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

Bronsky, what are the default clocks of the 5650?

 

GPUz says 550/800. I hear ATI driver # 10.7 will be out on the 21st.

 

Hopefully, optimized for Starcraft 2 that comes out on the 27th.

 

Phenomenal temps on the Envy 14. http://forum.notebookreview.com/6467937-post6212.html

Bronsky

BTW, my monitor is an AUO322C. It looks like all of the 3820TGs are that model.

 

Those temperatures are not accurate. He didn't stress the CPU enough. There are already screenshots of the Envy 14 running temperatures of 75C or higher for the CPU. You just have to browse though the hundred pages in the Envy 14 forum. lol

 

Done, added a link to your thread from the first post (At the bottom) I'm glad you think the screen is fine like I do btw. Not as bad as the reviews.

Hmm I looked at many power sources, but that mic power I think is very low? Just over 3 volts seemed a sweet spot when it came to the backlit lights.

I can recommend my power source as you can disable it via disabling the HD audio in device manager. However to get the solder on the other hand is a nightmare!! Maybe you could somehow clip or twist a wire around it then glue it in place?

Since I use skype a lot I didn't even look at the mic or audio jacks. Didn't want to risk it.

Yes sobered up thanks, it was a hell of a party over here.

 

bronsky quick question has your battery life improved with ssd over hdd ?

 

I never really ran the 3820TG it on battery with HD. On my 1410T it was about the same.

@hendrickson - The PCIe looks right on voltage, the location of the plug is just bad. As I look at your mod again, instead of soldering onto the back of the plug, I could just splice into the wires on the female end of the speaker plug while I have the Motherboard out. If I do that, I don't have to wait for a BT plug to arrive from China. If I screw up the speaker plug - oh well. No music until I get another one. I can still work. Hmmmmm. That way I can get going on the CPU swap soon. This sucker is running perfectly. I'm getting ready to tackle the CPU.

Bronsky

 

SC2 runs great already... at least the beta I'm playing it at high in 1680x1050 on my external screen with 40-50 fps

The final is expected to be faster, since they will disable a ton of debugs.

 

How about somehow powering the backlit keyboard through the LCD cable?

Then the FN keys to lower and brighten the screen would also do the same for the keyboard.... ??

 

Is the 5820TG so to speak the same as the 3820TG, only with a slight bigger screen (15,6" vs. 13,3") ?

I'm a little curious on how many of you guys who have the 9 cell battery, which sticks out on the back. How does this "feel"? Is it irritating in any way? How about portability; does it fit in a 13,3" laptop sleeve with a zipper even with the 9 cell battery? I'm not sure whether I should get the 6 or the 9 cell.

Also, how is the webcam? I see it is listed as 1,3 megapixel. Can anyone of you maybe record with it for like 30 sec or something, and upload it on MegaUpload.com so that I can see the quality? I will be using Skype with the video function to keep contact w/ friends, therefore I wonder on the cam quality. The audio-microphone-quality aswell; is it good? + the speaker quality, how is this?

Woah, that's a mouthful of questions, but I hope you can answer them as good as possible.

Thanks for the help you guys. I am new to this forum by the way.
I posted a topic in the "Which laptop should I buy" section in the hope that I would get some good and neutral suggestion/replies.
Here's the link: http://forum.notebookreview.com/wha...laptop-suits-me-best-gaming-battery-life.html

 

The 9-cell battery is quite ugly. It sticks from the bottom.


The webcam has average quality picture compared to the Logitech webcams. It can display at a max resolution of 1280x1024. It's okay for Skype, but it's not really that clear and colors are distorted.

I haven't tried the microphone yet, but the speakers are average. Don't expect strong bass or anything like that. They are laptop speakers after all.

 

Another idea for the LEDs: how about sacrificing an old USB cable or stick and one of the USB ports? Cut off the tip of the plug, maybe even solder a small slide switch in there and route some small cables back into the housing.

On another note: got mine a few days ago and have not yet started to tinker with it in earnest. But here is a picture of it at the end of the third consecutive demo loop of 3dmark06...

 

All suggestions are appreciated. It sounds interesting.

Bronsky

@hollenderster - it looks like a great infrared picture of the dual heat sinks and fans working perfectly . Nice.

 

I hope that's a picture of your lab at work and not the kitchen in your apartment.

