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

In the wireless adapter configuration pane, there are several power management options in the pulldowns. Not at work looking at a Win7 configuration, but on my vista machines if you set the powermanagement for your wifi adapter to hi performance it may help you with your connection issues. I would definately suspect that the diff you see b/w battery and on AC is because of these configurations.

 

What kind of max temps are you 3820tg guys seeing during demanding games? I'd be curious both about stock and the various cpu & gpu overclocks people are doing. My 14" is none too impressive along those lines.

 

Right you are!

The power saving default setting on the wireless card allows the wireless to be shut down to save power. Pulled the power cord and wireless was unaffected, thanks.

Bronsky

EDIT: even with the adapter unchecked, I'm having the issue again. There is obviously some other location with a code shutting down my Wifi in powersaving mode.

 

whew! i just finished browsing through 65 pages of this thread after going on holidays for a week.
i finally got my 3820TG (i5 520 + 5650) from singapore through a friend who went there on vacation. i haven't tinkered a lot with it yet. will do so when i get home from work. i have some noob questions for the things i plan to do later:
1) how do i update the bios? (never done this before)
2) what program do i need to use to calibrate the screen?
3) which bloatwares are safe to remove? (i don't want to do a clean install; i plan to use revo uninstaller to remove the unnecessary bloatwares instead)
4) mine came with a free oem office 2007 cd with free upgrade to office 2010. i used the product key on the oem cd to activate the office 2007 60-day trial version installed then made the upgrade to office 2010. when i open any office apps, it shows "non-commercial use on the title bar". how do i get rid of this? (i've read about a regedit fix but it causes your recent documents to disappear)
thanks in advance for your help.

 

To me, it looks like he still has the plastic cover sheet on his screen ... or some cover sheet. In printing, we call that the Moiré effect where two dot patterns overlap and produce .... his photos! I'm not sure how you could get your LCD to even do that. It looks more like something's over his screen.

BTW, just visiting this thread, Bronksky, with a question. Is there any where in the US to buy the 3820TG or are you all still ordering from overseas? Thanks!

 

After a further inquiry about the shipping situation, I received the following message from computeruniverse customer service

thanks for your reply.

Unfortunately this restriction is for USA an Canada similary.
But sorry, my fault, I forgot to write down both.

Because the shipping by plane is the only possibility the post or UPS can offer, we had to cancel your order. The money went right back to your PayPal account.

Our website will be updated shortly, that all items including a restricted battery can not longer be ordered from USA/Canada. We are sorry for the inconvenience and hope for your understanding.

Best regards

Customer Service

 

aww man, I realllly want one of these.

I'll have my money in about a month's time. Hopefully there's a good option then.

 

i'm sorry, but could you link a site to the info about refreshed 3820TG?

because i have been looking in all Acer's website, there is only the usual 3820TG?

cheers

 

My 3820TG and 5820TG specs: i5-450M / HD5650.

Temps after playing age of conan for about 30 mins (temps doesn't really rise more than first 15mins really), which is quite demanding on both GPU and CPU, at least in giving high temps!

And yes, the cooling of this little devil is great

Stock:


Very nice

Overclocked (CPU at 2.88GHz, GPU at 700/1100MHz).


Still very god.

For comparison:

5820TG with CPU at stuck but GPU at 700/1100MHz:



With overclocked CPU the 5820TG would reach throttle limit and clock down, no doubt.

Asus X77JA (N71JA) i5-430M @ 2.72GHz, ATI HD5730 @ 800/1100MHz.



The asus is also doing pretty good at high overclocked speeds, esp GPU is pretty cool.

 

what thing over the screen?

sorry to burst your bubble, nothing at all on the screen, didn't come with anything in the first place. the only plastic is on the back of the lcd where it collect finger prints

 

Okay, but it is a true Moire effect, which is two dot patterns overlapping. I've never seen a screen do that ... but there's a lot of things I've never seen.

I agree with Bronsky, then the screen's defective and needs to be replaced! Sorry for that.

BTW, it didn't come with any plastic affixed to the screen? Mine notebooks usually have .... but I've never owned an Acer.

 

Okay, donation received ... should I just tell this guy I have the acer or should I try to answer his questions?

He asked for the following:

1. Could you tell me your SetFSB ID number?

2. The SetFSB informations
a. the motherboard(/PC) name ?
b. the chipset name ?
c. the clock generator name ? (If it is possible)

Bronsky

@adioni - Dude, I feel your pain. If Conputeruniverse is not willing to ship, it looks like that route is closed. The only alternative is to find a place willing to try, and insist on UPS or FedEx (probably at a $75 premium) or forget it. I am so glad I got my 3820TG before this happened. I would be beside myself.

 

that's for new cpus that people request to add to the program.

I'm pretty sure you just need an activation key for the shareware version as it's already been added.

 

No, just wrote him you have got an Acer 3820TG and that this is already supported.

