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

Source: realease notes

 

Anyone have the following problem?
After u press a button except ctrl/windows/alt your mouse lags when using a touch pad
It's more visible in Word where when you type the pointer disappears and it takes a second or two to move the pointer with the touch pad.

Any way to fix this?

 

I own the Envy 14 which has the same 5650 as the 3820tg, but underclocked to 450/800 and I thought you guys might be interested in my results from the Final Fantasy XIV Beta.

Final Fantasy XIV Beta

Keep in mind, the beta has problems with ATI cards (People reported regular Desktop 5850/5870's dropping down to low 20 FPS sometimes.)

First thing's first, this game is freaking gorgeous. Even though I was playing at the lowest settings, it still amazes me how beautiful this game is. I played for about two hours and will continue later but here are my results so far.

This is with my card OCed to 525/925. The performance is decent. I played for an hour at 1280x720 and for an hour at 1600x900. I played at both resolutions with the lowest settings possible.

In 1280x720, the game averaged around 25 FPS and barely dipped below 20, even when surrounded by a bunch of people.

When I bumped up the resolution back to native, I was surprised. The game still averaged around 23-25 FPS. I saw it dip once or twice to under 20 to like 18 or so but that was only when I was surrounded at the camp with atleast 15 people near me. The game still looked smooth even at 25 FPS.

Im sure that once the beta kinks are fixed, such as the major one with ATI cards underperforming, the game will run at a solid 30 FPS. Over the 2 hours, the highest temps recorded for my CPU were 81/78 and the for GPU was 74.

Once I get back home, I will play the beta at the base 450/800 to see how it performs.

Edit: tried it at 450/800. Not too good. Averaging around 20 FPS at 1600x900. I'm actually getting 30 FPS out in the fields at 525/925 and sometimes even 40 FPS+ when there aren't many people there.

Pics!





I'm sure that you guys will get even better results with the monster OC's you guys are getting on your 5650!

 

If she's the one with the longbow, I'll gladly be shot by her...and let her take me back to her elvish stronghold in the forests...who cares about a laptop then haha...

 

LOL! Sounds like Acer developed the first child-proof laptop!

 

Is this a first person shooter?

I've been a little out of the gaming world as of late.

 

thought i would post this in here too

as this is more of an official thread

So,

I have been researching this grainey effect on these displays, and it's a true cause and it really exist, some people might thing its normal but really its not.

some threads...

http://forum.notebookreview.com/dell/166574-how-tell-if-you-have-auo-lcd-grainy-inspiron-vostro.html

even if u go to google and type in AUO grainy it shows up, and dell of all companies is aware or was aware of the issue.

left is the bad one, right is the okay one..
http://s.lowyat.net/uploads//attach-10/post-1210-1223889665.jpg


here is another thread again showing pictures ..

http://forum.notebookreview.com/2475965-post7.html

and from this

it seems like dell had major complaints with it

Google

 

Nothing is new, it is known that AUO produce cheap displays and not the best one.

 

i wonder - can we replace the lcd's in these laptops


if so what do we look for specifically ?

 

I think I remember hearing some people complain about this before...but do people hear clicking/loud accessing noises come from the hard drive? (Obviously this question isn't for people who've replaced theirs with an SSD).

The HDD makes some pretty annoying noises when I'm not even doing anything on the computer.

 

Oh well I suppose my question is going to be a bit pointless with all the glumness surrounding the lcd screen

Anyone know if these screen protectors are any good? and will fit the 3820tg? EDIT: they apparently fit the 3810.

Obviously I'm taken in by the "Professional" bit - got to be good right

CAPDASE

http://www.gearzap.com/capdase-anti-glare-screenguard-screen-protector-up-to-13-3-w.html


Dimensions are: 288 x 180 mm

 

Everyone's is playing with their new Acer 3820TG.

Sweet.

 

It is normal. It's a deliberate engineering technique designed to prolong the life of batteries. The catch is that your battery life is reduced by that percentage amount of deliberate wear.

It's worth it though, as your battery will have a longer life than if it wasn't done.

 

Yes, it is possible but the good displays (LG, Samsung) are not avaible at the moment. No, I don't want an AUO again.

