Acer Timeline Ultra m5?

I couldn't find anything about this laptop recent on this forum - does anybody have/is looking at the Timeline Ultra M5? It seems very attractive for its price, essentially the same as something like a Vizio laptop for less, assuming you're willing to make sacrifices in screen etc. Does anybody own this, and if so, what do you think about it?

For anybody curious, this model/this notebook: http://www.amazon.com/Acer-Timeline...1341191785&sr=1-2&keywords=Acer+Timeline+U+M5

 

Here are the specs as per Acer:
Acer Support: Specifications

I had a 4830TG and upgraded to the M5-481TG. Acer's chat support is a joke, they don't know what they're talking about and I couldn't talk to anyone useful.

My own questions were:

Q1: User replaceable battery? - Internal as in 4830TG series, same battery as in Acer Aspire M3 ultrabook.
Q2: 2GB RAM soldered on motherboard? presumably, although I did not remove motherboard completely, there is 1 DDR3 slot with a 2GB DIMM, which supports an 8GB DIMM
Q3: 500 GB hard drive form-factor - SATA 2.5", WD Scorpio Blue - WDC WD5000LPVT-22G33T0
Q4: Backlit keypad? - Yes, Fn+F9 triggers it
Q5: HDMI analog support? - Nope, tried HDMI->VGA cable and doesn't detect display. I got this little converter and I'm amazed at what it does, has worked on 4 different monitors flawlessly!
Q6: 20GB SSD form factor - mSATA mini PCIe, same as the one in Acer Aspire S3 ultrabook
Q7: A/C adapter has a right-angle or straight connection to laptop? right-angle connection. LITEON PA-1650-69, output: 19V DC, 3.42A, 65W max, either blocks vents slightly or ports a bit.
Q8: Optical drive form-factor/model/manufacturer - 9.5mm height, HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GU61N

Dimemsions for comparison between 4830TG and M5-481TG:

Code:

M5-481TG: 340 (W) x 245 (D) x 20.7/20.7 (H) mm
  4830TG: 339 (W) x 239 (D) x 22.6/29.9 (H) mm

 

I would wait to see what the Gigabyte U2442N looks like and the price is before I would buy one of these. From its specs, the U2442N looks like a more worthy successor to the TimelineX series with full powered CPU, GT650M GPU option, HD+ display and Thunderbolt port.

 

Thanks for the info on the Gigabyte U2442N. The 2GB GT650M, 1600x900 display and native VGA output is nice, but for the dual vents you sacrifice the optical drive, which I wanted to keep. That and my eyesight is a bit meh, I'm stretching it with the 1366x768 on the current 4830TG... *rolls eyes*

I don't see a Thunderbolt port on the Gigabyte 2442N, just HDMI. Something I'm missing?

Specs link:
GIGABYTE - Notebook / Slate & Device - Notebook & Netbook - U series - U2442N

I already have a 256GB SSD and a 9.5mm Blu-ray burner on the 4830TG, so assuming the form factor is the same (pretty sure of it) I will reuse both in the M5-481TG.

 

Well I don't want to wait forever. Does anybody even know when the U2442n comes out? And from what I saw, prices are 1k+, which seems like it isn't even in the same range of the Timeline.

 

The Gigabyte was in stock in Taiwan. The few notebooks they had at PCHome sold out right away. Price is $1,200. http://shopping.pchome.com.tw/DHAV0V-A64336387 PCHome will ship to the US. Don't know if Gigabyte's warranty is international. Should not be long before this comes to the US. But you guys are right, the Acer is 40% less.

 

Yeah, there is a reason the Acer is worse than the gigabyte, they aren't even the same price range

If gigabyte can make a 900$ laptop I would definitely consider it. Have to decide between the Acer (price) and the vizio (better peripherals/inputs) now.

 

Well, I bit on the M5-481TG. (see next posts for details)

 

Oh cool. Please do make a review!

Can you do something like Furmark stress test for temps, battery life, screen data (subjective or otherwise) keyboard/trackpad feel and maybe some games?

