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

Okay, I have the same version and it works without problems.

I don't know the amricans user right, but are you able to give back the complete unit and buy a new one?

 

If he has a UMTS model, he probably did not get it in the US. I would guess he is in the EU. Only the German retailers have sold them as far as I know.

Bronsky

 

The Norwegian/Swedish/Danish/UK models doesnt come with umts either.

 

Me neither, I live in Finland and the machine is from Germany. If I would have noticed this in 14 days and returned yes. Now I have to give Acer the chance to repair this. If they can't then I could return it if I would have bought it from Finland, but maybe there are some EU rules that might give me that option also.

Well it did crash during the 14 day period but not so much and I just tought that it's Windows thing to crash. Noticed how often it crashes when using UMTS as I was visiting my parents and used UMTS a lot. Then it was too late.

Well, maybe I just send this second time to Acer and say that MOBO change didn't change anything and you might try to replace UMTS but the problems I'm seeing might not get fixed by that.

Oh and write a long story what I've tested and tried to locate which part could be the reason. As the crashes doesn't limit to UMTS usage I tought MOBO could better explain the crashes, but of course UMTS could also explain those power/resume from sleep/hibernate crashes.

But annoying problem and I can understand the service, usually things just work or not and they don't have time to do extensive testing like I have and
I still can't really pinpoint the problem

 

Okay ... by now my motherboard should be in China. This waiting is driving me nuts. I would guess that I will hear something after Shark Tech. inspects the mobo and lets me know if they think they can fix it.

I really miss my 3820TG. I'm having a hard time transitioning to an 11.6" notebook again. I was so frustrated yesterday, I almost ordered a refurbished 13" Dell Latitude E4310 because it was on sale for $535 from the Dell outlet. I restrained myself, however.

If Shark says it can't be repaired, I'm ordering a new unit immediately.

Bronsky

 

Okay, I would phone the Acer service and explain them, that the exchange of the motherboard doesn't solve your problem. In the next step I would ask for a complete replacement of your unit, because to replace all the single parts will notz be an economic solution for both sides.

I think you got one of the models with an error devil for free.

 

Just receive this laptop and it is one sexy machine

can anyone provide me with links to where I can run a benchmark and display test to see if my laptop is good and not defective? Thanks in advance!

 

And, if they still have the old motherboard sitting around, maybe they could send it to me.

Bronsky

 

Hey guys!

I'm new here, but have been reading this thread for awhile. I was going to buy the Acer 3820TG from some swindler on Ebay, but he never got back to me and appeared very shady. I finally started to think about ordering from PCHome like many of you have. Well. What a great experience. I've never ordered internationally before, but let me tell you!

They had a sale going on the i5 450M, 500gb version I believe. I paid for it with Paypal, and I swear, they must have thrown it on the plane at that instant! I ordered Friday or Saturday night, and USPS brought it to my house at noon on Thursday! Not to mention, I opened the i5 460M, 640gb version!

I seriously loved this laptop from the moment I opened the box. PCHome also included this little...travel bag, which I'm not sure of the purpose of, as well as a 3 to 2 prong adapter, and an international power adapter, all of which were listed as options on the web site, all of which I did not order or pay for.

The laptop itself is great. Got everything going in English thanks to the guide! Still have to read this entire thread, but wanted to pop in and tell of my good experiences, and also thank everyone for posting theirs. If you are thinking of ordering from PCHome, I encourage you to DO IT!

Thanks guys

Only read gripe so far....the YADI keyboard cover from PCHome is kind of annoying...just in my opinion. I think I'll look for a better one.

 

Hi everyone!

I bought this beast about 2 weeks ago and i'm already fallen in love with her
But i would like to ask some questions if you don't mind:

1.Which is the best way to find maximum stability for GPU OC,currently i'm using ATI tool artifact scan but i don't know how good it is,the thing is that i OC'ed my GPU to 700,1060 and the artifact scan displayed an error in almost every sec but in the other hand furmark was really stable.While i was playing mafia 2 on full the GPU cores max. was 76 Celsius,what do you suggest?

2.is 90 Celsius allright while running artifact scan?

I couldn't be more satisfied with my beast,this is the best choice in price/value!
And thanks for the help you've provided here so far!

Thanks in advance!
All the best!

 

Bronsky, just order another unit from PCHome and sell it later with a US keyboard and US Windows

 

North America finally gets a 3820TG with an HD 5650 GPU. PC CANADA - ACER BILING AS3820 I3 W7HP64 4G,500G,13.3HD, ATI HD 5650,BGN,WEBCAM, [LX.PV102.288] - The Original and Highly Rated All-Canadian WebStore. Tentative release date September 30, 2010. Unfortunately, it's only being released in Canada as far as we can see.

