Acer Aspire TimelineX 4820TG Owners Lounge

Just thought I's add my two cent. I have just updated the Momentus to FW version 'SD25' and the graphics to '11.3'. FYI, The Graphics card info now reads '8.831.2.0' in Windows device manager.
I have to say that I really have noticed a difference with the HDD spinning and the resulting vibrations on the wrist pad. Now a lot better than SD23 or SD24.
Real battery test comes tomorrow. No problems with the graphics drivers either, and I know how troublesome it can be to install those.
Conclusion: I am the happiest yet with the laptop in its current state. I would highly recommend the Momentus XT to anyone thinking of investing. The performance boost is noticeable especially when opening any Office 2010 application or or even the Eclipse JDK.

 

thanks for reply.

I think I'll go and buy NC2000 after reading the reviews and everything. It's huge and would cost 41 GBP delivered, but the build quality seems to be much superior to NC1500.

 

Out of curiosity, how does a 5650 compare to a GT 525m? Is it significantly better?

 

The 3DMark11 scores on these pages:

GT525M
ATI Mobility 5650

Shows the 5650 being about 25% faster. Note that 1: There's only one machine benchmarked on that page for the GT525M and 2: The 5650 in the Acer x820TG series generally scores much better (about 15% better) than the average on that page.

So yeah, the 5650 is quite a bit faster in benchmarks.

 

Mind you 525 tested by notebookcheck seems to be severely undercloked (475MHz instead of 600MHz- courtesy of Toshiba) while scores for HD5650 are also lowered by Sony Vaio that's underclocked by 100MHz (450MHz instead of 550MHz).

If you take a look at 3DMark website nVidia GT 525M scores between 720-750 while HD5650 scores mostly 1300 however all scores are of OCed HD5650s
Not-OCed HD5650 would be around 1000 points.

 

Cheers.Couldn't have put it better myself.

 

Hi,

Since I've bought my first notebook been wondering, if I can use it on a soft material.
I hate to turn on my desktop pc just to write a mail...

My question is: can I use the 4820 on a soft bed?
I would say no because that makes the vent holes covered, but there are 2 little holes on the side of the 4820.

Do those little holes let enough air in?

 

If you don't want to play games this holes should be enough. You can try to underclock cpu for battery mode in windows power saving settings, this way it will be slower, but there will be less heat too.

 

Switch to the Intel IGP and try it.

For soft work like surfing and using Word it should work without problems.

 

Hi folks, did anyone perfom a battery test with the i5-480m/6550 model (6-cell battery)?

I'd like to know how much does the battery last both in web surfing (power saving, brightness at 20-30%) and when viewing a standard resolution video (power saving, wifi off and brightness at 50-60%).

Thanks in advance!

 

OK, thanks

 

Also, you can get one of these:

Amazon.com: Classic Wood Lap Desk: Health & Personal Care

 

hey guys im a newbie
my parents bought me acer timelineX 4820tg yesterday
it was core i5 ,ati radeon hd 6550 ,4gb of ram
can i overclock the gpu ? if i can how to do that ? is that dangerous ?
thanks before

 

Yes you can overclock the GPU. You can use AMD GPU clock tool to do that.
AMD GPU Clock Tool v0.9.26.0 For HD 5870 download from Guru3D.com

Download and install it. Once you done that you can then set your engine and memory clock speed. I would personally go for a 650/1030 when I'm playing Crysis 2 for amazing performance. But you should always keep your temperatures in check.

I had this laptop since April 2010 and I've overclocked for most of my gaming sessions, so far it hasn't been causing any problems. Try starting with a 620 engine /930 memory. The people I've stumbled upon here have their laptops reach as high as 96C, and it seems to be a common thing in this forum even for me, but the lower the better. Usually the temps are dependant on the games you play, 80 degrees is considered good enough for gaming. If your temps go too high you should downclock your gpu a little, get yourself a cooler too.

Cheers

 

Note that for some games I underclock the GPU, like Railworks 2, where the GPU helps, but doesn't need to be in ultimate performance mode or anything. Keeps it cooler and lets me play longer if I'm on battery.