 

Funny, my monitor looks like the "good" examples, not the other ones. I took a pic of the 3 together with my blackberry. As soon as I can find the miniUSB cable around here, I'll upload and post it. It seems like it is the luck of the draw. I would have to be convinced that a replacement monitor would be better than the one I have before I would consider replacing it.

Bronsky

 

Hi I have a problem with my 3820TG. After 10-60 minutes usage the WLAN-card just disappears from the system, at the same time the sound gets corrupt and the computer gets slow or crashes..
My computer was manufactured 100525 and has a Broadcom WLAN-card.
I have downloaded drivers for the wlan-card from Acer and I have flashed the BIOS.
Any suggestions?

Edit: A video that shows the problem http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bmly9BsVy4

 

It wouldn't be too bad to swap the BT module. Take the bottom screws out, take the WiFi card out, take the keyboard out, take the top screws out, pop apart the chassis, pop out the USB/Card reader combo board, and voila - BT module!

 

Would you mind my asking where you found a seller in China selling parts? My 3820TG works fine right now, but it would be nice to know I could pick up spares if I needed them.

 

continuing on with the screen discussion, i saw today a 4820tg with a CMO screen which to my understanding is chimei? Does anyone have any ideas about cmo as opposed to auo screens? tbh it actually looked a lil duller than the auo ones ive been seeing but taht could be because of the lighting.

 

The remanufactured Motherboard is sold by Shark Technology LTD. For parts, however, MK Electronics in Germany seems to have the best selection and service for more general Acer parts. It just costs a fortune to ship to the states. I think eventually, you will be able to get Acer parts from Acer USA, but they don't seem to have many of the TimelineX parts in stock yet. Alibaba.com is a good place to look for parts manufactured in Asia.

Bronsky

 

I'm a 3820 User and have only looked at the service manual for the Aspire Timeline 13" and I will use one of the display, which are listed there.

 

If you can ever find one of the LG's that are listed as OEM for the 3820TG, that would be the one to try for a swap.

Bronsky

 

I'd like to replace my 9-cell to 6-cell.
So, will 6-cell for 3810 will suit to 3820 too ?

 

what resolution is ur blackberry ? maybe u can do a video of ur display because if the blackberry pics are like the others you showed they are way to small.


- my buddy that bought an hp envy 14 from futureshop order the pchome laptop on wednesday - and got it last night!! talk about super fast shipping. some things sent locally take friggin longer.

I am going to take a look at his screen later today, cause he told me it looks weird.
AUO for him -

 

i have only found the lg's on alibaba

and the A3 lg in stock as well but no a4

 

Can you give me a link?

Thanks

 

for alibaba

LP133WH2-TLA4 Laptop lcd screen products, buy LP133WH2-TLA4 Laptop lcd screen products from alibaba.com

LP133WH2(TL)(A3 LAPTOP LCD SCREEN FROM $44. HP ACER TOSHIBA DELL APPLE COMPAQ. Notebook screen, laptop display, notebook lcd, laptop tft, screen DELL, ACER lcd, screens SONY, lcd DELL, ACER lcd.)

they have a few more

with the LP133WH2 name

 

Off topic - has anyone started to feel like reading these threads is a chore?

 

I know this is the 3820TG owners lounge but I have a 5820TG which has the same hardware as 3820TG and I have a question about the Intel graphics.

When I set the graphics to discrete in the BIOS, Win 7 shows 3.87 GB of RAM as usable. When I set it to switchable it says 3.68 GB. I thought that no RAM would be reserved when Intel graphics is disabled.

PS.
I've also done a clean install of Win 7 64-bit and now I have a device in "Device manager" named "PCI Simple Communications Controller" and I can't find any drivers for it. Did anyone come across a driver for this?

 

The fact that there aren't too many 3820TG owners posting in here tells me that they're all enjoying their laptops.

That is a good thing.

 

That started at page 28.

Bronsky

 

I think the 5650 has some sort of hyper memory thing that steals from your ram... look at the sticker on your laptop, it says 1658MB hypermemory.

Missing driver is here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/ace...arks-tweaks-mods-upgrades-59.html#post6372921

 

Thanks for the reply!

