Acer Aspire TimelineX 4820TG Owners Lounge

If it was a software conflict, it could be that one of your original drivers are corrupted. That is why I would take the time now to use the recovery partitiion and take the unit back to factory. Then install the new software, 1 at a time and use the unit for 24-48 hours between each install.

Bronsky

 

How are the new 6000 Mobility GPUs? Is it worth it to wait for the refresh or just buy the 7805 from amazon?

 

The screen is well built.I sleep aside my laptop and most of the time,i rolled over it.This thing is unbreakable.

 

I draw the line at sleeping with my electronic devices. You never know where that may lead.

@ePsychotic I knew the 6xxx series were imminent and choose not to wait. The increase is only 5-10% and I needed my notebook for work. I guess it depends on how pressing your need is for this notebook. Since it is the same GPU as the 5xxx series, much of the performance increase may come from future drivers anyway. Tough choice. You always want the latest and greatest to start off. The HD 6550 4820TGs are not yet in-stock in Germany. The 3820TG's have shown up, however, and the 4820TGs should be there soon. Acer Aspire TimelineX 4820TG-464G75Mnks - Notebooks - computeruniverse.net How long before we see them is anybody's guess but I can't imagine that it will take that long.

Bronsky

 

Hey, Everyone. I am HAPPY to announce a birth of my new baby "Acer 4820TG" from Amazon. This thing is AMAZING! I was hesitant buying 3820TG from Canada and 4820TG from Amazon was the only option. Looked at the posts comparing the size/weight differences between the two and it did not seem that 4820TG was that much bigger. Of course, the lighter weight of 3820TG was a better option for me, but since I have received my new 4820TG - I do NOT regret my decision at all.

The display is AWESOME (after reading some of the posts here I was really worried), but how do you guys identify the manufacturer of your laptops display?

Thank you to all of you over here - this forum rocks!

 

HWinfo will give you this information ( HWiNFO & HWiNFO32 - Hardware Information and Analysis Tools)

 

It could just be my spoiled eyes. They do not detract from the viewing experience in any way though.

*Insert joke about viruses*

 

Oh, hehe, okay.

If there's any sign of a problem or you detect a defect from the AUO LCD screen, don't hesitate to request an exchange.

If there's a problem, you shouldn't endure it.

After spending that amount of money, you should get your money's worth.

 

I don't think I would get a much better screen if I did decide to send it back. I've checked this laptop up and down and even did benchmarks and a few stress tests just to make sure the temps and everything are to my liking. I am satisfied so far.

 

Oh, okay, cool!

 

To all prospective 4820TG buyers,
I just noticed that J&R has the 4820TG-7805 in stock.

Acer Computer Aspire AS4820TG-7805 TimelineX 14" Notebook PC in PC Notebook Computers at JR.com

Unfortunately, Newegg doesn't have the ($749.99) price
listed any longer, so J&R customer service can't do a price match.

But you can still use the GEICO10 code for $10 off.
So the total will be ($789.99) with free ground shipping.

This is a great option with J&R's excellent 30-day return/exchange policy.
If you're not completely satisfied, within 30 days, you can return it with no
restocking fee. Or if there's a problem/defect within 30 days, you can
easily do an exchange.

Sorry if I appear to be a J&R ad. Hehe!
I just wanted other people to know about J&R's excellent
return/exchange policy.

Good luck!

 

I'm glad you said it and not me.

8519 3DMarks with 650/900.
http://3dmark.com/3dm06/15078861;js...6/15078861?key=YFeS7vz9JB47uPkt9yce3UKhD2WD2Q

3dmark06 is very CPU biased, so if I OC the CPU even just a little I might be able to make it over 10k. Haven't tried.

 

LOL Yes, sorry about that.

 

QFT. I got my 4820TG from JR back when newegg still carried it, and they happily PM'd for me (no tax, f/s $749.99).

the key is to call

 

Excellent point!

I forgot about advising that option.

Thanks infoolio!

 

So a message has been popping up sometimes when plugging the 4820tg in...
"Graphics card is unable to switch because the resource is in use. If you want to switch graphics settings in the future, please right-click on the desktop and select the configure option."
So, this means that something was using the integrated graphics and so when it was plugged in it couldn't switch, right? All I was doing is running the browser, but I suppose that could do it. I guess when you plug in your laptop its supposed to be exited out of all applications to switch properly? Kind of odd but OK.

 

Thanks! It seems I have AUO panel, but it is flawless!

 

The browser will prevent the graphics from switching. It's a trick some use to keep the IGPU on when the unit is plugged in.

Bronsky

 

Hi guys,

I have been reading this thread to help deciding to buy the 4820TG. Is there a preference to have 4820TG-7805 instead of 280TG-7566?

