Acer Aspire TimelineX 4820TG Owners Lounge

Ok guys this is the situation after lots of researching I have a few decisions to make.

First of all can you put a 820QM or 920XM on these mobos?
If so these are my options now.

1) just buy a single 920xm ~300$
2) buy a 820QM and 64GB C300/M4 SSd ~300
3) buy a single 128GB C300/M4 ~<260$

I asked this before, but now I have the actual parts Im looking at.

 

Right, you're basically converting the ODD bay to a HD bay with a caddie. BTW, wizzardxexe, most caddies don't seem to work with the faceplate from the old ODD on the Acer, so they look a little bit jury rigged, but they do work. Look around on ebay.

 

why do you want to torture that one poor little internal fan ? I just can't understand...anyway I doubt they would run, and if they would they would be running way too hot.

just get a 128GB SSD.

 

Has anyone come across really high temps while gaming? I played through Crysis 2 and even with the lowest settings I hit temps of about 96c to 100c.

I had just cleaned my fan out and have updated to the latest drivers too. I also raise the back of my laptop while gaming.

Sorry if this has been mentioned. 400+ pages is just so much to look at.

 

My machine runs at 95C when gaming, but never spikes higher than a degree or two above that. Might need to see about how well the heat sinks are connecting to the CPU and GPU. If the connection is not good they will run hot. Does the GPU run hot (over 85C) or does it stay fairly cool? The bigger the temperature difference the more likely it is you have a poor heat transfer on the relatively hotter one of the two. In this case I'd suspect your CPU isn't making good thermal contact with the heat sink.

 

My gpu stays around 85c. I'll check out the heat sinks. Thanks for the advice

 

Ok so I decided to get the SSd but before I buy it just a question about heat.

My CPU recently for the last 3 months has been ideling at ~70 degrees C even when the computer is not doing anything. The fan is always kicking in as well. I was wondering

-- Can i put my own thermal paste on the cpu? anyone done this before on this laptop? seems rather hot to be sitting at 70.

 

70 is a very high idle temperature. My machine sits in the 40 to 45 range at idle, and it's one of the ones that runs pretty warm (CPU at 95C when running crysis 2 for example).

Lots of folks in the forums have re-pasted their machines. The GPU uses a thermal pad that might need to replace if you damage it too much.

 

Hey planning to sell my monitor/desktop/keyboard So planning to use my little acer as my gaming/school machine. My old laptop got that palm rest fade anyone have any recommendations skins I can put for it and can remove easily as well. And any skins to put on the outside the thing is finger print galore and every time i let my friends use it at my house its all covered with fingerprints.

 

hello how do i say to the system not to commutate to dedicated graphics when i plug the power?. i'd prefer only to add brightness but not to force switch every time

 

Oh and does anyone know if the 12.5mm hard drives will fit in the 4820tg?

 

I am having the same problem..Fn+F3 button is by default assigned for Wi-Fi..also I have installed bluetooth drivers..when I search for bluetooth in start menu..Bluetooth appears..but nothing happens whn I click on them..any help guys..I need to get this bluetooth working..

 

Just install the LaunchManager, which will provide the GUI for switching.
The program can be installed from the Acer support disk or it can be downloaded from the Acer support sites, such as this

//

 

As a reminder, not all 4820TG models have Bluetooth. Only the earlier models have Bluetooth; not the latest models with the HD 6550M (that I know of).

So, if your model does not have Bluetooth then installing software for it will not do anything.

 

For those that do not want (or are unable) to download the WIN7 3GB ISO and set it up for universal install:

I just bought a Corsair 115GB SSD and for the heck of it I tried the Acer recovery disks that I made before I pulled the stock HD. I didn't expect it to install since I thought you needed the PQService partition on the HD but it worked. I am going through all the updates now. Surprisingly the partitions are aligned to 4K correctly.

I will probably do a clean install eventually, just had trouble downloading the WIN7 install image.

