Acer Aspire TimelineX 4820TG Owners Lounge

Acer Aspire TimelineX 4820TG Owners Lounge
Download 4820T/TG Service Manual (Acer) 11 MB

(Model: AS4820TG-6847) Core i5-480M / 640GB HDD / HD 6550M: $699.99 - $799.99 (No Bluetooth)
Links: Amazon.com, Buy.com, Micro Center, Newegg.com, TheNerds.net

Lid: The lid is black brushed aluminum and has a professional look to it. It has the ability to be tilted back 170 degrees; which can be very useful in classroom lectures. However, the lid is a finger print magnet and requires daily use of a microfiber cloth to be kept clean. Furthermore, the lid can be flexed if enough pressure is applied to it, but will be fine under normal usage. It should be in one’s best interest to avoid picking up the laptop by the screen. Display: There is nothing special about the screen; it looks like every budget screen with a 1366x768 resolution. The screen is very bright due to the LED backlighting, but the colors seem to contain too much tint. Turning down the brightness and calibrating the colors is a recommended solution for this. Furthermore, the screen is very glossy and is difficult to use in direct sunlight. Viewing angles are poor and blacks become washed out (inverted) while watching movies from the side. In order for colors to display correctly, the screen must also be tilted horizontally at a decent angle. Most importantly, the overall quality of the screen has varied among manufacturers. Keyboard: Acer chose to implement a floating, chiclet-style keyboard in the TimelineX series. While some people may be satisfied with its performance, others will be turned off by its unorthodox, tactical feel. Nevertheless, the keyboard has some known flex, but has not interfered with my school work and is prone to collect dust/debris underneath the keys. Touchpad: The touchpad is quite large for a 14 inch laptop and is one of the most responsive touchpads I have used on the market. The single touchpad button is comfortable to use and gentle to press. Multi-touch gestures and scrolling seem to work well while surfing the Internet. Nevertheless, there is one tiny flaw that comes standard with the touchpad and it is with the way the software is set up on default. The keyboard and touchpad will not simply work together with the default software settings. The solution is to simply open the Synaptics software and lower the sensitivity for "PalmCheck". Processor: The Intel Core i3-350M (2.26 GHz) is responsive during normal usage, but throttles when temperatures reach 86 Celsius due to its TJunction of 90C. This has only happened in some rare cases with torture tests, benchmarks, and intensive games. Your Core i3 might not throttle at all. However, the Intel Core i5-450M (2.4 GHz) has Intel Turbo Boost (2.66 GHz) and has a TJunction of 105C. The Core i5-450M has a less chance of throttling than the Core i3-350M, but so far has not been proven to throttle as of date. Furthermore, the Core i7 (dual-core) has been known to run very hot and has throttled in some rare cases. The processor will vary with each model of this laptop. Video Card: The ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650 / 6550M is a very efficient video card and can run most current games on medium or high settings using the native resolution (1366x768) on this laptop. Graphics is switchable between the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650 / 6550M and the Intel GMA HD (aka Intel GMA 5700MHD). This is done automatically when you are plugged in a power outlet or on battery (the screen will turn black for a few seconds during graphics switching). The power savings button only works when you are on battery, not while you are plugged in a power outlet. Pressing the power savings button will switch your graphics from the Intel GMA HD to the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650 / 6550M. Vice versa. On default, the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650 / 6550M is used when you are plugged in a power outlet. On default, the Intel GMA HD is used when you are on battery. You can manually switch between graphic cards when you are plugged in a power outlet or on battery in Windows 7. Connectivity: Left Side: VGA, HDMI, Gigabit LAN, 1x USB 2.0, Microphone-in Jack, Headphone/Speaker/Line-out Jack with S/PDIF Support Right Side: AC Power Connection, DVD Super Multi DL drive, 3x USB 2.0 Front Side: Multi-in-1 Digital Media Card Reader Webcam: The built-in webcam is advertised as 1.3MP, but the picture quality is mediocre. Colors are dull and the webcam is unusable in low-light conditions. Acer's webcam software has very limited features and most of the settings are grayed out. Photos can be taken at a resolution of 1280x1024, but video recording is limited to a resolution of 640x480. I haven't had a chance to test Skype or ooVoo, so I cannot comment on the live webcam resolution. However, you should still enable Acer Video Quality Enhancement from the notification area on the taskbar because it will improve video quality in Skype, Windows Live Messenger and AOL Instant Messenger. Speakers/Microphone: The speakers are advertised as Dolby Home Theater v3 and MP3s sound crystal clear. It is recommended to disable "Surround Sound" and maybe "Audio Enhancer" in the Realtek program to get rid of the cracking sounds in MP3s. The volume can be turned up high without being distorted; however, the speakers deliver some poor bass. In short, the speakers are quite average and comparable to most laptop speakers. The microphone works fine under normal usage, but creates a humming sound during video recording. Portability/Battery Life: The dimensions of the laptop are 13.46”(W) x 9.64”(D) x 0.94”–1.13”(H) and the laptop weighs only 4.65 pounds (lbs). This is portable enough to carry around a college campus or to a local Starbucks without feeling fatigued. The 6-cell Li-ion battery lasts around 5-6 hours under normal usage with power savings enabled (30% screen brightness), Wi-Fi enabled, and using the Intel GMA HD. However, watching a HD 720p movie under similar conditions (with Wi-Fi disabled) drains the battery life to around 2 hours and 45 minutes. Battery life will vary with each application you run. (Photo of the 6-cell Li-ion battery on the 4820TG) Source: Amazon.com This laptop can also come with a 9-cell Li-ion battery, but it will distinctly stick out from the bottom of the laptop (raising the laptop from the back on a flat surface). The positive side is that the 9-cell Li-ion battery will provide at least 25% more battery life than the 6-cell Li-ion battery. Gaming Heat/Noise: Under intensive gaming, the CPU may reach temperatures of 90+ Celsius and the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650 / 6550M may reach temperatures of 80+ Celsius. Temperatures have varied among several owners in this forum. In result, the left palm rest may be warm/hot during gaming. Nevertheless, the fan noise level is acceptable. Under normal usage, the fan will be near silent. However, the fan will constantly spin under intensive usage, but it should not be loud enough to overwhelm the speakers.

