I'm Worse Than A Newbie, I'm An Embryobie!

Hi Y'all!

My 4810TZ-4183 Olympic Edition (is that dorky or what?!) is on its way to me as we speak (laid over in Houston due to bad weather but anyways, i have a gabillion questions after reading almost EVERY post on here, but i'll start simple

I briefly read a post on here (but for the life of me could never find it to go back and "reread it") that you can remove a lot of the programs you don't want and THEN make your recovery discs. Couple of questions regarding that:

1. Can you make more than one set? Like even if the system prohibits you & says "These can only be made ONCE", can you make a "backup of your backup" on another computer?

2. And if you reinstall back to factory condition using Acer Recovery, couldn't u then make another set, as it wouldn't know you've already made one, would it?

3. Can you make a backup to a "external hard drive" connected by USB rather than using a DVD? Will it let you?

4. Does anyone know the difference between model 4810T and 4810TZ?

Ok that's it for now. Hope to have it be delivered this morning. You don't understand, in the past month i've owned the HP dm3z, dell 1440 and the Sony Vaio NW240, and found assorted problems with all 3. I am crossing my fingers on this one, i've always LOVED Acer but there laptops are always so ugly! Then i saw this on Amazon, keep your fingers crossed for me!

Signed,

Goldilocks & The Three Laptops lol

P.S. Sorry if i am posting in the wrong area but i couldn't find the "Post New Thread" Button, i saw it before, but then it went away and only "Post Reply" could be found- (i know, i know, i am too feeble to live, hence my name! Just pat my head and move on lol)

 

First off, welcome to the forums! I hope we can be of help.

I haven't heard of eRecovery preventing you from making more than one copy of the recovery DVDs. Heck, that'd be counterintuitive anyway - what if you lost your one set of DVDs?

How eRecovery works is that it reads from a hidden section of your hard drive that contains a snapshot of how your system was when it left the factory, and burns that to DVD. As long as you leave eRecovery and (as far as I know) the other Acer Empowering Framework tools on the system, you should be able to burn your recovery DVDs.

Now, you won't be able to use eRecovery to burn the recovery information to an external hard drive, but you should use Windows Backup to back up your files and a system image to the external drive once you start using your machine. There are guides online that describe the new Windows Backup utility in Windows 7, it's really handy. And since the Acer discs will only take you back to factory default, you can use Windows Backup to create DVDs of a clean or customized machine.

As for your other question, I looked up the specs on Support.Acer.com. The 4810TZ uses an Intel Pentium SU2700 single-core CPU, while the 4810T uses Intel Core 2 Solo single-core or Core 2 Duo dual-core CPUs. If you're just doing basic tasks on the machine, you should be fine.

 

Hi Teh!

t/y for writing me back and addressing all of my questions. My Acer Timeline AS4810T (even tho it was listed as the TZ model) arrived yesterday and i truly am not disappointed. Admittedly after using that 2.2 GHZ Sony laptop for those few days i had before returning it, i DO notice the speed difference right off the bat, but there are so many other "positives" u will not hear me complaining OR sending it back.

When i looked in the Device Manager it does show Two (2) Genuine Intel
U4100 @ 1.3 Ghz each, so i am assuming this is better than the TZ model which you mentioned only has 1?

Here is the main question i have after reading almost every post on here that mentions "messing with the bios, downloading updated drivers, doing clean installs (not sure how to do that), flashing, tweaking etc.) Is it necessary to try and understand all these things, won't my laptop know what to do on its own?

Are most of these posts just for people who want to improve performance? And if i DID want to try to improve my "multitasking capabilities", are there any "basic, simple things i can do?" My laptop already came preinstalled with 4GB of RAM, & from everything i have read it seems like more RAM would be useless, yes? (Keeping in mind i am a Dodge Truck Owner, and the idea of "no more RAM" is a phrase we Dodge fanatics can not even bring ourselves to consider! lol j/k)


thank you!

Dumm

 

Yup - I guess Acer's specs are a little out of date. What you have is an Intel Pentium Dual-Core CPU; perfect for some multi-tasking and lean on power usage. Pentiums use the same base as Core 2s, they're just an itty-bit slower.

Messing with the BIOS - Bad idea unless you know exactly what you're doing. If anything goes wrong, you have a new Olympic Edition paperweight.
Updated drivers - Only if something's not working. Don't bother fixing what ain't broken.
Clean install - That basically means doing a new installation of Windows 7, wiping out the cruft that can gradually slow down your system. I do one about once a year. This would be done with a retail Windows 7 DVD instead of the Acer-provided one, so that not even Acer's pre-loaded stuff is installed (hence, clean!). Don't worry about it until you're more comfortable with your system.
Flashing - Same as BIOS upgrades.
Tweaking - Again, don't bother until you know what you're doing and something isn't going right.

Basic things...well, the CPU's soldered to the mainboard, so we can't change that. 4GB of RAM is more than enough for basic usage (Windows looooooves RAM). One thing you might want to consider at a later time is upgrading the internal hard drive. The more data is crammed onto it, the faster it'll work. The faster the drive spins (7200 rpm vs 5400), the quicker your machine can access data.
Or if you've got money to burn and a desire to be on the cutting edge, you could go for a solid state drive (SSD). It's basically a bigger and much faster flash drive in your machine. Lower power usage, no moving parts, and ridiculous performance with a price tag to match.

