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

Hi

I just bought a 3820TG

But I have a problem:
I tried WoW on the laptop, and there seems to be some graphical artifacts
The so called "ground clutter" is gone, but it seems it's instead showing with huge magnification or something.
This only occurs with ATI graphics, if I have it set to "switchable" in BIOS, not with Intel or BIOS-"discrete" ATI. I'm using the latest "vga_ati" driver from Acer.
Is there any solution? I don't want have to lose battery life by not having it set to switchable

Screenshots, look at the ground:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/194011/intel.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/194011/ati_switchable.jpg

Thanks in advance

 

Reset all your WOW Settings.
Don't overclock the ATI.
Reset the ATI driver to default.

 

The WOW settings aren't the problem, as it works with both ATI (discrete in BIOS) and Intel.
I haven't done any OC
I just removed all video drivers and install vga_ati from acer, I guess that would count as the "default"

 

The recovery partition needs to be the first primary partition. Its not good as the first logical or any other way. The alt+F10 only works in your laptop (or in a similar Acer laptop). Since your HDD operates well, I fear there is something with your laptop. At this point I'd advise to get a non cracked copy of Win7 and use your serial on the bottom of the unit (just torrent it, its a copy of a software you already have and plan to use it in a legal way). If the normal win7 install does not find your HDD either, your unit is to be returned and repaired. Also in the BIOS you should check the boot order again. Alternatively you can try a live linux distribution ( Ubuntu maybe) and check if it sees your HDD.

 

anyone playing league of legends here?
my fps is not stable.. about 45 fps jump to 60 fps and jump down to 40 fps
i tried to change all the settings without any succeed

 

Yeah, I gave it an 1 1/2 hour session of P95 last weekend. I may give it an all nighter at some point. It is definitely a better test for overall system stability. I still like memtest86+ more for finding out if there is a flaky bit on one of the sticks.

 

So I checked the laptop last night. Even with every program/task closed I couldn't change the video card that was being used, including after rebooting. I continue to get a "resources in use" message.

Would re-installing the drivers do any good for me?

 

Does anyone have a problem with the seagate momentus xt where it freezes and you have to physically hold down the power button and restart?? Cant update the firmware either...

 

Does your unit have factory settings? Did you do a clean install? Did you uninstall any bloatware? I'm thinking I would start from scratch.

Bronsky

 

I did not do a clean install when I got the machine as I'm not sure how to do that without a disc... I'll take a look for some guides on here and maybe give that a shot this weekend.

 

Have you installl any new software?

Do you use a video player, which is using the GPGPU function?

Edit: Is Flash running? (Youtube, hompages)

 

dota runs perfectly

 

Nothing running at all..

As for software, I forgot to respond to someone who earlier asked me that - so far I have downloaded and installed

Itunes 10
Bit-torrent


Thats it! I haven't even downloaded any files with bit-torrent yet.

However as I did not do a clean install there is a bunch of other junk on it that came with the laptop..

 

Never happened. Its somewhere else.

 

Try a different set of drivers. I haven't had an issues with 10.8 or 10.10, but other users have reported that some features do not work like the function keys for brightness.

But I have to admit, I've never encountered that in the years I've played WoW. I would try a different set of drivers first, then reinstall WoW, since we both know how long that takes

 

As a temporary fix, since you said you dont usually need to ati graphics card's power, you should be able to go into the Bios and change it to only run on the integrated card.

 

are you overclocking either the gpu or cpu?
its a pretty common issue when overclocking to far with either of them.

 

Its probably a long shot.. but if itunes is set up to start on startup and you have any videos in it, it may set itself to use the dedicated gpu for optimal performance while playing them? in the bottom right, by the clock click the ^ symbol and see if itunes (or any other program) is listed as running?
you can ignore the touchpad icon, and stuff.

If all else fails I would completely uninstall, and then re install the drivers.

 

switchable and dedicated are the available bios options. integrated only is not supported

 

quick question about installing the newest ati drivers...

for those of you who have 10.8/10.10 installed and don't have the broken functionality issue (ie brightness adjustment not working), are you installing the intel then acer/ati drivers first then installing the newer catalyst drivers over them, or are you just installing intel then the newest ati drivers (10.8 or 10.10)?

I'm gonna be doing a fresh install of windows 7 soon so i'd like to get the installation procedure correct the first time. Thanks!

 

ah, my bad.. well then.. err.. as a temporary fix you could uninstall the drivers to the dedicated card...? lol

 

Hey,
I just did a fresh install yesterday...I installed the acer ati/intel drivers package and then updated the ati graphics....I didnt bother updating the intel ones....theres no need really....it plays 1080p without a bother and if you're gaming you're going to be using the ati ones

 

anyone please?

 

Am I correct in saying that the Acer 3820TG's from PCHome come with International Warranty and the ones from Canadian Retailers only come with North American Warranty?

So, if I was to buy from PCHome, I should be able to register the notebook with Acer Online using the included software?