 

Just bought and applied some double-sided tape to the keyboard, the flex has diminished somewhat.

This isn't really tape though, it just leaves the glue there, but I suppose it works anyway

PS: It isn't that Scotch tape, but I suppose anything will do really.

 

I'm on my way to radio shack after work. I'm working on the OC now. I have a couple of hours of video editing that I can use to test the sufficiency of the OC. If it works, backlighting, here I come.

 

i finallyy ordered a i7 620m will have my hands on it probably in 23rd soonest or 26th latest i want to ask oc freak how did you oc your 3820tg? it would be awesome to oc my i7 620m to 3.00ghz+ from 2.66ghz

 

First piece of bad news since I got this notebook.

"Hmm..., The clock generator is not the same as the working one.

The clock generator is SLGxxxx. It is very difficult without the clock generator name.
This SLGxxxx might not have the function that changes FSB. And, Truested Mode Enable (TME) strap status is no overclocking."

The setFSB guy is funny. I asked him if I should go look for the clockgen and would he see if we could get this working and he replied:

"No, I will not help you. This SLGxxxx might not have the function that changes FSB."

Bronsky

Might as well try tonight and see if it will OC.

EDIT: I can't seem to make it work. Will someone who has the shareware version list the steps they went through using the Asus code.

 

This is just horrible.

 

Thank you very much OC-Freak. Those are indeed much better than mine - even the 5820tg too. I'm getting up to 89c on the GPU and 86c on the cpu at which point it throttles ( chart). I wonder if you have l4d2 or a similar action game - do they produce even less heat than conan?

I've opened up a support ticket with acer to see what they say about my temps & cpu down clocking . Too bad I can't buy a 13" here.

 

Oh dear, so I might have just brought a i5 450m model with the intention to overclock it for nothing..I cross my fingers not! This is..bad news. Bronsky try the G73JH clock gen and then hit getfsb. It should report 133Mhz bus speed. And not result in an error like I get with my 3820TG

Can we confirm which model and P/N is the one which can overlock? I was under the impression it was the model 3820TG-5454G64Nks. If not maybe some units have random clockgens...Some that can overclock and others not.

Edit:

We need to make a list of units can and can't be overclocked:

Not overclockable:

My Model - (i5 430m, first batches of 3820TG no longer shipping) 3820TG-434G64n LX.PV102.161 Pin locked Clockgen

 

Wow, that's really bad news. Looks like "if" I do get my 3820TG safely, I can't overclock it too.

On the bright side, it gives me an excuse to buy the i7-620m.

 

Overclockable

Acer Aspire 3820TG-5454G64nks
P/N: LX.PV102.172
Model: MS2292

(my unit is stable @164MHz FSB)

 

F*ck Bin Laden

 

That is the Part Number that Bronsky got. Apparently they just use random motherboards in random models, so maybe it is indeed just luck. Wow, that would be f***ed up.

On a positive note for Hendrickson, you just got a LX.PV002.003 I suppose. I don't think it has to do with the cpu itself. You still have hopes.

 

If different motherboards is the problem, then I think people should also post their motherboard's model number, if possible that is.

 

You mean like that? The brightside is that all of my software runs on the I5-450M for now, but I guess I'll be forced to do an upgrade to a dual core I7 at some point. On the other hand, i really like my display. Look at that picture. I can live with the I5 for now. Benched my first OC'd 3Dmark and still get just under 9500. I can live with that too.

Bronsky

BTW - My unit is Model LX.PV102.172, build date May 22, 2010.

 

from the guidelines i read,

they have to fill out certain paper work which states the package contains lithium battery etc.

Even when ordering a cell phone from ebay etc, they all have to FILL OUT THE FCC REQUIREMENT document that the product CAN enter the USA or CANADA and has been clear for entrance and wont cause inteference and or the battery is registered.


COMPUTERUNIVERSE has gotten lazy it seems and they dont' want to fill out the paper work, to make the DECLARATION.

i had a phone that i shipped to the usa returned to me cause i didn't fill out the documents right the first time, and the second time it went fine.


thats what the issue is.

 

Wohah...if there's in fact different mobos/revs, it seems rather random. Sucks if ya can't clock

Are we completely 100 % certain these clock generators are locked and that it's not a question of the right stuff in software such as SetFSB? As far as I've seen that SetFSB bloke seems a bit confusing in his replies and communication (probably lingo barrier).

Anyone with the "silver" version (same as I got) that can't clock?

For the record, mine's a 3820TG-5454G32n and it clocks.

Mac

 

The silver one? Can you give me a link to the shops and a few pictures?

 

It's been mentioned a few times in the thread. Mine looked darkish on the images at the webshop (same as Acer site), but the one I got is almost sliver/bright gray. I can make some high quality pictures tomorrow if you want.

