Acer Travelmate P645

When I press the radio button, it toggles Airplane Mode, so the radios should turn off. It does stay lit regardless, which is annoying.

I think there's an Acer program that allows the P button to be configured, but only for opening apps. And for some reason, instead of a mute button, there is a button that toggles microphone input, but not the speakers. I wish that could be reconfigured as well.

On the plus side, another thing I've been pleasantly surprised by with the P645 is the quality of the speakers - the sound output has a very full quality to it when you play good audio sources.

 

What is the consensus on this laptop? It seems perfect for my purposes (very portable laptop for programming and other academic work lately) but I'm unsure about the keyboard. Most reviews don't like it at all. How have you all been able to adjust? Is the keyboard a dealbreaker?
My other option is to shell out 500-600 more on the t440s, which is heavier, doesn't have a dGPU, and doesn't seem as well-built--but has a fantastic keyboard by all accounts.
Any opinions are much appreciated!

For reference:
I am a fairly fast touch typist (120-140wpm on typeracer.com) and am currently using an external DAS keyboard but I also did just fine with a 2008 (pre-unibody) macbook pro and its less than reliable keyboard for many years. So I'm torn between thinking that I could adjust and deal with a weak keyboard, but I also know how much I enjoy using this DAS (of course, no laptop will come close to this experience, but I think the t440s [or perhaps the macbook pro] would be much closer to providing a satisfying typing experience).

 

Thanks for chiming in, Fred. Umm that's strange, for me nothing happens when I press or hold the radio button. No airplane mode unless I use the combination of Fn+F3 to toggle it.

Being able to reprogram the "P" button to starting a software would be good, do you remember what the name of the Acer program for that is?

I'm also wondering if anybody has tried to clear the partitions (except for the UEFI partition) and create just 1 or 2, after making a USB flashdrive backup of both the OS and the drivers. I want to free up the 28gb of recovery, and also remove the hidden "OEM" driver folder in root (which takes up 3.7gb). What I'm wondering is, if I recreate my own set of partitions (C and D drives, where D is where I store my files in case of future OS restore), will the USB recovery flashdrive created from Acer eRecovery still work, or does it need to have the partitions set as they are when shipped by Acer? Also, will it seek to restore the partitions the way they were originally, or will it just reinstall Windows on the C: partition and move on?

Any help on this is appreciated. Freeing up 32gb is not trivial on an SSD of only 240gb or so...

 

Well, I'm coming from a Lenovo T500 so I'm used to having a really good keyboard. The Acer keyboard is pretty mediocre (mostly because of the small travel of keys, and the lack of curvature on the keys), and does lead (for me) to mistypes on occasion, but as I get used to it again after using another machine, my typing rises quite quickly back to pretty close to normal.

I'm planning on getting a Bluetooth external keyboard for use at home (and also as a remote for when I connect the laptop to a TV) to limit the annoyance on that front. Aside from the keyboard though, this laptop has been amazing in every way. Gaming and image processing has been great with a dedicated card supporting OpenCL, and I'm looking forward to trying Mantel (though given the video card, I don't expect major gains there). Portability and build are both outstanding, and so is the screen brightness and battery life. Overall, I'm quite pleased and do not regret sending back the HP Spectre 13t-3000 which I ordered at the same time for comparison.

 

Thanks for the input! I think that might be a dealbreaker then, as I will be without the luxury of an external keyboard for most of the time (only when I'm in my room will I be able to connect). I think the t440s is going to be my next laptop, even though there are a lot of things I don't like about it.

I wish a windows laptop manufacturer would be able to put it all together like apple does. If it weren't for the less durable construction they use, I would have bought another macbook pro a long time ago (as someone who rides a bike fairly aggressively, I don't think the mbp would survive).

 

No problem. I would recommend you order the Travelmate P645 from a place that allows 30 day returns (like where I got mine, ProVantage) so that you can test out the keyboard and get a feel for the rest. There is no substitute to actually playing around with the laptop for a while.

The T440s was also on my list at first, but then it just didn't stack up well against the P645 from a size, weight, and overall specs point of view. Most importantly, configuring that system like the P645 brings its price to over $1,700, which is a lot to pay for what amounts to a proper Mil Spec certification and a better keyboard (but only 1 year of warranty, unlike Acer). I like Lenovo a lot and have been a client for nearly 10 years, but not enough for that price difference.

