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

Bronsky,
I'm not clear if you and Just A Nick are writing this for my benefit or not.

Just to be clear, I don't really see the pixels on my 3820TG's screen unless I get really close.

As far as I'm concerned, I think the screen quality is above average and I'm definitely satisfied with it.

 

all these monitors LED ( cheap budget laptops ) will have this issue more than expensive displays.

its' called from my research LED local dimming - though the hp envy 15 i have, you can't notice this issue.

I also notice ont he acer on low brightness it flickers a lot on certain colours like i said

your display seem to have the same issue ( i would say all of them with the auo screen do ) i am 3/3 two in canada and one from china

i can bet all of them have it

 

All points are right.

 

I can't believe that. Bronsky loves his screen, as Hendrickson and many others on this forum and I am sure they would have noticed issues like this before. And for me it was simply so annoying that it wasn't possible to use the laptop like that. If all cheaper brands used screens like that then it could be the biggest issue of all today's laptops. But it's not, it's just that Acer got a bad shipment from AUO panels - I think.

 

That's my speculation as well. It happens.

Quality control has taken a step back in this down economy, with employee downsizings and all.

I love my screen too (even if it isn't a work of art like the HP Envy 15's screen!).

 

OK, here are the newest apps uploaded from the last DVD.

ePower 5.02.3001
request download ticket | ifile.it

LaunchMgr 4.0.10
request download ticket | ifile.it

Registration 1.02.3006
request download ticket | ifile.it

 

to each his own.

the auo screen in my opinion is crap.
grid pixels can be seen at a distance.
flickering at low brightness on 4 laptops 2 china 2 canada

90% being specs are great
10% being screen stinks. ( colours are inaccurature, whites aren't white have a tinge to them . kind of dull looking, lack vibrance. )

its a gamble

 

Part 4: Decision Time

So I finally made my way to BestBuy during lunch. I didn't want to rush myself and spent a little over an hour there evaluating the competitor to the 3820TG: the Toshiba R705. And yes, the Toshiba R705 that I received yesterday was sitting in my car, patiently awaiting its fate.

As I made my way to the back of the store, I came across the R705, where the sales staff had placed it front and center.



The first thing that I noticed as I picked up the laptop was how light it was. We're talking "Fisher Price"-plastic-toy light. I could've flung it like a frisbee disc. While I'm quite happy with how light the 3820TG, I was very impressed with a full-powered, non-netbook, laptop weighing this much. And it was quite thin as well, though not substantially thinner than the 3820TG (which is already quite thin).

The outer lid material felt good and sturdy, much like the 3820TG. The R705 had a dark navy blue color to its lid. Depending on how the light hit it, it almost looked black. As impressed as I was with this art-deco, color-changing changing finish, it was a smudge magnet. I definitely prefer the dark gray, smudge-resistant, matte finish of the 3820TG, which would most certainly feel comfortable in a corporate boardroom. I'd certainly have to polish up the R705's lid before taking it into a corporate meeting.

Then I opened the R705.



The first thing that caught my eye was the shiny chrome left and right hinge joints - and not in a good way. Perhaps Toshiba was trying to give the illusion of a "narrow" connection between the lid and base of the laptop. If so, it failed miserably. If anything, the shiny chrome only draws one's attention to those areas. Personally, I find anything chrome-looking on a laptop geared towards business users to be quite tacky. The 3820TG does not suffer from anything in this regard. Actually, the 3820TG is quite the opposite and looks very classy and elegant in an understated fashion.

As I finally pulled my eyes away from the pair of chrome beacons, I took in the over all look of the R705. Pictures don't do it just - it actually looks a bit worse in person. I was overwhelmed with a sense of "plastic toy" as I examined the laptop's keyboard, trackpad, and palmrests. Given that the R705 also weighs as much as a plastic toy didn't help much to dispel the look and feel either.

First, the keyboard. The good news is that it wasn't as bad as I'd feared. The bad news is it still wasn't as good as the 3820TG (or other laptops with typical, fullsized keyboards). To evaluate it properly, I brought a copy of the Economist (magazine) to type out some articles word for word over a 40 minute period. I'd done the same last night with the 3820TG to get a comparative reference point.

The chiclet keys have a keypress depth about half that of other keys. This leads to the spongy feeling that others have said they felt when typing. Spongy is an excellent adjective to describe the feel of typing. Literally imagine yourself typing on a wet, rectangular dishcleaning sponge that you'd get at any supermarket. That's the feeling, minus the squishy water sounds.