4820TG Unboxing Video: by Pepperboyx<HR NOSHADE="NOSHADE" align='LEFT' width='300' size='0.5' COLOR="#FF0000"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/06s4gAEFPFo?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/06s4gAEFPFo?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width='640' height="385"></embed>

4820TG Review - Part 1: by Pepperboyx<HR NOSHADE="NOSHADE" align='LEFT' width='300' size='0.5' COLOR="#FF0000"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/wprZR3G30kI?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/wprZR3G30kI?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width='640' height="385"></embed>

4820TG Review - Part 2: by Pepperboyx<HR NOSHADE="NOSHADE" align='LEFT' width='300' size='0.5' COLOR="#FF0000"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/o8iizWRLAaw?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/o8iizWRLAaw?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width='640' height="385"></embed>

Torture Tests & Benchmarks:<HR NOSHADE="NOSHADE" align='LEFT' width='220' size='0.5' COLOR="#FF0000">
Crysis 2 Gameplay Review: by Omni

<param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/8yVE6Sdl8G4?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/8yVE6Sdl8G4?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width='640' height="390" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed>

Max Temps:
Heaven Benchmark 2.1 (entire benchmark)



Max Temps:
Prime95 (15 minutes) & 3DMark06 (entire benchmark)



Max Temps:
wPrime (805.818 seconds) & 3DMark06 (entire benchmark)



Frequently Asked Questions:<HR NOSHADE="NOSHADE" align='LEFT' width='220' size='0.5' COLOR="#FF0000">

