Acer Aspire V5-122P Owners' thread

Ugh. I can't seem to get myself away from my mouse. Using a touchscreen doesn't seem to improve the experience at all. Although I have to say I've tried Freelancer, C&C Generals, No One Lives Forever 2 and they all play great. Obviously newer games will struggle but there's a ton of great older games that will work just fine.

The bleeding glow is about same as the W230ST. Haven't played any 1080p video on it yet, would need to hook up to external for that. I think the display is great, almost as nice as the IPS in the W230ST. Overall the machine is nice. Keyboard is actually decent too. I'll put it through its video watching paces soon.

 

I find the touchscreen kind of a cool gimmick, as with such a small netbook/notebook my hands are always really close to the screen. I've only really used it to scroll webpages, but I like doing that with it, as it's much more natural for my hands (I grip the screen like a book with my left hand and use my thumb). Anyway, on a notebook much bigger it would be completely useless for me, but as it is, it's sorta interesting, and helpful ergonomically with the right interface.

I like mine a ton, though the drivers need to mature. Currently it runs smoother in linux for me, as it occasionally locks up in windows 8. I'll try updating to the new beta drivers on windows, I'm using the last set of beta drivers, and results are mixed, with the occasional BSOD.

It's a bit unreliable in linux as well, but I'm hoping that will be fixed with the upcoming 3.12 kernel which should bring better support for the gpu. I'll be psyched if someone makes something like BrazosTweaker for Kabini/Temash, that and k10stat always looked useful and fun.

That + the bios mod + potentially really good linux support would let me tinker quite a bit

 

I would love to get an overclock feature for Kabini/Temash, but I'm not getting my hopes up. I will likely resell this device after I've had my fun with it. For real use I'd much rather have a CPU that supports dual channel RAM at 1600MHz minimum. A ULV i3 would be ideal, but then the laptop would probably cost $700. A dual channel AMD APU @ 1600MHz would be ideal, as well as faster clocks like 2GHz+.

 

So i replaced the oem thermal paste with some Artic Silver and now my fan will actually stop spinning under light loads. Pretty cool (pun intended). Before it would run constantly all the time.

I like how the entire heatsink is one copper piece but why no heatsink fins? What else could we do to reduce temperatures and fan noise?

There's a spot on the mobo for a TPM:


Also has any tried pressing the Reset button/switch underneath to see what happens? I noticed a "Reset Button" partition on the oem hard drive but never got a chance to try it out before deleting it.

What is the switch next to the Reset switch?




@Benchmade 42
The LCD part number appears to be "AUO B116XW03 V2" and there appears also an "AUO325C." The B116XW03 V2 can be found on eBay in abundance if needed. This webpage has specs on this model. Notice it says its a TN panel, not IPS. Now I am not sure.
http://www.panelook.com/B116XW03%20V2_AUO_11.6_LCM_overview_14929.html

Sent from my XT557 using Tapatalk 2

 

Those specs also show viewing angle at 45/45/15/35 which I know is NOT the case.

I also repasted mine and fans don't spin as much either, and also 6-7C lower at load with wPrime (~ 55C). Although over time system will reach a sustained ~ 60C, but before it was mid 60's which seems to be a tripping point for higher fan speed.

Also, I requested to the author of HWInfo64 for help since I couldn't run it, it would always hang at "Detecting Video Adapter(s)". Sounds like he may have found a fix.

 

I tried MSI Afterburner (latest stable and beta versions) to see if i could change the gpu clocks and was able to see the core clock go from 200-300-400 to 200-300-400-497.

497 MHz core clock and 533 MHz memory clock, I'm not sure if Its real or not as it only showed up on the MSI graph and not on HWiNfO64, GPU-Z, or any tool that i recollect.

 

I received a V5-122P-0408 for free as part of a settlement deal on a e-machines computer. I choose this model because it had the touch screen and bluetooth capabilities. I looked at one at a Wal-mart before buying and it seemed decent for what it was. I received mine yesterday. In using it I'm finding that it is slow. I am comparing it to an ASUS Transformer Andriod pad that is 2 years old and to a new Ipad 4. The Ipad run rings around it in terms of speed of webpages rendering and apps opening. The Asus is in the middle and the Acer is dog slow. If I wiped windows off it and put Ubuntu Linux on it would it respond better? I'm not sure if Ubuntu would take advantage of the touch screen. What other options are there to make it run faster without putting much money into it? Someone mentioned removing all non Microsoft or Acer apps. Does this help much? Thanks.

