Acer Aspire TimelineX 4820TG Owners Lounge

Ok then its not u but the guy who returned it must have done this. Hard luck

 

I would not use the unit and get it in for service immediately. It could be that your touchpad card is loose or not installed correctly so that it is contacting the motherboard when you press down, and may be shorting out the USB.

Bronsky

 

hm, makes sense, but its quite aside from the touchpad



anyway, I'm taking it back this week some time. Thank you guys for the fast response ))

 

The touchpad card extends to the right and left past the touchpad itself. You can see it better once the unit is open. Just a possibility.

 

Hey guys, I'm having trouble with my 7805...and it's a bit hard to pinpoint what exactly is causing it, but I was hoping you guys might have an idea.

Every once in a while, my laptop will freeze up (when I'm browsing the internet, opening a movie, or leaving a movie open and going away for some time). It freezes to the point where the mouse doesn't move and Ctrl+Alt+Del doesn't work either. If I just leave it there for a while, it'll eventually go to the Acer screen (the one that shows up when you boot up) and it just gets stuck there. I have to press and hold the power button to restart.

Any ideas? I'm sorry it's so vague, but that's all I really know right now. And I tried searching the thread for answers before I posted....sorry if I missed soemthing.

 

Sorry to say, but in my opinion you have a problem. Common causes of this problem are defective RAM memory or Hard-drive. Sometimes problems with motherboard too, it could be overheating. It is very hard to know exactly problem.

 

Yeah, that's what I was afraid of. I just contacted Acer support and it seems that they want me to send my laptop in for repair. Apparently they require me to ship it myself and pay for the charges

 

Thanks for the info, I only do hope that the experience with Acer Repair team will be as great as the one I had with ASUS Repair Team ))

 

I have spent the last few hours searching for this part number.

Why is acer / america's head up its own a$$ ?

There is no part's or accessories on acer/us website.

I talked with live chat, and asked for the part number for a 9 cell battery for the timelineX 4820tg.

They f-ing gave me a link to acer / us website... which has no accessories or batterys.

Then they kept saying that he could not look up the part number because i dont have my serial number with me.. all the acer 4820 laptops have the same fu@!king batteries.

I finally found a partnumber off of a Uk acer site.

Acer Online Store - Battery for Aspire: 9 cells / 9000mAh / Black


part number LC.BTP00.119

I emailed the uk site and asked if they ship to the us; quietly waiting for a response.

 

So I'm just getting around to testing this machine's capabilities. I just played Mass Effect 2 on high settings for about 2.5 hours. The game ran perfectly, no freezes, glitches, nothing, though I did not monitor framerate. I recorded temps with HWMonitor- it seems decent to me, but I'll attach the image in hopes someone can confirm that my 4820tg is running fine under stress. Thanks!

 

I am loooking for a new laptop and the 4820TG seems to have everything I need except for USB 3.0. Do any of the acer models have this yet? It doesnt seem to have a slot to add a USB 3.0 card like my old laptop does.

 

Looks like the TimelineX series is coming to an end. Acer will anounce a new sandybridge model that will be filling these slots at CES. It is scheduled to be released at the end of Q1 (we've heard that before). No word yet on the components but my concern is that Acer will try to emulate the MBA too closely and move away from a powerful dedicated GPU (pure speculation on my part). One new model, the 4741G is already out in China with an I5-480M CPU and Nvidia 540M GPU. It benches in excess of 8000 marks in 3DM06 in stock configuration. http://forum.notebookreview.com/acer/541703-4741g-gt540m.html

Bronsky

@Eagle132 - looks like your system is running perfectly.

EDIT: Dual core sandybridge units will not be anounced at CES and are scheduled for release in February.

 

Well I am not really in a hurry to buy one just yet so I may just let the dust settle and see what is coming out early next year. Currently selling my old Gateway since its a beast to carry around.

 

Hey guys, has anyone tried the new 10.12 Drivers -

ATI Radeon? Video Card Drivers

 

Hi, everyone..

Considering a 4820 and wondering how the reflections / screen wash-out on this is..

Have read a couple reviews (eg: notebookcheck.net) that say reflections even in a normally lit room are more of an issue on the TimelineX machines than with some others. And, we have two older Acers (Aspire 5004WLMI) that are HORRIBLE with reflectivity..generally can't use them in a room where there is ANY sunlight, or the display either shows too many reflections and/or washes out..

Since the 5004 is about 4-5 years old, I'm wondering if Acer is using the same, better or maybe even worse LCDs nowdays.

We've also been considering the HP DM4, the Asus U45 or U41 (can't seem to find any U45s now with the U41 coming out tho) and Toshiba Portege R705. Since I can't compare side-by-side, it's tough to say which of these would be best in terms of display quality.

