Acer TimelineX 3820TG Owners Lounge. Info, benchmarks, tweaks, mods and upgrades

Had a look at tgoode's highres pictures of the motherboard, I found two interesting IC that someone hopefully can "reach"

Nuvotel NPCE781B LPC Embedded Controller - Search for NPCE78nx
intersil ISL62882 Multiphase PWM Regulator

 

My motherboard should arrive at Shark Technologies tomorrow. Let's hope they know what they are doing. How cool would it be if my mobo was back on a plane heading to me by Monday?

Bronsky

 

Best of luck Bronsky, let the legend be reborn from it's watery demise! xD Reminds me of that last part of X-Men where Jean Grey gets consumed by the lake. xD

 

the pwm probably drives the LCD backlight (pulse width modulation)

The EC supports keyboard/mouse/I/O

 

The PWM is for the CPU and not for the display. The VID Table matches exactly the Intel VID table. Datasheet

The interesting part of the EC is the fan control .....

 

this is what i get stock also. almost on the nose.

 

Hi all. My first post here

I have been following this thread for a while now, since about page 100, and have finally decided to buy the 3820tg with i5-450, 5650 and six-cell battery. Thanks for all the usefull info so far. The lappy is currently in transit, and im expecting it to arrive in about 10-14 days (depending on the weather). In addition i have also ordered a momentus 4gb/500gb harddrive.

Then some questions:
1) First of all, im intending to use this lappy as a work/study/casual gaming rig. Most important is the study part, as my old lappy sounded like a jet engine, and couldnt be used in classes. Does anyone have any tips or tricks on how to keep fan noise/other sounds to a minimum (in addition to the following steps that i already know about and are gonna implement: new cooling paste, monthly fan cleanings and underclocking)

2) I was originally planning to buy the 9-cell version, but when i was offered this 6-cell for the norwegian equivalent of 840 dollars (it had been returned unopened by the prev owner after one day), i couldnt resist. Anyone know about ways to get a 9-cell in addition, or is it reserved just for the lappys that originally came with a 9-cell (i have seen this mentioned before, just trying to get confirmation).

 

Anyone looking for a good deal on SSDs and don't mind a factory refurbished unit, Crucial has its 128 GB for sale for $128 and the 256 model for $256. http://forum.notebookreview.com/notebook-tech-bargains/519986-1-per-gb-crucial-m225-refurb-ssds.html $1 per GB.

Bronsky

 

those are all gone now. Snapped up super quickly.

A lot of great sales will come when the new intel drives come out. It's right around the holidays so it will be a double effect hopefully.

 

I love this laptop, it's the most awesome, lightest laptop I've ever had.

Plays my games, and yet keeps cool and has a ridiculous battery life. Couldn't have asked for more. Totally worth all the trouble I went through to get it to where it is now.

 

yea ... should be some great black friday sales.

 

Which 3 settings are these?! I'll try it out as well

 

Just got my Zeroshock case with the handles it look very cool, the zip is very good quality and edge are semi hard rubber that can give a little bit of protection. The handles is plastic not comfortable, the front pocket can only put external HDD. Overall I give 4 out of 5
http://www2.elecom.co.jp/accessory/bag/zsb-ibh002/index.asp

If you looking for a case I think you better buy Wardmaster the price I saw on ebay few month a ago is very similar to Zeroshock but I think it much better with the water resistant.
Wardmaster Cases - Home

I also bought Keyboard Skin Protector. It is perfectly fit and only $3 you cant go wrong! 5 stars for this!
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250622277719&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

 

Sold out

 

Hi guys,

I'm deciding between Acer 3820TG and Sony Y-Series. Sony is more expensive and slower, but better build quality and its Sony. Hows ur Acers ? Should I risk it and buy it ? btw, I want atleast 5:30-6hrs of battery life !!

Cheers.

Sony: Sony VAIO 13.3" Intel Core i3 - 330UM Laptop (VPCY216FDB) - Black - Future Shop Exclusive - Future Shop

Acer: STAPLES | BUREAU EN GROS

(use postal code of: v6l2a8)

 

because ti's a sony doesn't mean its better quality,

the acers are great machines, good build quality, more power in every single department compared to that sony.

the sony felt really cheap to me when i played with it at FS.

 

Well im telling this because I got two acers for my mom like last year and both were faulty, i think buying an acer might be hit or miss. I agree with all the powers, thats why its hard for me to decide. But when I played with Sony at FS, I loved it, at least the quality of the keys were better plus the overall built. But again, durability is more important to me. Im leaning towards Acer ...
cuz I can get 2years plus 1 years = 3 years warranty with staples for $149.99. thats awesome !! and i can just sit back and enjoy my acer

 

Hi,
This is my first post in this thread, and also in NBR! I've been, however, following threads here regarding 13 inch notebooks since the beginning of this year. I am currently waiting on my 3820TG from computeruniverse (I live in Spain, and the offer sucks here, both in term of options and prices). Hopefully I'll be playing with it next monday 27/9!