 

ok... what does the P button stand for? And also, is it possible to buy a 9 cell yet?

 

The P runs the Acer Powersmart thing to save you battery life... you can only push it when unplugged, but unplugging it automatically turns it on already.

I want a 9 cell too (11hr battery life!) but haven't been able to find one.

 

Does anyone else get a squeaking noise when connecting something to the USB ports? I can't pinpoint the source of the sound but it seems to come from somewhere along the left side of the laptop.

 

Does the 9 cell extend down (towards the table) perpendicular to the laptop our out the back (parallel with the laptop) and extending its width?

 

extend down to the table...

 

I was afraid of that. It seems to be the prevailing trend of extended batteries now.

I prefer the older trend where they went out towards the back.

While I can understand how the current way is more functionally effective by essentially propping up the back part of the laptop and enabling better airflow to cool the laptop, I think the old way was easier to slip a laptop into a briefcase without increasing the depth of the laptop.

 

Perhaps due to the hinge design, they can't really design the battery towards back...

source: http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Acer-Aspire-3820TG-Timeline-X-Notebook.30294.0.html

 

Excellent point. I really like how the screen as full range of motion. The HP Envy did not. It was quite stupid how its range of motion was restricted.

 

OK I found some info in another thread and it seems to be the CPU that's making the noise when it enters a low-power mode. So the noise disappears when the CPU is under load.

 

Has anyone gotten 1920x1080 output from the HDMI port? Once I plugged it into HDMI, it automatically switched to ATI graphics.

However the resolution on my monitor (which is 1920x1080) isn't full screen which leads me to believe there might be some problem with 1080p output? I tried 1000p and it seems to work fine albeit still not full screen but at least the size looks right.

 

HDMI is tied to ATi GPU. No fault in that.

- - - I am on a 22" 1920x1080 Samsung Monitor. Full Screen/Resolution mode, no issue.

 

Well this thread has pretty much convinced me to get a 3820TG. I have a 15" gaming laptop and a 10" netbook. I find one too big and the other too small; this looks nearly perfect.

I'm going to Staples tomorrow to pick one up as they're on sale for $699Can; I can't pass that up, it seems like a steal at that price. It's the model with the i5 and (unfortunately) the 5470, but I guess that's better than nothing. As long as I can play some SC2 when I'm away from home it'll be fine.

So I understand the CPU is upgradable (great pdf guide btw!), but is it quad capable?

Also is the 5470 upgradable? From the pictures I'm guessing it's not, but some confirmation would be nice. Thanks!

 

About Quad, the only problem is unknown compatibility with the BIOS, no more switchable GPU, and as well, heat and power....
As for GPU, not upgradeable...

 

That's kinda what I thought, thanks.

As for the quad, yeah that makes sense. I really don't need a quad in a laptop that size, I was just curious if anyone had tried it.

 

This is a known "issue" with ATI GPUs.

Go to your ATI CC and adjust your overscan settings. Picture should fit your TV just fine after that.

 

Hello all, thanks for all your help in answering my questions. I went to see the thinkpad range of laptops and a lenovo y460, but finally I decided to get a 3820TG i5-450m with 5650. It's a plunge, I even went to a store that had to made me wait for stock, i hesitated and cancelled my order. At the back of mind I was still thinking of the y460.

I then went around again to check the y460 again, no warranty outside south-east Asia. So i wek to another store that had stock of 3820, so I bought it! Mine has a sliver lid, my favorite colour plus free ext DVD drive, retractable mouse & USB speakers.

Now on my way home, can't wait to set it up & see what it can do!

I also got a couple of questions for those who re-formatted their laptop, did your do it with a backup DVD? And does windows 7 come with it's own hdd partition utility?

 

Help!

I got my 3820TG with Radeon HD5650 but I can't install AMD GPU Clock Tool 0.9.26.0 (the one supposed to work with the card for overclocking). It always stops during the installation at the point when it installs the "insttool64.exe". What can I do about it? Also, ATI Tools, Riva Tuner, ATI Traytools and MSI Afterburner don't seem to work with the card either. I can start them, but either they can't display the correct clock rates or I can't change them.