 

i wanna put additional fan in cpu position but im not sure about how to put the fan's wire(+)(-) in which part on notebook to make the additional fan work



[IMG=http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/4685/mdplan.png][/IMG]

 

Somebody know if there is a chance to wake up my 4820TG from usb keyboard?

It only works with intern keyboard by default..

 

Anyone know where i can get spare screws? Lost one and the body is kind of raised because of it.

On another note, don't know if its worth the bother, but my Laptop also (not related to missing screw!) got damaged in my bag. The grill on the chassis over the heat exchanger (fan air out) has numerous of the 'support/grill parts' broken, is it possible just to get a whole new base chassis somewhere? Website? Or Contact Acer?

 

Amazon has these in stock again.

 

OMG it's actually the 4820TG! I wonder where they got these since the new Timeline models are already in stores (3830TG). I wonder how many they have left. With the throttling issues on the new models, these units will not last long.

Bronsky

 

I did read a supply chain article somewhere about a surplus of acer warehouse stock in europe - we wouldn't get these though?

 

Wouldn't surprise me to find out Acer has a warehouse full of 3820TGs somewhere gathering dust while we all lust for them.

 

I'm surprised that a search turns up very little for this -- but is it possible to swap out the dvd drive for a blu-ray drive directly? If so, how do I know what blu-ray drive will fit?

 

Just put in my SSD, I was wondering How can I get those GUI boxes to come up when I click FN F3 for wifi and stuff like that? ( also for volume and brightness?) I did a clean install of windows and I dont have them anymore.

Also anyone have an issue with the CPU frequency getting stuck at a certain Ghz and requires a restart?

 

Install "LaunchManager" in the applications section from the Acer website. Also, there is no GUI for brightness, only volume.

 

I finally managed to figure out that the ODD connection is SATA, but can anyone clarify on whether a 9.5mm (height) drive is required in the 4820TG? I want to swap out the drive that came with it for a drive with blu-ray player capability, like this one:

Amazon.com: LG Super-Multi Slim Blu-ray Combo Drive CT21N - Bulk: Electronics

But I don't know how to tell if it'll fit or not.

 

well the one in your comment says 0.5inches in height. If my math isn't wrong that means its a 12.7 mm, so it wouldn't fit. The odd needs a 9.5mm

edit: well for me to put a hdd in the odd it had to be 9.5mm, so im pretty sure its 9.5 80% sure, hope i helped
edit2: on another note anyone have a skin or something to put on top of the laptop since its fingerprint galore imo?

 

Amazon sells a wide variety of laptop skins. I put this one on my 4820TG and it looks nice.

 

has anyone ever had a problem with the optical drive? mine won't open anymore, it just blinks.. i tried ejecting it through right clicking the drive from the "MY COMPUTER" and just gives me an error message.

 

I was having issues with my graphics drivers, and so I installed the BIOS update found on Acer's website. Since then, my computer boots but there is no display. My hypothesis is that the new BIOS has the graphics set on Discrete, which did not work on my computer. Is there anyway to fix this issue?

 

Micro Center is showing the AS4820TG-6847 for $524 although out of stock at my local store. I think I am going to cry.

 

If they get any in, that is a GREAT price.

 

just checked mine they only have open box for like $470

 

I'm looking to buy a 128 GB SSD soon. I want to use my main HDD as a second hard drive. Does anyone know if this caddy will work?
Amazon.com: NEW SATA 2nd HDD caddy for 9.5mm Universal CD/DVD-ROM ACER BENQ HP DELL ASUS: Electronics

Also, since this laptop has a SATA 2, would a SATA 3 SSD work in it? Will I have to get something addition to have it work?

Thanks

 

don't get sata 3 because it costs more, but will run at sata's 2 speed due to hardware limitation.
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guys, so let say the i have a dead hd, and I replaced it with a new hd. The product key under the laptop doesn't work with a fresh installation. Since the product key is invalid activation doesn't generate the 25 digit codes for telephone activation. What can I do in this case?

