Acer Aspire TimelineX 1830T Thread

RED DEVIL

Congrats on your new machine, you will grow to love it.

I haven't done much with my 1830T yet, waiting for the right time and a good deal on a SSD then I will swap out the HD and install Win 7 Ultimate clean. I did similar with my much loved Acer 1410 that was stolen, I still have the 320GB original drive out of it with all the original software.

I have attached a DVD USB drive and made the backup/restore disks that are part of the original stuff from Acer. Just a backup if something happens. I have deleted all the junk I find for software offers such as Norton and MS Office and the machine is running great. When I did a clean install on the new 500GB HD I put in the 1410 I went to the Acer site and found all the aproprate drivers. Everything worked great for that machine and I am sure it will be for this machine with a new SSD.

I wouldent believe a word the salesman told you about 4GB vs 8GB. I believe the machine can take 16GB and I may just have to find out.

 

Thanks

Think I'll wait on the SSD longer on both price and capacity,
As I do want the 500GB HD capacity.
Though I know SSD could be both faster and use less power.

I think it's a valid expectation
the motherboard should support up to max 16GB RAM pending
verification (not sure they'll ever officially put that on spec),
though at this moment think 8GB-RAM-strip is not practically
on the market yet regardless of pricing, but it just naturally
will be within coming half-to-2 years time.

 

1) Maybe a USB install with a thumb drive would suffice; albeit DVDs would be less volatile. Tutorials are around the web. Failing that external dvd drives are cheap, my desktop actually uses an external now as I very rarely use cd/dvds. You can also purchase recovery media from https://secure.tx.acer.com/RCDB/Main.aspx?brand=acer

Concerning the bloat-ware; the programs you most likely want to keep are probably the ones available from the Acer support site. Sometimes trying the American website yields better support options (my Sony laptop doesn't have support files on the localised server).

2) Yes a 64-bit OS should support over 4gbs, although I do agree that the speed difference would be minimal in every day use. From what I have seen on this forum and general reviews the 1380's main limiting factor seems to be the graphics controller.

3) Sorry not sure... ><




-- I have a question for you, which store did you buy your 1830 from? Are there any others you know of in HK that sell them?

Cheers

 

Thanks PinkPawn.
To answer your question first.

I bought from the small boutique stores in the traditional
computer "mecca" Golden Shopping Center in Sham Shui Po
district in Hong Kong.

There are 2 biggest big-chain stores in Hong Kong
called Fortress and Broadway (equivalent to Good Guys
and Best Buy in the US, while there are few other smaller
big-chain stores equivalent to Circuit City and Microcenter
in the US). But somehow they
either don't carry Acer brand at all, or only have i3 model for 1830T
in stock sometimes Alps sometimes Synaptics as I checked
on the display models, while latest check is that i5 is coming for Fortress but
even the storeperson can't tell when, and might never come
to stores and only available for each special order and
surely need to wait.

Because of that stocking problem for this model, and because there's
currently free Acer upgrade factory warranty in HK
from 1-year to 3-years to give me added safety,
so I went to the small stores.

As I've checked.
In general the small boutique stores in the various districts'
main computer shopping centers do carry 1830Ts,
not just Sham Shui Po, e.g. Mongkok and Wanchai.



My question on the recovery HD ~14GB sector of 1830T,
since no system recovery DVDs given anymore in package.
Even if I do clean-install now, but in the future of any major system
problems, and I'm forced to activate that sector to do full system recovery,
it should still auto go back to original factory settings? i.e. back
to all the bloatwares and factory partitions of C & D 250GB each.
This seems to make sense, since that's Acer's own made recovery HD sector(?)
Anyone tried the recovery before and can confirm this?
And if I insist on clean-install, then I'll have to then do another clean-install
after the recovery to back to true-clean-install status?

Thanks

 

RED_DEVIL

- I can't tell you about what the Acer recovery software does, as I have only done clean installs on friends Acer computers. However my Sony laptop recovery software restores the laptop to its factory configuration, including the hard drive partitions. I presume it would be fairly standard practice amongst the different vendors.

- Thanks for the info on the shops. I live in Perth, Western Australia, and noone can give me an answer as to when/if we will be seeing the 1830 models arrive here. The other problem is that the retailers here normally only have access to the lower spec'd models in the range (seems to apply to most electronics here, sigh).. I guess people mostly buy small laptops because they are cheap, not because of the features they offer over 15 inch behemoths.

 

PinkPawn,

Yes my old Sony VAIO recovery discs did that too.
So I'm just assuming same for Acer, but each brand's
different on its own.

You're welcome. I always think Australian consumer
market is as updated as Asean/Singapore and
Hong Kong/China region(?) I wonder if you can check
Sydney/Melbourne market to see if any different from Perth...
Or call to check for overseas shipping.

 

Cheers for the help, will most likely call to check for international shipping. Bad thing is my girlfriend was in HK, Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Shanghai during the middle of the year for World Expo and visiting family.. just a touch late now ><

 

Hi,

If repartitioning is your main concern, then there is no need for a fresh install. Windows 7 built-in Disc Management is able to shrink the partition where Windows is installed to.