Mac

 

Nice to hear, I got the same model. Now I just need to donate to get my code =)

 

i returned my 3280tg disappointed! but i had to, the screen was driving me.

staples gave me a hard time cause two of my keys had dust on them and they said i took it to the beach!!! i dont even have a beach near me lol

anyway i gotta find a way to get the europa one! I wonder if one of the members here can make an ebay account? and sell them to us?

and we can help get all the proper forms and EVEN get it shipped with alternative carriers!!! like UPS or fed ex

 

Yes I would be happy, if you take a few pictures. I'm very interesting in backside of the display. I have got a black model and you can see every fingerprint on it backside. Ist the grey model better in this point?

In germany they are only selling the black standard model, a search for TimelineX and silver ends without results.

 

Don't want to keep you up at night but ponjornoh and I both have the same model - LX.PV102.172 - his clocks, mine doesn't. Hey pon, what's your build date? Mine is May 22, 2010.

Bronsky

@M4cros - the SetFSB guy knew that my unit would not clock as soon as I sent him the SetFSB ID number. As soon as I sent him that, he asked me to run the PLL diagnosis. He know from there that my unit could not OC. I get a PLL error message. The SetFSB guy sent me a link about the pin mod work around, but soldering my backlit KB will be bad enough. Soldering a ground onto pin 4 of an IC on my mobo is out of the question. I guess it comes down to the IC used on the main board. Some have the right configuration and some do not. He can't really tell until he sees the series of chip on each computer. Acer seems to have so many different parts, even in a single model run, that anything is possible. It would have been a nice way to get some cheep power, but to tell the truth, I'm in no hurry to do any more modifications to my computer ATM 'cause it's working so well. I've decided to solder power to the backlit KB and that will be it for awhile.

 

Man, so what's the chances SetFSB will work on the E14?

 

Just try it.

SetFSB has !NO! connection to the CPU. Only the clockgen/pll is important and you need these data.

 

I don't know how SetFSB calculates the ID but after scrennshot of the diagnostic page he is able to look at his "database" for a supported clock gen.

If it not listed he ask for a datasheet.

The problem with the SLG**** models are, that the have a option to disable the software editing the clock. In the worst case you have to get the datashhet and have to do a "pin mod".

Just a few examples. I think the forum is known.

 

I think it is not officially announced; it was purportedly an insider news

 

Great! I'm gonna pass this onto Magus.

 

For those of you who own a timeline, how long does your batteries last?
Batterybar indicates that my lifetime is 3h 38min when I'm on battery and I have all the drivers installed on my SSD. The first day I got the laptop, it was at ~4h 15min on the factory installed settings HDD.

Is there something wrong with my battery? I expected at least 6 hours or something in that ball park with integrated graphics on at the lowest brightness settings, muted volume, and wifi/bluetooth off

 

Hi I had replied your same post a while ago in the other thread.

 

Battery Bar is accurate, but it consistently changes the battery life each time you use the battery. So once it goes from 3 hours to 2 hours. You are stuck at 2 hours battery life. Unless, you reset the battery profile. You can disable the battery estimation in settings after you made your first battery life estimation. However, I just went back to Windows 7 default battery life estimation to ignore all the hassle.

 

So what you are saying is that the lifetime batterybar reports is from the previous charge? I can disregard the lifetime and assume its higher than 3h 38min? Or do I have to fully discharge the battery and recharge it to get a full capacity?

EDIT:
I just turned off Batterybar and rebooted. Checked MS taskbar batterymeter and it shows 8hr 7min @ 93% on integrated gfx and brightness settings. Thanks, problem solved. I would actually have to do a test one day when it is fully charged to see how accurate the default meter is at reporting the capacity. I'll do a second test with the Batterybar and do a statical comparison btw the both.

 

how did you find the clock generator info?

 

You already checked out my images here?

http://forum.notebookreview.com/acer/493151-acer-aspire-timelinex-5820tg-review-discussion.html

Yes I have the silver version as well.

 

nvm, found it.

So where is everyone getting the silver ones from?

 

Well, I'm not Hendrikson but I want also say why I prefer internal UMTS top of those reasons Hendrikson already did say.

1. Same battery (My phone doesn't load from USB and if it would then I would need to connect it with a cable, which is bad for mobility).

2. Different SIM, the possibility to have different plan on your PC (Luckily here we have MultiSIM service and I pay 13.90e/month for unlimited data up to 15Mbps in both of my phone and laptop, yeah of course that laptop has only 7.2Mbps but those fast speeds are so teoretical)

3. Speed the teoretical bottleneck, most of the phones have only BT2.1+EDR. "The nominal rate of EDR is about 3 megabits per second, although the practical data transfer rate is 2.1 megabits per second"

 

I will have a replacement US-3810 keyboard that cost another $20 enroute from China that I will no longer need due to the Computeruniverse's USA/Canada shipping difficulties. Hopefully they will find the proper forms to fill out in order to offer service to the North American market.