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

The 6 cell does not stick out. It fits perfectly.

You should have no problem getting 4 hours for normal use with some reductions in display brightness and using the integrated GPU.

I don't think that SC2 will run smoothly on the integrated GPU in the Sandybridge. Without a dedicated GPU, the 3820TG's replacement will not be able to duplicate its gaming ability.

Bronsky

 

Thanks for the replies people. Is it possible that the sandy bridge laptop (the acer bronsky were talking about for example) will ship with a dedicated graphic card like this 3820tg where you can switch between the 2 different gpus. Otherwise I think im buying the 3820 TG in less than 24hours

 

Also, to elaborate a bit further on your concerns I'm pretty sure the 3820TG is a great buy. And I'm not just saying that because I want your 9-cell lol. Ok, well maybe a little.

Anyways, I've been looking at getting a laptop for over a year. I had three MAIN criteria (in order), battery life, ability to game a little, and cheap. I remember when the Asus 1201N first came out. I thought "perfect" just what I need but then the reviews started coming and the battery life was poor compared to other netbooks and it couldn't last a full day. That killed my spirits a little but then I read Nvidia was working on a new technology called Optimus which automatically switched between CPU and GPU graphic processing on the fly. I thought great and waited for the 1201N's big brother to come out.

I had to wait a long time before the Asus 1215N came out and boy was I disappointed. It had a Desktop Atom D525 processor which hurt the battery life compared to a N mobile processor. Not by much but it still hurt. Also the specs were a mess. There were a LOT of issues with orders. Specs said the 1215N had bluetooth and USB 3.0 but nobody (in North America) was getting that so a lot of people I know returned them. There's also the Asus Lamborghini. It's kind of 1215N but with better speakers and a Ferrari logo on the lid.

So, I've been looking for a small, cheap, high powered machine for a long time. The Lamborghini was close but the price tag was pretty high for the specs. Then one day (I forget how) I stumbled on the Acer 3820TG which was only about $100 more expensive then the Asus Lamborghini but it was 5 times the machine. I couldn't believe it. I even posted on another forum and asked if the 3820TG was a typo. I've learned that if you have high hopes for things like CES then your hopes are likely to be either crushed or way too expensive. The 3820TG sits in an amazing position and as somebody said is the exception and not the norm.

Anyways. I hope this helps a little?

 

Anything is possible. CES starts on the 6th. Hopefully, Acer will give us a heads up on their new models. If not, it might be a couple of weeks before we know what the story is.

Bronsky

 

Yeah that was me, sorry about that. Google did send me to the wrong place.

BTW I think if you try, you can mention that in another 10 or 20 threads...

 

Thanks for your thoughts damarious. I guess you are right that waiting for CES could lead to dissapointment. Anyways i've decided to go for the 9 cell battery myself (my friend told me that he doesnt think its a big deal and I really want to be on the safe side regarding battery life).

 

Sorry... My fault... I've been asking everybody about battery's in more then this thread.

All smart moves! I don't think you'll be disappointed

 

Nah ... I was just messing with him in the other thread.

Bronsky

 

Wow. I'm impressed people are still talking about the 3820TG.

With the rumors about Acer's successor to the 3820TG not having a dedicated graphics card, it looks like the 3820TG is still the laptop for workers who game (or gamers who work) to have.

 

Hey ... long time. Happy New Year.

Bronsky

 

In the first reviews of the mobile SB quad cores with IGPU, SC2 should be very playable, however, on the lowest settings it seems. When Intel release more optimized drivers the IGPU might even be able to handle the medium settings on 30+ fps, fingers crossed

Check this link for more gaming benchmarks, and remember that these tests is on a quad core system. The duo core systems will likely have lower fps in cpu intensive games like SC2. This is of course depending on SC2's ability to utilize more than 2 cores, it will be interesting to see reviews of the duo core cpu's.

 

So did anyone solve the "screen wont come on after sleep" issue?

 

heeh... a friend was at a local computer fair and saw the 14" 4741G with the 420M and i5 going for ~750USD and gave me a call for consultation. and i5 with a new-gen decent card for that price... it is a Buy.

a couple of weeks later i was kinda beating myself up for not getting one myself.. until i saw the 3820TG. it costs 1000USD.. 25% more than my budget.. but it it is a lighter 13incher with a 5650 and good batt life. so i got into a dilemma whether to spurge a bit or not..

well.. that is.. until i saw this thread...

reading the OC and modding the ppl here are having fun with did me in.