I looked closely at the X1 Carbon, but the new one is dumb expensive, and the old one gets mediocre battery life, so even though it's on sale, it wasn't going to cut it.

 

The program is Acer Launch Manager. After backing up the recovery partition to a USB flash drive, I deleted one of the small 100MB partitions (the emergency boot one for Windows 7) and formatted the recovery partition; it's now it's a separate D: drive. Couldn't merge it with the C: however. Hopefully the USB flash drive can do a complete restore if needed. I assume that if it were used, it would completely reformat the internal HD, so you would be back to the beginning, booting up in Win 7 and all. So if you ever do use it, make sure to backup everything.

Related to that topic, has anyone been able to get System Image working in Windows 8.1? There's a bug that prevents it from working, and I haven't been able to find a fix. Rather not have to get a 3rd party utility. I can live without having a second HD installed internally, but I'm nervous about not having a total system backup - it takes ages to set things up again. Thanks all!

 

I have asked Acer via telephone and mail about an extra HDD. I have got three different answers...
Most positive is that if I have cable 50.V8RN2.003 I could connect it to 'JHDD1". Then it should be possible to ad an extra 2.5" drive in the empty bay. I also got an mail that said: No, you can't have an extra drive.

The exact model I asked about was: P645-M-54204G12tkk (NX.V8RED.005). It has only 120GB i mSATA card.

So, if anybody has managed to connect 2.5" drive internal to P645 I would be happy to know how you did.

 

This is very interesting, I had read the tear-up post earlier in this thread but I haven't owned this laptop for long enough (nor do I have time in the coming months given work) to really look into this, but I plan to try at some point.

It feels weird that the laptop has this big, hallow-sounding empty space, plus it's a waste. I wouldn't mind putting something like a 480gb SATA 6gb drive in there to bring up the total to over 1/2 a tera.

What's funny is, the cable part # you mention seems to be a Europe-only model since all the sites that show up on Google are in Germany, Czech Republic, Romania, etc. I wonder what the US part # is. Might have to call Acer at some point to see what the US support says about this.

 

Thanks Fred, this is awesome. Now the lit-up Antenna button works (it shows Wifi/Bluetooth radios status) though it remains lit all the time as we had noted. It's also nice to have the P button do something.

For me, using EasyUS Partition Master, I see the following partitions:
1mb unallocated
400mb Recovery (NTFS)
300mb ESP (FAT32) [the UEFI partition]
128mb no name (Other)
209gb Acer (NTFS) [main partition]
28.47gb Push Button Reset (NTFS)
327kb unallocated

My plan was to wipe everything except for the UEFI and then recreate 2 partitions. Is that crazy?

Also, I assume that the recovery flashdrive will re-create this exact structure if the drive is configured in a different way. Has anybody tested this assumption?

 

Check out this youtube video. Acer TravelMate P645-V HDD, Memória, Sim - YouTube
It clearly shows a non SSD drive. This is probably the M version.
Ironically all over Europe I can only find the M version which is the non dedicated graphics version. I had to buy the Aspire 3820TG in Germany back in 2010, but even in Germany I can not find the MG version. These Acer marketing decisions are beyond me.

 

OK, so here is what I found as I completely recreated my system the way I prefer it by completely wiping the SSD. First, the recovery image created by Acer eRecovery contains everything, the drivers, the initial setup software (which ends up in the hidden OEM folder on C:\ drive), and so on. When doing a full restore, it allows for the creation of a second visible and usable partition in addition to the "traditional" C:\ drive and has a slider to select this drive's size. The recovery image re-creates the recovery partition as well as the UEFI partition.

Once the system was restored, I deleted the OEM folder (~3.6GB of data) since it's useless after things are installed, and then I removed all the partitions I had listed in my prior post aside from the UEFI partition, the 128mb no name (Other) which is required by Windows 7, and of course my newly minted C:\ and D:\ drives.

Also, for those making backup of recovery files from eRecovery, it seems basically useless to save the "Drivers image" that the software proposes, as 1) the drivers are all included in the recovery image, and 2) the drivers are updated and can be fetched from the Acer website.

 

Good News Everyone. I have successfully added a second HDD/SDD to my p645. This is the exact cable I used. I tried it with both a 500GB HDD and a 128GB SSD. I suspect many other Acer HDD cables would work as well. The important thing to note is the connector style.