Question: How do I enable Bluetooth on the 4820TG?​ Answer: Press "Fn + F3" on the keyboard and enable Bluetooth. ***Bluetooth varies per 4820TG model***​ <HR NOSHADE="NOSHADE" align='LEFT' width='750' size='0.5' COLOR="#000000"> Question: My keyboard and touchpad doesn't work at the same time. How do I fix this?​ Answer: In the Synaptics software, lower the sensitivity for "PalmCheck".​ <HR NOSHADE="NOSHADE" align='LEFT' width='750' size='0.5' COLOR="#000000"> Question: My laptop freezes/stutters in games for several seconds every few minutes. Is there a solution to this?​ Answer: If you have a Western Digital hard drive then you need to download quietHDD and enable it during Windows 7 startup (startup folder, etc.). Then you will need to disable APM in the program. ***Credit goes to Osiyo and Downloads***​ <HR NOSHADE="NOSHADE" align='LEFT' width='750' size='0.5' COLOR="#000000"> Question: My speakers have crackling sounds when I play MP3 songs. How do I fix this?​ Answer: Disable "Surround Sound" and maybe "Audio Enhancer" in the Realtek program.​ <HR NOSHADE="NOSHADE" align='LEFT' width='750' size='0.5' COLOR="#000000"> Question: How do I install the latest ATI Catalyst Mobility drivers on a clean install of Windows 7?​ Answer: 1. Install Acer's AMD drivers (8.741.1.6) * comes bundled with Intel drivers* in "Switchable" mode. Restart. 2. Go into BIOS and select "Discrete". Boot into Windows 7 & install ATI Catalyst Mobility drivers. Restart. 3. Go into BIOS and select "Switchable". Boot into Windows 7. ***Known bugs with newer versions of ATI Catalyst***​ <HR NOSHADE="NOSHADE" align='LEFT' width='750' size='0.5' COLOR="#000000"> Question: How do I disable automatic switchable graphics and enable the Intel GMA HD during Windows 7 startup?​ Answer: Download a program called 3820tray and it will allow you to have full control over switchable graphics. Also, disable or uninstall Acer ePower Management if you have automatic switchable graphics problems. (The program is still in development. Contact inteks if you find any bugs.) ***Credit goes to inteks***​ <HR NOSHADE="NOSHADE" align='LEFT' width='750' size='0.5' COLOR="#000000"> Question: How do I backup Acer's default drivers and applications on a USB flash drive, etc. without using Acer eRecovery Management?​ Answer: Open any folder. Go to Organize/Folder and search options/View and then checkmark "Show hidden files, folders, and drives". Backup the drivers and applications from the hidden folder at C:\OEM\Preload\Autorun\DRV​ <HR NOSHADE="NOSHADE" align='LEFT' width='750' size='0.5' COLOR="#000000"> Question: Did Acer forget to give me a Windows 7 disc?​ Answer: Most manufacturers these days do not provide a Windows 7 recovery disc. You have to use "Acer eRecovery Management" in the start menu to create your own recovery discs and driver disc. It will take a few blank DVDs and a couple of hours to complete this process.​ <HR NOSHADE="NOSHADE" align='LEFT' width='750' size='0.5' COLOR="#000000"> Question: Can I use my Acer Windows 7 Home Premium OEM key to activate a clean install of Windows 7 Home Premium?​ Answer: You cannot simply use your Acer Windows 7 Home Premium OEM key to activate a clean install of Windows 7 Home Premium. You will have to use ABR (Activation Backup & Restore) to backup your Acer Windows 7 Home Premium OEM key and Acer certificate to a USB flash drive, etc. from the preinstalled version of Acer Windows 7 Home Premium. After installing a clean install of Windows 7 Home Premium, you will have to use ABR to restore the Acer Windows 7 Home Premium OEM key and Acer certificate to activate Windows. However, if the above method doesn't work, then you can use the "call to Microsoft" option to activate Windows.​ <HR NOSHADE="NOSHADE" align='LEFT' width='750' size='0.5' COLOR="#000000">

PROS +	CONS -
- Less than 1 inch thin - Weighs 4.65 pounds (lbs.) - Around 6 hours of battery life - Switchable graphics (HD 5650/6550M + Intel) - Brushed aluminum lid and palm rest - Multi-touch gesture touchpad	- Thin lid can be flexed - Inconsistent screen quality - Poor viewing angles - Average speakers - Love/hate floating, chiclet-style keyboard - Left palm rest is warm during gaming

Disclaimer: This review is for educational purposes only. All copyrights, patents, trademarks, photos, and related material are respectfully reserved to Acer and its affiliates.

 

Great summary.

Here are some benchmarks on my 4820TG which is configured identical to Alyafan's laptop other than Momentus XT HDD.

3DMark06 stock everything



3DMark06 GPU OC'ed to 724/1090 (memory can't do 1100 ) broke 9,000



30 minutes of Prime 95 max heat torture test



Max. temp on GPU says 72 C that's because I played a game before I ran Prime 95. Anyhow GPU still get upto 65 C because cooling is shared between GPU and CPU.

Obviously the temperature really depends on the ambient temperature but so far max CPU temp has been 79-82 C and GPU 81 C after running BC2 and DiRT 2 for a few hours. I ran another Prime 95 torture test for 1 hour at work and temperature is very similar to what you see above.

ETA - Addendum for Momentus XT HDD

I cloned the 320 GB 5400 rpm HDD that came with it to both Momentus XT 500 GB and a regular 320 GB 7200 rpm HDD. I've been using the Momentus XT over the weekend, and it felt like I'm using a fast desktop. Applications open pretty quickly, and overall it feels solid.

I didn't realize how quick it was until I dropped 7200 rpm HDD in my 4820TG. My god it was SO slow (still a bit faster than stock 5400pm). Everything from boot up to opening up web browser and playing games, it was so slow.

