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

Did you try it with other monitors? I have had some Samsung TV/monitor combos before (not with the 3820TG), which behaved weirdly on VGA, sometimes they frooze and did not power on, while at the same time other monitors worked fine.

But before doing anything hardware related, be sure that you have the official Acer ATI driver installed, and nothing else. Delete all Intel GFX and ATI driver, do a safe mode driver sweeper, and install the official Acer one. I like using Fn + F5 for external displays, but you can try the Win + P combo too.

 

Bios 1.17 released. Not sure if it has been mentioned already, navigate from here:

Acer Support - Download Drivers

1: Update VGA bios to support 2GB VRAM. (2GB VRAM versions coming? Don't really see the benefits from that with such low resolutions).
2: Patches D2D process
3: Updated kernel code to 1.00.60 (to support newer CPU's?).

 

A quote from Anandtech's review of the Gateway ID49 (it seems similar to 3820TG in many aspects):
Gateway ID49: Mixing the Bag - AnandTech :: Your Source for Hardware Analysis and News

 

No, it is not a clone of the Aspire TimelineX line.

It seems mor to be a clone of the Travelmate TimelineX Line.
*optical device
*Nvidia optimus

 

Maybe upgrade to HD5730? Since there is Asus A42Ja/K42Ja with ATi HD5730 2GB VRAM...

 

The i5-460 cpu is now available on cyberport.de and computeruniverse.net!!

 

My drivers should be in order, since I restored from the recovery DVD's this weekend, and tried upgrading the drivers according to the steps the OP of this thread outlined in the first post.

I'll try my laptop on a couple of other monitors tomorrow. Thanks for your input! =)

 

Hey, thanks for your answers on the whining! Sounds good to me. Are HP and Acer using different motherboards?

Maybe I'll order tommorow, though I'm really confused about the prices at cyberport.de (same specs, different prices or same price, different specs). At first glance the i5 460m config seems to be the worthiest one.

And then there's still that thought of buying an MBP that just won't go out of my head...

 

Hopefully Zsero and I don't get into it again (cough) but just go to monoprice.com and buy their $3-$10 HDMI cables. They work awesome at any distance up to at least 25 ft, they are nice and thick, and rumor has it the cables are manufactured in the same facility that Monster cable uses. I wouldn't spend a dime more for brand name cables.

 

If Liquidchaos' keyboard worked fine, there is no problem with the ribbon socket. You are very lucky. You either got a bad one from Ebay or the ribbon is not in properly. I would have them send me another one.

Bronsky

 

My guess would be preparation for the 6000 series GPU's that are being released at the end of October by AMD.

Bronsky

 

Ha if that works, I ll have to talk him into it =)~

 

Looks like we have a source for an I3-370M/HD 5650 model of the 3820TG. Canadian retailers are getting these in huge numbers all of a sudden (semtec must have a lot of them in-stock). Cendirect ships to the US for $60CN. Total price for the I3-370M/HD 5650 model is $805 CN w/includes shipping to the US (Converted to $782.65 USD). I3-370M Models will be on sale starting tomorrow. That means I can probably have one in a day or so if I need to order one. It will also be nice to have a place to return a unit to if it doesn't work and on-line registration should be easy. The warranty covers both Canada and the US. We're finally not second class citizens. The 4820TG is back in stock with the I5-460M selling for $799 on Amazon. Things are looking up here in the states. PCHome is going to miss us.

Now if I can just get my motherboard repaired and back into my unit.

Bronsky

 

We've been very patient.

Bronsky

 

Go with the AR5B93 If you plan to connect to low signal's or will travel. I found while my 6200 is good with home and close range AP's it sucks at distance and holding a nice link speed.

A Timeline X refresh so soon? Its a bit odd. I don't plan replace my 3820TG. Still imagine a usb3 ATI 6000 series 2GB model...