Notebookcheck.net says the Acer has better overall illumination but worse (not by much) black levels than the HP DM4. So, I'd expect the HP to have less "punch" but maybe not wash out as much in normal room lighting?

I'd possibly pull the trigger on the 4820 and order the machine thru J&R today (really worried about finnicky touchpad on the HP), so if anyone could comment and let me know how your display looks, I'd very much appreciate it..

Thx..

 

The screen on the 4820TG is as reflective as any other glossy screen you would see on budget laptops. Also, I believe all the laptops you mentioned come with reflective, glossy screens and most likely all the screens will have bad viewing angles (blacks being washed out at certain angles).

This is quite normal with budget laptops.

 

before I bought my 4820, I was checking reviews for a couple of months, deciding which one to buy. I know it's hard
So 4820TG is very good looking and the display with average brightness of about 236 cd/m² is quite good. My old ASUS had 180-190 cd/m2 and when I put them together the difference is huge under sunlight. also colours are much better than on my old asus, I guess cuz it's LED backlight, viewing angles are OK i think, just the verticals might alter the picture's quality in certain angles..

Most importantly 4820TG is one of the best laptops out there in terms of price, performance (my opinion).

During my research I realised that you can never get everything you want in one laptop ))

 

Thanks..I was actually comparing the numbers that notebookcheck.com had measured from a couple of different models (Acer 4820, Asus U-series and HP DM4) and was somewhat surprised that they were actually different in terms of overall brightness, black levels, contrast ratio, etc. Not HUGELY so, but still different. (Then there was the HP Envy 14 which WAS hugely different - contrast ratio in the 850:1 range vs 140:1 for the Acer and 150 something'ish for the HP. But, more expensive, and then there's the HP touchpad to deal with..)

So, I was stuck wondering (since I can't see them side-to-side) if a difference between the three would be noticeable, or if it was just a measurement thing and there'd be no discernable difference..

Wish there was a way to compare side-by-side, but nowhere around here sells either the 4820 OR any U-series Asus. I've seen the HP at BB, but it's pretty hard to evaluate under flourescent lighting..

I did go ahead and pull the trigger on the 4820, so will be joining you all soon as a (hopefully) happy new owner of the 4820 with the i5..had it shipped overnight, so will see soon!

Thanks for the help and comments..

 

It's funny - last week I ordered the 4820TG from amazon for that deal but had a feeling I'd best let it chill for now, then this news breaks plus a 4741G is out in China!

 

Tried to order a 4820 for the wife for Christmas from J&R..

Rep ASSURED me it would ship yesterday for delivery today..but - did not get a ship confirmation email last night, and the site showed "quantity shipped: 0".

Called rep today..bunch of run-around and finally tells me the (apparently ONE) they have left in inventory has a damaged box but "the unit inside is fine" (hmmm..how would they know that unless they opened the box to check it? They wouldn't. So, he confirms - yep, it's an open box. I decided to pass, as I had no way of knowing if the laptop really WAS fine, or a return).

Why they didn't call me yesterday to tell me there was an issue with the laptop is a whole DIFFERENT issue, and it makes me think I'm never gonna order through J&R again, as they apparently don't have the first clue what they're doing over there. (And for those considering working with these guys, you might want to think twice if this is any indication of the "service" they provide - missing a laptop delivery for Christmas is UNFORGIVABLE!!)

Asked when they have more coming in, and he tells me the 4820 is DISCONTINUED. I am just SO freaking frustrated!! This is the SECOND laptop in the past two weeks I've ordered, only to have the retailed NOT SHIP IT. (First was ASUS U45). Same excuse there ('discontinued').

What in the *)(^&*^%*&6!! IS IT at this time of year that you can't order a freaking laptop?!!!!

So, I do not have a laptop for the wife for Christmas at this point, unless I go to BB and buy one I didn't want in the first place.

Nice.

I'm absolutely furious at this point!!!!!

 

3820tg seems to have gone out of stock in all Canada as well.

 

It is still in stock at Amazon right now with free one day shipping, for just $20 more. No need to freak out!
Amazon.com: Acer Aspire TimelineX AS4820TG-7805 14-Inch Laptop (Black Brushed Aluminum): Computer & Accessories

 

Thanks..I knew I could get it from Amazon, but J&R has a "no questions asked" return policy (thru Feb 1 for all things bought now) compared to Amazon with their 15% restocking fee on laptops..and, it's nice to have that option available if you get a lemon, or one with dead pixels, etc (AFAIK, Amazon only takes back DOA boxes with no restocking, so..)