 

Clean install of Windows can do wonders, but your best bet is to get an SSD. A 128GB should suffice, and don't need anything fancy or fast, because it will be loads faster than the molasses 5400RPM mobile drive. A Samsung 840 120GB SSD can be found for $90, sometimes $75-80 with sales. Or go on eBay and look for a Crucial M4 128GB for $60-70.

Once you first run the machine though with Windows it does all sorts of caching and indexing and virus scanning that can slow it down. So just set it up to not sleep and leave it on overnight so it can go through all its crazy processes.

Let me tell you though that installing updates from a clean Win 8 install took FOREVER. The CPU is just slow. But now that I have everything set up, using an old Intel X25-M 120GB SATA II SSD, it seems to be running reasonably well.

 

Tonight I was at a Best Buy and looked at the quad core version of this machine. It was much faster than mine. The windows score thing gave it a 4.0 whereas mine has a 3.0 because of processor speed.

 

Ah yeah this thing is slow as a quad core, can't imagine dual core.

 

because I'll have to take 17 yr old to his early morning class and was wondering two things: 1) can it play a game such as Dragon Age Origins and 2) what is the battery life.

 

Dragon age origins should be playable on low, might not be 100% smooth but playable. While gaming you could expect around 2hrs of batterytime.

 

Just got this one today. Downloading updates and stuff right now. Takes forever. Just wanted to add that the model I bought,
V5-122P-61456G50nss (NX.M91ED.004) has a backlit keyboard.
No idea if it's for sale in North-America, but at least if you are living in one of the Nordic (and possibly other euro) countries it's the one to get. 4 cores, 500gb and 6gb ram.

Had to do a bit of research, contacted Acer Scandinavia but they could not answer which models had backlit keyboard. He had to send my question further up in the system. Haven't heard anything back. Anyway, a review at sweclockers thankfully pointed me in the right direction.

 

When you gonna figure out how to overclock this little A6? Nice to see you around.

 

Does anybody know a driver for the elantech touchpad that will let you reverse the scrolling direction back to the "normal" old school way?
Acer seem to have taken that option out of the driver.

 

That would be nice I think there should be plenty headroom for OC, but as far as I know there is no way to do it - yet at least.

 

I was at Wal-Mart yesterday and looked at the Acer Aspire they had for sale. It is a V5-122P-0408 with an A4-1250 (1.0 GHz) CPU, 4GB DDR3 memory, and a 500 GB HDD. This model did not have the back lit keyboard feature as the function F9 key lacked the marking for it. The price was US$378.00.

 

You can get the A6 version with backlit keyboard (-600) for $400. I'd recommend that. I wouldn't bother a dual channel.

 

Well what do ya know? You can OC the GPU and see some performance gains, at least percentage-wise.

Stock GPU @ 400 MHz: Generic VGA video card benchmark result - AMD A6-1450 APU with Radeon(TM) HD Graphics ,Acer Aspire V5-122P
GPU @ 600 MHz: Generic VGA video card benchmark result - AMD A6-1450 APU with Radeon(TM) HD Graphics ,Acer Aspire V5-122P

Overall score: 459 vs 523 ~ 14%
GPU Score: 419 vs 485 ~ 16%

Too bad it won't run faster than 1066MHz RAM.

I'll push GPU to see how far I can get.


EDIT: It seems it's almost like a toggle. It overclocks a fixed amount and that's it. I can't find anything that properly detects GPU speed, but by bumping it up past stock, it definitely increases the speed and performance a bit. I can drag the slider in MSI Afterburner all the way to +750 and the resulting score is still the same. So it's almost like it forces turbo mode or something.

 

It goes above turbo which is 400 MHz to 497 MHz for me. FPS increased 5-10 in Minecraft while standing still in a little cave. Now we need to OC the CPU to 1.5-2.0 GHz. If only we could configure the TDP.