Also... boot time!

(All of this is optional, just what I'm hoping for.)

 

haha, furmark/prime95 i'll def do. Maybe try sims 3 since the gf plays that, maybe another game of choice. I'll keep it stock, then test with the crucial m4 256gb ssd i have. Most of the rest is suggestive, but i will try to compare against my 4830tg.

My purpose is to have a mobile kepler platform, since i'm working on some cuda code as part of phd research, and would be nice to not have to remote into desktop or be glued to it.

 

Alright, sounds good. Thanksh very much! I'm most worried about the fact that it's an Acer honestly, and that I have always heard build quality and such isn't up to par for the price, and that their warranty support isn't the greatest. Do you have any tips to ease my mind?

 

You have heard wrong. Build quality on the Timelines has been quite good. My TimelineX is two years old and still going strong. Warranty support is not bad for a consumer product. Once you get past the first representative, who is in SE Asia somewhere and get your RMA, the service, at least here in the US, is very good. The techs at the Temple Texas Depot tend to replace, rather than repair. I sent in a unit with a shorted webcam and the service techs replaced everything they had to take out to get to it. Plus, my unit had an Alps touchpad, which did not work very well and they changed it out without asking. I have been quite pleased with Acer service.

On the other hand, try Asus service. It is horrible IMO. They sent a unit back to me still broken and refused to admit that it has a problem. I wound up throwing it away and vowed to never buy an Asus product again. Acer service is quite good.

 

I agree with Bronsky on quality- 2 years and 3 months of operation and the only change was new battery pack since the old one lost too much capacity (Sony cells- I knew from day one it would be a goner).

As for customer support- I haven't had the pleasure which sort of testifies to the quality of the thing

 

Alright. I'll definitely keep that in mind, and I'm waiting for your review when you get it

Happy fourth to anybody in the US... (to the UK... hello )

 

I'll actually be getting it tomorrow. But yes, I agree with what the others have said, I've had no problems with my 4830TG. =)

Edit: Newegg/Amazon has it now for the retail price.

 

Awesome. It seems like Acer has delivered the full stock now - you can get one and two day shipping from Amazon now.

Awaiting eagerly! I think I'm down to this, the Vizio, or the Asus N56VZ (1k so a bit more money, but more features). The battery life is definitely a big pull though, and it might keep me from getting the big Asus.

 

Some initial info...

Optical drive is a HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GU61N (9.5mm height), should be easy to swap with a UJ-232A or UJ-242A for Blu-Ray burning.

20GB SSD shows up as "SATA SSD" w/ firmware S5FAM014.

NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M LE shows up with the full 384 shaders/CUDA cores. NVIDIA Inspector shows it to be GK107 chipset, Rev: A2, BIOS 80.07.23.00.11, Device ID: 10DE-0FD3, 1024GB GDDR5 memory, running at 0.887/0.912/0.925 V.

No control of GPU fan available (duh), P0 base clocks can be adjusted +/- 135 MHz, and Memory clocks can be adjusted +2000 MHz / -1200 MHz. (of course, that's what NVIDIA Inspector *permits* you, doubt you'll be able to crazy over/underclocks.

Touchpad is Synaptics, very little pressure required to move mouse around. The clickers are, of course, integrated to the touchpad, might take me a while to get used to.

SATA HDD is a WDC WD5000LPVT-22G33T0 (Scorpio Blue)

Backlit keyboard can be enabled/disabled via Fn+F9 key.

Processor Tj. Max is 105 C.
-
x24 multiplier (2394.5 MHz) with Prime95 @ max heat is stable, though max temps can be as high as 91,93 C for CPU cores. After a while, I see that CPU itself goes down to x23 multiplier.
-
There is one caveat. Surface temperatures near the upper left near the vent, run from ~120-123 F. (source: infrared thermometer) There is some slight seepage of hot air through the right side of the keyboard.