 

anyone having problem with utorrent (or possibly torrents in general)? it's causing my system to crash a lot... it would freeze to the point where i can't do anything else and can't even get to End Process. Would I need to update some driver or something?

 

I wonder how long Acer is going to be able to get HD5650 GPU's in the volume they need to keep their production going after AMD releases the 6000 series on October 12th. I would guess that Acer will feed-in the new 6000 series like they did with the Arrandale refresh. An HD 6730 with 2GB on-board would be tempting. Damn, even an HD 6650 with 2GB would be tempting.

If my motherboard can't be repaired (I still hope it can ), I'm going to wait and see what happens after the AMD 6000 "Southern Islands" series GPU release on October 12th.

Bronsky

 

Was that a serious question?

 

..........

 

I don't think they are going to do USB3 since it uses way too much power while it needs a separate chip. eSATA is fine on the other hand, but I think Acer will just go the "raw power" route, as before.

 

Downloading Linux ISO-s all day and night? Maybe your system has some memory problems, is it from PCHome with non matching sticks?

Try OCCT and run each CPU/Memory oriented test for 24 hours. Lift your laptop's back a bit, while doing stress testing, as it gets really really hot.

 

Have you ever seen Dell's UK offerings? Possible Studio XPS 16 models, as of today (2010.09.26):
- 512MB ATI® Radeon™ HD 3670 graphics card
- 1GB ATI® Radeon™ HD 4670 graphics

 

nope i got it from staples hopefully none of the hardware was fudged with
OCCT would be the overclocking check tool? i'll try that thx

 

Have anyone tested the new BIOS?

 

Hey there guys,

I've got the Canadian version of the 3820TG from Staples. When I type ("a) without the () brackets, I end up typing out ä instead of "a. I'd like to find a way to eliminate this umlaut shortcut and just type normally like any US keyboard would.

Is there any fix for this? I've been typing a few essays the pass few days, and this umlaut shortcut has been getting on my nerves.

Thanks in advance.

 

Yep, from the website:

It's at: OCCT Website english and it does GPU and power supply testing over the ones in the quote.

 

It's just Windows 7 keyboard settings, and it's really easy to fix it:

Control Panel / Region and Language / Keyboards and Languages / Change Keyboards...

Add a US one and you are fine. When removing the old one, you might need to click Apply twice.

 

Thanks a lot, fixed my problem.

 

I'm just signing back in for a short report after owning this laptop for a little over 1 months.

Performance-wise, this thing has been amazing. I only experience lag when I am at 1080p resolution with my external monitor. Battery-wise, I easily get 6 hours with wireless on and 60% brightness.

My gripes on the machine:

1. HORRIBLE keyboard, with sticky keys. I often type and find duplicate letters, something that never happens on other keyboards I use. The trackpad ain't much better either - very unresponsive (even at max sensitivity).

2. Very crappy speakers. No bass at all, and very dry sound. But I am coming from an Ideapad Y460 w/ JBL speakers.

3. Fans seem to be shuddering at times (unregular), and can get loud. Sounds like it's got asthma sometimes, but doesn't seem to impact the performance.

4. Strange sudden lags when playing older games, such as Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines. May be software issue.

Other than that I still love this thing. I get classmates oooh-ahhh ing at this baby regularly No regrets in replacing my Y460 with this machine despite the few short comings.

EDIT: Oh forgot to mention - I have the PCHOME model imported from Taiwan with the i5 450m/5650.

 

Just a quick question, the OP (hendrickson) posted his performance figures with a base score of 5.5 of the laptop stock after a fresh windows 7 install.

My score shows a base score of 5.0 with the following sub scores

Processor - 6.5
Ram - 5.9
Graphics - 6.3
Gaming Graphics - 5.0
Primary Hard disc 5.4

whats with the hugh difference? a fresh re install of windows doesnt make that big of a difference does it?....I manually removed most of the bloatware too..

 

The problem is the Gaming Graphics (HDD seems to had a bad run ), have you installed the last driver?