 

I gained a few FPS in general in Minecraft on a server I'm running. For the most part it runs at 25-35 fps, averaging above 30, so it's not too bad.

 

One thing I realized is that even at load the system doesn't draw more than 16W *from the wall*. That's pretty impressive. They give you a 45W PSU. I just wish it wasn't the wall wart kind. An inline PSU would be much better. At least it's the standard 19v 5.5/2.5mm plug so lots of adapters are compatible.

 

A smaller PSU would've been cool.

So the A6-1450's TDP is 8W correct? but what about at 1.4 GHz and OCing the igpu? 15W or 16W TDP?


Did you guys see this? A4-1350, quad core, 1 GHz, no Turbo, 8W TDP. A14-1250 same but dual core.
AMD introduces A4-1350 quad-core chip for tablets, notebooks - Liliputing

 

Although I got mine (V5-122P-0637, A6-1450, 6GB) at a great price, I returned it after a few days of test driving.

What I Liked:
* Great display. The colors are vibrant. Even small letters are sharp and easy to read.
* Keyboard backlight. It was slightly distracting, so I turned it off most of the time, but I'm sure it would come in handy when I need it.
* Touchscreen. Very responsive. It was able to withstand my greasy fingers.
* Slim. Sturdy construction. Easy to upgrade HDD.
* Has dedicated (although small) PageUp and PageDown keys.

What I Didn't Like:
* Barely usable touchpad. Perhaps I should have given it a little more time to tune it, but I was just not able to get used to it. I had to move my thumb several times to put the cursor where I wanted. Maybe that's why it came with a touchscreen.
* Rather short battery life. I got only a couple of hours even with the brightness set to less than half.
* No removable battery. I like to remove the battery when the laptop is connected to the power supply. It's not a deal breaker, though.
* Somewhat short keyboard press distance. It also feels a little flimsy. I'm sure if I keep using it, I'd eventually get used to it, but I just didn't feel comfortable. Often times, I wasn't sure the key was pressed or not, so I had to press harder than necessary. Not a good thing.
* No HDD LED. I often wondered whether the HDD is busy or the laptop is just stuck.
* Only 2 USB ports. My cheapo USB-to-LAN worked on the right side USB (v2.0), but not the left side (v3.0).

I must say it's a lot of computer for the money. I don't know how the laptop manufacturers make profit out of it, but well, that's not my concern. I'm sure it's a great little laptop for those who need such a laptop, and it will be more than enough for a great portion of the population.

That said, it was simply too slow for me, even with an SSD (Samsung 830). It felt even slower than my aging Core 2 Duo. Granted, I open many web pages at a time, several PDF files, Eclipse (OK, Eclipse is pretty heavy, so it might not be fair, but I really need it), at least 1 VirtualBox guest OS, and a few terminals. I almost felt sorry to see this thing struggle.

I just had to make too many compromises to live with such a cute laptop, so I sent it back. I think I'll try a little more mainstream, such as Kabini.
__
sol

 

Hello,

I bought the 2core version of the V5-122P in France. I think it is a nice laptop but I found the computer quite slow. I already removed unnecessary softwares and I planned to change the hard-drive to a SSD. I am the only to find disturbing that my 5 years old computer on XP (less powerfull with only 2Gb of RAM) is faster than this new laptop ? Actually I don't need Win8 (I never use Metro and I already installed a start button), and XP is enough for my use (mostly Office, internet)

My questions are probably stupid :
Can we install windows XP on this computer ?
The corresponding drivers for XP exist ?
Do you think that the tactile screen will be recognized ?

Thanks

 

No.
No.
Probably not.
A step back to W7 is a far better idea.

The quad A6 is the only version of this laptop I would own. It is working quite well for my daughter in college. Battery life could be better. Anybody see the external battery on sale anywhere?

 

Can this laptop play hd videos smoothly like your own 1080p videos or youtube or hulu videos in 1080p smoothly?? If it can, what iw the cpu usage in task manager when the videos are running in the background?

 

It can.
But this is more a function of the GPU rather than the CPU. And it depends how nicely the software plays along with the hardware acceleration.
In Firefox I have problems playing 1080p flash content even on much more powerful machines.
In IE10 and 11 my dads single core 939 athlon64 rig I built for him back in 2004 or something, I can play 1080p flash material once I throw in a new, but el cheapo graphics card.
So it's going to depend a lot on the software you use.