With the latest Furmark, at first I saw the CPU throttle to 1100 MHz after I had started Prime95, however, after a while I see that the GPU is being throttled to 270MHz, while the CPU remains at a 21-23 multiplier. At this point, GPU temp is 88 C, CPU max temp is 97 C, and the right top surface temperatures mentioned before have gone up about ~2-5 deg F.

With Prime95 at about 60% CPU load (blend) and GPU at ~60-77% load (GPUz render test) I get CPU temps of 91,93 C, and surface temps are about ~2-5 deg F less than with just CPU alone. In this case, GPU still downclocks to 270 MHz, and CPU is at a x23.5 multiplier.

So in short, yes, it still throttles.

Edit: bottom of laptop gets reasonably hot as well. after being off for a few seconds, temps on bottom plastic are still as high as 124 F on near the underside area where vent is.

 

Thanks very much! It sucks that it throttles, I feel like they should be able to get a nicer fan, especially with the low TDP cpu to keep temps down without increasing cost very much. Thank you very much!

 

It's not about the fan but about the size of a radiator that they can fit inside a chassis that is so slim.
I can't say I'm surprised by it throttling but definitely disappointed.

 

Well the Samsung notebook is only .06" thicker, and it has a full voltage CPU, and I don't think the throttling is quite that bad. Although it is more expensive. I think there's something that could have been done about it, but then again I guess you get what you pay for, with it being so much less expensive, I guess it's not too surprising.

Did you get the 14" or 15" model? Apologies if you already answered this.

 

As far as I know Samsung has similar issues- 17" Samsung Chronos 700Z7C throttles like crazy and even 15" Samsung Series 9 with no dedicated graphics gets very got- chassis temperature up to 48*C (and that is without a GPU that's worth another 30W).

I haven't seen tests of 15" Samsungs with dedicated graphics but I don't expect them do do much better.

To answer your second question- I haven't bought either. My current Arrandale notebook is still going strong but I bought it with two years of service in mind which already passed so I'm looking at new notebooks.

 

Oh sorry, that was actually intended for the OP

Anandtech is apparently reviewing the Samsung Series 7, and timelineU M5 in the next week or two, along with some Asus ultrabooks, according to one of their staff who writes the laptop reviews, so I think I'm going to eagerly await those and possibly decide.

 

Took it apart a bit ago. Not that hard, removed all screws in bottom, the ZIF connectors are pretty taught, used a small piece of plastic to disengage most of the ones in the way.

Once the bottom screws are all out, and removing the optical drive and the plastic card on card reader, I used a plastic pry tool carefully around all the edges to disengage the tabs, including the top hinge -- so lid should be open all the way, ideally. The whole top cover, with keyboard and touchpad (TP) cables comes off as one piece. It has three ZIF ribbon cables that must be removed, one for the TP, one for the keyboard backlight (KB), and one for the keyboard.

The KB and TP cables are attached to a separate daughter board (DB). The DB also includes the SD/MMC slot, headphone/MIC port and another ZIF connector for the external microphone. Two ZIF cables go from the MB to the DB.

The SSD is the same one they used in the M3 series -- Acer P/N: KN.0200Q.002, also identified by SSE020GTTC0-S51 AM014. Interestingly enough, when I googled these numbers, the M3-581T/TG service guide came up, haha. For that part, the battery is also the same as the M3 -- AP12A3i (31CP7/67/90) 11.1V 4850 mA, 54Wh.

To remove the hard drive, the DB must be removed, because one of the securing screws is under it. Exercise caution, as the ribbon cable from the HDD to the MB is squished into an edge.

Further, to remove the radiatior/fan, the hinges need to be removed as well. Clearly, I will be doing a re-paste job because I have the right materials... pictures eventually. I've been taking them.

There are very thin thermal pads over the four VRAM 256 MB chips near the GT640m GPU. I suceessfully saved them, but I might replace them with thicker pads (1mm) I got to fix another older Dell D630 laptop the other day. The paste job on the actual CPU and GPU is decent, but the paste might not be that great quality. There is also a thicker pad over two bigger components labeled R24 217 4RT.

