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

Ok.. i fixed my problem. But now the partition with all my documents and pictures disappeared on my desktop (i did something wrong when i was formatting the external drive). I haven't formatted it, but i can't get it to work. When i go to disc management it just says that it's not up-to-date when i'm right clicking on it

 

I'm in the same boat as you... thinking about upgrading to a SSD. I was also considering the cheap Kingston ones but I think I'm going to spend a bit more to get a better ssd after taking a look at this site:
Crucial M225 128GB SSD

The Kingston ssd looks pretty bad compared to all the other ssd's on the list. They're selling the Crucial ones for around $280 in Canada so I might get that one.


On a side note, is it me or are the ssd's in Vaio Z outperforming almost everything? I've heard they go up to 400mb/s read? Is that just because of the RAID0?

 

If the Crucial was 280 USD I'd also get that instead if going Kingston, still, while Kingston SSDNow Line (2 Gen) is slower Than most SSDs, it's definately faster than HDDs.

As for our boat, it might be floating towards a waiting game, I hope faster SSDs get a bit cheaper soon, 387 USD for the Crucial is not worth it...yet.

 

Man, that's a great deal:

Go Memory upgrades from Crucial.com - Search Categories and pick a drive. Then apply these coupons:

100M225US for the 128GB SSD - 199.99
200M225US for the 256GB SSD - 399.99

 

Wow, that's great, and only 15 bucks shipping to Canada! When does it expire?

 

I'm not sure.

 

Where's the crying smiley?

Great deal it is indeed. Hungarian credit cards not accepted, only the US site applies coupon codes (didn't find any for the uk or the eu site), with shipping costs and EU customs and taxes it's a no go for me.

I want Bing Cashback, and Coupon codes too, pretty please...

 

I just wanted to check something. Is this what I'm looking for if upgrading the Wifi?

INTEL Ultimate N WiFi Link 6200 (622AN.HMWWB)

 

Yep, although I think correct name is Advanced N Wifi link 6200. Same thing though and probably just an typo by the store

 

Well my 3820tg finally arrived from Computer Universe. Nearly 30 days after my order was placed! Outer box showed some water damage but the inner boxes looked good. Installed US QWERTY KB and an OCZ Vertex II SSD. Fresh install of Win7 Ult 64 went ok, I had one BSOD after the install, I am hoping it was because the chipset drivers we not installed yet. Installing my personal software now.

 

Damn you, I still haven't gotten mine yet.... Just kidding. Anyway, do you think you can post your tracking information? I would like to know what kind of update you got when you received yours so I can get a vague idea what to expect when mine would be arriving.

As for everyone else concerning SSD, I got my OCZ Vertex II 120GB for $309USD.

 

Tracking information never updated, just said it was enroute.

 

Basically it still said, "Shipment in transportation to destination country" when it arrived?

Also, I was wondering, is it possible to mod the lid? I'm actually digging the silver lid.

 

Don't know about modding the lib. Here is my ship info as of 18:30 PST:

Date 10.07.10 13:36
Brief Status Transport to destination country

Status Shipment in transportation to destination country.
The route of your parcel09.07.10 18:49 Order Data for this shipment was submitted electronically to DHL by sender.
09.07.10 18:09 Shipment in transportation to destination country.
09.07.10 18:09 Shipment in transportation to destination country.
09.07.10 18:09 International shipment was processed at export sorting hub.
10.07.10 13:36 Shipment in transportation to destination country.
10.07.10 13:36 Shipment in transportation to destination country.

 

Lol, in sweden where we get silver lids most people want a black lid Well, i really love my silver lid, no fingerprint magnet

 

congrats! Im sure you will find it to be a truly awesome laptop like i did. About BSOD i got one too right after install of win7 64 but after installing all drivers havent had any problems since. Enjoy your new laptop or shall i say true desktop replacement xD

 

Most ppl there want a black lid? Anyone u know wants a swap? Mine's black

 

well bronsky i follwed that guide no use for dxva

for ssd currently the best ssd is i think agility 2 240gb usd 559 and c300 256 usd 579 thats the best money can buy right for laptops? in terms prices specs and performance??

others are pci e interface which cant be used in a laptop are there any bing cashback or deals going on for agility 2 and c300 240gb++ because if its usd 400 i will jump and buy it. i really cant use a 128gb or 120gb ssd because their capacity is too low my previous laptop had 320gb which was sufficient for me

if 3820tg had 2 hdd bays i would have bought 2x120/128 gb and raid them up now but i cant

 

For right now, there is no reason to overclock GPU ?

 

I think I will get the 128gb M225, it a good deal and M225 may not be the fastest SSD but yet all the review on internet show it a really good SSD.

@Riddhy, I think for SSD, "the best speed" doesn't really matter if you not doing benchmark, most of the time you won't really feel that much different unless it's a really huge upgrade(Like 2-3 years old SSD to the latest SSD). And I think reliability and performance durability are the more important part for a good SSD.
Both Agility 2(Sandforce-1200 controller) and C300(firmware) got their problem, so even they maybe the fastest SSD, I won't really get them. The M225 is ok for the price and Intel is always good. ZEEM wrote down some coupon code which you can get 256gb M225 for $400, that's a really good deal.

@Bronsky What SSD you are using right now?

@Zeem, thanks for sharing those coupon code

 

Hehe, i don't know, maybe

 

Depend on what you do with your 3820TG, if you play some games and stuff like that you may want to OC you GPU a bit to get more performance.