 

same link as yours...
Intel?s Sandy Bridge: Upheaval in the Mobile Landscape - AnandTech :: Your Source for Hardware Analysis and News
note that this is for Low settings

"even with a much slower Turion II P520 Processor, the HD 5650 still leads HD 3000 by 44%; shift the same GPU to an i7-640M to remove the CPU bottleneck and the 5650 beats HD 3000 by 130%"

Intel?s Sandy Bridge: Upheaval in the Mobile Landscape - AnandTech :: Your Source for Hardware Analysis and News
at medium settings the SB start to struggle at 20FPS for SC2

and note also that the SB is already paired to an i7 processor. which means it is already a high end SB.

so from those charts, its about an entry-level HD5470 level kind of performance with a i7 SB.. well.. it should or else it will be another 'meh...'

if you get an i5 or i3 SB, the GPU has a lower max clockspeed than an i7 SB and hence even slower.

all in all... still an IGP

 

Happy new year everyone!

2 questions:

1. What's the latest ATI catalyst drivers I can install that will actually allow you to switch between discrete and integrated graphics? I'm on 10.12 and clicking the power-saving gpu button doesn't do anything.

2. Has anyone with a ssd notice slow boot times? Specifically, I have a Crucial 128gb ssd and very often it freezes for up to 30 seconds on the black screen just before the windows logo animation is supposed to start. I'm thinking about rechecking the cables and/or doing a reformat.

 

Q1: Read the first post You can use the last driver, but the buttons for display brightness doesn't work.

Q2: I have a Vertex2 and a very fast boot process. Reinstall Windows or log the bootcycle.

 

I have a question. Can the headphone port be used as a line in ?

 

@Bronsky - got an email back from mk. They have the 9-cell but don't ship to Canada. I didn't mention I have family there

 

Hi guys. I have problems with 2.30gb usable ram memory. I have latest BIOS version, updated Windows 7 x86 to latest version via update, tested with memtest both memory and they are 100% functional.

Any possible fix except installing x64 (I think this isn't about Windows as they can use more then 2.30gb)

 

Oh I forgot about that. Canada requires a whole boatload of paperwork for retailers who ship Li-Pol batteris through Canadian customs. That is why Computeruniverse no longer ships the 3820TG there. Your family should be able to ship with no problem.

Bronsky

 

Hey.

Is it possible to connect an optical cable to the SPDIF input?

 

I have been reading almost the whole thread.. lot´s of good info but I wounder how I should know if my 4820tg with i7 640m is able to oc or not.. please help me out..

 

No (10 letters)

 

---I don't think so.---

The function is not supported.

 

You have to look for the PLL/Clockgen

 

any guide for that?

 

Try all of them in SetFSB, with the GetFSB button. Start with the Asus G ones.

 

google SetFSB... download the shareware version to try.
cycle through the options clicking Get FSB until one of them give you a proper looking FSB of ~133...

if it can Get FSB but gives like 400 or other equally odd FSB readings, that one is still a no go.

so far it looks like the Asus G73 is a good bet.

----------------------

next you need to decide if you want to spare 800yen to the developer.
if you do, he will check your screenshot data to see if it can be OC.
if yes, he will give you the activation.
if not, he'll just refund you


else, download the Freeware version and hope that one of the clockgen works for you.

 

I think the 3.5mm connection is also optical for 5.1 sound. I can see a red light coming on when I insert my headphones halfway. But you would need a TOSLINK-3.5mm optical cable.

 

1. Latest drivers, 10.12, does not allow switching of gpu.

2. I logged the bootcycle and there was a lot of unloaded stuff... no idea what to do with this info...

 

Anyone solve the "screen wont turn on after coming back from sleep" problem?

 

the microphone port works fine for line-in, so there is no need to use the headphone port. however, I've only tested the microphone port in audacity, so not sure if the headphone jack works.

 

i had it a couple of times before. but it just disappeared.
i suppose it has to do with some programs that are running or background processes.

on a side note... Resuming.. .screen off... press Fn-F4 to sleep again.... then power it up a 2nd times seems to turn on the screen fine for me. tried a couple of times.

odd issue really. but best bet is software.

 

when trying asus g73 i´ll get an pll id error..
when checking my pll 09h i have a 0 so I think my i7 is clockable
I´ve tryed out allmost all of the clockgens, with 2 of them the computer freezes :s anyone else with the same symptoms?

think i got it to work now, but how do I turn off the thing that downclocks the cpu when it´s in idle??

 

I'm so angry right now...

I just did a clean install of Windows 7 and Windows Update did its thing and asked me if I wanted to install the updates it found. Unfortunately, I noticed a couple of driver updates in the list and forgot to uncheck them. At least one of them was the Intel Video driver.

ARGHHH! What a pissr! Does anyone know how I can figure out which drivers got updated, and if the version I downloaded from Acer was newer than the Windows driver, or not?

 

Hey
I've ordered this computer and looking forward to it arrives at my home.
I'm going to sign an insurance for it.
I've strongly considered changing the HDD to an SSD.
It's possible for me to get a an written acceptance from the insurance company that i do this myself. However, the first year it's also still under the Acer Warranty - and i would like to know what would happen with this Warranty, would it be voided if i changed the HDD to an SSD myself?