 

Vacaloca, a few things if you can:

Test for throttling in games, maybe the most graphically intense that you have. I think I can live with throttling on furmark as long as games seem ok.

I'm sure you've already/are going to cover it in your main review, but screen quality and build quality please!

 

Seems that the CPU re-paste job kept temperatures about the same, not really any worse though. multiplier is still steady at x24, with CPU max temps of roughly the same as before (91-93 deg C). I used AS5, although I suspect that because I used 1mm thick pads on all the other VRAM chips, the CPU might not be making perfect contact.

However, GPU temp under load with CPU has dropped from 88 C to 86 C while in Furmak and Prime95 max heat, so it seems like there is still a bit of room to improve temps with just a good repaste. Another thing I noticed... the radiator is very easy to bend, which could be an advantage or disadvantage depending on how you look at it.

Game tests of Metro 2033 and Heroes of Might and Magic VI are detailed in a later post. (I played both recently testing an older GTX 580 that wasn't quite stable at stock clocks)

A passive HDMI to VGA cable I ordered from Amazon does not work, unfortunately.

 

I figured some pictures would be appreciated... some are re-sized slightly and edited for any identifying info/camera reflections, but they are all high-resolution. enjoy!

 

Thank you very much Vacaloca! You are quite technical XD any ideas when you'll have your full writeup done?

 

Thanks for the pics! Can you post idle temps together with your ambient temps?
80% of the time, I wont be gaming and would like to know if it gets hot browsing or watching youtube.

 

Factory pasting on the CPU looks typically bad.

 

So after all, would you recommend it? i am really thinking about getting one, I do light gaming, (diablo, dota 2, lol) and a bit of cad cam (solidworks).

 

82.5 F indoors as per a crappy LaCrosse weather station, idle temp CoreTemp instance screenshot after being woken up from sleep is below (just light browsing and uploading the picture):


Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Dislaimer: Top panel is not screwed in place at the moment, which might explain the variation -- Idle temps jump between 39 and 43 C. The fan at those temps is nearly silent.

I haven't had too much time to play with it, as I've been out with family, so I will get to a more thorough review when I get a chance. As for my recommendation so far, I like how it's built... the keyboard is very similar to 4830TG. Display viewing angles are not the greatest, might be worse than 4830TG, but I will have to compare side by side later on. It recognized an 8GB DDR3 DIMM for a total of 10 GB RAM. That's about as much new info as I have for the moment

I do not this this is an engineering sample, despite what CoreTemp says about being ES, this chip is just pretty new.

Also, other caveats to be aware of -- apparently the machine will not power itself on when the lid is closed. The lid must be open to be able to power on. Also, it might be that the computer detects the battery, but it "forgets" it is there, so it does not charge nor provides power. I forget what exactly made it work again, as I tinkered with the battery reset hole and unplugging/replugging the battery connections, but I think what did it was to hold power button for 10 seconds while AC adapter is connected and all screws are in and reset BIOS defaults -- for that trick I had a bit of help from the M3 laptop service guide -- downloadable here: http://support.acer.com/acerpanam/Manuals/acer/2012/ServiceGuides/M3-581T_TG_MA50_HX_Book2_29.pdf. Also, Acer's support site details how to enable battery to charge/provide power again in case this happens to someone else:

http://acer--uk.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/18843/p/2071,2813,6251

---

Just so others can see I'm not entirely biased towards Acer, I also saw Sony has a 13.3" VAIO S Custom Laptop with a free PS3 or Vita, or 8% discount for college students. Probably a better idea to get the PS3 or Vita and sell on eBay or craigslist. VAIO S also has a regular voltage CPU -- starts with an i5-3210M. It also has a VGA port along with HDMI, is docking station or sheet battery capable, and has slot loading optical drive as compared with the Acer models.

 

Besides screen size, is there any difference between the M3 and the M5?

 

The two 15" i5 models (500gb hdd or 128gb ssd) of the M5 are actually available to purchase now in the UK, for anybody who has been waiting. The i7 variation will be available from tomorrow (09/07/2012).