From the spec, it seems 7566 has a bigger HDD. And is available at MicroCenter for $799.99

Micro Center - Acer Aspire Timeline X AS4820TG-7566 Laptop Computer - Carbon Black LX.PSE02.345

Please advise.

Thanks.

 

Nice find ... didn't know that Microcenter had them back in-stock. They're showing up everywere again.

Bronsky

 

Thanks. I will be adding the Micro Center link on the first page.

 

Man, really? I would have much prefered the larger HDD, but I didn't think anyone would get that model in stock (especially since for a couple of weeks there, it didn't seem like anyone was getting a new shipment of them, period.) Ah well, nothing I can do about it now, sadly. Still looking forward to finally getting home and playing with my new machine! It's been there since tuesday - I haven't been.

 

Aww that sucks that micro center got that in stock right now. But it's alright.

I think that model also has the bluetooth module.

 

Hooray!

Awesome!

 

Same here, love my screen, I see absolutely zero lines, and it's even difficult to see pixels from up close. Now I just hope I don't receive another BSoD because I don't have time to ship it back before I go abroad... MemTest was perfect, and I updated a few drivers, so hopefully it's not hardware related. Haven't gotten any more, I hope it stays that way.

And that is disappointing that the 7566 model just came out. I called Acer about that like 4 times haha, but they never had any idea what I was talking about. Their support isn't very knowledgable, oh well. I'm thinking of replacing the hdd anyway with a Momentus XT (simply because SSD offers way too little storage for a huge price tag). However, I've heard rumors of large decreases in battery life with the Momentus XT, any merit to that?

 

Can anyone confirm that the 7566 has bluetooth? I can't seem to find anything that says it does. Anything else different with this model? I have the 7805 coming. I have an ssd that I will slap into it, so I could care less about the bigger HD, but I would like BT.

 

Hi All,

I was just reading the first post and wonder why you tell about 90 watts TDP and 86°C for throttling about Core i3-350M !? By the way, you also write 105 W for Core i5-460M.
All Core's specs are here :
Core i3 Mobile : Intel® Core? i3 Mobile Processor Family
Core i5 Mobile : Intel® Core? i5 Mobile Processor Family
Core i7 Mobile : Intel® Core? i7 Mobile Processor Family

TDP is 35 watts far all excepted Quad Core. Tmax is 90°C for Core i3 and 105 for most other ones.

PS : Looks like some mistake with W and °C.

 

hi friends.......i have an acer 4820tg laptop with factory bundled win 7 home ......now the problem is that i forgot to make a recovery disc earlier...now my laptop has viruses of all sorts...is there any possibility that my recovery disc would be infected too ,,,if i make one now......plz help me on this one...as i urgently need to recover my laptop....... ....also tell me if i can recover my laptop with a recovery disc from others laptop of same kind....???

 

Max thermal bridge temp on the I3 is 85c. Throttling at 86C is observed temp, likely due to the effect of the IGPU thermal max.

 

Thank you for this precision. What about the TDP ? 105 Watts (Core i5) and 90 Watts (Core i5) seems still wrong. Even with a good powermeter (aka checking Cos fi) on my 4820TG using Prime and Furmark, it never goes over 68 Watts.

PS : I'm reading from page 1 ! Does some one have already replace the HD screen with a 1600x900 one ? I buy a 4820 rather than the 3820 for this reason.

 

Yea ... I haven't looked at the first page but I would assume that that's a Typo. I think that's a reference to temps. Aylafan will probably pick that up when he sees this or comment.

 

I have a problem with my Acer 4820TG Il Diavolo, i7620m 160 ssd..
sometimes (not very often) It gets frozen and i cant do anything, I cant even open task manager. I have to restart notebook. Is there anyone else experiencing that problem? Could it be SSD problem? I heard that ssds have kind of problems.

 

How much battery life are you guys getting out of your 4820s? I have a friend with the integrated graphics version that gets almost 10 hours.

 

He has a 9 Cell battery. Most models only have a 6 cell.

 

I have mine 4820TG for just few days, but it seems that it easily gets around 6+ hours of battery life. Still trying to figure the "disable ODD" part - Acer icon says it is disabled to conserve the battery life, but I hear it spinning.

After playing with it for awhile, it does seem that I will be needing a clean re-install of Windows 7 - I thought I have cleaned all the bloatware, but sometimes the laptop is just not as responsive. I know Bronsky has a nice write-up of how to re-install Windows (apparently the Windows key supplied by Acer will not work for regular install).