Something like MPC-HC or just windows media player will play 1080p content without hick-ups.

Are you planing on hooking this up to something? The built in screen will not be able to take advantage of 1080p anyways.

 

I have an Acer Aspire V5-122P-0649. I can't get the case apart to install a new SSD hard drive.

This model has 11 screws on the base. 2 are long and the rest are short.

I watched a video on YouTube by Steve Chippy where he removes the case cover. Mine has more screws.

The cover opens on the front and both sides but the back is not budging yet. I don't want to use too much force just yet.

Any thoughts?

 

In the Chippy Video, he has pre-removed most of the screws. Look carefully, you're probably missing a screw. Once they're all out, it comes right off.

 

Bronsky...Believe me I've looked for more screws in it...lol His case was a bit different than mine.

Have you yourself ever removed the case cover? Any problem doing it?

 

First remove all 12 bolts, and then start carefully removing/prying the bottom cover from the card reader/MiniDP/USB3.0/exhaust-vent side first. It really doesn't require a whole lot of force. Remember to remove the dummy/placeholder SD card first!

Sent from my XT557 using Tapatalk 2

 

Archie1049
There is a 12th screw under the second battery connector plug. You will need to pull out the rubber plug to gain access to it. The two long screws fit into the corners by the hinge.

Be careful when pulling the cover out that you do not get caught up on the USB ports. You need to pull out a little to clear them. Work on one side at a time.

Good luck.

Edit: Follow davidricardo86 post above when you have the 12th screw removed. Start on the side he mentions as I had problems on that side and you do need to pull out the SD card plug as he mentions.

 

Ha! I knew there had to be another screw.

And I didn't remove the dummy plug. What a dummy!

Thanks guys...... will work on it tomorrow.

 

Thanks.
I ordered a SSD. I'll test with it first, then I'll give Win7 a try.

 

I'm curious about your thoughts, despite the unorganized and poorly worded post. EDIT: more unreadable than I thought, I'm incredibly sleepy though. I'll try to fix it up a bit...zzz


I'm thinking of returning my v5-122p:

-I want the E145/x140e because of build, removable battery, battery life, bios, documentation, and Linux support (thinkpads tend to be good that way)
-Linux support for Kabini is okay but not quite there (especially the Sea Islands GPU), it's being worked on by AMD, but I want to wait for it to mature (it's a work in progress, could be great in a matter of months)

-For some reason my brain decided that I want at least an A4-5000 (partly because it has DDR3L-1600 support, not sure how rational that is, but I blame HTWingNut for his in depth APU tests)

-I'd like a refresh of the a4-5000 with a 2 core turbo up to 2 ghz

-I irrationally want AMD to make the Kabini refresh (Beema) support dual channel memory (doesn't fit the price segment, unlikely, etc)
-I feel like being frugal and cautious, and this is a luxury, not a need at this time. Whatever I end up getting, I want to use it for a while, and I want it to be capable of meeting my needs during that time.



*Overly critical summary of the v5-122p as it relates to my wishes*
POSITIVES

-Love the screen. Brightness is good enough, other than that it's fantastic for me.
-The touch screen really comes in handy for me, when the Acer is in my lap it's useful ergonomically.

-I like that it has a displayport/amd thunderbolt port
-Compared to past Acer netbooks, it has a svelte form factor and a more modern design, and it feels good in my hands.

-There is already a way to unlock the bios

NEGATIVES

-The 1.4 ghz suspend/resume bug, unless someone has found a way to get it to that speed with needing to suspend/resume...
-Battery is just too small and can't be easily replaced. This is bad over the long haul, as I'll use a high percentage of it's capacity each time I unplug it, once the capacity is reduced part way the battery life will be really short, and then I'll have trouble replacing it -- it's a triple whammy.

-I need to try the 13.9 drivers, but on top of the driver maturity related graphical glitches, there's way too much latency under Windows, which is disheartening. Things are too slow, whether its the ram speed, constant CPU frequency changes for power saving, Windows 8 incompatibilities (there's some kind of issue with the atheros wireless card causing high latency in windows but not in linux), or motherboard.
-Acer soldered in 2gb of DDR3-1066 ram, so the DDR3-1600 stick they put in is of course locked at 1066.