Bronsky

 

As far as the SSD vs HDD battery, life it was the same. I noticed no difference in battery life. Maybe + or - 10 minutes??

 

haha. It's my dad's office. It has a bar, a refrigerator, a microwave, and free wi-fi from across the street. =)

 

Who in Canada was looking for a french keyboard? This guy has one and is looking for a US version. http://forum.notebookreview.com/6469048-post18.html

 

ive got a bit of a problem with Acer Power Managment software, i formated my 3820tg and intslled win7 utimate 64 and now when i unplug it it wont change windows theme to basic (basically P button wont change mode to Power Saver) and with it change a theme of win7 to basic. chhers

 

Yeah the bluetooth setting didn't work either.

 

First 3Dmark06 run 7499 at pure stock settings, native resolution and nothing turned off.

Bronsky

 

Thanks, Hendrickson. Prolly the NASA peeps could get 8000 pts

 

After some reading on this forum, I purchased a 3820TG of my own!! Although the review are positive from a heat mangement persepctive, the left side of the laptop is extremely hot. The CPU temperature shows 47-48 Celcius which is good but when I touch the laptop on the left side .. I could feel the whole 48C !!!

Anyone experiencing this problem ?

 

Yes, my left palm rest heats up too during gaming on the 4820TG, but this problem is already mentioned in this forum.

 

I have a 3820TG and not the 4820TG. From my understanding of the previous threads, no one have this issue on a 3820TG

 

Well, just to be more specific, is it the left palm rest that is heating up or is it somewhere else on the left side of the laptop? The 3820TG has 2 vents as a cooling system, but the left palm rest temperature should be the same on the 3820TG and 4820TG because there is only 1 vent on the left side for both laptops.

 

Did you switch over the bios to dedicated graphics and load the latest ati driver?

 

The left side of the laptop just below the CapsLock & Tab keys which is the left vent i guess.

I'm currently running on the dedicated graphics but I haven't checked the bios setting as I was under the impression that it is controllable through Windows. The ATI driver I have is version 8.713.3.3000.

 

That's funny, Bron. You're such an OG

 

I've reported this too.

The bottom left edge of the notebook runs hot - even when browsing - not the palmrest, but the bottom, no matter whether I use the IGP or the dedicated GPU.
Funny thing is that the HDD is on the right side, the memory is in the middle, so I don't know what's producing this heat, it's either the Wifi card (Atheros for me) or any other components I don't know.

 

Hi guys, would there be any issue if I set the GPU to discrete instead of switchable in BIOS after I have updated to the latest driver ?

 

As the CPU fan vent is more or less right under those keys, one would assume it's the CPU that's heating up the keys. Not seeing the same phenomenon here though. Under load this side of mine gets noticeably (but not uncomfortably) hotter too, the heat got to go somewhere and some of it will transfer to the chassis. Yet, even in the most extreme circumstances with optimal heath transfer, for instance the keys won't get any warmer than the CPU itself. Hence, if the CPU is at maybe 45c, the chassis and keys couldn't possibly reach more than about 40ish, most likely less. If you guys are seeing way higher temperatures, something very weird is amiss.

Mac

 

i need some1s help in here, when unplug my 3820tg it used to automatically change to power saver (change win7 the to basic) and save battery now i have to click on battery and choose power saver (how do i fix it?) second is that all the special buttons(like audio wifi etc) work except display dimm, im on power saver now and it only says 3hrs but screen is on max brightness i think.. ive got acer power managment program installed but dont know where to find it and edit power options. I installed first Ati drivers provided by Acer and then latest catalyst 10.6 from ati website.. im stuck in here

 

When I first got my 3820TG, I noticed heat below the left side of the palmrest. After I got all of the right drivers loaded and ran on switchable graphics, my palm rest has been cool to the touch, even under demanding conditions and when my fans are pumping out a lot of heat. I wrote the intiial heat off to something overworking because the system was not running optimally. That's why I asked. I would guess that a system with such powerful components has to be kept finely tuned.

The strange thng is that there is no CPU nor GPU near there. The best I can figure is that MAC is correct and the CPU heat is not traveling through the sink as it is designed to do and must be heating up the metal parts of the chassis.

Bronsky

 

Ok i managed to get brightness to work (had bios set to descrete graphics), but the P button on 3820tg doesnt change to basic win7 theme. Anywhere i could configure it ?