 

There are 2 versions of the Core i3. I've gotten the Core i3-350M to throttle at 85-86C. So, I am assuming it is rPGA.
TJunction 90°C for rPGA, 105°C for BGA
Intel® Core? i3-350M Processor (3M Cache, 2.26 GHz) with SPEC Code(s) SLBPK, SLBPL, SLBU5, SLBU6

However, a lot of Core i5-450M owners has gotten their temperatures to reach 90C without throttling.
TJunction 105°C for rPGA
Intel® Core? i5-450M Processor (3M cache, 2.40 GHz) with SPEC Code(s) SLBTZ

Here is the Core i5-460M. It's still rPGA.
TJunction 105°C for rPGA
Intel® Core? i5-460M Processor (3M Cache, 2.53 GHz) with SPEC Code(s) SLBZW, SLC22

I'll change it from TDP to TJunction on the first page. Minor mistake. Thanks.

 

6+ with 6 cell according to windows battery meter. I created the driver cd via bronsky's instructions before I reformatted and installed win7 ultimate. I took acer power management and ODD power saving programs off the CD and those work for me.

 

Would someone mind pointing me to the instructions Bronsky put together describing how to reinstall Windows on the 4820tg using the OEM key for Windows supplied by Acer? I looked all over the front page of this (very long) post and could not find it.

Also, thank you to everyone who regularly contributes to this thread. This is easily the best resource available for anyone who is interested in buying or who currently owns a 4820tg.

 

Happy to. http://forum.notebookreview.com/ace...rks-tweaks-mods-upgrades-162.html#post6465732 It's on the front page of the 3820TG thread.

Bronsky

 

Yeah ! Catch up reading ! ^^

Look at those ones :

Acer Aspire TimelineX 3820TG-464G75nks - Notebooks - computeruniverse.net
Acer Aspire TimelineX 3820TG-374G50nks - Notebooks - computeruniverse.net

Radeon HD 6370 512MB and Radeon HD 6550 1GB.

I have my TimelineX 4820 "low end" but also low price ! It comes with Core i3-330M (lol looks like BMW Serie 3 330i), Mobility Radeon HD 5650 1 GB, 500 GB, no BT : 565 € (but within 21% VAT. ) I plug a Crucial M225 128 GB with a fresh Windows 7 64bits SP1 (slipstream). That's fine for me this way. Screen is Chi Mei N140B6-L24, it looks nice.

I run some benchmarks, no surprise. It performs like other ones. The Core i3 idle when running CPU and GPU intensive (Prime + unigine). I don't care, it's not the way I use a laptop (got a desktop for high end applications). Except my past T61p, I never see any laptop witch can handle very easy this kind of torture test. My 4820 have no issue during game.

What suprise me, is the power consumption of the Atheros Wifi : ~2,5 Watts !
Idle with wifi and Radeon : 16 Watts
Idle without wifi and Radeon : 13,5 Watts
Idle with wifi and Intel gfx : 10 Watts
Idle without wifi and Intel gfx : 7,5 Watts
Full charge (GPU + CPU), max bright, wifi : 68 Watts

 

This lil baby plays sc2 great btw.

 

I second that. I'm able to play SC2 at native resolution with everything set to Ultra and maintain 30 frames per second. My frames per second are even higher in standard multiplayer games (i.e., roughly ~35 frames per second). This is with the GPU overclocked to 700/1000, however. If I set "Shaders" to "High" and "Post-processing" to "Medium" I'm able to get ~60 frames per second WITHOUT an overclock.

I love this computer!

 

I think I am going to buy a seagate momentus XT 500gb off of amazon and use that as my only drive in the 4820tg.

 

This computer continues to amaze me.

I recently gave the Just Cause 2 demo a try, and I was able to play the game with everything cranked to max (including 4x AA and 16x AF) at the native resolution without any slow down. I don't know what the actual fps is but I can say that the game runs smooth.

 

Hello Everyone

My Dell XPS M1530 died on me a few days back -- yes the popular nividia 8600gt video issue, had it for 2.5 years and absolutely loved the laptop but now I need to move on. Confused between 4820tg and 4741g with same specs.


Questions for 4820tg :-
1)Does the laptop have 3 ram slots or 2 ?

2) Also I am bit of a rough user , mostly use it on my lap on the bed. Hence there is a tendency for me to adjust my laptop as I change sitting/lying positions on the bed. There are quite a lot of posts as to how the lid has flex and thus i fell it may break given the way I use it. Hence I am a little unsure about the 4820TG

I saw some youtube videos for the 4741g and it seems that the lid is more sturdily built but again the 4820 tg is so much thinner and sleeker as compared to the 4741g .


3) The 4741G has the Nvidia Geforce GT415m card. Is this as powerful as the HD5650 by any chance ?


Bit confused here. Will have to decide by tomorrow and all your help will be really appreciated. Also I want to kepe this laptop for ateast 4 years. Durabilty for me is thus very important especially after the dell xps failure ( dell xps had costed me a pretty penny)!!

 

Dam nvidia failing gpu's!!!!!!! I know so many people affected... it's bull.