 

Anybody have an opinion on whether the P645 or the Acer V7-482PG is better? I'm deciding between the two. If this laptop can really add a second HDD then I might be sold on the P645.

 

Comparing the official Acer specs, the V7 has the following advantages:

- Cheaper: $900 vs. $1300
- IPS multitouch screen
- Better graphics: GT750M 4GB vs. Radeon 8750M 2GB
- Larger multitouch trackpad (no buttons)

The P645 advantages:

- i7 4500U vs. i5 4200U, unlikely to actually make much difference
- comes with SSD, but only half the V7's capacity. Presumably V7's SATA HD can be switched out for an SSD, but maybe no 2nd HD bay?
- Windows 7 Pro if you want it
- 3 USB 3.0 ports versus 1
- over 1lb lighter
- higher battery capacity and longer claimed battery life: 4850mAh vs. 3560 (although V7 has 4 cells vs. 3), and 8hr vs 6hr. I can get around 6 hrs on P645 light usage, more than that probably not

The V7 is better in that it's cheaper and has a higher quality multitouch screen, with better graphics. Using the trackpad to navigate in Metro is cumbersome, so if you like the new touch interface definitely get the V7 or another UltraBook with a touch screen.

Conversely, I think the P645 might be a better traditional laptop (i.e. you prefer Windows 7 or mainly use Windows 8 in desktop mode), minus the cost/screen disadvantages. bryf50 said he was able to install a 2nd HD in the P645, so I'm sure it can be done.

I'd say keep looking for posts from people who have actual experience with the V7, that will help most. Good luck with your decision!

----

EDIT: I see there's a big thread about the V7-482PG-9884, which is more expensive but has the same i7 CPU. It all depends on what you're looking for, but they're all good choices, so you can't go wrong either way.

 

Thanks for the comparison Pitt Fred! I am probably leaning towards the P645. I am a little surprised you're getting 6hr battery life because all the reviews that I've read have reported at least 8 hour battery life in their normal usage battery tests.

I am looking at the i5 version of the P645 which is $1200. I am hoping that the longer battery life, better build quality (carbon fiber vs. plastic), USB 3.0s, and lighter weight will be worth the extra $300 compared to the i5 V7. I don't believe I'll play games that will need the NVIDIA 750m and I'm fine without a touchscreen.

I was wondering where you bought the P645? Did you get it off the Acer website and had it ship to Walmart or Office Depot?

 

I bought mine online from theNerds.net, no tax but shipping, the total cost was around $1275. Unfortunately lots of laptops and Ultrabooks aren't sold in stores, so there's no way to try before buying - look for YouTube video reviews! I'm generally very satisfied, my only concern was that when I got the P645, the screen wasn't eye-popping take your breath away. It's matte, so it won't pop like a glossy screen. Aside from not being touch, there are better screens out there, but it's still very good.

As for battery life, it depends on your usage patterns and software. I've certainly been able to run light/normal usage up to and somewhat beyond 6 hours (med/low brightness, web browsing on WiFi and basic productivity). If you tried to squeeze every bit of juice, you could probably get up to 7-8 hrs, but usable life matters more, and I always take 25-33% off of claimed life for usable figures. Still, it's a huge improvement from the typical 2-3 hrs usable life PC laptops usually gave you until Haswell.

In my case, I was specifically looking for a Haswell laptop with an i7 CPU and discrete graphics; I also wanted a touchscreen, so that was the major compromise I made with the P645. If you don't play games a lot, and are willing not to get discrete graphics, there are lots of Ultrabooks that are very light, have long battery life, and high quality touch screens. Unfortunately, many also tend to be more expensive (IMO the whole idea behind Ultrabooks is to let PC makers try and get higher Apple-like prices for PC hardware, lol).

Some other UltraBooks you might look into are the ASUS UX302LG (Canada only, but some have managed to import it) and the Acer Aspire S3-392G. Both have touchscreens, discrete graphics, weigh less than 4 lb and relatively low prices. In researching my purchase, I relied a lot on ultrabookreview.com and laptopmag.com.

Good luck!

 

Picked up a P645 with the i7-4600. Using Win7 Pro.

