My Acer 3820T Review

Hi everyone,

Just received my 3820T yesterday after ordering it over the weekend. Here are my thoughts on it so far:


System Specs
Acer 3820T-5851
13.3-inch display (1366×768 pixels)
Core i3-350M processor
Intel HD Graphics
4GB of DDR3 RAM
320GB of hard drive
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
8 Hours Battery Life
$650 Canadian ($737 after taxes)

Edit (Aug 16): If you live in Canada, Staples is selling the 3820TG for $699. So, for $50 extra, you get an improved Core i5 processor and ATI5470 switchable graphics card. I would recommend picking up that model instead of the 3820T.


Background info on user
I currently own a Dell XPS M1730 DTR (10 pound behemoth with 9800M GT SLI) and an Acer Aspire One (8.9 inch) and wanted something in between. Like everyone else, I wanted to buy the 3820TG for myself for portability+gaming. However, my GF needed a laptop too and didn't need a 3D gaming graphics card. Obviously the new Intel HD graphics aren't suitable for intensive 3D gaming, but the 3820T is a very good laptop for portability+multimedia: great battery life, very speedy at everyday tasks and able to handle 1080p videos effortlessly (more on that later).

Availability
In Canada it is available from a few retailers for around $650. In the USA it is available from Amazon.com for $700 USD.

Looks
After unpacking it for the first time, you would undoubtedly notice the brushed black metal lid, though I wished the Acer logo were prettier (it does have a rainbow shimmer though). The palm rest area is a faux brushed-plastic of a very attractive metallic-grey colour. The touchpad is large and indented, surrounded by a reflective outline. The power button is a round button with concentric grooves and a blue LED light - very nice.

CPU/GPU Performance
The Core-i3-350M performs beyond my expectations. At 2.26Ghz and boasting new technologies, it performs much better than the Core 2 Duos in most laptops today. In everyday tasks, it performs speedier than my XPS M1730, especially at opening applications (it loads up Photoshop CS4 in about 2 seconds). It also consumes much less power. I suspect its performance/power consumption ratio is also better than that of the older ULV processors. It idles at around 50 Celsius.

The Intel HD graphics is a major step over the old GMA X4500. It plays 1080p videos very well without any lag or stutter (see pictures). CPU usage is about 15% at those times.

For a gaming test, I fired up an older game, Age of Empires 3. I was able to play smoothly at native resolution with everything on high except shader/shadow which I had to turn down to medium. Surprisingly it loaded up a map a full 5 seconds faster than my XPS. The CPU/GPU goes to a maximum of 76 Celsius after a long period of playing.

Display
The display is very bright and you can turn them down in 10% increments. It is a glossy display but probably the most non-reflective glossy that I've seen. Initially, the colours disappointed me but I tweaked around with the Intel HD graphics panel and now they look very good. The settings I recommend are at the bottom of the page. Vertical viewing angles aren't that great.

Speakers
The speakers are very good. Acer has a nasty habit of putting them on the underside of their smaller laptops but they got things right this time and stuck it above the keyboard. They look nice and say Dolby Home Theater - Virtual Surround Sound on them. They speakers can be turned up very loud without the annoying breaking in sound you get with some smaller speakers. The included audio enhancements (Dolby+Surround Sound) are really nice, and turning them off is not recommended.

Keyboard & Touchpad
The keys are individually raised and set apart from each other... love it or hate it. I'd imagine it would be hard to get particles that have fallen underneath it. I have had no problems with it... the only complaint is that the space bar makes a loud clacking sound.

The touchpad is okay but not great... it doesn't glide enough for my tastes and requires a very light touch. However, if you haven't owned an Acer before, you would appreciate the myriad of multi-touch gestures that it supports... makes surfing the web a lot easier.

Portability
At less than 4 pounds, it can be carried around easily without back strain. The laptop is also thinner than I had imagined just by looking at the pictures.

Battery Life
I haven't fully tested the battery life yet, but Windows tells me I have anywhere from 6-9 hours left when I unplug it. I expect it can last 7 hours with display dimmed and surfing the internet.

Pictures





Compared to the XPS M1730 (not a fair comparison, I know)


The speakers


Recommended colour settings

Spoiler

Video playback


WEI Score


3dmark 06 score. Average score for Intel HD is 1626, average score for GMA 4500MHD is 743 (source: notebookcheck.net).

Conclusions
If you want a very speedy laptop for everyday use, playing 1080p videos, portability, and you are a non-gamer or enjoy playing older games, this laptop is for you. I would recommend it over another laptop I was looking at buying: the ASUS UL30VT ($830). I would also recommend it over the 3820TG with the 5470 GPU ($800)... either wait for the 5650 ($900?) for an infinitely better gaming experience over the 5470 or forget about gaming and get the 3820T and save $250.
Edit: Again, if you can pick up the 5470 for $699 you should probably do it.

Questions/comments welcome!

 

Great review. Does the left side of the laptop heat up while watching a HD movie or playing a game? There is a person with the 3820TG who is experiencing warm temperatures on the left side below the tab and caps lock keys (where the left vent is located). On my 4820TG, my left palm rest heats up during games.

 

After 1 hour of gaming, CPU/GPU temp reached a max of 76C (using RealTemp) and the palm rest was slightly warm, not really noticeable until you mentioned it.

 

can u get some benchmarks on some games like l4d, tf2, and 3dmark06

 

You really shouldn't be buying this laptop if you wanted to play any of those games. I ran 3dmark06 and got 1725.

 

Nice job on the review. Your XPS 1730 looks like a monster compared to the 3820T. Since you allegedly bought it for your girlfriend, are you going to actually let her use it?