Amazon are a bit slow with their stock, but you'll find that some of the M3 models have gone to back order, and they now list the M5 as available to order but not yet in stock.

Regardless, all three models, i5 - 500GB HDD, i5 - 128GB SSD, and the i7 - 128GB SSD should be available from pretty much everywhere by the end of next week (in the UK).

It's about time too, but Acer still haven't even listed the models on their website. What's wrong with those people?

Can anybody explain why America only got the GT 640M LE in their M5 and not the full GT 640M like us Brits? Is it the economy or simply a demographic thing?

Edit: vacaloca, there was an issue with the M3 where sound would cut out with headphones in. I'm not sure if this problem was specific to the i7 model or not, but it definitely occured in all i7 specifications of the M3.

Can you test if that problem still persists in the M5? Just open WMP and play some music for a few minutes (with headphones in), while the music is playing run Windows Experience Index. If the sound cuts out and doesn't return but is active in the volume mixer then the problem remains. :/

Thanks.

 

Tested right now. Played unencrypted m4a files on WMP with no issues as WEI ran. That sounds more of a driver issue than anything else.

FWIW, onboard audio is Realtek High Definition Audio, driver date 4/10/2012, version 6.0.1.6612, VEN_10EC DEV_0269 SUBSYS_10250713
A quick Google finds this is a ALC269 High Definition Audio (82801G) chipset.

Here's a link to download latest Realtek HDA drivers:
http://www.realtek.com/downloads/do...=24&Level=4&Conn=3&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false

Your question prompted me to check the equalizer... pretty sweet graphic equalizer! (which can also be turned off) I should also mention... the speakers are pretty loud on max volume.

 

The regional "developers" for each country/area decide what to put in the particular models they sell. That said, I have no idea why they would choose to not include a 640M, I would have liked the option. Maybe they think thermals are more important, who knows?

 

That's weird indeed. I don't think it was decided on a regional level as this is a non-mxm board that had to be re-designed and equipped with a different GPU.

 

I agree that Acer would never do something like that. It would take too much coordination. Sometimes it's what is available during a particular production run. It would be interesting to track model numbers and manufacturing dates. We have the NX.M27AA.001 14" M5 in the US. What is the model # of the 14" M5 in the UK?

Shame to see throttling still occurring in the Timeline series. I seriously think that the AMD GPU's were easier to cool than the NVIDIA, even the Kepler.

 

Other tidbits to add to the system information.

WiFi/Bluetooth board is a Qualcomm Atheros AR5BWB222, driver version 10.0.0.42, dated 2/23/2012. Latest drivers are available here:
Drivers for Atheros AR5BWB222 and Windows 7. I'm also convinced that there is some sort of incompatibility with even the latest Atheros drivers and Intel RSTe RAID0, as I got freezes on my desktop until I took the PCI-Express wireless card out, but that's a separate issue... just thought I'd throw that out there.

The 20GB SSD has a 4GB hibernation partition (which will have to be changed if RAM is upgraded) and a 14.64 GB partition used for caching via installed ExpressCache software from Diskeeper. As for me, I'll be changing to e 256GB SSD eventually. I might just set up the 20GB SSD as 10GB hibernation partition and 10GB paging file without bothering with that software.

--- The below experiments are all at the panel's native 1366x768 resolution ---

Played a bit of Heroes of Might and Magic at high settings, didn't notice any lag compared to desktop. then again, this is a turn-based game. Temps measured w/ infrared thermometer at hottest point above F11/F12 keys kept steady at about 113-114 deg F, similar ambient temps as earlier post of idle temps.

Also just played the first few minutes of Metro 2033 at DX10, high/very high settings, AAA, didn't see any issues, however I had tried DX11 and I saw some banding in the main game screen (continue/new game/etc), so didn't try it that way. Surface temps on same F11/F12 spot did not go above 92 F. High settings of course are more smooth, very high are not as smooth, but still very decently playable. (I lack FPS here, but I have suggestiveness)

--- The above experiments are all at the panel's native 1366x768 resolution ---

For the tests above, I used the NVIDIA 296.32 drivers that came stock.