I can take a stab at your questions but I could be wrong:
1. I think it has 2.
2. My 4820tg seems really sturdy... I can't imagine breaking the lid with a sane amount of force, I would have to actively try to break it. How could you possibly break it in bed? lol. Someone in this thread sat on there 4820tg and posted it was alright afterwards and another said they rolled over on it in bed and said it was alright, but I wouldn't recommend doing either of those if you can avoid it.
(idk about the 4741g personally)
3. The GT415 is weaker if it's in the same ball park as the gt420. The 5650 is a heck of a card at stock, and if you have the desire it OC's like a monster without much effort involved. I tried OC'ing it and it worked beautifully (+1000 in 3dmark06 EASY) but tbh I have no lack of power at stock so I decided to keep it at stock for now. I'll OC again for benchmarks maybe.



The long term durability of the 4820TG can only be guessed at. But with it's fairly decent cooling system, and good build quality (not a lot of plastic), I imagine it could last AT LEAST 5 years if handled normally.


I've done my homework, and although there are some things about the 4820TG I wish I could upgrade @ purchase and not afterwards (Backlit KB, higher res screen, perhaps better quality screen, BT module), for the price I could not find a better laptop!

....

besides the lenovo y460, but I heard that had heating issues compared to the 4820tg and I already had my preorder in.

 

I was a fan of the XPS series at one time but the 1330 and 1530 were poor designs. They were also fairly expensive units. I had the GT 8600M problems in my Vostro but was lucky to restore my unit with a good baking in the oven. My bookeeper still uses it today.

The NVidia card you list is an entry level card. It can not hold a candle to the HD 5650 in the Acer. The HD 5650 will score 3 or 4 times higher in 3DM06 benchmarks than the 415M. If graphics is important to you (the reason you bought the XPS?) forget the anemic 415M.

As far as durability, the honest answer is that nobody knows. This design is only 6-7 months old. I have actually already lost one unit in an accident but I don't think any laptop, short of a Panisonic Toughbook, could have survivied.

The Lenovo Y460 is a bit thicker and probably has a bit stronger case if that is a concern. It has the same components so it should perform the same but it does tend to run hotter. That would concern me for long term durability.

In such a thin and light notebook as the Acer, I would be concerned about dust build up, etc., using it on a bed at night. It would probably need annual or periodic cleaning and dust removal if you wanted to use it in that way. There is not a lot of spare room inside the unit to accomodate dust build up.

Another option to consider might be the Envy 14.

Bronsky

 

1)Thx a lot for your inputs. I specifically asked for the no. of slots because I think there was a post by aylafan with the chasis lid off and it seemed , i may be wrong, there were three ram slots !!

2)LOL, yeah I had read the "rolling over" post !! Well its like this I keep shuffling around the bed and all this time I have the tendency to handle the laptop by its screen at times. Now hearing about the the flex , I am afraid that I may end up breaking it

3) Oh wow did not know this ! It now definitely makes sense to go for the hd 5650 card !!

As for the durability thing, after the xps fiasco I am just paranoid thats all . I have decided not to go for dell anymore and my sister has used a travelmate 2410 for close to 4 years now and I just loved the laptop. The laptop is still going strong , touch wood !!

Thx Bronsky. Thats what I am doing currently , I am taking a blow dryer and heating the video card to make the laptop start. Now the problem is that the laptop starts fine after some efforts but even after keeping it on for say 2-3 hours , as soon as I restart the machine the laptop just refuses to turn on !! If you could tell me how you restored your unit then I could atleast use it for some time till my next laptop arrives and yes graphics was important to me hence I had bought the xps !!

Dust build up is not a problem as I clean my laptop regularly and keep it well covered when its not in use. But again as you said the thinness maybe an issue when using it at bed !

Envy14 is just too expensive and is way outside my budget !! I absolutely refuse to spend $1400 on laptops anymore ......!

 

I paid $735 for my 3820TG and still spent $1,380 on it. How about a refurbished Envy? ... with your history, I would think that a refurb. is probably out of the question but you can get an Envy with the 1600 x 900 Radiance display for > $1000. Look in the Small Business Outlet.

You might think about an Asus N82JV. They sell in the mid-$900 range and they come with a 1 year accidential warranty, in case you fall asleep on your laptop.

Bronsky

 

Actually seeing how my old acer is performing I really want to go for an acer this time. Before buying the xps I had bought a hp pvaillion and man the machine used to get hot . Immediately returned it to best buy for a full refund. For me my budget is around $800 -$850 max.



Edit: Just checked out the Asus N82JV on Amazon.com , that seems to have the nvidia card. Are there any models which have the 5650 ?

Asus is a good option though .

By the way can you pleas let me know how you restored your xps ? It would really really help.