The GPU scores are impressive for intel.

Congratulations. Welcome to the club.

Bronsky

 

Thanks Bronsky, yes the laptop is exclusively for the GF. I'm probably going to get either a 3820TG or Vaio Z for myself. Honestly, I'm starting to feel I want something a bit bigger than a 13.3-inch, so I might get a 4820TG.

 

Funny. I stepped up from an 11.6" and feel like I have a lot of real estate. It feels big to me.

 

Great review!

A quick question for you if I may - the last time I was looking to get an Acer, I was very much turned off by the Canadian keyboard layout (with the oversized Enter Key). Does your 3820T have the US layout or the Canadian one? I was trying to look at your pictures, but the Enter key was in the far corner

Tried googling around too, but wasn't able to find any references to it. I was also following some of the threads here about changing the keyboard with a backlit one (on the 3810), but was dawdling so long that the new models came out, and now 'm back to square one!

Thanks!

 

Hi there,

The keyboard is indeed a Canadian one, and I'm not sure whether the Enter key is "oversized" but here's a picture:



The biggest annoyances with the Canadian keyboard I'd say are the ugly French characters in green, as well as the left shift being smaller. However it didn't bother me since I was already used to the Canadian keyboard on my Aspire One.

Also I think many of the 3820T/TG owners have successfully changed to the backlit keyboard, there should be an article on the 3820TG owner's lounge.

 

Hi Karma_Police,

Many many thanks for the quick response (+ pic!) - yeah that's what I referred to as the oversized Enter key Now that you mentioned it, the left shift key IS small. The issue(s) I have had with keyboards of this type is that I constantly hit enter when I'm in Windows and trying to type a path (i.e. the \ key). Drives me bananas...

And yes, I just saw the thread that talked about replacing the 3820T keyboard with the backlit one (from the 3810T). If you don't mind my asking, have you had any issues with the flex on this keyboard? I know someone else had already asked you about the heat on the palm rest. I used to use a Dell E6400 (previous company's notebook) and what used to drive me insane was the heat emanating from the palm rest and to a lesser degree, the flex on the keyboard. Right now I'm gravitating between getting a MBP (costs a lot more, I know) and something cheaper and it boils down to do I want to spend $$$ to get a notebook that has very good build quality, screen, flex-less keyboard vs one that's almost half its price with not so great build quality. There was a thread going on in RedFlagDeals too talking about this ( [Comp] (warm) Staples : Acer 13.3" Laptop, 2.26GHz Intel Core i5-430M, 4GB RAM, 500GB $800 - RedFlagDeals.com Forums)

Lol.. now you see what I mean about dawdling?

 

I personally have not had any issues with keyboard flex... I'd say my WPM has remained the same. The keys are kind of spaced out from each other like the MBP but there's nothing underneath it.

I would suggest that you either go to Staples and try out the keyboard on the 3820TG or some other store to try out one of Acer's Canadian keyboards to get an idea of what to expect. Not sure what you are going to use the laptop for, but I needed Windows so I guess the decision was easier for me.

 

@Karma_Police

I will be using this with Windows and Linux (I lump OSX in with Linux here in the case of a MBP), for surfing, doing some documentation, running VMWare Workstation, and the occasional HD movie, but not games.

Yeah, I'll check it out at Staples. Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions - much appreciated.

 

Congratz on your new notebook. I am sure your GF will love it.

One question though, I am not sure if you did a clean install yet, but if you haven't, could you check to see if the jumplists in windows 7 works? When I got mine a few weeks ago, everything was fine except that any item I open through the jumplist opens up the system32 folder..

 

Hi there,

I did not do a fresh Windows install, and my jumplists work perfectly (at least for opening recent items). Perhaps it's a Windows or program-related issue?

 

Heh, all the jumplists on mine just doesn't work - I tried the getting started with windows 7 one, and it took me to system32 (how nice ) Reverted to factory settings: same thing. Tried the 3820TG at a nearby Staples, same thing.

I just gave up then and I did a clean install now everything is fine


Nice to know the acer image you got actually works

 

IMHO, this thread should have been the official 3820T thread.
+1 to OP for the detailed info, thanks man.

Having already own the 4820TG for gaming and desktop replacement at home. I am weighting my decision on this 3820T i3 and the 1830T i5 for my roadie setup. I wonder if the 3820T can play SC2 on low settings. But the comment from OP that said AOE3 ran smoothly makes me set, since I am into older games too

 

Hey zerverize,

You're welcome... however, this is kind of an old thread. Since then I've gotten a 3820TG with ATI 5650 from PCHome for myself!

Anyway, I have to tell you that there is a better deal (IMO) going on right now... staples is selling the 3820TG with Core i5 and the 5470 for $699, so for $50 more you get a better processor and video card so I would recommend it. At the time I posted this thread, the price was $799 and I wouldn't have recommended spending $150 more for the Staples model, but with price now $100 less, I would recommend it.

 

Is a 4820tg even available in Canada?
If so, can you PLEASE provide me with a link as I've been searching for it for about a month now!

 

I think it was available at microcenter.com but apparently they don't have it in stock right now. You can try ordering from PCHome PC home ¥þ²yÁʪ« - ¹Ï¤å¨Ã¦C

Try the 4820TG thread for more details.

 

HEY YES U CAN PLAY SC2! LOL MY COMPANY BOUGHT ME 3820T THE FIRST THING I WENT HOME IS TO INSTALL SC2 AND IM PLAYING FINE 4V4 WITH LOWEST SETTINGS =)

 

sorry for the bump, but where is the cheapest place to buy this online in the US at the moment? amazon had it for $530 yesterday but it has jumped up to $630 as of today.