-DDR-1066 on an APU
-apparently AMD had a change of plans, so HSA is not fully (or at all?) supported, while maybe Beema has more mature support (I want to be able to mess around with HSA at least a bit if their vision comes to fruition)

 

Update...Got the 64 Gig SanDisk SSD drive installed thanks to your help. Cover comes off pretty good after removing the hidden screw!!!

Now I want to add more memory.
The existing 2 gig card is Kingston memory but I don't know the speed, etc.

Acer says 6 gig is the max but all the memory sales places claim I can add more than that.

Has anybody added more memory and what was the result?

 

128 GB is tight for me but doable. 64 GB, that seems like torture. lol i suppose it depends on how you use it...

See post #37 for more on 10 GB RAM

 

According to CPU-Z the in built 2 GB is DDR3-1066, so any you add will run at that speed. Mine has 2GB of DDR3-1600 Kingston RAM in the normal slot, running at 1066 speeds.

 

I tried installing Windows 7 x64 SP1 on this laptop too. I have the same missing device drivers as you. I've tried what is available on the Acer support site and they do not work. Where did you get yours?

Also, after installing the graphics drivers I get a black screen as soon as the login screen appears. I can remote desktop in and everything is functioning. I've been searching the past 3 days for solutions for both these problems and haven't found anything.

 

I used all of the drivers on the Acer support site (meant for Windows 8) in Windows 7 like the audio, wireless, and touchpad for example. For the chipset and video drivers I recommend this:

1. First install the AMD VGA Driver (12.102.1.1 268.2 MB 2013/04/30) from the Acer V5-122P support page, restart your computer
2. Next, install the latest 13.9 AMD Embedded GPU and APU Win7/Win8 Driver (13.151 396 MB 9/9/2013) from AMD.com, restart your computer
3. And finally, install the latest 13.9 AMD Chipset Drivers (13.9 49.4 MB 9/18/2013) from AMD again, restart your computer one last time
4. Network driver is likely the WIFI/Wireless card or Realtek Ethernet Driver

NOTE: Do NOT use Catalyst Beta 13.10 video drivers as those cause all kinds of artifacts and BSODs! It did for me. I'm not sure which drivers you're using that are causing that black screen but its likely a video driver issue. I erased my Windows 7 (I may play around with it again at a later time) from my V5-122P because of the brightness issue that was going on. I never bothered to resolve it or dig deeper into the cause of this. Maybe with the latest drivers I posted up above you will not have the brightness control issue or the black screen issue you are experiencing. Hope this helps.

 

Intro:
So I've been testing Catalyst Beta 13.10 video drivers and AMD Chipset Drivers 13.4 and came to conclusion that the beta drivers are NOT a good fit for the v5-122P. With beta drivers I get a lot artifacts on screen and the occasional BSOD. This is unacceptable but it is expected as they are beta drivers. I wanted to find a more stable solution that was more *up-to-date* than the Acer supported AMD VGA Driver (12.102.1.1) so I decided to try something new.

Problem:
-Lots of artifacts with 13.10 Beta video drivers
-The occasional BSOD
-High CPU utilization at idle
-The latest 13.9 AMD video drivers cannot be installed on the V5-122P using the AMD Mobility Radeon Driver Verification tool

Solution:
-Update to the latest 13.151 official video drivers for embedded SoC APUs, the Jaguar-based G-Series SOC
-Update to the latest 13.9 chipset drivers

Installation:

1. First install the AMD VGA Driver (12.102.1.1 268.2 MB 2013/04/30) from the Acer V5-122P support page, restart your computer


2. Next, install the latest 13.9 AMD Embedded GPU and APU Win7/Win8 Driver (13.151 396 MB 9/9/2013) from AMD.com, restart your computer



3. And finally, install the latest 13.9 AMD Chipset Drivers (13.9 49.4 MB 9/18/2013) from AMD again, restart your computer one last time


Results:
-Much more stable and current solution
-So far, no artifacts
-So far, no BSODs
-Lower CPU utilization at idle
-Possibly a placebo affect but the battery meter reads 4, 5, 6 and 7 hours depending on what I'm doing
-Even on power saver it feels a bit more responsive while web surfing




NOTE: Do NOT use Catalyst Beta 13.10 video drivers as those cause all kinds of artifacts and BSODs! It did for me. Hope this helps get to the bottom of some of these issue that plague the V5-122P. I haven't tested games, ran any benchmarks, or tried more overclocking or stress testing yet. I really wanted to share this with all of you. So far this seems like a viable *up-to-date* solution for our machines. Please help me test this for bugs or errors.