I'm having issued with waking the laptop from sleep mode and the wired NIC not connecting. I can resolve the issue by rebooting or by going into Device Manager, disabling the NIC and then enabling it. Am going to pin Device Manager to my Start Menu.

The one point I'm not happy about is that in the BIOS or via Power options, there is no Wake on USB option or Wake on Keyboard option. I'm using the laptop with the lid closed and attached to an external 22" monitor (cause 1920x1080 in standard size font is near unreadable). To wake the laptop from Sleep mode I have to open the lid a fraction. I'd prefer to simply tap a key on the external keyboard I have attached to it. I'm hoping that the ACER Prodock will offer this functionality.

Another small complaint is that the RJ45 port is a bugger to disconnect from. I just don't see it lasting 4 years until my next laptop upgrade.

.

 

I use Windows 8.1, and I have been able to replicate not being able to wake a sleeping P645 with a USB keyboard EDIT: or mouse with the lid closed. However, pressing the keyboard or clicking the mouse buttons did wake it when the screen is not closed. It may be an issue with USB 3.0 drivers; this probably won't help, but check to make sure you have the latest Windows 7 drivers from the Acer website. Sleep works fine for me, generally if a PC has trouble with sleep it's due to a hardware driver or some software. Any unusual software utilities or programs?

You're right there's no Wake on USB setting in the BIOS. If none of these things work, perhaps go to the Acer support forum and post a question there - I did get responses in the past asking about adding a 2nd HD (not as helpful as here though!)

Regarding the Ethernet cable, one thing I've noticed is that the connection can be lost because the cable is sagging. If you're losing network connection, try pushing the cable in a little. Also, prop up the Ethernet cable with something underneath it so the cable is parallel to the desk. As for removing the cable, the easiest way to remove it is to have the edge of the machine hanging over the side of the desk, so you can reach under the cable and press the connector to pull it out.

Finally, FullHD is too small to read on the screen, I've found setting scaling to 125% makes things legible, although some software will not properly scale up. Don't know how this works in Windows 7, but Windows 8.1 scaling works well at 125%.

Hope that helps!

----

EDIT #2: If this works for you, perhaps you can re-arrange your desktop so you can use the machine plugged into a monitor while open. I will say that because it gets really hot when the Radeon GPU is in use, I would not play graphics-heavy games with the lid closed!

 

Is it really that difficult to plug in and plug out an ethernet cable with this laptop? I was just about to buy this laptop but I do need to use an ethernet cable sometimes because my router sucks.

I am also hoping this laptop will last me 4+ years. Anyone who owns this laptop think this will last a long while? I was looking up a lot of videos and reviews about this laptop and apparently this laptop is supposed to be very durable.

 

Well guys, someone did a good job on 2.5 inch drive upgrade.
But WWAN (LTE/3G) is also important option.
I have saw free M.2 slot for WWAN card on the system board as well as SIM reader.
So upgrade looks to be deadly simple.
Owners, who want to try?

 

I've plugged and unplugged into hundreds of NIC's with one to two dozen different brands of ethernet cables and mod plugs. This one is a pain in the ***. I knew the spring loaded bottom piece would be interesting but not this troublesome. You definitely need to hang the side of the laptop over the edge of a desk so you can get your hand and fingers into the right position to "work" the mod plug out. There's probably a trick to it that'll I'll discover in 3 or 4 business trips from now.

I'm quite impressed by the lack of flex in the keyboard both under the keys and in the space on either side of the track pad. Stiffer than anything I played with in the stores and that included quite a number of comparable 13.3" and 14" ultrabooks from Sony, Asus, HP, Lenovo, Toshiba, etc.. Never got a chance to try the new Dell XPS13 or Lenovo T440S or X240.

.

 

I've just received my P645, top spec model. Running Windows 7 SP1, which is what I wanted. I've been installing software, updating, adding files from old computers, etc. most of the day. At one point I closed the computer (put it into sleep mode, this was the first time I'd done it all day), and when I opened up, it booted into the "windows didn't shut down properly" safe mode? etc. prompt. This happens also if I hit start, sleep, or if I use the Fn sleep button. It attempts to sleep but instead restarts in an error mode. I tried reverting back to original state to see if it was one of my updates, but it happened then as well. I've since gone through updating the display driver to the latest AMD 14.4, and it installed successfully, but still no sleep. I can get it to hibernate and wake from hibernation, but any of the sleep mode access cause a restart. I've tried multiple things including using dumppo to change the sleep state from S1 to S3, but still no luck. Anyone else who got one of these have a similar problem? Driving me CRAZY.