Well, thanks to 500+ pages, many answers are already answered. I'll have some completely new issues that don't appear here often, though: this notebook is not going to run windows. I'll wipe the HD clean and install linux as soon as I can.

Now, to my question: I consider myself without warranty (in practical terms), as I bought my unit from Germany living in Spain and moving real soon to Argentina. Do the ones having the service manual consider it worth having it? I don't think I'll go into modding soon, but I am real curious and love to know the tiny details of things I own. It might also help if something goes wrong. Where did you guys get it from? There's a stripped down version one can get off the net with only the disassembly chapter. Do the rest add important/interesting stuff?

 

Will the Acer 3820TG start getting an HD 6650 GPU in Q4? AMD has snounced that its 6000 series mobile GPUs will start shipping soon after its release on October 18, 2010. Radeon HD 6000 launch in late October - Graphics - Graphics - Fudzilla
I wonder if Acer will feed the new GPU's directly into its production line the same way they did with the arrandale refreshed CPUs.

Bronsky

 

Hi,
is there any gadget for Windows 7 for this notebook that can change graphic cards, turn on/off Wi-Fi, BT and maybe some other things?
Thank you

 

@ Jorges

Send me your email adress as pn.

 

Hi,
I have the 3820tg Taiwan version of this laptop. The 9 cell battery from Temple is 111 + tax and shipping. I just wanted to confirm that this battery will fit the 3820tg before I buy it. Acer will not help out and of course the numbers on mine do not match either of these. Does anyone know for sure that this all matches? Thank you in advance!

 

Anyone else using Batterycare? I am experiencing that the program wont show down in the bottom right corner.
When i try to start the program again, it tells me its already running.

Any pointers as to why?

And what sort of discharge rate are u guys experiencing?

Kevin =)

 

@ Just_a_Nick

I can't use the private messaging system yet (I need 5 posts, this will be the second). It took me 10 minutes to figure this out!

 

Okay, let us use an other way ...

... catch the file, the password ist paperwork.

Please post, after the download finished.

 

Thank you very much. Download is finished.

Jorge

 

Hi,
I am wondering if someone can help me. I just bought the 3820TG with the ATI 5650. However, I am unable to get the laptop to extend display from Dell monitor to my Samsung 2343QW monitor. I can see the Dell display but cannot see anything on the Samsung. I have updated all the drivers for the ATI catalyst to 10.8, Samsung and the Dell is a generic driver. The Dell is connected via VGA cable and the Samsung is via USB. Can any kind soul advise what I should do next? I am using Windows 7.
Tks!

 

Does anyone know how to "SCALE IMAGE TO FULL PANEL SIZE" in ATI ccc panel? It's missing in my 10.8 drivers.

What gives?

 

new here to the forum, just dropping by to say hi!

My 3820 should arrive either today or tomorrow! anything I should first check that are common problems with this laptop so I know I dont have a defective unit?...I read about a ticking sound from the hd, some say its normal but some say they dont have that sound?

also, im quite a comp noob, how do I go about getting rid of all the bloatware?...clean install of windows? (how do I do that), manually remove them or go download a program that does it (PC decrapifier?)

thanks guys!

 

fiddling with the resolution seems to bring the option back. Strange....

 

The harddrive clicking is not a defect. It is easily cured with some free software. More important is the display. It seems to be the largest source of dissatisfaction by new owners. If you search this thread, you will see disussions about display issues. I would DL CPUz monitor and run Wprime for about an hour to give a basic temp test. The temps stay in the 84-87C range.

As far as a clean install ... here is my guide to converting imported units. It discusses a clean install. http://forum.notebookreview.com/ace...rks-tweaks-mods-upgrades-162.html#post6465732

Bronsky

 

common issues, hmm only one is screen flickering while on integrated. It happens on my unit sometimes when running on battery with low brightness. Doest annoy me at all to be honest and i dont notice it anymore so maybe it was the drivers.

As for bloatware i formated my win7 home straight away cause the ammount of crap that acer put was annoying me and i never use it anyway. Installed win7 ultimate from an external harddrive (google how to do it). U've got to have an iso and make hd bootable. Works great so far. Congrats on your purchase and enjoy.

Btw I cant seem to be able to play bad company 2 anymore cause after a while the laptop freezes and have to power it off. I do o/c but even with low clocks it does that. I didnt use to be like this, u think is the drivers? ive got 10.8. Any1else with that problem ? thx

 

I rolled 10.8 back to the Acer 10.7 driver. I was getting artifacts in my graphic work and my company's proprietary GIS satelite imaging tools has a GPU certification test that my Acer failed with 10.8. It passed with 10.7.