Thanks,
David

P.S. I am FINALLY able to use Bluetooth Dial-Up Networking (DUN) with the OEM Atheros Qualcomm wireless card and my phone! I am super happy now!!! I just couldn't believe that this modern computer couldn't do it before and all my other machines could. Turns out i need to add an incomming COM port for serial over Bluetooth.

 

Well it does require a little force. Just pry them apart in the spot he shows in the video. First time out is quite difficult and stiff but afterwards it goes a lot easier.

Sent from my G2

 

I followed all the steps and everything installed correctly. But, the display still goes out as soon as the login screen comes up after installing the AMD video drivers (after the first step). I even did fresh install of Windows 7 and same issue. I can remote in using RDP or VNC and everything looks/works fine, just no display on the laptop itself. Searching online I've only found one other person that posted in the Acer forums with a similar issue but no resolution posted.

 

Oh I'm sorry I forgot to mention to try *Fn + brightness UP* or *Fn + brightness DOWN.* Keep tapping these combinations until the backlight comes ON. Or go into the Power Settings and adjust the screen brightness slider.

Remember I said that the brightness controls do not work correctly under Windows 7. Mine would only have 3 brightness settings even after drivers, HIGH, LOW, and backlight OFF. This should be what you're experiencing right now.

 

HA! That did it. So simple of a solution, yet I would never have thought to try that. Thanks so much

 

I just bought one from Amazon. Let's see if it's a perfect little computer to multi task web browsing and watch 1080p videos smoothly while enjoying that IPS touchscreen and backlit keyboard for under $500

 

I was at Fry's today and they have an Aspire V5-122P-0467 for sale at US$499.99. It comes with a A4-1250 (1.0GHz) CPU, 6 GB DDR3 Memory, and a 500 GB HDD. This model has the backlit keyboard function.

 

Does anyone here have a Synaptics touchpad in their v5-122p?

Acer has the Synaptics driver up on their support site and I wonder if its any better than the Elantech touchpad I have now.

This Elantech touchpad doesn't scroll smoothly sometimes when pausing a scroll. It does this jumpy bouncing pause. its weird, all other TPs that I've used do not react this way. Guess I go try out some newer or compatible driver.

Oh it can handle a bit of multitasking and smooth 1080p YouTube videos on Power Saver! :thumbsup:

My LCD doesn't match part numbers with the (IPS) LCD from notebookcheck. I still love it.

 

Just tested watching 1080p videos on it and it is smooth as butter w/o any stuttering, just got mine yesterday and been playing with it, did not experience BSOD and the wireless connection is stable with no disconnects. This little computer is definitely worth the $400 and a way better deal than buying a freaking Ipad I tell you that :thumbsup:

Pros:
- Very portable, thin and light
- IPS Touchscreen
- Backlit Keyboard
- Love the design and the two tone color silver and black
- For $400 bucks, you get a real little potent computer where you can actually do some real work than buying a freaking Ipad/Tablet.


Cons:
- Not very good battery life, was only able to get 3hrs just web browsing but for $400 with a backlit keyboard and IPS Touchscreen???, can't really complain and if you want 5-6hours with a ulv core I cpu w/ backlit kb and IPS touch, you have to shell out between $300-800 more.
- CPU performance is not as smooth, but for $400 bucks, you get a real computer that can do real computer work on a real OS so can't really complain, it's a lot better than spending $300-500 on a freaking Ipad or tablet.
- Some IPS Backlight bleeding glow on the upper right and lower left of the display and only noticeable on black backgrounds
- Slightly grainy display. Mine is the AUO but I forgot the model, will check back later today when I get home from work. What's the exact model # of your AUO panel David/HTwing? Can you check on your hardware id via device manager?