Now I can't really back up my claims with synthetic bench because you only see 10~15 MB/s sequential throughput improvement but it just feels so much faster. According to HD Tach random access times have been anywhere between 0.4-0.7 ms which is phenomenal for spindle HDD.

 

will a little flex here and there damage the pixels on the screen? im interested in this laptop but i am concerned w/ the iffy construction and the mediocre screen, people are complaining about...

 

If you purposely flex the screen hard enough, you can probably crack the screen since the lid is so thin. However, this applies to all the laptops. You can crack a Sony Z or Asus UL screen in the same manner.

 

Only thing that is really iffy with the build quality are the arrow keys on the keyboard. Main part of keyboard is still not bad, but the arrow keys tilt too much.

 

DiRT 2 benchmark (stock GPU settings)

Total frames - 3,595
Average FPS - 41.7
Minimum FPS - 35.9

Detail - Using "Medium" Preset
Multisampling - 2x MSAA
V-sync - OFF


DiRT 2 benchmark ( GPU OC'ed @ 700/1085)
Total frames - 4,581
Average FPS - 53.7
Minimum FPS - 43.4

Detail - Using "Medium" Preset
Multisampling - 2x MSAA
V-sync - OFF


I had Fraps running in the background.

 

Is there a lot of junk installed by Acer? is it easy to get rid of?

 

I own the very same model. The CPU temps do scare me a bit but can be controlled by a good laptop cooler such as the one from Zalman.

As bronsky did for his 3820, I've purchased a service manual for about $12. I'm planning on replacing the stock TIM with MX-3 just to see if that helps with the heat. Too much of the white silicon based TIM usually causes crazy temps and I like this laptop enough to tear it open!

Great mini review. I can atest to pretty much everything stated.

EDIT:

I didn't even bother looking. I used the pre-installed Acer backup utility to make a recovery disc and formatted everything. I hate Macafee with a passion and it tried to force register it for me. Acer usually comes with a boatlod of bloatware - pretty easy to uninstall but I personally don't ever bother - I just format.

 

I got my 3820TG on Friday and I really dislike the touchpad. Everything else is great.

 

I got rid of the following

eSobi
Norton
McAfee
Acer Games
Googletoolbarnotifier (this always runs in the background. Kill the process and delete it from your program files dir)

Other than these the rest seem to be useful. There is also an utility that kills ODD when you are on battery unless you activate it with the button.

 

ok cool the stuff is the regular run of the mill control panel remove programs kinda thing? this will be my first laptop so never had experience with this bloatware stuff

 

Yes, you can remove the following programs listed by maverickar15 from the Control Panel. It's a simple process.

 

Just got 8920 with the same GPU OC on 3DMark06. Maybe I can reach 9k score limit ...

I really want to see what i5 450M can do in this laptop. Anyone receive theirs yet?

ETA - in 3820TG thread, a person OC'ed GPU and got 9200+ with i5 . So who is dropping an i7 620M into his/her?

 

5 stars fo sheezy

 

please explain

 

Just got 9,004 on 3DMark06 with 725/1090 GPU OC - I think I'm done for a while and enjoy safe 550/800 for now

 

I've got the 4820 with an i5-450, I'll give it a shot. What program are you using for the OC?

 

Those are some nice OCing results.

 

does the gfx card automatically switch to the 5650 when playing games?

and the battery life seems pretty disappointing

 

ATI doesn't use Optimus Switchable Graphics (switchable graphics depending on the application) like NVIDIA. ATI uses simple graphics switching. The HD 5650 is used when you are plugged in and the Intel GMA HD is used when you are on battery. However, you can also manually switch between graphic cards when you are plugged in or on battery.

The battery life is actually very good. In the Engadget Review, the reviewer said on 65% screen brightness, the battery lasted 5 hours and 4 minutes with normal usage. It even beat the Asus U30JC in terms of battery life (known for its long battery life). Keep in mind, the 4820TG is using a normal Core i3 processor and not an ULV processor. Performance is great on the 4820TG.

However, I did not have time to do a full battery life test. I was just simply using the laptop at school with Wi-Fi enabled and for me it lasted around 6 hours with the default power savings (30% brightness). I didn't test it at 65% brightness like the reviewer in Engadget. Maybe, there isn't that much of a power draw difference between 30% and 65% screen brightness on the 4820TG. Someone, should do a real battery test and then I'll update the mini review when I receive new test results.

 

I keep trying to write the recovery disks, they just DON'T verify. All the burn process is perfect, the verification part does not happen. I have wasted around 7 DVDs in this respect. Any suggestions?