 

Yeah what you suggest is most likely, the CPU heat sink touching some part of the chassis. Shouldn't get hot when the CPU is cold and more or less idle. But, when you say drivers, might it be the card reader or something getting hot before it's properly managed by drivers? There's not that much else in that area.

Screenie from service manual.


Here's a closer view


Directly underneat this again, is the bluetooth module.


Mac

 

I just ordered the I7-620M. Should be here next week.

Bronsky

EDIT: My order got to the guy in Vineland, NJ too late, he sold it just before I ordered it. I guess I have to order one from overseas.

 

Would someone be kind enough to point to a link of the 3820TG service manual? Or put up an upload if it is, in fact, not readily available to download somewhere? Thanks in advance.

 

Hi everyone =)

I'm pretty new to this forum, but has been following this thread forever...

I'm from Singapore and was one of the lucky few that got a 3820TG with a 520M and a 5650. Got it for around 1090 USD (1499 SGD) and it came with a bunch of free stuff including an external DVD writer and another 500 GB external harddisk.

Pretty awesome living in Singapore I guess =P

However, has anyone noticed that their screens have very abnormal colors? The blacks on the screen looks purple, and the color saturation levels are pretty weird, as if you pushed up the lightness bar on photoshop a few notches too high.

I don't have any pictures atm, as I sent the laptop back to acer to let them take a look at the panel to check for any hardware defects. I calibrated it a few times but the blacks were still no where close to a 4 year old acer LCD panel I am using for my desktop, and this is supposed to be LED backlit! Even my old compaq (which burned out) did better.

I'm not sure if this is supposed to be a natural characteristic of LED backlits, but all the advertising tell me that I'm supposed to get deeper and more realistic blacks. I really need accurate colors as I work a lot with photoshop and stuff. Checked with a friend's model and his colors were similar, and so I don't think acer is gonna give me any good news or replacements. It's an AUO panel btw.

A reference image that I used to test this out:
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_7V85eCJY_fg/S9aXij2EEzI/AAAAAAAAMsc/rUXq7chzQZo/e365/20090411_132734_.jpg

I love the notebook in all other aspects. Accidentally scratched the aluminium back lightly while coming home from school, pains me to look at the thing. Want to try out some mods or OCs, but I don't think I'll ever do a backlit mod, the screen blinds me at night already. >.<

Oh and congrats to Bronsky for getting your laptop (finally), I doubt I would ever have the patience to wait 2-3 weeks for a new gizmo =)

 

Hi, Bronsky. I just wondered if your German 3820TG comes with the "European style" AC power adapter only, or will I need to buy a socket adapter for North American use. Thanks again.

 

You can buy a 220-110 socket-adapter or just the lower power chord. I bought the chord, I always loose adapters and its one more thing to carry. In fact, I have my 1410T charger at home and a spare brick for the 3820TG, so I leave my work unit in-place when I bring the 3820TG home.

BTW, does anybody know why these come with 90W adapters. Does it really need that kind of power?

Bronsky

 

Nice pics, thanks!

Mine gets hot under the spot where that black round shaped "stuff" is. Again it's not unbearable, but definately hotter than any other place of the notebook.

 

What's the brand of Your adapter Bronsky?

 

HIpro 90W - the brick is the original. I added a lower chord from newegg.

Bronsky

BTW, I don't think I posted a picture of the keyboard reinstalled.

 

My 5820TG pulls 91 watt at max load (HD5650 and i5-450m CPU), if it was charging battery it would pull even more, or add some USB peripheral (like an external USB powered HDD) and you'd easily see 100watt + pulled from the plug. Yes 90 watt is the output wattage of the power brick, guess the efficiency is somewhere around 85%, so even when pulling 100 watt+ the powerbrick should not be overloaded.

But yes, the 90watt brick is there for a reason.

 

I'm also looking forward to buy myself an additional adapter, so that I would not have to carry that brick around when I go to my office.

The 3820's charger is overprized in my country, the 1410's charger has a reasonable price, and it's also a 90W adapter, plus it looks just like the HIPRO one given with the notebook.

Is Your 1410's charger identical to the 3820 TG's?

EDIT: Forget about it, it's only 65W, sorry, my bad.

 

They're not the same anyway. The TimelineXs have a completely different adapter than I've seen before.