The keys are also compressed along the y-axis by about 35% or so. They are rectangular, not square, in shape and about 85% the size of a fullsized key. This also leads to the field of keys being compressed along the y-axis, while remaining the same as other laptops' along the x-axis. Why Toshiba chose to compress the keyfield rather than use a fullsized keyfield and shrink the larger-than-average trackpad is beyond my comprehension. All I know is that it didn't work for me.

My fingers, as well as my entire hand, felt cramped as I navigated the 5 rows of keys. I had to stop and stretch my hands out every 10 minutes, something I never did once with the 3820TG. I also found myself having to concentrate more to hit the right keys. While I'm sure that I could eventually adjust to the R705's keyboard, I know I wouldn't be happy doing so.

As I mentioned, the trackpad is larger than average, especially for a 13" laptop.



As I was typing, my fingers would brush it from time to time and throw my cursor around the Wordpad screen (and I'd find myself typing a new sentence in the middle of another one). There is a small button underneath the spacebar that activates/deactivates the trackpad. But lets be truthful, who really wants to deactivate their trackpad when typing, especially if no external mouse is being used? It's trackpad is smooth and pleasant to use. The mouse buttons - not so much. The have a loud, plastic sounding "CLICK" sound to them. If you're in a quiet office or library, people will hear you as you "CLICK, CLICK" your way around with the laptop. Fortunately, you can tap the trackpad itself to simulate a left mouse click.

Before I began my typing a test, I popped open the R705's DVD player and inserted a movie DVD. Yes, the R705 manages to contain an internal DVD player in such a small, thin form factor.



I wanted to gauge how hot the laptop got while a playing a DVD, YouTube videos (via the internet), and writing on Wordpad simultaneously. While this test was not as stressful as running Furmark, I was more interested in how the R705 handled a more realistic real-world scenario.

After about 40 minutes, the R705 was hot, especially on the bottom left corner away from you. The top left corner away from you was warm, but not of much concern as the only keys there were the Power key and Escape keys. The single fan was working hard to expel hot air and seemed to do an excellent job. It was hard to hear how loud the fan was, as there was a lot of ambient noise in the store.

Needless to say, I prefer the 3820TG's 2 internal fans (one each for the CPU & GPU) and 2 exhaust vents. They keep the 3820TG cool and are quiet as they do their jobs.

Finally, the top lid of the R705 is slightly shorter than the bottom base when the laptop is closed. Most laptops are designed like this so that you can see the indicator LED lights on the bottom part even when the top lid is closed. The problem with the R705 is that the LED lights are still blocked by the closed top lid. Why Acer would design the LED indicator placement so that even a shorter top lid would cover them is beyond me.

At the end of my hour-long evaluation period, I knew unequivocally what my decision had to be. The Acer 3820TG won hands down. Having spent a reasonable amount of time with the Toshiba R705, I knew I could make my decision without any doubts or regrets.

The R705 is still a very good laptop. None of its flaws are complete deal-breakers to say the least. I would say it best serves a specific niche of user. It's best suited for the person who is the consummate road warrior - always on the go and can't afford to be hampered by weight. Someone who cares little for gaming and its dependency on dedicated GPUs.

Finally, I couldn't help but notice as I returned my R705 that there was another R705 that had just been returned before me. I wish I could've asked its owner why he ended up returning his.

PS. On an unrelated note, I came across this.



I can't understand why companies would want to waste their marketing budget on putting multiple copies of an empty game case on a store's shelves. Seems to me that money could be put to better use - like making games with dedicated servers!

 

Thanks! I appreciate it!

 

for you guys that have formatted the laptop


and installed a fresh OS

did you get ur drivers from the acer site? or use the ones on the notebook?

 

Excellent summary bankergolfer. As a Toshibar R705 owner, I think you hit the nail on the head as to why I bought mine. Enjoy your Acer.

 

Thanks! I tried hard to keep my evaluation as objective as possible. The R705 really does an excellent job in accomplishing what it sets out to do for its target base customer.

Even though the 3820TG is definitely the one for me, I was still amazed at how light a full fledged laptop like the R705 could be.

 

anyone have any recommendations for memory?


this laptop takes ddr3 1333 pc10700 (pc10666) ? accordin to cpuz right?

 

Good question. Not sure what the answer is.

 

Maximum is DDR 8500 (1066) ram. I can confirm that it shipped with DDR 10666 ram, but only ran it at DDR 8500 speeds. Check out intels site for specifications on the mobile i5 lineup and you can see that highest is 1066. Even the i7 620m takes 1066 max.

Overclocking wise I guess it would make sense to buy 1333 ram. I would buy it just to match the 2g stick my laptop shipped with. However I had 4gigs of 8500 laying around.