 

I had a C300 but had to send it back. I bought an M225 on sale. When prices come down, I'll upgrade to a larger drive.

 

I wish I can get a 256gb for $300, but this probably not going to happen til early 2012. Or unless Intel step their game up and cut their SSD price.

 

Realtek HD Audio 2.51 Hope this helps on some stuttering issues...

download from Guru3D.com

By the way, Bronsky here's some of the screens I got when I did the stress test, this were the temps after about 2 hours.


On the other hand, this was the lowest temp I had so far from this notebook.

 

I think there are no retailers in Sweden selling Advanced, just Ultimate, but it's probably the same.

One more question: Does your Fn + F3 work to shut off/turn on the Wifi?

 

On my one if I press Fn + F3 the Acer launch manger show up and I can choose to turn on/off both Wifi and Bluetooth.

 

@bronsky the c300 u sent away will crucial sell it as a refurb? where is the official refurb pages?

 

I think he asked if this works with the Intel card as well...

 

hey, sorry I don't think I saw your previous MSG. I was quoted that price by a microware salesman at their funan roadshow 2 weekends. They have a retail shop at funan too, but not sure if this offer is still valid. It's a very low price, by cash only too I believe, as other shops I asked quoted me above $1450.

Let me know how it goes for you!
Cheers

 

No idea about a refurb site. The M225 is plenty fast for now. For my needs, I am more concerned about affordable capacity than raw speed.

Bronsky

 

Yes, fn + f3 still works just fine after upgrading to intel 6200

 

I have it, after people told me Intel 6200 is the right one, I just go on Yahool HK and bid one, and I got it the next day . So when I reply, I am using the Intel 6200.

 

Speaking of wireless cards I went ahead and purhcased an Ultimate-N 6300 card that has the option of using a third antenna. I won't be able to install the third antenna yet, but would anyone with the service manual be able to point out where Acer normally installs the third antenna in the 3820TG? I'm assuming they must have something in the serivce manual since they sell the 3820TG in Singapore with the 6300.

 

You can use it with two antenna? "has the option of using a third antenna." Will the performance drop a lot?

 

The third on is only an option to get a better signal strength.

 

Yes, you can use it with two antennas as Nick mentioned below. My 6300 arrived before my 3820TG did from Taiwan and I have been testing it in my 1810t to verify that it was functioning correctly so that I could leave feedback for it on eBay.

Doesn't the use of two antennas limit the throughput on the card to 300mbps down from the advertised 450mbps? I thought it had something to do with MIMO.

 

Sorry, just seen, that the 6300 ist able to use 450mb/s. With 2 antennas yoou are only able to use 300mb/s. Yes, it is the mimo function.

 

how do you replace the wireless card? Is there a link to a tutorial for this specific laptop?

 

Just on of the first page of this post and Hendrickson made a short tutorial for replace a hard drive and there some picture for wireless card too.

 

Ah ok cool, I might replace the wireless card depending on the signal strength and price.

 

You can get an Intel wireless card for ~$20-30(6200/6300), and I recommend you to get one, because intel one is way better than the stock one.

 

is it ok to get it from ebay? Or would it be faulty/badly made? This one seems pretty cheap compared to other sites. Its quite expensive here its about $40 for that one. the 6200 is £10 cheaper, is the 6300 significantly better?

 

Where can you get them at those prices? Links please .

 

I bought my 6300 from here on eBay. Granted, this seller is not located in the UK but I know they are selling OEM ones with the original intel box, manual, and CD included with the card.

 

I got my 6200 from Ebay and its not faulty. Can't remember what I paid but it wasn't too bad. Also the 6200 is the one to get as it has 2 antennas.

On another note which some have been waiting for my input on, my Matte screen protector arrived from China. Its well packed. I'm just vacuuming the room and notebook to try and remove as much dust as possible before I apply this screen protector. I'm famous for getting dust or bubbles under my phone screen protectors and this is 100x the size

Wish me luck!

I will take some before and after shots!

 

thanks ive just ordered the intel 6200

 

Ok, I took my sweet time and clean and cleaned the screen to insure no dust was present. I applied the screen protector with the up-most care and low and behold. It came out almost perfect!

I had two bits of dust and pulled back the screen protector and used the selotape method to remove the dust. I'm very impressed, the end result is much, much more than i expected from a cheap screen protector. Its almost flawless apart from 2-3 small airbubbles I'm trying to get rid off.

The protector is about 1-2 mm short on all sides, but not an issue really.

But the screen now looks like a stock fitted matte screen and the reflections are now about 60% less. Pretty much like my old 1000HA EEE PC matte screen was (almost)

I whole heartly recommend a matte screen protector to anyone that wants a matte look and half the reflections. Just make sure you apply it slowly and remove all dust and muck!

Here's the before and after shots.


Before the anti glare matte style screen protector

After (photos don't do it justice!)

A close up with the screen protector on and the slight gap on the edde. (See the difference it makes)

Edit: The one I brought was from Ebay here: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260591384046&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

 

gosh i dunno how u have patience to do that.. i can't even do camera screen protectors properly! tested it in daylight?

 

I really didn't think i could pull it off. Like I said when i got it I always screw up small phone screen protectors, but I fluked this one The 3 small bubbles are slowing coming out too. I think a few days they would have disappeared.

I did test it in daylight and its a huge improvement.