Acer Aspire TimelineX 4820TG Owners Lounge

http://cgi.ebay.com/9-5mm-SATA-Serial-ATA-Optical-Bay-Hard-Drive-Caddy-DV22-/300558840381?pt=PCC_Drives_Storage_Internal&hash=item45fab3f23d

im pretty sure this isnt the same seller i got mine from, but this is exactly what mine looks like.
it just has to be a 9.5mm caddy

 

why do you want this laptop so much?

 

As far as I know this is the best laptop in this price range, and specifically I love the switchable graphics and the very long battery life that this laptop provides, as well as the ability to play highly intensive games by switching to the ATI card. I don't know of any other laptop that provides those features at this price range.
(If you do then please let me know, I'm getting the laptop next week and I found out I have to pay over 60$ in tax if I buy it directly from microcenter store so the actual cost will be around $760. I usually buy stuff off Amazon where there are no taxes so I didn't expect that... )

 

I visit my friend sevrel times every week, and we often watches movies together. Before we just used det VGA, with his computer (no HDMI). But think its much easier with HDMI on mine!

We can watch movies for a long time without any problems, and then suddenly the colors switch to something really strange. Very annoying!


Its obviously something wrong, and hoped someone in here could help. Maybe even had the same problem..

Sorry I even bothered to ask..



Guess we have to go back to VGA!

 

Hmm I need only bottom plate that cover the HDD and Ram part how does it call

 

you're looking for this then:

ZQ1 BASE DOOR
ASSY (JM/CP)
42.PSR07.001 18 K/
B(UI)ZQ1(AEZQ1R00,
3A)API


Laptop Parts - Acer Aspire 4745 4745G BASE COVER W/RUBBER 42.PSR07.001

 

i guess the fact that it is sold out everywhere and that when amazon restocked them they were gone in few hours all, says a lot...

 

4820TG "thermal door" it's call(at last discovered its name). after seek for it for alomst two days no luck at all

 

why don't you read the previous posts ?

btw read the manual from the first post of this thread, Chapter 6, page 139

 

Stupid question - I assume your removing the screw that holds the ODD in place? it goes through a hole in the ODD / caddy / etc so if the screw is still in it goes all the way but not quite, you need to remove it to put it in...

 

hello. i have a pixel on my screen wich is much brilliant than the others. is like a light always on. Is it a dead pixel? is there a way to fix this pixel or should i use my warranty to replace the screen?? i'd like to use the warranty for bigger problems than this

 

No, it's called a stuck pixel. It's not dead, but some part of it is stuck on all the time. There are some programs out there that are supposed to help unstick them by going between full light and dark. Also, sometimes gently massaging the area of the stuck pixel will unstick it. Here's an article on fixing stuck pixels. Haven't read the whole thing, but googling "how to fix a stuck pixel" gets a lot of returns. How to fix a stuck pixel

 

to all those performing clean install:

i just bought another laptop (acer aspire 5750, quite new model) did a clean windows home premium x64 install, and was getting ready to give MS activation line a call, but...I just entered the OEM product key and it actvated windows succesfully.

so it couldn't be easier.

haven't tried that on 4820TG yet, but chances are it works that way too.

 

Anybody install the new 11.6 drivers for the 5650? Compared to the latest AMD package on acer's support website my 3dmark06 score dropped from about 7700 stock to 7200 on the new drivers. I haven't been able to really asses in game performance yet, but i'm wondering if anybody else has had a similar experience with the new drivers. Is it just a 3dmark thing or do they actually have worse performance?

 

Hi everyone at NBR, I'm also experiencing issues with the newest drivers and a HD5650m...

It all started when I bought a Intel 320 160GB SSD, and made a clean install of win7, which i've made once about half a year ago.
The first time i installed the AMD-driver and the intel driver from acer, rebooted into discrete mode, installed at that time the newest Catalyst (10. something) rebooted into switchable and all worked like a charm.

This time i've got problems, did the same thing but with newer drivers from acer and ATi Catalyst 11.6, and suddenly the computer thinks i've got 2 screens, one for each graphics card. When I switch to intel graphics, the screen goes black, and i have to reboot into save mode and activate the 5650 in windows.

Does anyone have the same problem as me? is reformatting the drive my only chance? I only ask here because it takes a whole day and it's really boring...