 

I was under the impression that the key under the laptop DOES work for a fresh install. Have you tried and it's failed?

 

Hey guys, its been a while, but I came up with a new problem for my 4820TG. For some time I've been getting some "artifacting" I would say whenever I play games. For example, I played Borderlands and some of the foliage would flash popup and look all stretched out and stuff and other random stretched out things. Also, if anyone plays EVE online. Some of the ships get their guns stretched out and I would have random light streaks going across the screen.

Now when I play, the temperatures hover around the 70s-80s for the GPU so its not temperature based. I have not updated the drivers in a while so that might be the issue, but could be anything else that might be worse? I might record it and post it here if anyone doesn't understand what I'm talking about. Its not significant but it can get pretty annoying when playing games.

Thanks!

 

I wouldn't say its anything too serious. Just check your game settings and check to see what resolution it is. I am comfortably able to play Borderlands at 1366 x 768. Try to update your drivers with the AMD's 11.xxx (if I remember correctly)
Also, those temperatures are nothing to be concerned about. I'd say as long as you stay below 85-90, you should be in good shape.

 

pepperboyx - Try installing the old graphic drivers from Acer. I went back to Acer's drivers due to artifacts and weird lighting showing up in Starcraft 2 with the newest AMD drivers.

 

It failed.

 

Sometimes the key on the bottom of your unit won't work with the phone activation, but if you wait for a live agent, they should activate it for you no problem. You can wait forever to get them on the phone. The better method is offline activation by manually installing the OEM cert and key. Here is my guide to converting foreign notebooks to English operating systems. There is a section on this near the bottom. http://forum.notebookreview.com/6465732-post1612.html You're welcome to PM me if you have a problem.

Bronsky

 

thanks Bronsky, so much to read. I called Microsoft, and the live agent confirmed that the key is valid. She didn't know why it didn't work and wanted to transfer me over to the tech department which I will need to pay. . Also, when you have a fresh installation of windows you should see 2 standard vga graphics right? My friend has a Sony laptop that is a hybrid and he only see one standard graphic card after a fresh installation. I am thinking one graphic is dead? The last time I done a fresh installation to a laptop that has two graphics I saw 2 standard VGA devices. I am not sure if a Sony laptop would be different.

 

If all you're seeing is the integrated GPU, reboot and go into the bios. reset it to dedicated and see if you can see the AMD GPU. If so, you don't have a hardware problem. A clean install and new drivers should do the trick.

Bronsky

 

I have video stock drivers and want to upgrade but it seems there are various issues. Anybody know what the best driver version is for the 4820TG?

 

So I reformatted my computer, and now my onboard mic sounds like theres static in the background. anyone know of a fix? or is the mic crapping out?

edit: that was in vent for the first 20 seconds. I tried going to the options through windows and tried to listen to the device just sounds like my mic is having terrible feedback and giving out a screech sound.

 

Do you know the exact number for them? Or is it better if I install the most newest drivers.

 

On the US site, 8.15.10.2202 is the most recent for the 4820TG. Dated 3/28/2011.

Bronsky

 

How is the i5-540m compares to 480m?

 

i5-480m has a higher clock rate, but a lower turbo, and doesn't support AES, VT-d and Trusted Execution.

 

Driver Packaging Version 8.713.3.3-100420a-099253C-Acer
Provider ATI Technologies Inc.
2D Driver Version 8.01.01.1010
2D Driver File Path /REGISTRY/MACHINE/SYSTEM/ControlSet001/Control/CLASS/{4D36E968-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}/0001
Direct3D Version 8.14.10.0735
OpenGL Version 6.14.10.9712
Catalyst Control Center Version 2011.0524.2352.41027


So these are the drivers I have, and I think they are the newest ones? I'm not sure. However, the problem with the artifacting still persists. =(

I will probably try to install the old ones, maybe that will fix the problem. If not then it definitely must be a faulty GPU.