What do you think Insider? We getting any of these here in the states yet?

Bronsky

P.S. looks like Insight Canada has them as well. Insight has a US division so it might be possible to order one in the US.

 

Haha what the hell, that's so much cheaper than I paid for the PCHome version...

 

Believe me, I joined silentpcreview about 6 years ago, and have been looking for quiet PC solutions for years and I am simply in love with this computer's silence. I never ever had any computer before which I could just use when I am alone at night while not getting annoyed by the computer's noises. I even opened a thread for it over at SPCR. It's basically a forum for really crazy, quiet and silent computer oriented guys, and from the comments over there, they admit the same. Almost no CPU whine, and absolutely silent running, while on Intel GFX. I use mine 90% of the time on Intel, I only switch to ATI for 3D and DXVA.

Here is the thread, if you are interested (it's not really a thread, just one page, but I felt I need to post my findings there):
silentpcreview.com | View topic - silent, powerful affordable laptop - Acer TimelineX 3820TG

 

thanks for the reply guys, im going to manually uninstall the bloatware...so I just got into control panels and add/remove programs right?...does that take them out completely or will there be some remains of them somewhere else?

also what is considered bloatware? just basically programs I dont want?....How do I know which ones I need and ones I need to uninstall?

thanks

 

For service manual, basically it's in the first page goolge results. Please post your linux experiences here as your progress goes on, I am really excited how well the new linux distros handle switchable graphics. I am sure that if you put it to dedicated you can just use any linux distro out of the box (what's not possible with any nVidia Optimus laptop, nor with HP Envy but maybe there is some way to make switching work under the newest Ubuntu beta. Even if you clean the HD, save ISO files first, it's good for warranty services.

 

It's called global hot key in CCC. Fn + F3 for BT and Wifi, and your choice for the switching.

 

Win 7 task bar settings?

 

If you want to consider a clean install, here is my guide. http://forum.notebookreview.com/ace...rks-tweaks-mods-upgrades-162.html#post6465732

Bronsky

 

How come you use USB for monitor? Is it USB 2.0? Are you sure it is really a USB monitor, and it's not just a USB hub what you try to use?

 

Those 3 things (windows power, AMD overclock, CPU overclock) has _nothing_ to do with each other.

For CPU, download SetFSB shareware version, select Asus G73 and click GetFSB. If not PLL error shows up, you are lucky. If not, you might still have a chance.

 

In my experience, it's about a million times better for average monitors.

I have a NEC which has an expensive circuit for supporting 30m long VGA cables, and on that monitor I can get almost identical picture, but it's still not as good as pure DVI. On every other monitor the difference is much much bigger.

Just a Nick, I respect your knowledge in many fields, but do you really believe that a digital to analogue to digital conversion can make pictures look better?

 

I been using my 3820tg for 3 months now and I'm happy with it as for the price I paid around $AU1200 but there are problems I found on my laptop is that one of the key on my keyboard is hard to register I have to press it right in the middle of the key to make it work. Another problem is the touchpad sometime during using it the functions are stop working such as can't zoom, scroll and touch click so you have to restart. I could send them to be fix but I only got one laptop so I can't do it.

Screen are just ok but a lot of dust get stuck in the edge of my screen...

So what I like about it: it slim, powerful 13", long life battery, cheap! light? not so much I take it to uni everyday and found that it a bit too heavy... if I got my books with me.

I also bought it for gaming but I found 13" too small for me to enjoy the game (BC3)

So would I recommend it? No...

If for office work - uni I would get some thing smaller
if for gaming I would get 14" or desktop

 

Funny, I find the 13.3" display and KB perfect for office work. I also have an 11.6" unit that is too small for serious reading or typing for any significant period of time. I don't game on my unit, so I can't speak to the display size for gaming. I use my desktop LG for gaming when i'm home.

Bronsky

 

Uh, a 14" LCD is about a thumbnail bigger then the 13.3"

 

Dam NVIDIA ... they've optimized Matlab for parallel computing/CUDA. Nvidia powers MATLAB and Amber GPU acceleration - GTC 2010 - Graphics - Fudzilla

Bronsky

 

Well I have small hands but what I meant is that the smaller size is much better to carries around... but if you have a car and you don't have to move a lot then 13" is perfect for most of people.

As I said I like it, it cheap + very good spce but build quality is just so-so.