 

worked for me when i did a clean install with the 4820tg when i got mine like 4 months ago.

 

Interesting...

While online checking out the 3830tg stock at my local Microcenter I see that they have two carbon black i5-480m AS4820TG-6847 in stock at a really good price.

 

Hello Guys !! Im in need of URGENT HELP !!!

Recently my laptop is taking extremely longer than usual to boot up to windows. Sometimes it just freezes on the welcome screen. But if it does manage to boot up windows, the only thing you'll see is a blank screen and the arrow key. The only thing functional is the task manager by taping ctrl+alt+del. Either than that, there is nothing I can do.

The other info is my system is joined to my school's domain. I can't understand how it works though. So usually when I rebooted, the Windows screen said "Preparing your desktop" and then it went completely blank with only the arrow key.

After that I send my laptop to my school's IT helpdesk. At first the person tried to reformat everything and do a clean install of Windows 7. He later informed me that up to a certain point during the installation, the thing just froze for hours with no progress, so he can't format the laptop. He told me that my harddisk may be spoiled.

The thing is Im going to start my exam very soon, all the spare laptops in school are rented out and only those laptops are joined to the school's donain. If I were to borrow anybody's laptop, I will have to send it for re-configuration, which they might not be happy about. I could pay a visit to acer but I would rather know the problem now and maybe fix it.

Sooo... Could it be the harddrive that is broken ? If yes, I can just buy one and replace it.

 

Which store and what price?

Bronsky

 

$699 in Yonkers NY

They had 2 ...and now only 1

I will swap in my momentus and ram and then post my 430m 4820tg in the classifieds.

 

Bronsky, it is in PA
699.

 

If I didn't already have two I'd have bought a spare when they were disappearing...

 

Thanks. The St. Davids Store is the one I always go to since I live right outside of Phila. My wife is looking to replace her little Thinkpad S12. She is tired of her 12" display and wanted a 15". I suggestrd the HP DV6 quad w/HD 6770 but this 4820TG is worth a look as well.

Bronsky

 

Looks like someone named "Anthony" bought the other one in Yonkers. As it was right next to mine on the shelf behind the Internet Pickup line.

 

How's your laptop? How's the screen on the new version? Does it look pixelated like the older versions of the laptop?

 

Honestly I have been working on getting my old 4820tg ready to list in the classifieds yesterday and today.

Also trying to keep the two laptops out of sight so the wife doesn't throw the new one out the window.

I should have an update on Sat when I swap in my momentus xt drive and 8gb ram.

 

Temp drops around 6-8 c. When I play youtube videos it doesn't get as hot as before. I must say this is a very good solution to the heat problem. It is hardly noticeable. In the picture, you might see it bigger because of the close proximity to the holes.

However,
I broke the edge of the RC battery holder in the process. It is too tiny and weak. But this is only a minor problem. Glue get the problem solved.
Also, this is a what i learned. If one of your USB ports doesn't work send it to repair because i refused myself to send it in for repair. I carefully examed the usb board's capacitors, and some how, when it's plugged back in the mb. The usb board totally messed the mb and causes it not to boot. I don't see how i could damage the usb board. But one of the ports was already not working so i'm thinking its time has come to an end. So now I am left with only one usb port. The one integrated to the mb. My idle temp with 6550 enabled can be as lower as 39-42. Usually it is 41 and 43.

 

You need to buy a dremmel. It would have cut those slots much cleaner. What did you use, a hand axe?

Bronsky

 

Guys, is it possible to upgrade the GPU of 4820tg? I read somewhere that some laptop can be upgraded. thanks!

 

I believe the GPU is soldered into the motherboard on this laptop.

There are some laptops that can be replaced with newer GPUs, but it is very rare for consumer laptops at this price.

 

Aylafan is corrected. This laptop's GPU is soldered. Desolder and solder it back should not be hard. However, a good solder requires the right equipments. You don't want your laptop to end up like the HP dv4 to dv6 series.

 

Hows the 5650 hold up these days to the newer mobile cards anyways?

I am thinking of upgrading the 4820 in a few months ( before i go to school again)
Would you guys rather.