And, since it's discontinued AND the Asus U45 is discontinued, I don't know what in the heck to do - wait for the Asus U41? It's supposed to be coming out in the next week or two..and I was a bit unsure about the Acer LCD quality anyway since we have an Aspire 5004 now, and it's LCD is NOT good with reflections..but I think Asus uses the same suppliers Acer does there, so who the heck knows..

 

I just looked at a 4820tg at frys here in seattle, well technically its in Renton..

It looked awesome, it was thin and pretty sturdy.

There was some talk on this thread that the 14" is really not that portable.

Bah freaking humbug... Its thin, light and pretty solid.

my y560 is going to be my home machine now, and the 4820tg will be my school lappy..

 

Anyone have an "English, Picture tutorial" on how to disassemble and reassemble the 4820TG?

I'm taking it apart to apply thermal paste.
Lol, I don't wanna damage anything on the way.

Btw Skooks, Could you get back to me on whether that British battery supplier would ship the 9000 mAh 9-cell Battery to the US? Maybe I can find a US supplier if I look hard... >o<

 

@se13gits:
Here is something I found by google search, maybe it will help you:
Acer Aspire 4820TG Disassembly | Blog - ScreenAid.com

 

i got the bad news last night... no shipping to the us...

poo..

too bad i dont have any friends in the uk..

 

why UK? is it cheaper..or sth else?

 

control panel > network & sharing center > change adapter settings
hit the alt key to pull up the folder menu
select advanced menu > advanced settings...
on the adapters and bindings tab raise the wireless network connection above the local area connection.

networks must be on separate subnets.

To see a full routing table open a command prompt and type route print. Look for the line that starts with 0.0.0.0 and check the adapter column for that line. Your wireless IP should be there.

 

Hey. First post on the forum.

I had bought the 4820TG a few months back. I've had a problem pretty much since then, but have done nothing about it thus far. When I put the laptop on 'Sleep' when it's being charged, it's screen, at times, just stays off (blank). I mean, the computer boots up, I hear the windows tone and all, but the screen stays off.

Does anyone have a solution or will a call to CC be required ?

Thanks.

 

Also first post here, got myself this nice little beast at Amazon in their $100 promotion and am very happy so far.
@dgtl887, I have not experienced your problem with my laptop; it sounds rather strange. As it is video related, the first thing I would try is switching around video mode in the bios see if it does anything; then reinstall related drivers (ATI, Intel). If that doesn't work try to restore the stock windows or install a clean version to determine whether it's a hardware or software problem--Acer support team will most likely ask you to do that anyway.

 

trivoldus28, did you get an i5-480m from amazon? How about your screen make?

 

Hello Fellows,
I am experiencing a very annoying problem. my acer 4820 is getting frozen rarely but it repeated a few times. it is not a simple system lock, because I cant even open task manager or I cant do anything. only way is to force a shut-down by keep pressing power button. my notebook is a diavolo version as you see on my signature. Performance is really great with ssd and i7, I am very happy with the notebook but this problem freaks me out, even thought I am a developer and when it happens while I am working on a project. I suspect of ATI graphic card because It doesnt happen when I am using on board one. is there any way I can trace that in even viewer or somewhere else?

thanks,

 

The nine cell battery is only avail in europe, and so far i cannot find anybody that ships this battery to the us.

Its not avail in canada either.

 

I just got this laptop today from Amazon. It has the 480M and the ATI 5650, so far it is amazing and almost flawless. The Windows Experience Index is 5.9 out of 7.9 (The RAM and HD take it down, those can just be upgraded, the rest of the ratings are at 6.7 and 6.9). The screen is just fine, I put it side by side with my Sony VAIO VGN SZ-430N that I have used for two years and it is considerably brighter than it. On the 4820TG, I can understand what people meant by the viewing angles difficulties, but it is really hardly an issue. If you tilt the LCD up at a higher angle, the LCD will get a little darker and it will be harder to see, if you tilt it a little higher it will get brighter. Horizontally though, I can see just fine at any angle. I think that is typical for any screen and it is not a problem if you align it correctly with yourself.

There is one thing that is bothering me and it is the power adapter input on the laptop. When I try to plug it in, it is difficult and I don't want to push too hard for fear I might break it, but the power adapter is just really hard to push in and I see no reason for it. Maybe it will get easier the more I use it? I can only hope.
I also saw there was a "magnet" mod you could do with the power adapter input so that you don't have to plug it in every time, I am checking it out and hopefully it is not too hard to do. If anyone has any other suggestions they are welcome!

Overall I am very impressed by this laptop, it's amazing, I'm still moving files into it and stuff as I just got it today but I got a quick try of minecraft single player on the highest settings and it played at a good 70FPS where it was a laggy ~15FPS on my VAIO (which has a NVIDIA GeForce Go 7400 card).