Yes. You will lose anything that was preinstalled.

Create your recovery discs (including the "drivers and apps" disc) at first. The 30day trial of "Phantom Drive" will install a virtual DVD burner, so you are getting handy ISO image files (instead of physical recovery discs) that you can transfer to another computer in order to burn them onto blank DVD media.

I think so.
Or something totally easy:
With Paint, create monochome images (blue, green, yellow, red, white and black) of at least 1366x768 pixels. Then load them into Windows Picture Viewer and press F11. The result is a slide show that should allow to check for bad pixels.

Michael

 

Thanks michael
for big hint on Win7, as I'm quite new on Win7.
I'll check that function may just do that for now
to be simple.

 

Installing the Synaptics 15.1.9.0 driver made my touchpad track a bit better then the previous version. I turn the pointer speed all the way up and it still was a little slow for my taste with the previous version (admitted touchpad junkie)

Got them from here Index of /telechargement/synaptics

 

$899 price tag (amazon) for the i7 680UM 1830

 

What is so surprising? When I got my 3810T last year with an SU9400, 4GB Ram, 500GB HDD it also cost $900. Of course a year later it was much cheaper.

 

Anybody got performance guesstimates on the i7 680UM as compared to the current i5UM?

 

It's a matter of comparing clock speeds (stock and turbo boost).

http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=47554
http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=49664

 

Just placed an order for an i5, don't want to wait much longer hoping for the i7..

Crossing my fingers for the 470um!

 

Interesting.. seems like the i7 and i5 CPUs have the same features except for the clock speed and the 4MB verses 3MB cache.

But I'm wondering if the speed difference would be noticeable in daily use.
For example, swapping an SSD drive into my i5 made a big and very noticeable difference.
Would upgrading from an i5 to an i7 be worth the effort?

 

I don't know if it will be the same with the low voltage units, but upgrading from the I5-450M to the I5-540M in my 3820TG was like night-and-day. The unit felt far more powerful and I could notice the performance increase. Another 3820TG owner has swapped a 580M in his and says the same thing. Of course, we could just swap CPU's - you would have to swap units.

Bronsky

 

Going from 520UM to 680UM you would feel a difference. I felt the difference upgrading from the 1.4GHZ SU9400 in my 3810T to the 1.2GHz 430UM in the 1830T. And with the Turbo Boost, most definitely. But is it worth it, nope. Sandy Bridge is almost here, and that is more worth the wait.

Question: This fan noise is killing me. It is so loud! I really miss how quiet the undervolted SU9400 in my 3810T was. Somebody please find a way to quiet the fan.

 

It should not be loud.
My wife and I both have 1830t i5s.
Both were very quiet until a month ago when her machine started off making loud fan noises.
I used FixMyAcer.com to obtain a Service Request. Cost $8.70 to ship FedEx.
Don't mail it in the original box if you want to keep it.
because the 1830t will return in Acer's standard repair packaging.

Returned to us in about two weeks with a new CPU heat sink and fan.
Now very quiet again.

BTW.. The fan rarely comes on in my i5 since installing a solid state hard drive.

 

Not sure I want to send it to Acer, would be my third time sending a computer to them. I mean it is really only loud when on ac, but that is where I have it most of the time. And I have an Intel G2 ssd.

 

I'm planning to buy a 1830 but where I live (Australia) doesnt have the core i5 yet. The current model is an i3.. My main purpose of me getting the laptop is so I can carry it around to go uni and surf the net and maybe play some flash game (ie facebook's).. with the i3 I can get it for 650 but the i5 I'll need to import which will cost around 800.. The only reason that I'm hesitating is because the i5 can overclock, which I'm not sure if I might need it one day.. Can you guys help me decide please?

 

@ blue em, the i3 is has more than enough power for that kind of usage.

 

I live in Australia too and I placed an order for an i5 a couple of days ago. As far as I can work out Acer won't be bringing anything but the i3s here in the 11 inch form. Australia sucks like that, with the relatively small population we have compared to other countries they often don't sell the higher end products on 'luxury' items. People buy it because its cheap not because of the specs and its other features like long battery life, ultra portability etc.

What was your plan for getting it to Australia if you decide to import? Need any more help or info let me know and I will assist where I can..

 

PinkPawn,
Good to see you've ordered your i5.

As I've mentioned, even in Hong Kong all the big-chain stores
currently carry only i3, or even no Acer models at all. Guess because
despite the processor it's still meant to be selling as netbook
so more price sensitive and big-stores only want to choose
a single model (the lowest end one)
to carry in stock. So I don't see the even higher premium
i7 coming to big-stores for a long while or if ever, as USD900+
for a netbook's really stretching the limit, that only a much smaller
group of dedicated market would be willing to pay the premium for i7
on that model here.