1) Upgrade the 450 to a i7 620m ( Is the i5 580 a big diff in performance ?)
2) 120GB SSD as boot drive
3) OR...64GB SSd and i7 combo. ( A bit pricey but prices might be low enough in 2 months to consider it)

 

The only upgrade I'd consider would be the ATI 6770M w/GDDR5 on the HP dv6t machines, or the GT555M on the Sager NP5165. Anything below that is a pretty small incremental upgrade. If you overclock the 5650 you can into the same range as a stock GT540M pretty easily.

Most recommendations I've seen have been for the i5 5xx series as a good compromise between a lot more horsepower but not a lot more heat at a decent price.

If I could get an SSD and a HD I'd consider it. Don't really need a DVD most times so a caddy would work for me.

 

i have the same problem, and as far as i know there is no official acer driver update
but i found a fix :
you can found the problem here : link (use google translate)
it seems that acer might not release any official updates for their switchable graphics driver.
and the driver from here : link

so as many mentioned, this mod fixed the problem as it contains the latest drivers from ati and intel (with switching function of course)

 

i would get 128GB crucial m4 and either put the original hdd in a caddy or buy an enclosure and use it as external drive.

cpu upgrade to 2 core i7 is not worth the money, i think.

 

Both screens look pretty much the same. Performance is similar too. The 480m and 6550 vs 430m and 5650 respectively raised the windows experience score .2 for processor and memory. Graphics score stayed the same.

 

upgraded to i5-560 @ 3.20 ghz
oc 5650 @ 650/900
still get lag on bfbc 2 single player (testing) medium - high still laggy lil bit
does HDD speed was important too? and if i upgrade from original hdd to 7200rpm hdd game will run smoother ?
and also why i has 3.75 gb instead of 4 gb of ram intel gfx card take 256mb of ram?

 

Hi,
I don't know much about RAM, can I upgrade the ram to 1333 DDR3 2x4GB sticks or does it have to be 1066 DD3?

Thanks

 

1333 MHz DDR3 will run at 1066 MHz DDR3 speeds due to the first generation Core i architecture.

My 4820TG came standard with 1333 MHz DDR3 by the way.

 

i just add the additional thermal spreader from zalman to mod the graphic card heat sink does it gonna help a littlebit ?
edit
btw adding some position need to saw the part off too big

 

Has anyone used a seperate monitor with this laptop? I plan to somewhat use my laptop in a dekstop form, with a monitor and a seperate keyboard. Probably a dumb question but hey.

 

Yeah, it works quite well. I run Windows 7 and Ubuntu, and connect an external monitor by the VGA port. If you want to use the HDMI port you HAVE to use the ATI gfx card, as the Intel IGP is simply not connected to the HDMI port. If you have the ATI active, and the laptop screen off, you can run two external monitors, one on the VGA and one on the HDMI.

 

It works pretty good. For gaming the GPU will start to suffer at higher resolutions though because of the vram.


Anyone think we will get some newer gpu drivers soon?

 

I use this monitor :

http://www.amazon.co.uk/LG-E2260S-PN-21-5-pixels-5000000/dp/B004ZXKKXU

+ this cooling pad

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Zalman-NC2000-Notebook-Cooler-Black/dp/B001CXHW7S

+ of course separate keyboard and mouse

and not talking about several external HDDs and stuff connected through 13 port USB hub

 

agreed i use my desktop monitor and keyboard and mouse know to game with the laptop, since for some reason my desktop crashes from LoL telling me to reinstall and only happens in ranked... And im trying to sell the desktop so. Im using my laptop from now on. even though i game with a 1600x900 screen. Still good for gaming.

 

Does anyone know if the 4820tg-6847 has 2 hdd bays?

 

The 4820 has one HD bay and one ODD bay. You can use a caddy to replace the optical drive with a HD and have two internal HDs.

 

@sxooter that is good to hear that I can put in two hdd bays, I wasn't certain.

Also just FYI everyone on this thread: you can upgrade the AMD graphics drivers to the most recent version, and it wont break the "switchability"
The Intel graphics drivers I don't think you can...

 

you cannot put in 2 bays, only 2 drives.

 

Sxooter is right- discussions on running MacOS on non-Apple hardware are prohibited, which is actually not our idea- it's in MccOS EULA. Relevant posts edited/deleted.