 

@inm8#2: Yep, got the 480M. Screen make is LG-something I think; it's actually very good, as iwin2000 described. Not exceptional, but not as bad as (early?) LG screens either.
@iwin2000: The plug on mine is also considerably harder than my other laptops, but not *that* hard.

A problem I had yesterday while on battery power was the brightness shifting once in a while. The shift is slight, not enough to be one manual notch. I think I read it was happening to someone while in discrete vid mode...

PS: next time someone open up their 4820TG, can they take a look at the Clock PLL/Crystal model number? I tried to overclock with SetFSB and with every single combination but it doesn't work (I did skip the ones with AGP clock though...); so the exact model number of the PLL would be extremely helpful.

 

The exact clockgen is different for almost every 4820TG. Acer seems to put in whatever one they have in the production line at the time. The only way to be sure is to check you own.

Are you using the shareware version of the program? Normally, the creator, Abo-san will ask for a CUPz.txt dump and a screen diagnostics capture. He can normally give you a decent idea if your unit will OC and what gen definintion to use. It's only a 500 yen donation ($5). If it won't OC he will normally give you a refund. You might want to check this thread out. http://forum.notebookreview.com/acer/513560-possibly-overclocking-unclockable-3820tg.html

Bronsky

 

Finally got my 5820tg . I know this is a 4820tg thread but would like to post my experience here as well-

Laptop is amazingly thin and light weight for a 15 incher . There is a bit of keyboard flex but thats fine. However while gaming I would use an external Keyboard as I always think that laptop keyboard are fragile and not meant for mobile gaming( At times I end up pressing the keys hard during gaming and even though the keyboard is adept enough its just a matter of personal preference)

I intend to use it all the while on the intel gpu and switch to ati only during gaming sessions.

In the end I also convinced the guy to throw in a carry case along with the extra battery and other stuff so got a really good deal so as to say.

Just a question here , I would like to preserve the extra battery which I have got and intend to take it out after I have used up the current battery . Any tips on how to store battery for a period of 2 years ? Also if I take it out of storage and try and use the extra battery after two years will it be as strong and efficient as it now ?

 

No I did not use the shareware program. Thanks for the tip though
I'm quite curious about how Acer seems to put whatever PLL chip it has in. I'm not familiar with how modern computers are made (EE student here), but wouldn't different registers and interface and stuff mess things up? Or could it be that the mainboard has in its software (BIOS?) different configurations for different chip? Very interesting.

 

Hey all, I'm very interested in purchasing a 4820tg in the next few days. Is the cheapest place currently Amazon for $800 usd? I actually cant find it anywhere else that will ship to the states.

Here's the one I'm looking at: Amazon.com: Acer Aspire TimelineX AS4820TG-7805 14-Inch Laptop (Black Brushed Aluminum): Computer & Accessories

Just trying to make sure I get the best deal possible. Thanks.

 

What's the verdict on the wireless card in the 4820TG? Forum search function is broken, but I recall some difficulties by other users. One in particular involved transfer rates dropping to 50 kb/sec?

 

Any tips on how to preserve the battery for future use will be greatly appreciated. Thx

 

A friend told me to put the battery in the fridge (not where you make ice) and fully charge the battery once in a few months.

I have no problem with my wireless card. It's even better than my old laptop and netbook in term of range. As for searching you can use google with the keyword "4820tg" and "site:http://forum.notebookreview.com/acer" in addition to whatever you want to search

 

The Atheros that comes with the Amazon models is great. The Broadcom had some issues.

 

Mine works so good it actually pisses me off because my desktop card sucks in comparison. I get full bars in win7 everywhere in my house.

 

frys has it for the same price.. thats where im going to get mine in the next few days.

 

Can anyone tell me how high I can overclock the ATI 5650? I tried 755/1100 and it worked well, but then I tried 800/1110 and the graphics driver crashed. Does anyone know what the highest I can go without crashing is?

 

Some people can't even OC it past 650/950. Different chips have drastically different overclocking capabilities. You got a godly 5650 chip.

 

Hi guys,
Have an issue with the 4820T battery.
My friend got the lap for me from US. Worked fine for some time.. Now the lap only runs on AC. Battery shows "15%, Charging" but does not charge. lap does not turn on in battery. AC supply is a must.

Tried out BIOS update. all that but still not charging.
Any ideas about how to revive the battery?

 

I have a slightly different battery problem. It seems like the time remaining does not match the battery life. Should I discharge it completely? Every time the percentage goes down the remaining time increases....it's at 70% and it reads 3 hours, but at 75% earlier it said there was 2 hours left. This makes absolutely no sense?