Edit: NVIDIA has beta Verde 304.79 drivers on their website: NVIDIA DRIVERS 304.79BETA. These install on the M5-481TG without any INF modifications. I still get that weird black vertical bar banding on Metro 2033 main menu screen with these drivers. I tried DX11 MSAA 4X, and the mouse cursor definitely lags a fair amount. Switched again to DX10 w/ AAA settings under new driver and the game runs really smooth in high, and still decently responsive on very high. Hope this helps someone. This again, is at 1366x768.

 

Clarification query, is it 2GB soldered to the mainboard with one open slot?

Thanks, I am def interested in this model but want to figure what the max Ram it can handle is.

Acer tech support is useless in answering as always.

 

It can definitely take an 8GB DDR3 DIMM, I tried one of mine and it works for a total of 10GB. I have not seen the bottom side of the motherboard to confirm that it is soldered, but on the top side there is definitely just 1 slot. I will probably NOT be taking the motherboard out to confirm for that matter... I'm horrible with keeping track of screws Judging that the Sony 13.3" I mentioned a few posts back has 4GB soldered according to their specs, it seems very likely that this one is also soldered.

 

That high/very high is on 1366x768 right?

 

Yes, it is at that 1366x768 resolution, thank you for the clarification.

 

Also is the mSATA slot (20gb SSD) on the accessible side of the mainboard or hidden beneath?

 

It's on the accessible side.

 

Vacaloca, how was noise while gaming? Noticeable, high pitched, low pitched, what? If you said this before, sorry!

 

To be honest, I did not pay attention to this much, for the Heroes the fan use was definitely on the higher side, but was less audible in the Metro 2033 test -- sorry I can't be more exact with exact figures!

While looking at the Amazon description page a few days ago, I became aware of the Intel Anti-Theft feature. After a bit of searching, I found one could order an activation code to use the service from Intel -- I first ordered from ValleySeek.com, but despite calling and asking about stock 2 days ago, they have yet to ship the item. I ended up ordering from EXcaliberPC, and they shipped the same day and I should have it by Friday afternoon to test how it works.

The items in question are:

BXIATSC1YRENG Intel Anti-Theft Service Activation Code Card 1YR English Retail
BXIATSC3YRENG Intel Anti-Theft Service Activation Code Card 3YR English Retail

There are other part numbers for different languages sold at various online sites:

BXIATSC1YRENGFR, BXIATSC3YRENGFR - French English
BXIATSC1YRENGIT, BXIATSC3YRENGIT - English Italian

The prices for these cards are relatively cheap -- about $40 USD for the 3-year service... certainly cheaper than LoJack software!

Edit: Looking through the pre-installed software, I found a link for a trial of McAfee branded Intel Anti-Theft. As per the T&Cs, the trial is for one year, but the Intel AT CSRs stated it was valid indefinitely... doubt that, but that's what they said.

If anyone else is curious, campaign.aspx number is 103668. I am leaving this vague on purpose. Google finds all

 

Vacaloca, can you check if the M5 can run Battlefield 3

 

I have it downloading, I can't promise it'll be anytime soon though 'cause I have some deadlines coming up in the next week.

 

what model is yours? the 15 inch or the 14 inch??

i heard that the LE version of the graphics is the lower end so its not that great... did you buy the Aspire M5-581TG-6666?? which graphics card did it come with? the LE one?

 

14 inch, I'm in the US. M5-481TG-6814, GT 640M LE, 384 CUDA cores as per NVIDIA Control Panel and GPU-z, clocked at 500MHz, w/ memory @ 1000 MHz, GPU-Z reports Bandwidth of 64.0 GB/s, but I have not tested this yet. When I set up the SSD and CUDA, I will perform a real bandwidth test to see if it indeed matches up to the spec.

You can certainly overclock, but the card can throttle down at high loads and with medium/high CPU usage as previously mentioned.