 

Just ordered this through the Best Buy marketplace, and should receive it by the end of the second week in May. This forum is probably the best resource for me, and I especially appreciate the input of others here.

This was a little pointer from a PC Mag review that I thought I would throw into the collective mix of ideas here:

Another issue...

@nftypjs - Frankly, I have never had much luck with Windows sleep mode. It presented issues similar to yours with my Dell Latitude, T40p Thinkpad, and my VAIO EB-390x. I don't expect it to be any better with the new Travelmate. I suspect this is more an implementation issue with Windows, possibly the way it plays (or doesn't play) with the various graphics drivers. I ultimately reprogrammed my last laptop NOT to go into sleep or hibernation upon closing the lid.

Can't wait to change my avatar. The VAIO was disappointing on many levels - hoping for better with the Acer P645.

 

@kidziti - I'm starting to comprehend the level sleep problems that are out there on the net with various models of laptop. The disturbing thing is I've been using various windows laptops for many many years now, and have yet to actually experience one instance of this myself. This is the very first time. I was trying to ping a few of the users on this forum who have actually ordered this model to see if they were experiencing anything similar and whether or not it would be worth it for me to put an order in for one. I use sleep all the time with my other laptops with zero problems ever. As a business work computer the idea of having to save and shut down my computer for moving between rooms, etc. is a bit disheartening. Especially when I have 6 programs up and running in various states of work readiness. Getting back to that state of preparedness is a pain in the without being able to just close the lid. I've spoken with Acer support and they "have never experienced the issue before." They said I would need to send it in for repair and they'd likely put a new motherboard in and see if that fixed the issue. Likely I'll send it back to Provantage and buy a new one from them (since it just got $60 cheaper!) and see if the issue persists. Maybe will have to spend the extra dough on the new Samsung NP930X5J if this doesn't solve the issue for me.

@Newsy59, @MrPlus, @bryf50 - any instance of this in your notebooks?

 

When I first got my P645, I changed my OS to 8, then to 8.1. I then installed the latest drivers from AMD. Result: completely botched sleep and hibernation. Once I uninstalled, sleep worked fine.

I do agree with the idea that sleep on Windows is always a landmine - recently it works 99.9% of the time, but there's always that 0.1% chance it will get screwed up. Software can be an issue, but it's more likely drivers.

If you haven't done it already, I would consider using system recovery and starting over from scratch. If it's a driver problem, that's the best way to fix it, even though it's a real pain and time waste. Be very careful installing new drivers - "if it aint' broke, don't fix it" is the way to go, especially with late-model Windows like 7 or 8.

Good luck!

 

@ nftypjs - I think the big difference is that this is a definite usability issue for you, where for me it was merely a nice but unnecessary convenience - so at first fail, I just stopped pursuing it. I am awaiting delivery (today!) of my P645 and will try it to see if mine has any issues.

@ everyone - I am starting to keep a log of useful information (in the military, we called this the "gouge"), perhaps ultimately for a sticky which I can maintain. Reading through these messages, this is what I have so far but please do not follow any procedures until I have verified these are correct:



....................................... Acer Travelmate P645 Gouge

Touchpad Issue

The touchpad supports Windows 8 swipe-in gestures as well as multi-finger gestures (two-finger scrolling, three-finger flicks, and two-finger taps for bringing up the right-click menu). A quirk is that reverse two-finger scrolling is enabled by default and the Synaptics driver greys out the option for changing this.

The way around this is to disable the ZoomPerfect feature in the driver, which then enables the reverse scrolling option and allows you untick it.

Paraphrased from PC World Review


Adding an Additional Hard Drive

A 2.5" hard drive (either ssd or conventional) can be added an empty bay in the laptop with this part:

Acer Aspire M5-581T HDD Hard Drive CONNECTOR w/ Cable DC020019W00 or Acer cable.hdd 50.V8RN2.003

Thanks to bryf50 for actually testing the first item and to Johmor for suggesting the second (yet untested)


Configuration

Acer Launch Manager is the program which will reprogram the P button.