 

07/20/2010 Disclamer:
Computeruniverse seems to have stopped shipping to North America due to customs difficulties with the lithium ion batteries. The package will automatically be denied to enter N.A. soil and returned to Computeruniverse. There is no other shipping option unless you know someone from Europe that can receive your package and mail it through UPS or Fedex
==============================================

I received my laptop today from Computeruniverse after waiting 15 days from the day it left Computeruniverse's hands as Bronksy said. It seems DHL tracking may be off or they do not update when it was devanned from the cargo freight upon arriving at destination country. This is the parcel manifest as I received the package from USPS at my home.

01.07.10 18:17 Order Data for this shipment was submitted electronically to DHL by sender.
01.07.10 15:52 Shipment arrived at destination country.
01.07.10 15:52 Shipment arrived at destination country.
01.07.10 15:52 International shipment was processed at export sorting hub.
02.07.10 12:13 Shipment arrived at destination country.
02.07.10 12:13 Shipment in transportation to destination country.
09.07.10 14:39 Shipment arrived at destination country.

USPS just came to my door unexpectedly. I was actually waiting for the notice (below) as Bronsky did, but it was such a surprise to hear the door ring, I knew it was my lappy because I wasn't expecting Jehovah's witness on a weekday

08.07.10 07:58 Shipment is prepared for delivery at delivery depot.

The package did not seem damaged at all, aside from a few minor scuffs of dirt. Here are some pics for a testament. It was in rather good shape compared to Bronsky's box. Perhaps the ppl handling my package were considerate. The laptop box within the outer box was in perfect condition. The packaging is sufficent to cushion the box. It was thick paper cushioning purposely made for packing.





Creating a bootable USB thumb drive to do a fresh install of OEM Windows 7 Home Premium
Since the laptop was ordered from Germany, a German Windows 7 was preinstalled
I bought an SSD to enhance my computing and did a fresh install of Windows 7 using the provided CD key that came with the laptop

First attempt: Failed FAILED F A I L E D (skip to 2nd attempt). Don't use this method for OEM CD keys
-Made a bootable USB drive with Windows 7 x64. All versions were unlocked by removing ei.cfg using this program.
-Didn't work because all the iso on that list were retail versions, whereas the CD key provided with the laptop is an OEM CD key
-Continue reading to 2nd attempt

Second attempt: Success
-The CD key provided with the laptop is for an OEM distribution of Windows 7 Home Premium
-I personally bought Windows 7 ultimate but cannot use this because the CD key that came with it is already in use and I cannot make a OEM Home Premium CD key to work with a Ultimate version of Windows
-I searched for an OEM Windows 7 Home Premium to download (you may use the RTM version distributed by Dell, which is an OEM version when it was leaked before W7 actually launched for sale to public)
-Create bootable USB by using usb-dvd-tool.exe You require 4GB USB stick
-Install windows. When prompted to enter CD key, do so. You may be asked to do an on phone activation process (takes 6 minutes).

Driver installation
-Download all the drivers from the Acer Service & Support from another computer that has internet access and put it on a USB drive. Installation should be straight forward.
-Install all drivers and reboot. You will see now that the ventilation temperatures will drop considerably

Customizing userability
Upgrade trackpad to Apple two finger scroll, you can read the article or direct download link

http://go.notebookreview.com/?id=525X832&xs=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.uscrybe.com%2F&sref=http%3A%2F%2Fforum.notebookreview.com%2Facer%2F488205-acer-timelinex-3820tg-owners-lounge-info-benchmarks-tweaks-mods-upgrades-267.html

===========================================================

You can stay tuned to this post, I will edit it as I get the laptop in order and put it in my signature for future reference.
CURRENT STATUS
All drivers have been installed.
Optimizing bootup, desktop layout and getting rid of unnecessary programs etc
Downloaded Acronis True Image for backing up original hard drive
Using Ubuntu 10.10 as main OS

 

Congratulations! How great. It was looking bleak there yesterday. DHL Post tracking really sucks. Your box looks a lot better than mine did. The crew of the S.S. Rotterdam was kind to you.

I'd be interested in your impressions. The East Coast now dominates the Acer 3820TG "scene" in the US.

Bronsky

 

Hi Bronsky,

What was the specific lower cord you purchased from newegg to replace the original german one?