tonight, got a brand spankin new one. Time to reformat...

Also, is there any way to run a VM without enabling hardware virtualization (which the BIOS locks out)?

 

You can run Virtualbox, you just can't use a 64-bit OS.

 

Oh sweet! I will have to check that out. I need to run XP as I have hardware that doesn't yet support Win 7 64bit.

Thanks!

 

Waiting on my Timeline to show up. I'm one of the 1410 preorder's at J&R.com, we'll see when it decides to arrive. I ordered black, I think its just more professional than the red and blue ones.

 

just want to go ahead and confirm this and list my stats. Im running a 4810t with the SU3500. clean install of windows 7 RC 64 bit. i can play 95% of youtubeHD videos 100% flawlessly. the only youtubeHD video ive seen any stutter with is a promo for disneys earth (a movie based on the tv series planet earth) and only in one particular section of the video. in this brief several second section, there is a pan out on a HUGE flock of migrating birds. the shot starts with maybe 20 birds but by the time the zoom out is done you can literally see thousands of them. the shot itself is one of the most beautiful shots you will ever watch on a TV screen and if you get the chance to see it in planet earth, do it. the shot is amazing, and complex, a butt load is happening, and after that the stutter is over. i watched HD shuttle launches, HD music videos with tons of stuff happening, and it was all perfect. as far as regular downloaded HD content, that should be perfect as well, in fact even better with zero stutters on the most complicated 1080p content out there, provided you use the right program to play them

 

Why don't you just enable it ... over in the sony threads (SZ) thier is a simple way to enable it still works on my 3810T after last update to 1.10 Bios

 

OK – I am new here and have read through most of this, but still a newbie (I have had laptops for 10 years, but I am no computer whiz). I am looking at the 5810 and need some help.

Current situation:
HP Pavillion DV 9500
Core 2 Duo T5250 – 1.5Ghz (another thread said this is 667Mhz 2M L2 Cache)
2GB RAM
250 GB HD
Vista Premium 32 bit
Windows Experience 4.5

I use it for business. I usually have multiple files in most if not all of the following apps open at once and sometimes even more than this:

Outlook (I have 15,000 emails and growing in my inbox and 6,000 calendar entries - my pst file is 2 GB- searching inbox takes several minutes)
Word
Excel
Publisher
Adobe PDF - Multiple large (1-20MB) pdfs of aerials and building plans
Firefox

However, I am rarely actually using (processing) more than 1 or 2 – sometimes I am copying large files from some place into publisher, etc. But I have to keep them all open a lot of the time to refer back to contracts, spreadsheets, etc.. I need a large Hard drive because I am constantly having to go find files and email them to people – I am like the data repository for our business. I rarely watch movies or play games. I use WMP to download to an MP3 but that is all.

As it is currently, this machine I have is fine. Sometimes it freezes, slow to search email, etc., but running for almost 3 years, it has been fine. However, I travel a lot and this machine is 8 pounds, has a big AC cord, and the battery lasts about 1 hour now. Some apps seems to get slower and slower too….

Based on this, despite the single core with the Acers, it would seem that the 3500, with 1.4Ghz, 3MB cache, and 800 Mhz FSB, coupled with 4GB RAM and 320 GBHD, should be WAY faster than the chip I have now to achieve the things I am trying to do, no? Even the 2700 sounds better than what I have.

Am I missing something? Or should I wait several months for duo core?

Thanks Much

 

The Core 2 Solo will be much slower, the T5250 after all is still a Core 2 Duo. I think you should get a version with the SU9400, going from the T5250 to a SU3500 is a downgrade in performance and might impact your workflow.

 

Bummer - I guess I will wait then. Thanks - it is hard to compare the numbers

 

hi folks, great thread here
I have an interesting issue with 5810T and someone must have noticed it.

Bluetooth is turned off at startup, I have to switch it on by Fn+F3 every time I start my laptop. The bluetooth stance was usually set in Acer ePower management, however this utility is no longer available for this notebook on MS Vista... as far as I can see. ePower Mngmnt is properly installed, but is hidden behind Vista OS own mechanism (power management). In this OS tool, there are quite well made power management profiles, but the bluetooth option is missing

Does anyone knows the way how to have bluetooth turned on after startup?

edit: I found some bluetooth keys in registry, but none of them working for my issue...