 

Part 5: Yadi Keyboard Protector

In response to several people asking me about the Yadi transparent keyboard cover, I decided to dedicate this part of the review to it.

I won't repeat what I've already said about the Yadi in my previous written parts, except to say that it's worth the $10 I paid for it. I enjoy it's feel, grip, looks, and that it doesn't hamper with my using the 3820TG in any way whatsoever. It does not touch the screen when the lid is closed. You can see all the keys quite clearly. Even though adhesive strips are provided to further secure the Yadi to the keyboard, I find them unnecessary. The Yadi is molded perfectly to the 3820TG's keyboard and keys (it was specifically designed for it), thus ensuring a nice fit.

If anything, I wish I had purchased a 2nd Yadi for backup purposes (lost, theft, etc.). It's all good though - by the time I need a new Yadi, it'll probably be time that I need a new laptop.

The Yadi covers the entire keyboard, as well as the surrounding areas to a certain extent. I have to say that whoever designed the Yadi did it exactly the way I would have done it. They were very intelligent about its coverage of the surrounding areas (except for the right edge only).





Starting with the left edge, the Yadi completely covers the left side glossy black frame. Well done!





In the top left corner, the Yadi covers the lower third of the bezel. It stops short of covering the P button and just manages to cover a sliver of the speaker's bottom edge. However this does not impact the speakers sound in any way whatsoever.





In the top right corner, the Yadi covers the lower third of the bezel. It also covers the bottom third of the Power On/Of button, but not enough to hamper its use. It just manages to cover a sliver of the speaker's bottom edge. However this does not impact the speakers sound in any way whatsoever.





Finally, on the right edge, the Yadi fails to live up to its perfect streak. It covers about 70% of the glossy black frame. While it's certainly better than nothing, it's failure to provide 100% coverage as it does on the left edge is a little disappointing.





In summary, the Yadi is a keyboard protector that has satisfied me in almost every way (e.g. right edge coverage). I wholeheartedly recommend the Yadi as a quality product for the 3820TG.

 

well that sucks! haha, well i tried to find the samsung memory in canadian stores so far no luck, and the ones from the usa are cheap initially , but with shipping end up costing what a pair of dual channel 2gig x 2gig chips cost

though i think i might just buy one 4gb stick instead


EDIT: thanks for the reply and confirmation

 

Part 6: Goodies

When I placed my order for the 3820TG, I knew that PCHome was going to include some "gifts" with my purchase.

Specifically, a 2 GB stick of RAM




an accessories carrying case that PGA golfer John Daly would love




and a converter plug.




Considering that other specials offered some or none of these "gifts" in their deals, I was satisfied despite the relative inexpensive nature of the gifts.


Imagine my surprise when I opened up my Acer package and found the following:

an Acer laptop carrying bag




an Acer mouse




and an Acer cleaning cloth.




Again, while I realize that these are all inexpensive items, it's nice to see a company throw in some goodies to spice things up a bit.

Thanks Acer!

 

Not same problem.

Mine has pulsating backlight intensity along left side of the screen, and it's constantly there at 70%+ brightness.

 

Hi everyone!

Been reading through this thread for a while now. Just ordered a 3820TG and bought a ZeroShock III case. Ordered the laptop in Sweden for 810 USD, insanely good price if you ask me! It's the Core i5 450M & Radeon 5650 setup.

It really seems like an awesome laptop, but only one thing worries me - the display panel. I'm currently on a Sony VAIO, so the screen will probably disappoint me, but I'm fine as long as there's no flickering and no weird noise. I wonder if that's a common problem or just a few units that's being affected.

First post here btw!

 

It looks like it's a few units affected. Of course, if it happens to you, you might not get much sympathy, seeing has how you bought your 3820TG for a great price!

Who did you by it from? Do they sell it internationally?

Where's the love for the US, Acer???

 

Hi. I bought the laptop online at a site called Komplett, which claims that it's the largest online retailer in Scandinavia. With the Swedish VAT being 25%, the laptop is 1018 USD with tax included. Maybe not such a great price anymore. In my case, I could ignore the VAT though, making the price come down to 810 USD.

Here's the site link anyway: Komplett.se - Acer Aspire TimelineX 3820TG 13.3"HD LED

Do not know whether they ship internationally or not btw.

 

For drivers, the newest are on Acer. The only exception I would say is Synaptics, where the one on stationdrivers is v15 while Acer's is v14. For apps, use the ones I uploaded yesterday to ifile. I would only use Launcher and no apps.

