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

No serial number is needed when you register the laptop. Use the included app that starts up when you fire up the laptop the first time. It will work.
Or, get it from the driver and app disk you created.

EDIT: I see you followed part of the bankergolfer post but missed the most important part, of which he failed to stress. His info was based on the post by Lastdon. Lastdon clearly stated that he first used the included app to register the laptop, and did NOT go to Acer online to register the laptop. Again, this does not require any serial number, and it will add your Acer to the US system within a few days. If you call before you get the email, they will still find it as "in process", but it is tougher. That was what Lastdon did, failed to wait until it fully entered the system. You wait, and good to go.

You do not need to contact Acer and have them add the Taiwan purchased 3820tg to the US system. I have never contacted them. Only used the included Acer registration app, waited the few days until confirmation email arrived, and done. I can now log into my Acer account that was created during the registration process, by going to http://us.acer.com, click register, and entering the email and password I used during the reg app process. From there I can see my products, where it shows me:

Product Model: AS3820TG-352G50n
Serial Number / SNID Lxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (xx out details)
Date of Purchase 8/26/10
Point of sale: Default Resseler

The date and default reseller are key.
Default reseller means PCHome is an Acer authorized reseller, so your US warranty is fine. Again, I did not need to do any entering of serial numbers. It is all pulled from your laptop by the reg app.

 

Anything over 8 hours is a a bit steep, but yes, if you use your laptop with monitor, wifi and everything switched off, with no programs running you could get 10 hours. A bit pointless, but you could.

ATM, I am in a lecture hall and typing this post, and now I have exactly 8 hours with wifi on and display on level 3.

BUT, I can only get this time with the original display driver, and only when it's properly installed. When I started playing with updated drivers I always ended up at about 5-6 hours. I had to reinstall the 10.6 stock Acer _twice_ to get 8 hours.

 

You can just use the DRV DVD to install all your drivers. Be careful with OCZ Vertex, as Vertex 1 is old and bad, Vertex 2 is the new and good one.

 

You dont! Just the Acer ATI one!

 

Hey, I ordered a 3820TG and should receive it wednesday...should I go with 10.08 or 10.07 ati drivers?

 

Eventually, i called Acer in order to find a solution to keep bluetooth "always ON".

I was shocked by the answer I got:
With this laptop, you can't use bluetooth while using a wireless connection, since they are sharing the same card!
(Of course bluetooth works, but the manual set-up is rather slow and annoying, also the behavior is sometimes erratic..)

How can Acer sell a laptop that they claim has bluetooth, but with the limitation that it can't be used with a wireless connection???
I think it is outrageous, and I almost feel like returning the laptop, since they have sold it on false premises.

What do you think? Any comments?

 

Did you believe that answer? I used the wireless and BT all the time in mine.

Bronsky

 

Bullsht. I use BT mouse and Wifi all the time. Also my BT is auto on when booting. I didnt need a registry mod either.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/6498260-post2.html

Cendirect had units in-stock. They had 3 listed over the weekend. Lu Computers has them in-stock as well.

Bronsky

 

I figured he was doing something wrong but didn't know what it was. Thanks. I PM'd him and made sure he saw your post. Thanks - as always.

My unit's shipping was on hold at PCHome anyway due to my ATM/Bank not releasing the funds for 3 days. Wachovia Bank should have been left to die a peaceful and merciful death. Hopefully, I can get that resolved today and reorder one of these units from someone.

@ Zdanee - you make perfect sense. I've had a frustrating time ordering one of these and was ready to give up for awhile.

Bronsky

 

I use bluetooth all the time as well, but it does not work well compared to my previous Dell laptop. It's slow, tedious, erratic, AND requires a manual set up etc.. With Dell, BT just worked and let me forget about it..

I used to use a bluetooth mouse with my Dell laptop. With this one, it would be too much of a hassle. Actually the Acer support guy even said that using a BT mouse or BT keyboard shouldn't be a problem because normally they come with their own BT-dongle (not my BT mouse, and anyhow, -why buy a BT laptop if you have to use a BT-dongle anyway? For me BT was a prerequisite for my new laptop.)

I think it's unacceptable that Acer in 2010 sells the laptop under the (secret) condition that bluetooth can't be used at the same time as a wireless connection. In this way they don't have to take any responsiblity for the user UNfriendly functionality..