Is there any other way to get these recovery out, in form of boot-able disk images (ISO files).

 

Strange.. Isn't the 4820TG mini a 4820T?

I never knew there was a 4820TG mini.

 

Why don't you just make one recovery disc of the drivers and use a Windows 7 install disc? I find that more convenient than installing 2-3 recovery discs to reinstall Windows 7 again.

 

This is a mini review. haha. I wasn't referring mini to the 4820TG laptop.

 

Are you using the eRecovery program?

 

I got the Mod to change my thread title, to remove some confusion.

Santoshgoku - Do you still have problems making the recovery discs?

 

As I said in the 3820TG thread, I'm going to overclock and I don't want the computer to overheat. I'm planning to put Arctic Silver 5 but I'm not sure if I can get direct access to the CPU in the 4820TG.

 

Here is the bottom of the 4820TG. This will help you decide if you need a notebook cooler.


The Core i3 throttles at 86 Celcius. I'm not so sure about the Core i5 version.

 

Can you highlight the important vents?

 

You have to remove the motherboard, turn it over and remove the fans, then the sinks. No easy job.

 

All the vents in the center are important, but the longer vent is where the videocard and CPU heatsink is located.

 

Thanks! Have you overclocked your GPU and played any games? I'm just wondering how hot it might get if you OC your GPU and play games for a while.

 

You can check the first page on this thread for the max temperatures I got when I ran a few torture tests or benchmarks. However, I didn't overclock anything.

 

Ok thanks! Do you use a notebook cooler for the 4820TG?
I've been looking for one that has a great impact on the temp's of the 4820TG. I'd been thinking the Notepal U2 due to the easy carrying but it doesn't seem to cool well.

 

I didn't get a notebook cooler. I'm always carrying my laptop to a different location since I'm a student in college. It only gets hot while playing intensive games. For normal usage, it's perfectly fine without a notebook cooler.

 

why do you say that? i just bought the notepal u2

 

Yes I am still facing the problems. I managed to make the recovery disk of Drivers, but just can't manage the Factory disks. I am using the erecovery manager. Is there any other way?

How to get the Win 7 disk, they have not provided any.

Thanks a lot.

 

I was looking at some reviews and it only made a 4 degrees Celsius difference. I don't know. Maybe there will be different results with it on the 4820TG?
How is the cooler for you?

 

You can use the W7 backup to create an image of your computer as well. Control Panel > backup and restore > Crete a system image. See if this works. It will be looking for a DVD or external HD.

Bronsky

 

Oh thanks! You just involuntary helped my Dad's old Inspiron 1501!

Plus helped me when my own laptop comes.

 

@Bronsky

Thanks a lot. I involuntarily did that just before reading your post. It took a whopping 40 GB.

 

40GB system image?!? I would rather do a clean install of Windows 7 and reinstall all my drivers/programs. haha

 

I just answer the quesitons, I don't make any judgments.

Bronsky

 

i think i read that review too

i also read a review that showed a 12 degree difference with the cooler

cooling varies from laptop to laptop and cooler to cooler.

with two ADJUSTABLE fans and a nearly all-aluminum build, i have strong faith this cooler will work great for the 4820TG as long as the fans are placed underneath the vents properly.

if not, i'll just return it to amazon lol

 

Thanks for the reply. Would you PM me when you get the results of the cooler on your 4820TG?

 

ofcourse bro!

im still waiting for the 4820tg to pop up on tiger direct tho. no tax and bing cashback ftw

 

I'm just waiting until the End of June (I have work) and then I'm buying one at Microcenter. If you don't want to wait, just buy it at Microcenter. Search AS4820tg. It's the first option. Plus there's in-store pickup (assuming you live in the US).

 

So, this is probably a lame question, but what you are saying is rather than make the system back-up, you make the drivers disk and then wipe the drive and install Win 7 from there?

Or, how about this... I think it was doh123 that wrote about swapping hard drives (keeps personal info personal... swaps back if needing to send system in to service). On the new drive, install windows and then the driver disk you made so that the drivers are there?

I think I like it...

 

That is exactly what i did with my unit. Since I was putting an SSD in there, I just swapped them after using eRecovery to make a driver and backup disk.

Bronsky

 

i knew they were available at MC from day one

i just hate paying tax. at MC, i'm looking at $975 or so for the i5 version and $875 for the i3 version

if tigerdirect gets these before bing cashback expires, i should be able to grab the i3 for around $720 and the i5 for around $820.. huge savings!