 

If you don't need dedicated graphics, then why don't you consider the Thinkpad X201? I was actually thinking about that + DIY ViDock over the 3820TG. You can mod in a very nice AFFS screen, or one with 1440 resolution. It has a fantastic build and is future proof with ExpressCard slot.

 

Nice Toshiba review Banker. Did the Bestbuy employees think it all strange that you were stalking their store unit with a camera?

@hendrrickson - still haven't heard from Shark technologies. MK can get a Motherboard but only new ones. They said that they can not get the UMTS model with the extra PCIe. It's probably too new. I think that is bad news for getting one from Shark. Still waiting to hear.

Still moving forward with the swap, even if I can't get the UMTS model.

Bronsky

 

Thanks for the information.

How did you avoid paying VAT? I assume that you are not Swedish nor in Sweden.

If you bought it online, how did you get the laptop without using international shipping?

 

The X201 is a great machine.

The R705 is just more cost-effective and offers the greater value proposition.

If money were no object, then the X201 is the one to get.

Likewise, the 3820TG is more cost-effective than the Sony Vaio Z and offers the greater value proposition. Otherwise, I'd get the Sony Vaio Z (despite its weaker dedicated GPU).

 

This includes two files, the app and a cfg file.
Does the cfg file contain any buyer specific info, such as the serial number of the purchased unit? I see a lot of numbers in there that might be one time use numbers, only for that one laptop purchased.

Also, after running the app, then clicking on register shortcut, it only asks for user name and email, and nothing laptop specific such as serial number of the unit you are registering.

As a test, I ran the app on a Dell, and it all seemed to work fine. That makes me wonder if it actually is doing anything specific for the laptop owner wishes to register?

EDIT: A few minutes after registering with the app on my test Dell, a window popped up saying something like "Thanks for registering (or successful), and be sure to use your serial number when ever... " Again, this was not even an Acer, and no serial number was supplied, yet it said all went well? ?

 

Probably! LOL!

Watching me type out an article for over half an hour, they probably thought I was too cheap to go to a Kinko's to do some work!

Or, since I was in a suit, they might have thought I was a reviewer for Consumer Reports or one of the product review rags!

 

The cfg file does not have any numbers, just parameters for the Autorun installer, like how to run setup in silent mode. ePower has a cfg too. I am sure neither the exe file contains any data, the build date is a year old. It gets all data from BIOS.

 

Here is an other Acer app called ID Card, I think it's quite good and it's small too. It displays S/N, SNID things like that in a small window.
request download ticket | ifile.it

 

Thanks for the files!

When you registered, did it ask for any other info, such as date purchased, or serial number? It did not for me, but that might be because I used a Dell. However, browsing to the folder that the reg app was installed, I see stuff in one of the files that reads in part:

(edited)
This is the basic information required to register your Acer product:
Date of Purchase: the actual date printed on your invoice or receipt
.. Your information (first boot date, serial number, country selected during setup or default country) will be stored on the hard drive and transferred automatically to Acer when you connect to the Internet.

 

I seriously think it shouldn't matter. These things are burned on the motherboard somewhere, no matter what you do with the OS or the hard drive at all, these numbers should stay the same. Just try the small ID Card I just uploaded, you can see all your numbers in a small window.

 

The only thing I am getting at is if we should register before a clean install, (change language first), or is afterwards fine using the files you have uploaded for us? For example, Dell's have additional unique info located in the root of new laptops that they use during registration, and if that file is deleted (clean install), registration will not work properly. With the Acer purchased from PChome, the correct online registration is possibly a way to ensure that warranty will be usable in the US.

 

@bankergolfer - Actually, I am Swedish, but not in Sweden at the moment. I ordered the laptop through my own company, which allowed me to subtract the VAT since it's an expense for the company.

 

Thanks!..............

 

Sorry I started a new thread but maybe this is a better place to ask.

I just got this laptop. The first thing I notice is the left touch pad button. With just a slight pressure on it, I can feel and hear a slight clicking. It's depressed a little, but not enough for it to be registered as a left-click on the computer. With more pressure, the left-click will register. So every time I want to do a left click, I feel and hear 2 clicks. This is really annoying to me.

I went to the store to do an exchange but the sales guy said this is normal after some use. He showed me on the demo units in store which some have the problem but not others.

So is this normal? If it is as the sales guy says this is normal and might happen with another unit, then I think I will have to return it.

 

Hey got my 3820TG too now.
So far i am pretty pleased. It works very smooth and i can't hear too much noise from the fans at all.

Only bogus so far is the bloatware overloaded system...and the screen's vertical viewing angels (but i guess other TN panel notebooks won't be much better..).