As an encouragement, Aussie Dollar's now so strong,
even you order overseas with added shipping cost,
should soothen your $overhead quite a bit

 

Hey Jayayess1190 - would you be willing to help a local Philly owner install an SSD?

 

I got my 1830T i5 for $699US at Tiger Direct while Amazon is selling it for $820, go figure.

 

i'm concerned about alps....

is there a 11.6" competitor...???

 

I have made a video and will post it so you guys can tell me whether or not the fan is abnormal. Created a new Youtube account just for this. The video is uploading.

 

HP DM1 (AMD)
Dell M101z (AMD)
Lenovo Thinkpad Edge 11 (AMD/Intel)
Lenovo Ideapad U160 (AMD/Intel)
Apple Macbook Air (Intel)

I would, but right now I am in Pittsburgh for college and I don't go back home until Thanksgiving break.

 

My new 3820TG has an Alps touchpad ... what is so bad about them?

Bronsky

 

Thanks PinkPawn =) I'm not sure yet..
But I just want to know, can the i3 handle Sims 3, Hospital Theme and Counter Strike?
If it can without any problems I think I might just go for it.. If not then I might need to get an i5... =/

 

The thing that will let you down most with this laptop is the graphics processing power, and that will not change much between the i3, i5 or i7 due to the built in Intel graphics.
Think you will need to check the following to see what you think:
Intel Technology HD Graphics and
Quick Reference Guide to Intel® HD Graphics - Intel® Software Network

You may also want to check around for some 3dmark tests (I had a couple somewhere before but cannot remember the addresses atm), or similar to compare the different models.

 

My guess is if you try it you will be surprised how easy it was.

 

i have a 1810t... i wanted to get a 1830t for my bro but when i went to a store and tried out the touchpad i was taken aback by its extremely bad performance as compared to the 1810t.

hence i'm wondering if there is alternative to the 1830t.... is there one..??

 

Asus 1215n has a weaker CPU but it's enough for normal usage. The touchpad and GPU are better.

Asus UL20FT has Core i3 options.

Apple Macbook Air 11" is a lot more expensive, but touchpad, build and screen quality are light years beyond Acer's.

 

hmmm from what I can see, the graphics seems to be the same between the i5 and i3... They are both Integrated Intel GMA HD with 128MB Dedicated.. is that correct? =/

 

Well, I think you are right (after reading your excellent article on how to do it). I'll keep you appraised of how it goes.

 

My fan noise most of the time sounds like this:
<width='560' height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/H5TVY5Yd8OU?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/H5TVY5Yd8OU?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width='560' height="340"></embed></object>

 

Hard to judge by a video.

But by the fact that it bothers you it must not be normal. I can barely here mine most of the times.

 

This is definately a problem with overheating, claim warranty.

 

Except I don't believe it is overheating. Right now the temps are mid 50's for core 0 and low 60's for core 1 (recording in Media Center and browsing the web). Who knows, I might just try and save up enough money to get a Sandy Bridge powered Lenovo X20x.

 

50 to 60...idle I used to get 37 deg Celsius. Browsing, the peak was 43. I've never recorded in Media Center, so maybe that's the cause of a mid 50 temperature.

Edit: But then again if your laptop was overheating it would certainly attain a higher temperature doing any sort of intensive tasks. Recently I clean installed my sister-in-law's Dell and it was hitting 90 just idling!

 

Just a checking on 1830T RAM (& moboard), because don't see
official on spec... for upgrading purposes

My assumption is it's
DDR3 204-Pin 1333MHz SODIMM

Would I pull slow the whole system if I put in 1066?
or
Would the board support faster than 1333 even I put in faster RAM
1600 ?
Newegg.com - Kingston HyperX 4GB (2 x 2GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Laptop Memory Model KHX1600C9S3K2/4GX

Safest for upgrade is still go for 1333 speed, no more no less to be
consistent with the come-with RAM?

Thanks

 

The CPU only run at 1066MHz, even if you put higher, it will just run at 1066...

 

1830T's come with DDR3-1066 that runs at 800MHz. Put in anything faster and it will downclock to 800MHz.

ULV's run at 800MHz.

 

Anybody using synaptics drivers on the alps pads? I'm starting to understand why they're not well liked.

Bronsky

 

I don't think that's possible...

 

When I started-up this 3820TG on Monday, all I did was put in the SSD from my first 3820TG and took a lot of information off the drive before I did a new clean install. The old SSD had the synaptics drivers. Although my BT and Wifi drivers would not load, the Synaptics looked like they were fine. I didn't even know I had an alps until I checked. Funny thing is that they worked better than they do now. Hmmmmm. I wonder if I can just install synaptics?

Bronsky

 

My 1830T has almost no user changeable items in the BIOS. For one thing I see no reference to the Bluetooth module in the laptop. Am I missing something.

 

Try it and let us know please.

I'm using this driver for my Alps touchpad:
Dell_Multi-Touch-Touchpad_A05_R279834.exe

It's not perfect but better than the Acer driver.