Thanks to PittFred


Repartitioning

To repartition into just C: and D: drives and reclaim some digital real estate, follow this process:

1) EasyUS Partition Master can be used to show the partitions, which are in the original configuration:

1 Mb unallocated
400 Mb Recovery (NTFS)
300 Mb ESP (FAT32) [the UEFI partition]
128 Mb no name (Other)
209 Gb Acer (NTFS) [main partition]
28.47 Gb Push Button Reset (NTFS)
327 Kb unallocated

2) Create recovery image with Acer eRecovery which restores everything to original

3) Delete all parttions except the 300 Mb UEFI and the 128 Mb unnamed partitions

4) Delete the hidden OEM folder in the C: drive

Thanks to MrPlus


Good Questions that Remain

MrPlus: I'm curious to see if dual channel ram is really properly implemented in an asymmetrical setup, and/or whether there is a speed penalty due to difference in timing or dual channel implementation.

 

@ nftypjs - No issues with sleep mode. No driver changes done yet but all the Windows 7 updates were applied. AMD Radeon driver 12.100.14.300.

 

Just so you guys know, I had done a full system restore and the issue persisted. I ordered a brand new one from Provantage ($50 cheaper than the week before, so I paid for overnight hehe), and it has none of the same issues. So it could be as the Acer guy said and likely needed a new motherboard or part. This one seems to be working perfectly. The other will go back to Provantage for a refund under their 30 day guarantee (good peeps there). I also have a 1TB Samsung Evo drive and the same connector that bryf50 said to use. Installing it at the moment and will post back after (hopeful) success. 1.2 TB SSD coming fast! Next step is to upgrade RAM, but I'm pretty happy so far with the 8GB, so maybe not.

 

1TB Evo installed! I used some folded up postit notes to "secure" the drive into place, and an additional one folded on top to keep it from moving around under the little lid.

Here's AS-SSD's benchmark for the Toshiba mSATA:

Here's benchmark for the Evo:

Anyone know a good program that would let me check power state and wattage usage to see how much battery time I might lose using this samsung as a secondary. I won't have any programs installed on it, just files to access, so I'm hoping that it will sit most of the time in its low power standby mode. Cheers!

 

Is cooling an issue with the added drive? Does it make sense to characterize the average temperatures before installation and again after install?

 

Good question. I haven't had enough experience with the computer on a long time to really notice. Also I haven't setup any temp check programs just yet, but will get on it when I can. As the evo is also SSD, though, cooling is significantly less of an issue than it would be for a HDD, so I'm less worried about it. Again, I'm hoping to use it primarily in it's standby state, keeping the active OS and operations on the mSATA drive, and files on the larger drive. Will see how that actually works out in the end and I'll post back about temp once I get all my software setup the way I like, and all my backups are finished.

 

Anyone have any issues with HDMI out?

 

Did you use the connector that bryf50 used to connect the EVO 1TB?

 

Newsy, an update: there is a new BIOS for the P645, Version 2.08 - the one that came with the machine was 2.03, and this is the second update. The new feature is: "Change Docking's power button behavior-> System can boot up with lid closed under AC mode" Sounded promising, so I had my machine connected to an external monitor (VGA), keyboard and mouse. Put it to sleep, and when I pressed a key or moved the mouse, the machine woke up!

Be advised: if you open the lid, the monitor switches to the laptop screen; press Fn-F5 and choose second display to switch back to external monitor. But I think this is the fix you're looking for!

---

Edit: here's the link to the Acer download page: Version 2.08 BIOS

 

I just spent some time trying to find more information on the BIOS update procedure for this device. There are several references on the ACER site to Winphlash but that utility is not to be found on the P645.

I expect it is like other PC's that use an external app and a USB stick to perform the update but there is nothing to be found in the user manual either.

 

Just got the laptop and I'm loving everything about it except one thing. Does anyone have problems switching to the dedicated graphics card? I try running a game and it says it is only running the integrated graphics card. I set the game on high performance and it should switch to the dedicated graphics card but it doesn't. Does anyone else have this problem or know a way to fix this?

 

The BIOS is self-executing, all you should need to do is download, UnZip and run, it does the rest.

Oinkers there's an AMD utility [EDIT: AMD Catalyst Control Center] which can assign integrated or discrete graphics to a particular program. Run it and check to see your games are set to use AMD Radeon.