Bios is 1.13
Haven't done any updates yet.
3Dmark 06 score is around 7,4k.
HDD is just decent though, got a 5,8 from the win7 index.



Well i guess, i will just update the ATI driver for now.

Question:

So far the notebook with battery is plugged on power supply.
Charge level is 95%.
Can i get 100%?
Should i unplug it now and discharge the battery fully now?

 

Maybe it is too new, Are they recycled motherboards you said before? maybe just none out there yet.

Well good luck, I guess your searching for an i5 540m now? I was reading into the i5 540m overlocking seems the better OCZ ram does make a difference. Allowing well over 175 Mhz fsb where as my ram seems to cause a reset at thing over 169.7. I haven't brought any OCZ 1333Mhz ram. I will hold off and see how high I can push the O/C on this stock ram.

Since my i5 450m overclocks very nicely on the stock thermal paste, IC diamond can only help Still temps are really good on the i5's

 

I have a few questions about the 3820TG I hope someone can answer.

First post here... I just bought a 3820TG from staples and am very excited! I haven't opened it yet while I do some planning.

I don't need long detailed guides on these questions as I know that some of the info is on this forum already, such as doing a clean install of Win7 -- I just need some general answers please to make sure I understand what I bought and am doing!

1. Is the harddrive a 1.8" or 2.5" drive? I'm planning on buying an SSD.

2. When I buy an SSD, will I need to boot my computer and make a recovery disc/usb first to be able to load win7 onto my SSD? I don't have win7 discs.

3. I understand I can use a tool to copy the OEM information over to my new installation -- is this correct?

4. The original post mentions replacing the wireless card. I noticed that the wireless card mentioned support intel WiDi -- would I be able to activate WiDi if I did this? What other reason is there for replacing the wireless card?

Thanks -- this forum has a plethora of information, it's hard to sift through it to find specific answers even with search...

EDIT:

Question 5: is the sata controller 3Gbps or 6Gbps? I was thinking of the Crucial RealSSD for an SSD which can use 6Gbps...

 

A few pages ago I mentioned my stock Samsung RAM's memory timings. At 1.5 V standard, it could do 685 Mhz (at CL9), which is 1370 Mhz DDR, so it's even faster then the OCZ one! It's good to see Acer uses quality components for the most important parts.

 

1. 2,5"
2. No, you can use an image software. TrueImage, ghost or something else.
3. Yes
4.
5. 3Gbp/s

 

2 & 3: It's probably too much work to do that. Just do a clean install of W7 Home Premium on your new hard drive with a USB ( http://store.microsoft.com/help/iso-tool); the ISO is free: http://techpp.com/2009/11/11/download-windows-7-iso-official-direct-download-links/) and your OEM key at the bottom will work with it.

 

Thanks for the info. I don't have true image but am thinking of buying it.

 

Thank you.

I was asking these questions not to be nosy, but to determine if you had just come across another viable alternative for this forum's members to purchase the 3820TG.

 

..................

 

No double-click sounds when pressing the left side of the unibar for me. Sorry.

 

I haven't charged my battery yet. I'm running it off the A/C power adapter while I'm configuring things and backing things up.

Install BatteryBar (free program) on your laptop. It will tell you if you have any battery wear and can't charge to 100%.

Don't worry - this battery wear is an intentional design used to prolong the longevity of your battery. However, it does this at the expense of the maximum battery life on a full recharge.

If you're not talking about battery wear and about simply recharging to 100% capacity in general, I'm sure you can. It just takes a little longer to recharge from 95% to 100% for most batteries.

As for completely discharging the batteries, it depends on who you talk to. Some recommend it. Others don't. I'm in the camp that doesn't recommend it. I think modern batteries don't suffer from the "recharge memory limits" like older batteries did. In fact, I don't believe it's healthy to completely discharge a battery at all nowadays.

 

Why bother cloning a hard drive that comes preloaded with OEM crapware? The crapware needs to be exterminated, not cloned. Speed up your system and gain back hard disk space with a clean Windows install, you'll be glad you did.

 

2. I would definitely go the route of using Acronis to copy the image of the old HDD to the new SSD. He's going beyond a fresh reinstall of the Win7 OS. If you're swapping out drives, you might as well just copy the image to the new SSD. Of course, this assumes you were doing a fresh reinstall of the original HDD. If you aren't, then do so on the SSD.

4. I was not aware that the wireless card had WiDi. My card is an Atheros AR5893. It does not have WiDi. I'm going to swap it with an Intel 6300 (which also does not have WiDi). I'm doing this because I don't work in Linux (which the Atheros excels at) and because the 6300 has greater range.