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

Hi and thanks for the suggestion-sounds like a good idea. I´ll give it a try and report back.

Thanks again

 

good news man~
if they stick to this winning formula, a few months down the road can probably look one up for my girlfriend who is due for a change too

been loving my 3820TG for the past 2 months...
3820TG + 2x 6-cell batteries make bringing one out a total no brainer

decently light.
no AC charger needed, no need to find power point.
Works great~

 

Thanks!

So for the ATI drivers, I install both the ATI and Intel drivers in discrete mode correct? Cus I tried that the first time and it didn't work for me for some odd reason.

 

Bronsky update me about it please!!!!!!

 

^Just try the shareware and choose Asus G73JH, then "Get FSB", if no error, then only start thinking about donate...

 

aah, ok that's right...
if that g73 version gave me no error i have to contact Abo for donation, if not it doesn't work, don't you????
do'nt know why but i've understood that contacting our asian friend ad donate him, he should send me a particular clock gen for my 3820tg...

 

Ok I'm having major problems with connecting to my school's network. Other people are connecting to it fine so it's either a driver problem or network card problem >.<

Reinstalled new drivers that was on the previous page. It works for now.

 

Which site did you order your 480/6550 3820tg from? I read that you got a pretty good screen. Mine was ordered from LUComputers and should be here Wednesday. Hoping it's a good screen... otherwise I will prob be the first to actually replace the screen.

 

Is there a mini PCIE slot in the 3820TG ? I have not received mine yet but I was wondering if it would be possible to add an Intel SSD 310 Series 80GB (or 40GB), which would be awesome.

http://www.funkykit.com/component/content/article/7234-review-intel-ssd-310-series-80gb.html

EDIT : I am also wondering about my screen, I ordered the same model (i5 480, HD 6550m, 750go) from http://www.computeruniverse.net

 

The first port is blocked by the wifi card and the second port is just soldered if you've got the 3g model. You may solder the socked on your own, but SSDs won't work... it was discussed last a few pages back and several times in this huuuuge thread

 

Damn, this would have been to good to be true

Replacing the Wifi card by the SSD and buy a mini wifi usb key should do it then right ?
But even if it's possible, it would be so inconvenient that I don't think I would do it...

 

I was thinking of upgrading my i3-370 to i7. I'm not interested in overclocking, so can any ES work? Are there any whitelists for the CPUs?

 

If not mistaken, last time got one person manage to upgrade to i7 640M ES..

 

I saw a cheap i7-620 for $129, I wanted to ensure that it would work.

 

I just got a 6550 from canadacomputers late last week. I originally had an i3/5650 from visions but I was able to return it and figured for about $70 it was a great upgrade to get bluetooth and the i5 as well. I am really regretting this decision now though mainly because of the screen. I didn't even bother to check the screen I originally had in my i3/5650 but I noticed that my i5/6550 was not great at all. My i3/5650 was way better than the LG version I got with my i5/6550. I have the same complaints about the LG screen as everyone else.

I was thinking of returning it but canadacomputers charges a 15% restocking fee so I think I am gonna have to keep it. That leads me to my question. I noticed a few people mention laptopscreen.com as a place to pick up a replacement. Looks like it would be about $90. However, I also saw another post where someone mentioned that it is an LG/Philips panel as well. It would really suck to end up in the same situation with the same panel. What are the chances that its the same LG panel that I already have? Is there anywhere else to say pick up the Samsung panel that other people have mentioned is pretty good compared to the LG?

Also, Bronsky I noticed you mentioned you had a service manual which would show you how to replace the panel. Any chance you can point me in the right direction and where to get it. I would need it if I decide to replace my panel.

Is anyone else thinking of doing this? Has anyone else already done this? How difficult do you think the replacement would be to complete?

Thanks for any help and this is a great informative thread.

 

The monitor costs $200 last I checked, so I'm not so sure if you want to replace the monitor...

 

On laptopscreen.com it actually costs $90 including shipping. If it was confirmed to be a good panel I would buy it for sure and replace my existing one.

 

So guys, forgive me for asking but what's the proper way of installing the latest Catalyst drivers while keeping switchable graphics? Search is broken because this thread has over 9000 posts.

I tried installing ATI drivers in Discrete mode, then installing the Intel VGA drivers from Acer's site afterwards in Switchable mode, and it didn't work. Tried installing ATI drivers and I couldn't even get Catalyst Control Manager to open up, so I'm back using the 200MB ATI drivers from Acer's site.