Have you got the HD5650 or the smaller one?

But the WEI is only a bad benchmark and it was never created to be a benchmark.

Microsoft wants to replace the system specs like cpu/ram and co. on software packages through the wei and simplify the software market for noobs. But it didn't happen since Vista.

 

Well I tried, but I get "Open flash.sys fail" error (win7 64bit ultimate). Running it "as administrator" doesnt help either.

 

Just noticed today that one button on my keyboard is very sensitive. My "m" buttun just needs me to lay my finger gently on it for it to register it as a push.

This results in me having alots of m's in the things i type Any ideas if this could have an easy fix? or if i just have to live with it?
Kevin

 

Yep. Please excuse my noobiness.

 

But how long until we could reasonably expect laptops with 6000 series GPUs to appear on the market?

 

I don't really know "if" these will be appearing in a 3820TG - ever. I just thought it might be worth the effort to see what AMD has to say on the 12th. The new bios having 2GB Vidoe Ram support makes no sense in light of the current configuration of the 3820TG. Pure speculation here. I would not hold up a purchase just because of this but it might not hurt to hold the order until after the 12th.

Bronsky

 

Email from shark ...

"We have received your motherboard,and we will check it today.and will let you know when we repair it well."

I particularly like the "repair it well" part. At least I should know tomorrow if Shark thinks my board is repairable and how long it is going to take.

Bronsky

 

Try flashing the bios in dos from a bootable USB.

 

A colleague got his notebook (no 3820) today... he ordered a i5-540M, but got a i5-580M instead

He did a quick wPrime32M on my request and got 18.205s.

 

LOL thanks Bronsky that's what I was sorta hoping to hear. I am just stressing. Is it even possible to short the ribbon socket if fluid never reached it. Meaning if the liquid only makes it to the keys is it possible to create a short down the cable? I would think that the power would be too low.

 

I have the smaller card....what driver are you referring to?

 

The higher scores that people are getting are from the HD5650 - your 5.0 is correct for the HD5470.

 

I reffered the grafikcard driver. But with the smalller one the score is good.

A lot of users in this forum have good the 5650.

 

Yep, and didn't notice any difference so far.... as expected

 

Beware of the separate EC update box!

 

Im having trouble installing new ATI drivers over the acer 8.713 drivers.

Can anyone make a complete list of the steps to take? Including reboots etc.

I tried this:

But it says in the ATI install that 8.713 is installed and is the latest drivers when i try to install 10.8 version. Im running W7 Pro 64bit.

Please help, and if something is unclear just ask me

//Atb

 

Hi!
Just tried to install the new bios,but there's something wrong.

Error:Open Flash.sys fail

Great...

Any suggestions?

 

10.8 is the Cat package really, not the "display driver" version number. Display Driver will be in the 8.xxx range depending on OS. With 10.8 installed here in 32bit Win7, it shows 8.762 as current during install. Look in CCC (right click desktop screen, graphics properties, information center), and see all the details. It should show 10.8 in there as as well as other driver versions. Of course make sure you are installing the "mobility" ATi drivers.

 

Someone should describe it better, but the thing is that HP and Acer are one of the biggest competitors in the PC market, obviously they have nothing in common.

A similar question would be: do a Lexus and a BMW have different engines? Obviously. Yes, they can use the same petrol, the same tires and can go on the same roads, but their design is totally independent.

In the laptop word it means the "high-tech" parts are from the same big brands, like the CPU and chipset is from Intel, VGA is from ATI, but all the little details, the case, the motherboard cooling and electric design is totally in-house development, and as such is totally different. It means that Acer's display can not even compare by far to the Radience, but it also means that coil whine is not annoying in 3820TG, in fact you can barely hear the whine noise.

 

Why, does it introduce any bugs? I am staying at the original one, I am really happy with it. Maybe it has a fix for the brightness shifting, but maybe has bugs in it. I will wait a bit more.