Definitely watch your GPU temps when overclocking.

 

MSI afterburner doesn't work to OC the 5650, does it? Seemed like it worked... and then didn't really. lol.

 

I oclock my 5650 with MSI Afterburner.

 

I want to upgrade my ram from 2 to 4 gb, I had kingston pc3-10700 (667mhz) should i buy the same one?
Another thing, this laptop cannot upgrade to ie9 because it says this is pre-release windows? Can someone explain

 

Is the original Acer windows installed?

 

thanks ,and then what is the stable memory clock speed and engine clock speed ??
you said you can play crysis 2 ? in what setting ? (
THANKS before

 

yes, windows that comes with the laptop

yes, the one that comes with the laptop

 

The best way will be to contact the Microsoft Support, because the Windows is a legal version and the problem should not exist.

 

What about the key product behind the laptop? Do I need to do something with the key??

 

If you go onto the IE9 site, there are a bunch if FAQs. There is one about prepping some versions of windows for IE9. There is a DL that completes the process. I would look to see if that us similar to your problem. Have you loaded all of the Windows updates?
Does your windows show that it's actvated on the information page?

Bronsky

 

You will know when your speeds are stable when you do not encounter any artifacts meaning, weird tiny green or purple shapes all over your screen while gaming or if your laptop shuts down due to overheating. Usually, the limit of my overclocking is up to 700/1060, if theres any problems i will underclock. It depends on how much power a game requires. If you're playing games like Sims 3, you wouldn't even need to overclock.

For Crysis 2, 650/950 is sufficient enough for the game to perform.
My settings for Crysis 2 are:
-Max resolution
-No V-sync
-Gamer

Overall the game still looks awesome and zero lag at all. I think it beats the console version. You could run it on advanced, the speed is still playable but it would run much much faster at gamer settings.

 

ok thank you very much bro , but i think crysis is heavier than crysis 2 , and then my friend said "gamer setting are low ,advanced setting is medium ,hardcore setting is high" is that true ?

 

guys what's the differences of acer 4820tg and 4745g ? would you prefer for my little sister ? when she's looking on my 4820tg she want it to ! (sigh) well if you guys prefer 4745g i would tell my parents

 

Honestly I don't see much of a difference from gamer settings to hardcore. The performance is what that matters. With the latest patch for Crysis 2, I think they'll let you customize more on the settings.

You can judge for yourself here
YouTube - Crysis 2 PC - Low vs Max Settings |HD|

 

i don't see many differences ,one big differences i think i just the fps (framerate) ,and then you said max resolution ? did you mean 1366x768 ?

 

Of course. Isn't that the maximum resolution of your laptop ?

acer 4820tg vs 4745g. LOL, just google it and compare the specs if you're not sure. Look at their graphic cards or processors. ATi 5650/6550 is definitely better than 5470.

 

Most likely the graphics card and battery life is better on the 4820TG than on the 4745G, but you need to list the specs for each laptop if you want an accurate opinion. Also, list the price difference because that will be a deciding factor too.

 

Yes the windows is activated, and I installed all windows update. But is the ie9 really good and how it is compared to chrome if it's not doing any better I think I just stick with chrome.

 

IMO, just stick with Chrome. If you were using a tablet, it would be a different story. It seems to be optimized for my tablet.

Bronsky

 

well ,my friend had 4745g with ati radeon hd5650 ? hd 5470 is an entry level graphics card isn't it ?

guys , did crysis warhead patch 1.1 works on windows 7 64 bit ? and what is the function ?

 

Actually, the HD 5450 is the entry level GPU. The HD 5470 is a step above that. Still, there is no question that the HD 5650 is a far better GPU.

Bronsky

 

I just purchased a 4820TG i5-430M 3GB on fleabay

I also ordered a Momentus XT and thought I would upgrade the memory while I have it opened up.

Any reason to purchase this memory over this memory?

Thanks

 

PNY is cheaper and has MIR so even more cheaper.

 

I really don't like the auto switches GPU to and from integrated graphics when unplugged or plugged in. I will have couples of programs crashed when it does. Anyway to turn off the auto switch??

And what does the P button on the keyboard do?