 

uh oh! i dint know u could change out ANY of the parts. i now WANT a 7200 instead of the 5400 - (why'd u have to tell me that- lol) Whats all involved, i am assuming i can't install a new SSD drive myself, can a geek guy do it? and any idea what kind of cost for the drive and his time we are talking? Lastly, from what i gleamed from what u wrote, 2 chips are NOT as good as a 1 that is a Core Duo?

(honestly, 10 years on computers, u'd of thought i'd know wayyyyyy more than i do - soz for all the "lack of knowledge" i have, but on the upside, i (if u can believe it) i am the "go-to" person in my office when it comes to ANY questions in Excel, or MS Word, or any regular Windows q's

thanks!

Dumm

 

Upgrading the hard drive involves opening up your system - check with Acer in your neck of the woods to make sure doing so won't nuke your warranty. I know here in Canada that you can upgrade the RAM however you wish, but for other parts you need to keep the originals and put it back in the system if you need service. Hence, I keep the Core 2 Duo T5550 that my machine came with just in case it needs a warranty repair.
AFAIK, you would:

• burn your recovery DVDs, and back up ALL your programs and content to your external drive
• shut down the system
• remove the AC adapter and battery
• open the bottom up
• gingerly tug out the existing hard drive
• put the new drive into the caddy
• reverse the process
• use the recovery DVDs to re-install Windows 7 on the new hard drive
• once booted, restore all your content from the external drive

SSDs are the same form factor as hard drives, and can replace them in more or less the same manner. If you aren't comfortable with the process I listed above, go right ahead and find a geek to make it happen. We're happy to help.

As for price, you should be able to get 7200rpm hard drives between 250-500GB for around $100-150. As far as I know, the best 320GB is the Western Digital Scorpio Black, while the best 500GB is a Hitachi. SSDs are far more expensive - expect at least $200 for a good 60GB, or $260 for the best of the best, the Intel X25-M 80GB.

And it seems like I've confused you a bit in regards to the CPU. The modern CPUs are a single chip, but with two cores in that chip of silicon. Your system will see them as two separate CPUs, but that's just Windows being Windows.

The Pentium Dual-Core SU4100 in your Aspire Timeline uses the same core as the regular Core 2 Duos, but with 1MB less cache memory on the chip. This might make all of 0-3% difference in speed; nothing like a Pentium Dual-Core being slower than a Core 2 Solo single-core CPU. In particular, it's comparable to a Core 2 Duo SU7300; both have two cores running at 1.3 GHz and should perform more or less identically.
You might be thinking of the Intel Atom single-core that are in all these netbooks and such - those are weak sauce.

 

thank u soooo much for breaking it all down for me. Really appreciate it. BUT, if u can believe it, despite the detail to which u explained, here's what i didn't comprehend: (and i read it three times!) u mention getting a 250 to 320 - 500 Hibatchi (thought those were barbecues, but anyway- lol kidding) "Hitachi was BEST" and but then mentioned a 60 GB or 80 GB X-25-M, so would i be replacing TWO items? 60 -80 seems low with all the high GB Drives i'm seeing everywhere- (i told you i was an embryobie!)

And yes, i HAD a netbook Atom Acer when they FIRST came out, and u talk about slow. Here it is 2 yrs later and the sign on screen STILL hasn't appeared... lol

Thanks again!

Dumm

 

The drive upgrade options are alternatives. One alternative is to pick the "best" (fastest/most commodious) SATA notebook drive with heads and disks inside like the old days (like the Hitachi drives mentioned). The other alternative (#2) is to spend more money and get a Solid State Drive which theoretically, at least, will result in less power usage, faster boot, and faster access and transfer speeds. Alternative 2 will also significantly lighten your pocketbook/purse as the case may be. SSD devices are considerably more expensive per gig of storage than the more conventional disk drives and currently are available in fairly small sizes only in 2 1/2" form factor. I'd say $500+ for 160 gb SSD just for sizing the damage.

Only one alternative will fit. You'd have to remove your existing drive and replace with one (and only one) of the alternatives.

Cheers.

 

Probably right you know. Where I live they sell Hitachi excavators and earth moving equipment.

 

thanx y'all i think i'll just live with it the way it is!

Next question: How can i tell if my system takes 8GB of ram or just the 4 it came with? (Not that i ever could foresee adding more but i'm just curious which unit i actually received. Also, system is running GREAT but i was nosying around in the Event View and saw i have over 90 "boot" errors. I took a print screen but can't figure out how to post it here. Any info?

t/y!

DimmDumm

 

Support.Acer.com has the specs you need.
8GB is indeed your limit, since your machine is coming with Windows 7 64-bit.
Upload your print screen to something like Imageshack or Photobucket, and post a link here.

 

great idea- ty! here it is:

http://s809.photobucket.com/albums/...=view&current=EventViewer.jpg&t=1263342685229

also i am enclosing another link to another print screen i took-

http://s809.photobucket.com/albums/zz18/BOSSY-TX-CHICK/?action=view&current=DSCI0036.jpg


last week i was renaming a file with windows 7, and the next thing i knew ALL my icons turned to paint icons- i had to do a System Restore to get them back- anyone know an easier way in case i do it again, cuz i have no idea HOW it happened-

thank you!

 

Unfortunately, I'm stumped on both accounts.
Maybe you should ask that question on the Windows forum here on NBR - they know their stuff better than we do.

 

Ok i shall! t/y Teh!