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

The 3830 will be capable of running the new QC i7, so there's the possibility for a HUGE improvement in CPU if the machine can handle the extra heat generated by a 45W CPU. OTOH, SB i5s are only an incremental increase in horsepower over the first gen i5s.

The current 5650 can be overclocked right into and a bit beyond the stock performance of the GT540M

 

Bump. Someone? I am sure everyone here has iPhones and can quickly try this?

 

Here are a few pics, taken with my iPhone in a darkish dining room... But you get the idea.

http://i.imgur.com/eqUkH.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/ie7La.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/TU0qN.jpg

Thinking about doing this too, granted I did buy it because I'm traveling a lot, having it on your lap on the sofa is maybe a bit better with a 6-cell.


edit: changed images to links per mods request

 

Definitely good for ventilation Looks like im gonna have to clean vents on my 3820tg once again (after like 3months) as its started to overheat again. Then again my room seems to get really dusty.

BTW wow over 1000pages, thats insane

 

Yeah, maybe you're right, ventilation is likely to be much better with the large battery. Perhaps the 2 main differences are the increased weight and the slightly decreased comfort factor when it comes to having the laptop on your lap.

I'll get used to it. No doubt the increased battery life outweighs my latter complaint...

 

I'm not sure about this... You don't get air from under the laptop, and depending of the surface you have some heat dissipation.

Since weight was one of the reasons I decided for the 3820TG instead of 4820TG, makes no sense to make it heavier. Also I use it on my lap sometimes, so I gave up of the 9-cell. Thank you for the pictures.

 

Thanks for that - do you know what is the fastest CPU upgrade anyone has made to the 3820tg? I take it the CPU's aren't soldered in?

Thanks for the info. I'm just concerned about how much of a premium the 3830 will command versus the current price for a 3820.

Does anybody do any x264 encoding? Handbrake, mencoder etc. I'd be really interested to see what sort of fps they get with a 3820tg.

Cheers

 

CPUs are in PGA 988 sockets. I7-640M's have been successfully swapped. I have an I5-540M in mine and love it.

Bronsky

 

1 month at service. It's finally back! HP 6530b out of the window, my 13.3" beast is running againg. Hallelujah!

Priority 1: Save some money and get an SSD.

 

Handbrake in Ubuntu 10.04 64 bit on my 4820TG gets ~50 to 55fps.

Regular old fashioned mpeg2 encoding to put files ON a DVD gets me four streams at around 60 fps each for a total of 240+ fps aggregate mpeg2 endcoding.

 

Mmm my laptop is doing a bit weird lately. Every now and then I get full disk write and my laptop stalls. I can't seem to find out what the problem is...

 

I thought that the 3820tg had SPDIF OUTPUT. When I connect my toslink 3.5mm between the laptop and my Onkyo 608, nothing happens.

Am I wrong about the SPDIF OUTPUT?

 

Bump again. Anyone? Ever since iOS 4.3 came out with Personal Hotspot, I can't seem to get the iPhone to talk to the computer and establish a WiFi tethering connection. I AM on a carrier which supports it...

 

You have to change the default playback device to the digital output. Right click on volume icon in system tray, go to Playback devices, highlight Realtek Digital Output (assuming you have Realtek drivers installed), click on Set Default.

 

Thanks for the info - something to consider later on

That's really useful for giving me a benchmark - thanks!

On a different note, anybody got an opinion on whether the Vertex 2 EX is better/worse than the normal Vertex 2 SSD? There seems little price difference. Also, any decent competition for this drive? I'm guessing we're limited to SATA 2.

I was taking a look at the ZeroShock III and IV cases... the IV looks considerably more bulky so if the ZeroShock III case is up to the job I think I'll stick with that.

 

Since the thread got a bit big and forum search is not the best, we've decided to close the current thread.
It's hard to find info around here which results in the same questions are being asked repeatedly.
At my request Bronsky, whom you all know as a great contributor to this thread, started part 2 with an executive summary post that includes all the highlights of this thread.

This thread is now closed. Feel free to continue discussion in the new thread:
3820TG Owner's Lounge - Part Two