 

The P button lets you switch between GPUs when unplugged. ALSO, my 14 year old son showed me this. If you unplug the power cord, and push the P button RIGHT after the light comes on, so that it goes right back out, the laptop will not then switch to the low power GPU on you. Pretty handy.

 

~.~....I'll follow this way at the moment. But I want something that really disable this.

 

I'm using these

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231342

2 G.Skill 4GB modules in mine, they work perfectly. I bought them because of the higher rating in reviews and at the time, they offered free Kingston USB stick with it, so 3 USD difference was negligible.

 

Thanks

I ended up going with the PNY. Saw some reviews of other acer owners that were positive.

My only regret is that I purchased the momentus Xt before I realized I could have removed the Ocz 60gb SSD from my 1830t and then installed another larger drive in the 4820's optical bay with a caddy.

 

You can still do that but use the momentus as the second drive.

Bronsky

 

That would be a sweet setup. I have a optical drive bay from my dell but I don't know if it would fit (4820tg arrives tomorrow).

With Sandy bridge around the corner I'm probably best off selling the 1830t while I can still get something for it. It doesn't get as much use (coach surfing) now since we got an ipad in the family.

 

Just got my fleabay 4820tg.

It appears to have a European keyboard.

Anyone know where I can source a US version?

TIA

BTW - The HD caddy from my e6400 dell fits.

Edit - Ordered one from cdsparts.

 

You mean hardware buttons, or windows input? In windows it's in Region and Language menu.

 

Hello!


I searched but didn't find an answer for this..

Is it possible to run Ubuntu on this laptop? I mean, fully functional with switchable graphic and other features?!





/Bever

 

Note: All of the below refers strictly to Ubuntu 10.10.

It might take a little while to get graphics to work, but otherwise it runs just fine. Read Ubuntu on Acer Aspire 3820TG. It is pretty much identical to 4820TG. All the tricks should work.

Tips:
1. My Broadcom card would randomly refuse to work with my router. I tried different drivers, but it didn't help. I am not sure if this is an isolated compatibility issue, but I just ended up swapping WiFi cards with my Acer 1410 (Intel 5100) and it works just fine now.
2. You can also flash to a modded BIOS and unlock option to use Intel-only graphics card (without mod, you can only have Switchable or Discrete). FYI, HDMI only works on ATI card.
3. DO NOT install flgrx proprietary ATI/AMD driver if you are planning to use Switchable/Intel-only graphics. Currently, fglrx included in Ubuntu 10.10 DOES NOT support dual-graphics setup. If you install it, and try to boot in non-Discrete mode (e.g. Intel-only/Switchable) then it will simply not boot into desktop. That being said, once Ubuntu 11.04 comes out in the end of April, it should be easily to install latest fglrx driver that supports Switchable graphics (but DOES NOT allow you to switch).
Ofcourse, if you are willing to tinker, then you can get switchable graphics to work with fglrx driver, but that will require replacing XOrg.conf file depending on which graphics mode you are currently using. There was a guide in the 3820TG tweaks thread.
4. Adobe Flash player that comes with Ubuntu 10.10 on Firefox will freeze your system on some occasions and you might have to reboot the machine by pressing the power button. It happened to me about 6 times so far.
5. If you are looking for a way to fix something in Ubuntu, then you search for 3820TG/4820TG/5820TG as they are pretty much the same hardware.

Oh, and I found that on Ubuntu my system is way more stable than it is on Windows!

Good luck!

 

Thank you for the quick replay, prikolchik

Will try it out soon..




/Bever

 

Can anyone post some pictures and/or a walk through of how they installed a second HDD using the optical bay, specially if they could fit the optical drive faceplate on the fleabay hdd caddy (aka a stock look)
Thanks in advance.


Also has anyone noticed a high pitched/buzzing sound coming from the left of the trackpad? At first I thought it was the HDD, but after swapping it for a OCZ vertex 2 I noticed that the HDD is at the right, and since the SSD is silent, the sound comes from another place. Any clues? It bugs the hell out of me when the rooms is nearly silent. My girl's got a 3820T and hers does the same thing.

Sorry for the long post