 

RE: Oinkers



I did use the one he mentioned. It's on ebay for about $6. Just search for the same model number. Worked like a charm. You have to remove the whole bottom to install the jumper cable but that's super easy.

 

No need for a USB stick ???

 

Sorry, this is my first laptop with discrete graphics. What happened was that my games were saying it only sees the integrated graphics, but then I downloaded AMD system monitor and it showed that the discrete graphics were being used whenever I played my games. So I guess it's working the way it's supposed to all along!

@nftyjps: That's awesome! Now I love this laptop even more!

 

How to install the latest AMD drivers without the sleep bug Windows 8.1

If any of you have tried, if you install the non-OEM AMD drivers the laptop becomes unable to enter sleep reliably. Recently AMD released the 14.6 which include Mantle support for mobile GPUs like ours. If your looking to play a little Battlefield 4 on this laptop Mantle helps performance greatly. Luckily a kind person on the Guru3d forum modifies drivers to work better with switchable graphics like ours. Link Here. Here is a more detailed guide to use these drivers with our laptop.

I've only tested this on Windows 8.1. It won't work with Windows 8 and I'm not sure about Windows 7.
As always follow this guide at your own risk.

Things you'll need.
1) 14.6 SG fix Drivers or Alternative Link Password to extract is: mahmoudelfar
2) Latest Acer Provided Intel drivers
3) DDU

1) Create a Restore Point. As always messing with drivers can cause issues. To do this easily search in the start menu for "restore point" . Once on the screen hit create, enter a name, and hit create.

3) Run DDU from the link above. It should prompt you to reboot to Safe Mode. Select Yes (It will issue a warning but I had no problem on my system. To enter Safe Mode Manually look here.). Once in Safe Mode run it again. Select AMD as the graphics driver then hit Clean and Restart.

3) Uninstall Intel Graphics Drivers from Add or Remove programs even if you have the same version currently installed. Restart.

4) Install the Intel Graphics Drivers from the link above. Restart.

5) Disable Driver Signature Enforcement. Follow this guide to enter Advanced Startup. Select the option to disable Driver Signature Enforcement.

6) Install the AMD drivers from above. Use custom install if you want to avoid installing the bundled AMD Evolved App. Otherwise install everything. Restart.

Test entering and resuming from sleep by closing the lid or selecting it from the shut down menu. You'll know your in sleep by the blinking orange LED on the front. Let me know how it goes.

 

Has anyone tried to install the Acer Office Manager Client on a non-Acer PC? Is it possible?

 

I did an clean Installation of Windows 8.1 x64 - now i want to install the latest AMD and Intel VGA Drivers.
Did anyone know which actual Intel and Amd drivers work well with the P645?
I have tested a bunch of drivers (leashcat, moded AMD drivers from guru3d) but non of them work perfekt (BSOD on reboot, the Notebook did not shutdown,..)

Edit:
I just managed it

First i installed the official Intel Iris HD Drivers v15.33.22.64.3621 and then the official AMD/ATI 14.6 beta v1.0 may23

 

Hi everybody.

What is maximum height of HDD that could be added to the laptop? Is it 7mm, or could it be more?

 

Hi All,

I need install new OS on this laptop.
But i don't know how boot from USB.

 

Hey all- got my P645 as a replacement to my much used 4830TG about a week ago. This was a very good choice and I recommend it to anyone. I opened up the HDD bay after reading on here that there was space for a 2.5'' HDD or SSD and indeed there was space. However, there was no connector and no obvious ways that I see of installing one of the connectors mentioned by people who have gotten another drive to work. Maybe those who have done this modification could chime in a bit?

Thanks.

 

@htvicky
If you haven't found the solution alraedy- press F12 while booting up to see boot options and then choose USB.

Good luck!

 

@Ipbug check earlier posts, you need a DC020019W00 or similar cable. Six bucks on eBay.

What I am wondering about is -- if you were to disable the Radeon card, would the external video ports on the dock work? It seems that only the TMP645-MG (NX.V93AA) models have full HD but those also come with Radeon which, running Linux, would be better if it weren't there at all :/

 

Thanks, I put in an order for the connector yesterday and will likely put in an SSD to the empty bay. Has anyone tried dual booting Ubuntu and Windows 7 on this line of laptops?