 

Install the stock Acer drivers in switchable mode, then install the latest ATi driver in discrete mode. It isn't recommended to update the Intel driver since it's quite risky and it involves using the Intel driver for HP Envy 14.

 

I will also prob replace the lcd screen too.. if mine turns out to be pretty bad. It looks like 95% of the 6550 3820TGs are coming with an LG screen.

 

Has anyone tried to remove the Acer logo from the lid? It seems that it could maybe come off with a little work and leave a nice flat surface..

 

I actually just read in another thread that the Acer logo is slightly engraved once the sticker is removed. Still, it would be less noticeable.

 

Which touchpade use Acer in the 3820tg?
I have the new one with the 6550 and the I5 480. And ist has an Alps Touchpad and compared do the synoptics of my 4820tg it is very bad and i had to disable all multitouche gestures exepect of scroling. Now the touchpad works quite good because it can't confound the gestures but sometimes it stops or it just don't work.
Is there a chance to get an other touchpad if i sent my laptop back?

And for the record i have an LG Panel and after one week of usages i can say it is very nice only a little bit dark but thats all.

 

Guys! I 've had my 3820tg for over 4 months and I'm really happy with it. But since the past two months or so I've getting blue screens from time to time (once every week more or less). I'm not overcloking or doing anything special to it. It happened to me two days in which I left it on a whole night downloading things, and yesterday when I tried to turned it on with the battery almost empty. Haven't checked the temps but it doesn't seem as if it was getting too hot. Is there any way to know for sure what could be causing this?

 

Have you tried a Clean reinstall?
IMO considering how OEM include crapware and dated drivers on their laptops it is almost recommended to do a clean install.
Make sure the adapter is of the correct rating as stated below the laptop.

 

my unit makes random BSOD too, and after using it for some month, the CPU temps under load got up to 100+C. I'm sending the lappy back to acer as soon as i can...

 

hmm... forgive me for getting lost in all the posts...

whats the bad deal about LG screens you all getting with the recent 3820TGs?

 

Hi' I have accidentaly dipped mine in orange juice for 3cm maybe. :S It was in my bag and that stubid box of juice ... It was also in a zeroshock case. But after is started to clean it with paper i pressed a button and it came back from sleep mode. The left side of the screen was whiter but it was readable. I turned it off and now i don't know what shoud i do. Should I disassemble and clean it with a wet sponge or something? What if i turn it on? Will it be worse?

 

Regarding the connections to the screen from the motherboard on the 3820tg, how many connectors are there (one for power and one for signal? or is it one connector for both?), and what does it look like? I'm trying to find a picture of the connector for the Macbook pro 13" screen and for the acer 3820tg, to see if they would fit. if so, that would be an excellent screen replacement .

That laptopscreen.com website is pretty cool. I'm blown away at how expensive it is to fix the screen through official channels, vs less than 100 bucks for a Macbook screen through that website. Definitely shows some of the markup these companies do. It's a business, but still, what a crazy industry. And then I hear about most brands operating on 'razor thin' margins. I doubt apple operates at those margins though, given their price premium...

 

Looks like they have a matte option for the 3820TG, I wonder if this is better than the LG panels.

 

Thing is, these sites probably sell you the cheapest compatible version of each screen you're buying, so e.g. if you're trying to buy a samsung lcd panel, they might ship you an AUO "compatible panel" or something like that.

 

Hi, this thread is rediculasly LONG and I cannot seem to narrow it down with the search button, but I have two questions.

1. The GPU overclocking software, can it be set to stay overclocked? or do you have to manually overclock it after every reboot?

2. Is their anyway to OC the CPU other than the software of setFSB software? I think its rediculas that some dude somewhere is the onlyone who can OC this laptop with that software.

3. yes, question 3, Im in canada, so I have to buy laptops with bilingual KB's so im gunna replace it with the US version of the 3810TG model KB. I notice that the Fn F keys are different on the US version, ie. Wireless F key is F4 I think, where the bilingual is on the F3 key. Will the laptop automatically recognize the new keys via the ribbon connections?

4. OK OK, I lied, I got 4 questions. My model is i5 460m (2.53ghz) and 512dedicated memory ati 5470. What is this PCIe issue I read on the first post? What is the benifit of forcing the ati driver as apposed to the Acer Supplied Driver?