Bronsky

 

Hi all!
First of all I am glad to have such a great machine as the Acer 3820TG is...
I am happy that I finished reading last 200 pages
I would like to ask, at which conditions I should OC the CPU and GPU...
just on my Batterycare chose High Power and run SetFSB and AMD clock ?
Or I need to switch somehow both units to their max. frequency and then try to OC ?
And which program and version you use for OCing GPU?
In my country (Czech Rep.) I was able to buy in my favourite shop only model with 430m , do you think if is it much weaker than 450m or 540m ?
Could somebody with 430m show me his Set FSB screenshots? I am not to able to OC it just with sliders, at least with ASUS G74something chipset, which recommended abo to me.
Thanks and have a nice day guys!

 

I just bought a monitor with a D-Sub and DVI ports for my 3820tg

Would HDMI to DVI be a better signal than vga to d-sub?

Thanks!

It's in san fran customs atm. EXCITE!

 

On the technical part HDMI to DVI is better.

But a few monitors have a very good analog circuit and picture improvment for the analog port, that picture seems to be better for many users.
(VGA, d-sub are analog)


Just try it

 

Hi guys,

I'm deciding between Acer 3820TG and Sony Y-Series. Sony is more expensive and slower, but better build quality and its Sony. Hows ur Acers ? Should I risk it and buy it ? btw, I want atleast 5:30-6hrs of battery life !!

Cheers.

Sony: Sony VAIO 13.3" Intel Core i3 - 330UM Laptop (VPCY216FDB) - Black - Future Shop Exclusive - Future Shop

Acer: STAPLES | BUREAU EN GROS

(use postal code of: v6l2a8)

 

for o/c gpu use "amd gpu clock tool", you need to check your own max frequency but 690/1080 should be stable but than again different 3820tg models might clock differently.

As for thhe cpu i have 450m which does most of the stuff rly fast however i will upgrade to i7-620/640m to get bad company 2 run butter smooth.

 

I'm having it and I really cannot understand what is the problem. It mostly seems to crash when using UMTS module, but I still see it happening like plugging power cord on or waking from sleep.

My machine went to Acer once already, they changed MOBO, but the problem persists. Now I'm trying to figure out this so that they would really fix it, but this just seems so random.. I'm also so much hoping that I would have caught this inside 14 days.

How does your machine crash? Mine crashes so that the screen stays on displaying that thing that was on when the crash happened but nothing does anything (except plugging power cord on/off makes BEEP).

I even had a wild idea today that seemed to be the problem but cannot reproduce the results. As I said that the crash is easiest done by UMTS downloading I turned UMTS, WLAN, BT off and used external UMTS stick and IT STILL CRASHED! After I took a long USB cord and put the UMTS stick far from Acer it stayed up! Ok, so it's interference from UMTS?! But after that I did put the stick back in and it didn't crash, nor with the inside UMTS module when downloading 1GB of data (it usually crashes before 300M). But then had to leave and sleep and next time I wake my machine it crashed and then again testing with external UMTS stick 2 meters away it crashed...

Memtest86+ 2.11 (Cannot use never as they don't work for some reason) can run couple of passes without problems as crashing happens usually much faster I havent run it more.

So no MOBO, no Memory, and I would doubt the CPU much. UMTS module is my next best guess, but still it doesn't seem to be consistent enought or only a problem with UMTS module (as External UMTS crashes also!?).

Any ideas would be nice..

 

I haven't completely kept up with your story, but have you wiped the machine and put a fresh Windows 7 with latest drivers on yet? Also, you could try testing with a single stick of RAM. With and without the charger connected. Hmm...

ADDED: You said the power cord makes a beep when you plug/unplug. That would seem to be on the CMOS level. Can you try FN+SCREEN BRIGHTNESS and see if that works? Also, try CAPS LOCK and see if that toggles the light at the top left of the keyboard.

 

It looks like some of the latest models are having memory OC troubles. I have two units that only like to clock around 725/900 stable.

 

It's not a software problem for that I'm sure, wouldn't send the machine to Acer in first place. I've tested with Fedora 13 Live to download updates to it and it also crashes. (Luckily UMTS is only one supported in F13). I just tought if someone would have had similar experiences and/or what part did the Acer service changed to get it working

That BEEP when plugging powercord is only thing, no FN's nor CAPS LOCK.

 

Which BIOS version you are using?

 

The only person I know of with a UMTS model is Hendrickson. He has not reported any of these problems but you might want to ask him.

Bronsky

 

I have also a model with UMTS

 

Figures.

Bronsky

 

ok i'll bite. WTH is UMTS

 

V1.13. Replacement MOBO has UUID of just f's. I think that the first MOBO had some random value there.

 

One name for 3G, WCDMA.

But really in this case I mean HSPA (HSDPA, HSUPA) which are so called 3.5G.

For plain english is Mobile Broadband

 

thanks now i get it