 

What? What have you been smoking!?!? I have a OCZ Vertex (First model) 120GB, I wouldn't say its old and bad...Yeah vertex 2 is much faster at random writes/reads (double the price too) but hell this isn't bad:
Lets see your Momentus XT do this?




http://www.techspot.com/review/271-ocz-vertex2-ssd/page5.html

 

about Cendirect, how can you know that it's the ati 5650 version ? it has the core i3 processor but it doesn't say anything about the gpu.

Edit: Nevermind, I asked directly and they told me it is the 5650.

What would you do in my case? I live in Spain and I can buy this model or the one from Germany. Prices (including shipping) are:

Canada = 650 euros (core i3 370m, no bluetooth i think, 500 gb hdd)
Germany = 870 euros (core i5 460m, bluetooth, 750 gb hdd)

 

I would order from Germany. I am only ordering an I3 because I already own an OEM I5-540M. You may have to pay VAT when the Canadian unit is imported. There will also be no question about your warranty from an EU purchase. You will have to change the keyboard however. You can order a proper KB from a reseller in the EU.

Bronsky

 

I don't have Momentus XT, and I would never buy one. It's a lot slower than a SSD and a lot louder than a 5400 RPM HDD.

Vertex 1 is not bad you are right, but the one who was asking was looking for buying a new SSD, and for any purchase in 2010 I wouldn't recommend an Indilinx based SSD at all. And it's old, really old in SSD age. A generation behind the ones out there.

And I personally just laugh at everyone looking at sequential speeds. I know MB/s is something that everyone loves, and everyone has the right to be stupid, but it's just soo laughable how the whole internet (except for some professional sites, like Anandtech) looks at sequential speeds. They even fight for SATA 3, because it's faster... Do you think they made 10k and 15k rpm hard drives because of sequential speed? Or the speed of the Raptor was that it could get up to 100MB/s in sequencial speed? And guys limiting their 5400 rpm HDD's capacity to 10% to get faster speeds...

I would change my HDD any day to a SSD which is let's say limited to 30 mb/s and would be still miles faster then with any HDD out there doing 150 mb/s speed.

If you want any respectable SSD material, read Anand Lal Shimpi. And if you love numbers, look at 4K and PCMark Vantage HDD points.
Bench - SSD - AnandTech :: Your Source for Hardware Analysis and News
Bench - SSD - AnandTech :: Your Source for Hardware Analysis and News
Bench - SSD - AnandTech :: Your Source for Hardware Analysis and News

In those tests Sandforce based controllers are about 52-60% faster than Indilinx based ones. That's about 5 years difference in HDD performance...

 

hey all,

i pretty much have my 3820T unit open and in pieces at the moment to replace the thermal grease on the video card and the processor.

i cannot seem to identify where the bluetooth module would fit. i do not see any vacant pCie slots or anything present that would indicate where the module would go.


any idea or clue where it would physically go?

thanks

 

That is just not right..

I replaced my Dell with the Acer. With the Dell, I only used a Bluetooth mouse as well as wireless Internet. 100% Bluetooth, and never the touchpad. Now, with the Acer, Exact Same. I never use the touchpad and only use the same Bluetooth mouse I used with the Dell. It works 100% perfect. Also when laptop is turned on, which is about 18 hours everyday, wireless is "of course" also on. Zero conflicts or issues with wireless at the same time as Bluetooth.

There was no "special" manual setup needed to get BT mouse working with Acer. Just turn it on, pair it, and done. Same as all Bluetooth devices and any PC, especially Dell. No difference. Well actually there was a big difference. The Dell Bluetooth stack sucked (like all Dell drivers). After many days of downloaded and testing other Bluetooth stacks, I was able to get one to work on the Dell that is as good as the one in the Acer.

I think you should return the Acer for a refund and get a Dell. They are easier to understand..

 

I ordered mine from Germany but use paypal if you can. I used my credit card first and they started going on about security problems so paypal is just easier. UPS will ship with paypal under €1000 no problem....also if its your first order with them use this FWT55Z9 discount code....only €5 but better than nothing! Couldn't find any better unfortunately!

 

Not quite.

This is what I get with your above scenario:

3650mW 17:29 runtime
Cam disabled, wifi disabled, RJ45 disabled, display off


The below is what one can expect with simple word processing or similar. Web browsing forums and whatnot WILL drop this to just under 8 hours with webpages as complex as they are today. Things like playing flash games or youtube videos would bring this down to your 5-6 hour level. If one were to play 3D accelerated games on battery and the HD5650, I'd expect something like 90 minutes.