 

Any updates on this problem? I also have a 3820TG running windows 7, and found that it suddenly freezes or crashes without warning or pattern. Is this a software or hardware problem?

I'm not sure how to diagnose this since it just goes black or freezes and then I can only power down.

It seems to happen more running on battery life/ integrated graphics.

Not sure though..

Thanks,

Eric

 

do you have a link for the acer ati drivers download?

Thanks,

Eric

 

I also get some brightness shifting when using HDMI out, only on the external display. It is really annoying when watching a video file on an external HDMI Monitor/TV.

Should I try to get ACER to replace my ATI Mobility RADEON HD 5650 1GB?

 

what power software is that? did it come with your 3820TG? Mine doesn't show discharging or cpu/hdd temp.

sorry for so many questions.

 

I already bought SetFSB , but I can see at least one negative value,
second, when I tried to even a little move the slider and set it, NB was restarted... :-(

 

It's Batterycare.

Here You go:

Batterycare

 

Are there any differences (quality wise) between the 3820TG's being sold at PChome¥þ²yÁʪ« ­º­¶ and those sold in Canada? Are they all manufactured from the same place? Since they're located in Taiwan (home of Acer?), does PCHome tend to get newer stock?

 

They are manufactured at the same place. Acer contracts all of its manufacturing. The wierd thing is that Singapore seems to get the most up-to-date stock and best specifications. Germany seems to get models not sold anywhere else, like the UMTS/3G models. Taiwan, does, however, seem to get the refreshed CPU's before anybody else.

Bronsky

 

Out of the box, my 3820TG i5 2.6 ATI 5470 500gig hd has a 5.0 windows exp index. would this be considered a low score? is it necessary to format before reaching a higher score?

 

@Just_a_Nick - Speaker arrived today in perfect shape. Many thanks. Now, if Shark can fix the Mobo and the speaker socket, I'm in good shape .

Bronsky

 

that is a respectable score because the HD is slow which holds people back. you have to look what is lowest and if you can upgrade. like if the HD is lowest upgrade to a seagate momentus XT. if your lowest score is video card or something like that the only thing you can really do is overclock for a higher index score.

 

I don't think this in the mathematic and sytem theory world. Yes in the theoretical world you are absolutly well.

But in the real life the human impression is more important than the theoretic facts. And if you work many hours on a display it is not important if you use DVI/VGA/DisplayPort, it is only important that your impression of the picture is good.

That was the meaning of the posting about.

 

It's a monitor function.

The grafikcard is not able to control the backlight through the HDMI cable.

 

To underclock a modern processor through the bclk frequency is not supported very well on the most systems.

Just think about all the timming which must fit. (Wlan/grafikcard/ram)

 

Thanks for the report.

Now you have only to wait for the mainboard.

Have a nice weekend and a lot to do on your boat?

 

The boat is coming along nicely. It hopes that Shark takes another few weeks to get the board done. I'm completely redoing the cabin in my 26' Telstar Trimaran. As you can see, still plenty of work to do.



My little 1410T is going to have a second life as a NAV computer for my Telstar.

Bronsky

 

i see
without making any hardware upgrades, do you think the index will increase with just a format to rid of all the bloatware?

 

Considering your latest stunt involving laptops and H2O, wouldnt it be prudent to keep your poor 1410 somewhat further away from the water?

Jokes aside, what are you connecting it with? GPS/radar/Iridium?

 

Probably not, unless you don't have graphics drivers installed and graphics is where your lowest score is.

The two best bang for the buck hardware upgrades appropriate for an average user are:

8GB RAM
Seagate Momentus (XT) or SSD in place of the WD Scorpio Blue

A clean install of windows won;t hurt anything as long as you install all the drivers. See elsewhere in this thread for clean install instructions.

 

I can overclock BCLK to at least 162MHz, but WEI is exactly the same (all of them). Others benchmarks, and use, clearly shows the gain.

 

You're probably right, I should get a toughbook as a nav unit. I will probably connect it to a GPS to begin with for real-time coastal chart navigation. I am setting the boat up to run the Annapolis to Bermuda race eventually and will add an Iridium receiver at that time. The 1410T is the perfect size for my small cabin.

Bronsky

 

Hi All!
I just run 3DMark06 and I have got only 3500 points :-(
Active GFX is Ati and I have choosen High Performance power schema...
Ati Catalists I have 10.7
Could somebody help please? I already saw that issue here, but I can not find it in 500+ pages :-(
Thanks...

 

Which GPU you have? HD5470 or HD5650?
Try to disable and re-enable PowerPlay in CCC..