BIG THANKS, again, this thread is SO full of information that the actual size is a hinderance.

 

Yeah I am admittedly a little concerned about how they do not list the manufacturer of the lcd panels they sell. Seems kinda weird that they would do that, but I imagine there is some kind of marketing reason behind it. I would think a Anti-glare layer applied on the screen would be altogether a lot less hassle than taking the lcd panel out and replacing it with a matte panel. Just seems to be a lot of money and time, and warranty wasting work to get it.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/6432896-post1156.html

It can sound stupid but those of you who put an SSD into your 3820, Did you see a good improvement in global perf ?
I am actually hesitating a lot to buy one of these, moreover the postville refresh should come pretty soon right ?

Wich SSD is the best perf/size/price for the 3820 in your opinion ?

 

I have an Intel 160Gb 2nd gen, and although it's not the fastest ssd on the market, it's miles ahead of the stock 5400rpm hdd. Definitely worth the upgrade.

 

I got the Kingston SSDnow V series 128GB. Definitely not the fastest SSD out there, but man it makes the laptop a hell of a lot more responsive. I mainly got it to get rid of the HDD whine (and if you don't hear it on yours, its there, and you will notice its absence if you are in a fairly quiet area with a SSD instead) and to make it more shockproof in the event i drop it. Laptop boots in 20 seconds compared to a minute, a virus scan takes 5 minutes, everything loads waaay faster.

That said, once you are surfing, I don't personally notice that big of a difference in speed. Nor with any other program onces its up. Win 7 is pretty good at not accessing the HDD when it doesn't have to (as are most software engineers who design programs), so remember that the SSD will greatly increase loading of programs and responsiveness, but not the actual speed of programs you run once they are loaded, unless they are HDD intensive, like editing music and movies.

I'm gonna ask people in the mac forums what the connection looks like

 

Not necessarily all of them but quite a few of the 14" screens I looked at listed samsung as a manufacturer.

 

LOL, nice sig LT. Glare. iQaeda!! rofl

 

Ohh boy.. macbook screen doesn't look like its gonna work, it uses a pretty funky design(Thank you Crazycanuk for the picture). I've emailed Bronsky to ask if he can send me the disassembly manual for the 3820tg, hopefully theres a half decent picture or something in there .

 

This..

 

...is what? for the mac or the acer?

 

For the Acer...

 

Damn! that ends the macbook screen idea then... only hope now is if the connector for the macbook has the same voltage requirements and the same signals, could wire the leads to each other and... oh screw that, I'm not that hardcore of a DIY'er. I wonder what other screens have the same connector then... The search continues

 

sorry for my absence..
for who asked me, my 3820 tg with AU Optronics Display was bought in january from computeruniverse in Germany....

about SSD.... Buy now or wait???

 

Nobody knows it really the price for flash is going upwards but newer faster models are on the horizont.

Best regards

 

would some1 who has read this whole topic tell me the best mods for this computer(that aren't on the front page)

i am especially interested in modding the videocard to get better clocks from it.

also could someone share a good battery program(other than batterycare)

thank you for your attention

 

batterybar is a good program.

 

I have finally received my 3820TG (i5 480m, 6550m, 750gb).
Only good news for now.

My screen is AUO322C and seems to be decent.
I ran a 3D Marks 2006 @ stocks with steam downloading behind : 7876 points.

I am really happy with it and will try OCing the GPU right now.

Just a question : Is there a way to have HWmonitor in front of 3D marks or any way to check the temps while 3D marks is running ?
I want to overclock but I want to be able to check the temps while am doing it.

Thx.


PS : Thx a lot to too456 who posted a sum up of the drivers in page 939. It helped me a lot to do a clean install of windows.
Thx also to Hendrickson for the first post of this topic which has a lot of useful informations about this notebook


EDIT : Very weird ! This notebook http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Acer-Aspire-4820TG-i7-HD-6550-Notebook.44096.0.html which has a better CPU, a better Hard drive (SSD) and the same GPU ends with 7182 3D marks. It's a lot less than my score ! How is it possible ?

 

"3DMark2006 (1280x1024) finishes with 7182 points (native: 7792 points)"

they ran that on an external monitor with 1280x1024. higher resolution = slower

native is with the laptop monitor at 1366x768... 7792 is comparable