6728mW 9:30 runtime
Cam enabled, wifi enabled/connected to router, RJ45 enabled, brightness max

 

Starting to have a crazy idea:

Do you think this thing could run Windows XP?

I'd probably get way better battery life, and I wouldn't really miss most of 7's features.

 

Are you saying you got OVER NINE HOURS with the stock battery? Mine is crapping out around 4-5, with the exact same setup as you mentioned.

 

The BT module goes under the USB card which you will have to lift out. The BT module plugs into the plug at the lower left hand side of the motherboard.




Here is a picture of the area with the USB card already removed. The red arrow on the left is on top of the module. The red arrow on the right is to the immediate left of the white 4 pin plug on the motherboard, right below the CMOS batteries. Hope this helps.

Bronsky

 

You wouldn't. New hardware has new power-saving features that were unavailable back when Win XP was created. It's been already tested with Vista- new hardware is better off with new software that can take full advantage of it both in terms of performance and power-saving features.

 

thanks for the pic. yeah i see it, vacant... lol... is that BT1 port just a mini USB port? i

f i soldered my belkin BT chip with 4 wires and the right plug into that slot would it act as if it were the right BT module?

 

I dunno how people are struggling to get the 3820. It's harder to get the 4820 than the 3820!

I still don't know if I should get this laptop or not. I don't need it, but the price of $600ish at Staples is so tempting. Besides, I have an old Acer Aspire 5601 which can get me around 3 to 4 hours...

 

How thick is the 3820TG?

 

hey Bronsky ! the thing is that I'm not sure that the German warranty is valid here in Spain. According to my researches on the internet the warranty from Acer is only valid on the local territory unless you are a "bona fide traveler" , see : Acer Service & Support

Is the lack of turbo boost in the i3 so important ? The only thing that holds me back from buying in Canada right now is the fear of receiving a defective unit. (In wich case I would have to pay the shipping costs of returning the unit and getting another one).

 

STAPLES | BUREAU EN GROS

I think you'll have to settle for the 512 video card if you want the i5 430 at the moment, anywhere in Canada. That is an awesome price either way though !

 

Also, the 5650 model comes with either an i3 or an i5? The exact part numbers are kinda confusing to me.

 

I would ask Hendrickson about the warranty. I think the warranty is recognized in the entire EU as a region. Like here in the US, both Canada and the US make the Pan American region and all warranty work is done in Temple Texas at the depot. Anyway, I would ask.

I know what you mean about the cost of having to return a unit. That is my biggest problem with PCHome other than the fact that my bank can't seem to get it together to convert to NTD.

The I5 is a significant improvement in performance. The I3 has had some quirky temperature issues. Even the performance increase from the 450M to the 540M is noticable.

Bronsky

 

So every time you turn on your laptop, you press Fn+F3 to launch "launch manager", then use the touchpad, click bluetooth on, and then use the touchpad or the mouse to close the "launch manager" window?
Or does it work differently on your computer?

It is having to do the above procedure every time I start the computer, that I find so frustrating.


Also, my initial point is that I think Acers answer that bluetooth is not supposed to be used with wireless connection, is totally unacceptable. (And if this was the case, Acer should give this info. in advance as a part of the specs.) I think this explanation was partly ment as an answer to why you can't start the laptop with BT on, which doesn't really make sense to me. It just serves as an excuse for not being responsible for any lack of functionality...

 

As far as I know computer universe have a two year warranty themselves....

 

Acer has virtually every combination of I3/I5 + HD 5470/5650 available in different markets. In Canada, they offer the I3-370M with the HD 5650 and the I5-430M with the HD 5470.

Bronsky

 

Right, it does but to get the i5 and the 5650 you'll have to buy over seas. If you plan on upgrading the cpu past the i5 430 anyway save yourself the trouble and order an i3 model from Canada. You could also enjoy an optical drive, a few more pounds on your back, and both the i5 430 and 5650 with the 4820tg model.

Edit: Bronsky you're too quick.

 

The answer was nonesense.

Bronsky

 

@zsero You make valid points, I'm not getting into a debate. Of course the vertex 2 is better, faster random speeds. But claiming the vertex 1 is its old and bad. I'm not saying at all that a vertex 1 is better or close or sync speeds. Your way of the point.

But claiming the vertex 1 is its old and bad. Your 3820TG doesn't have usb3?, so it must be old and bad also. The second new tech is out, everything is old and bad.

Personally I don't think buying a vertex 2 over my vertex 1 is a worth while upgrade. Not when it costs over half the price of a new 3820TG. And really, spending 400 USD (240GB version) to save a few seconds of application loading times I couldn't careless. Not since I can't transfer files to my external drive faster than usb2 limits.