 

warranty should still remain as long as you don't have a warranty void if removed sticker on the back cover.

 

Just again read the first post. Switch with the contex menue.

 

Do you mean the SPDIF output? If so, right now I have a mini-optical cable (3.5mm) plugged into the SPDIF output (shared with headphone jack) connected to my DAC which has a standard TOSLINK SPDIF input. It works perfectly fine with the "Realtek Digital Output" playback device selected in the sound settings.

 

My bad, I was trying to switch to discrete with an HDMI monitor attached.

My other question would be which are the latest catalyst drivers that still allow for brightness controls? I recall the 10.8 could still do them but unfortunately had a underscan bug.

Anyone care to take a look at my bootlog and point out possible solutions to slow boot before I reformat? I'm bothered by the
"Did not load driver @nettun.inf,%6to4mp.displayname%;Microsoft 6to4 Adapter"
appearing over 100 times at least lol

 

I was annoyed with the fingerprints on my shiny 3820tg, so I found this laptop skin which is really nice and makes my Acer looks classy. It reminds me of Asus Bamboo series.

Laptop skins

I ordered the skin for Acer 3810, which is the same size with 3820.

 

wow Ainvan, that one looks really good! is it real quality material? And does it attach properly? I bought something similar to my girlfriend which was glued on and fell off 1 week later. I'm really interested in buying this product.

I basically have to wipe my laptop clean every day with the included cloth which takes like 5 minutes every time (I've got the black aluminum chassi)

+rep for a review!

 

@Madster,

I just got it yesterday, so I can't comment on the quality of the glue yet.
However, it does feel nice. I bought the Camagon Wood skin and I can feel the texture of wood on that skin. I'm not sure how they did it, but they did a great job.

Installation was a breeze, it took me less than 4 minutes to apply that skin.

 

clockable is not dependent on processor.
it is the clockgen on the motherboard

i had it too. a couple of them do hang up my comp when i was doing roulette testing. heeh...

why would you wanna turn off speedstep?

 

You should use an exacto knife and cut out the ACER logo, then itd'd look perfect.

 

the brushed metal surface doesn't leave much print issue for me. it is the inside bezel around the LCD that is annoying as hell to maintain

there! i am seeing my finger print near the webcam area that came from opening the notebook this morning

(like Jerg's recommendation... it will look great with the Acer cut out. if you want)

 

Update for anyone in Australia trying to get their hands on this baby:
Incredibly (and distressingly, given that I just bought one of these from Singapore without a local warranty) the 3820tg is now available in limited stock from Bing Lee in Australia ( ACER - LX.PXZ02.128 - ASPIRE 3820TG TIMELINE X NOTEBOOK - Bing Lee)

The model number is AS3820TG-5454. It is the HD 5650 model with 4gb ram and an i5 450m processor.

Better yet is the price- $1,149 AUD (before negotiation which may cut up to $100 off the price). Given the warranty issues, that actually compares favourably with pricing in Canada and Singapore (see e.g. http://www.netbooks.com.sg/products...464G75n-(The-all-new-Aspire-Timeline-X).html).

 

i was busy during the December which is one of Taiwan's "information" month and typically one of the best time to buy a lap time so i didn't pull the trigger yet. now that it is only few days away from CES in Las Vegas i'm thinking there will probably be be new model announcements there and there might be a little more price drop next week. although price has been steadily inching down in Taiwan every couple of weeks... i'm still really struggling between getting the 3820tg vs 4820tg. the thought of extra screen size seems nice, at the expense of ~0.7 lbs. anyone had the same dilemma as myself and which one did you end up getting?

 

Hey ghetto. Jerg went with the extra screen size. He told me he's old and can't see well anymore so he needed the larger screen to handle sweet 800X600

EDIT: Jerg didn't really say that and I hope he's not offended.

Anyways, I can't sleep (east coast, almost 4am here) and I want to ask if anyone knows of a decent dock station or cooling pad that would work well with this thing on a desk while the battery is disconnected.

From my understanding cooling pads draw air in from the sides and blow it up to the bottom of the laptop. This seems pointless to me because the laptop blows warm air out the sides and the cooling pad just sucks it back in. Maybe there is a cooling pad that only draws air from the back that I don't know about?!

Also, not that anyone cares but I'm gonna wait until SandyBridge has been out a little while before I upgrade the CPU. I hope it drop's prices a little.

 

I used to do some music with this lappy with the on board realtek sound. I'm using the input for a line level microphone, and Ableton Live for some jamming, and if anyone cares, the ASIO 4 ALL universal driver work with this stuff out-of-the-box, and i'm able to monitor my sound (with effects) without any noticeable latency. BTW i'm not satisfied wtih the output sound quality. This laptop isn't grounded well, My units lid gives me a light buzz feeling if i touch the lid (if it's not grounded with a HDMI or more USB cables). That can be heard thruough the audio outpu too.