According to this post:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/6825943-post6602.html

You can register PCHome bought 3820TG with Acer and have it show up on the US system. I am assuming the same will apply for Australia?

 

hi, anybody can help?

 

It does it for me, and yes, it's irritating. You can send it back in warranty. Or take it out, WD-40, dry it, put it back.

 

It's like the keyboard and the mic Oh, and with a sensitive headphone, you don't need a HDD LED, you can _hear_ it working

 

It doesn't even ship to UK. But I found out the real name of the product, it's AcBel AD9009. Slim AD - Ultra Small Adapter.
http://www.acbel.com/eng/Product.aspx?id=59&&sd=31&&pid=231#

And it's a universal adapter for all laptop brands, which means it will be easy to find it somewhere. BTW, it's hard to believe that it's just 160g and that it can do 94% efficiency for that price. Even 80plus is an expensive thing in desktop PSU's and I've heard that over 90% is only found in industrial PSUs. Oh, and it's peak power is 120W. Do you think it's real?

Update: I have just checked and the only one place in the whole internet where I found it is the Amazon/Batter1inc link.

 

I would use spray teflon rather than wd40. The problem is getting it under the keys to the stem without getting it on the keys. Be careful.

Bronsky

 

I have a problem with my 3820TG (i5-450m, ati hd5650, 4gb, std 320gb HD), when I connect my 3820tg to a TV via HDMI cable, and want to watch a movie with VLC, the sound lags and has a like a click-scrating sound. The picture freezes aswell sometimes....

Any ideas??

Sorry for my crappy english

 

My new notebook crossed the border at 1:30a.m. at Buffallo, NY on its way here. It is scheduled for delivery on Monday. I'll bet it is at my local distribution center tomorrow. If it is, I think I'll run over and pick it up.

It will be really nice to have a 3820TG again. I wonder how long it will be before I have it open and in parts on my desk.

Bronsky

Edit: Okay ... now even the terrorists are messing with me. The 2 UPS planes are grounded in the Philadelphia airport due to a suspicion that there is a package with a possible radiological device on one of the planes. http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2010/10/29/breaking-suspicious-package-aboard-ups-plane/ Looks like serious UPS delays in my area. Bastages! If somebody blows up my computer I'm going to be pissed.

 

could someone upload the acer registration app?

I'm pretty sure my app cd is around here somewhere, but just in case I can't find it.


thanks.

 

It's your computer they are after!

 

Try use Media Player Classic - Home Cinema

 

How are you allowed to go pick it up at the distribution center?

Every time i've tried doing that, they said they were contractually obligated to at least make one delivery attempt before a customer can go pick it up themselves.

 

Got me. Maybe it's because the delivery address is a business but I pick up stuff at the post office and UPS all the time. With UPS, we just have to catch them before the item is placed on the truck for delivery. Anyway, the package was in Secaucus, NewJersey at 1:30p.m and it looks like nothing is moving in the system ATM due to the terror alerts in the Phila and Newark airports.

Bronsky

 

Hello!

I'm thinking of upgrading the memory for my 3820 tg to 8Gb, is there any memory brand that is recomended? Corsair Value Select SO-DIMM DDR3 PC8500/1066MHz CL7 2x4GB is the one i've been looking for.

 

Try Media Player Classic Homecinema.

Update: As I see Lee has a totally different opinion on this subject

 

request download ticket | ifile.it

 

What different?

 

I would like to ask someone, who could compare screens on Asus u35jc and Acer 3820tg. Which one is relatively better?, what about vertical viewing angle on acer, cause it was mentioned that it's poor on asus.
P.S. I'm tired of waiting asus in europe. Bought one from amazon.co.uk, but they have only with UK keyboard layout. I would prefer asus for better battery life, but it's not on sale for too long.

 

It was a joke.

 

I have ... the Acer is better.

 

Dam terrorists ... because of the bomb shippments from UAE yesterday on the UPS plane, things got tied up in the North Jersey distribution center that was routing my 3820TG. It was held up yesterday and didn't get on a truck to South Jersey until this morning. That means that it will get there too late for a "will call". Guess I'll have to wait 'till Monday. Effen terrorists!!

Bronsky

 

Bronsky,

be happy, your parcel is on the track and was not blown in lots of parts on the airport.

 

OFF

Judging by Your history with TimlineX models (both of them ), I must say You have an eventful experience/life .

Two more months and You can start writing a book...

Or is it just the Timaran doing this?!

/OFF

 

If that laptop gets delayed by another day, those terrorists will have more to fear than the might of the US military, CIA and FBI combined!

 

hi guys, i finally got my 3820tg with 450m and 5650.

but i have a question, my gpu core is only running at 400, ram at 800 as shown in the AMD GPU Clock Tool....
what's going on and how can change the core clock's default value back to the 550 like everyone else?

i am really confused... please advise...
thanks.

 

enter different values and click set?

 

did anyone else get their laptop dirty (like really bad finger prints) and they arent wiping away with the cloth that came with it?