 

You can not do it, it's just a measuring error. OK, what you say is exactly the one which is called the "reader test" in battery eater. If you post a screenshot of 17.29 you are right. But it's not possible.
Battery Eater (notebook benchmark tool) - Downloads

 

I run XP in dual boot, but you don't get better battery life, not even if switching GFX was supported. Even on supported laptops, Win7 gives better battery life. I only use XP for gaming, to separate things from work.

 

It's not possible, I think he just extrapolates from values, they are not real measurements. For general web browsing it's between 6-8 hours.

 

But if someone is to buy a SSD _now_, what's wrong with saying he shouldn't buy Vertex 1? OK, it's not slow or bad, but why is it hurting to say it's old? It's just as old as top performing Core 2 Duo units. They are still fast and powerful, but they are not from the newest generation. Whould you buy any laptop now with ATI 4... series graphics? They are powerful and fast cards, many manufacturers still sell them in laptops and there is nothing wrong with that, but they are definately not new.

But I don't think there is anything bad with them, and they are miles faster than any HDD or Seagate XT could ever go. Heck I still use HDD waiting to see the G3 Intel drives.

 

It's not thick. It's thin About 1.1" max (324 × 235 × 28.9mm). BTW [random search engine] is your friend.

 

No, I do not need to use the touchpad.
Why turn off your laptop as a normal routine?

First, I use the mechanical on/off switch to Hibernate.
Tap the on/off power button, and it Hibernates. Tap it to turn on. Done.
I Hibernate every night, or when traveling, instead of shutting off.
No need to press Fn+F3 when restarting from Hibernate.
Hybernate shuts down and loads up faster than normal shut down startup.

Second, I do restart the laptop a few times a week. (not power down, restart).
Restart does not require Fn+F3 to enable Bluetooth.

I never use sleep mode.

Both Wi-Fi and BT are always enabled at startup with no input needed on my part when using the laptop in the above manor.

I did not change my habits because of Acer BT. I always ran laptops this way with Hibernate instead of shutting down. Even the Dell before this. It has nothing to do with having to enable BT at startup. It is just better.

 

Hey man,

I'm using a microsoft wireless entertainment desktop 7k, with the built in BT, and it SUCKS HARD! The keyboard, is a must have for sufring the web from the coach, while my 3820TG is under the led htdv, but with the built in BT, (i have the atheros stuff i think) it goes crazy at least once a day. and sometimes it gets laggy like hell (the movement of the mouse) . I will try with the microsoft dongle, and i will report

 

If you have ePower running you might want to try to disable it.

 

You guys who got their units from Lu computers, have either of you OC'd the CPU yet? What kind of OC are you getting on the GPU? How do you like your displays, any graineness?

Cendirect is showing at least 15 units in stock but it looks like they're charging $120 for shipping. Lu ships to the east coast for $35.

Bronsky

 

As stated, web browsing you should expect less. I was using it this weekend and averaged 7.8W over a 5 hour time period doing nothing but surfing around with a USB RF mouse. This would be just over 8 hours of battery life while surfing (forums, googling things, ebay, some youtube, and a few other things). 8 hours processing web pages is fine and I would still expect over 9 hours doing more basic office/productivity tasks (which I don't normally do away from a wall). I have just over 1% battery wear, as it came and it didn't budge with the single discharge cycle I gave it (to 20%, plus a few times to 80%), not that that's saying anything.

It's a great, power efficient laptop. I'm sure they could shave off a little more power consumption if they added power saving/device shutdown features similar to my Sony UX but it is unnecessary when people use this hardware pretty much all the time now days (wifi, bluetooth being the most power hungry) and the wifi card in these consumes next to nothing in its lower power state.

 

I have an upgraded, used one for sale...

 

Samething with my Bluetooth...Wireless was always enabled by default but I had to manually load BT during statup via the launch manger...fn+f3 crap everytime . The only way i got BT working automatically during startup was by using the program SetWireless_0.5 which was posted in this forum awhile back. There's a pdf that explains how to create a task via the task scheduler but it's in German ..and it works like a charm

 

Does this help? Task - Create to Run a Program at Startup and Log On - Windows 7 Forums

Bronsky

 

Right on Bronsky! The only thing is to add what you want enabled/disabled via the "add arguments" section when creating the task.

I believe Just_a_Nick posted the SetWireless link via the very first post on page 606 of this forum.