Problem with Acer 3680 laptop

It came with Vista, but barely met the minimum requirements so I formatted it and put XP on it.

I went on the acer website and downloaded all the drivers for it, and everything is cool but I can't connect to the internet. I installed the network drivers and the modem drivers.

Am I installing the wrong drivers to connect? Do I need an Ethernet driver or something else? Somebody please point me in the right direction, I need to get the internet up and running on this thing soon. Thanks in advance.

 

Here is the site to Acer Euro Support, there is a complete listing of drivers for XP.

Take a look in the Device Manager window and make sure you don't have any red x's or question marks next to the devices.

Which model of 3680 do you have? Outside of the above mentioned problem, was it very difficult to downgrade to XP? I just purchased a 3680-2682 for the wife and was thinking of losing vista and installing XP myself.

 

Yea like my 3680-2633 it has 2 drivers listed on the europe site, mine is Atheros wireless and Yukon for the ethernet. Good luck.

 

i'll find out what version i have in a little while.

 

Ok, its a 3680-2682. what driver do i need? the stupid manual is crap and doesn't tell me anything, it just tells me what type of hardward a range of different laptops has.

which is retarded.

 

My 3680 has:

Broadcom wireless network adapter & the Marvell Lan adapter

Try d/l those two drivers from the euro site I gave you earlier. Good luck.

 

How are you liking your 3680 so far eh?

Pretty soon both of us will upgrade our 3680's to Core 2 Duos then they will be pimp I hope I get the CPU tomorrow so I can let you know if it works...

 

But is yours a 3680-2682?

 

Yeah that is the model I have. So that makes 3 of us woohoo! We should start an owners' club

A bunch of people have told me it is a piece of junk and I wasted my money on it, but so far it seems to work pretty good even with the small memory it has, it still runs Vista Home Edition pretty fast I think! Windows loads up plenty fast and I have not had any major complaints so far.

It is fun because I only paid $350 for it so I'm not afraid to take it apart and mod it and try things! I'm also not afraid to carry it around school in my backpack or take it different places. It's really small and light and thin, easier to carry around than most.

My only small complaints are that the keyboard is kinda flexy and mushy, and the display is kind of washed out. However, I tried calibrating my screen colors and that helped a lot, now it looks pretty good, it looks better than my sister's cheap Dell laptop anyway.

 

Hellbore, can you do me a favor? Look in your device manager and see what Ethernet controller/network adapter drivers you have and tell me what they are please.

 

The laptop is taken apart right now but I can tell you what I remember:
The LAN card was a Mavell card

When I go home I will try and find out what the wireless card was. I think the card is actually separate connected on the motherboard so I can read it off for you.

In fact... I'm not sure but I will check when I get home... I think if you remove the memory hatch on the bottom (just unscrew 2 screws, doesn't void your warranty) I think you can see the wireless card, with the 2 antenna wires hooked to it, one black and the other white. You might be able to read off there what kind of card it is. I'll double check this when I get home.

 

Same model as mine

 

The hell with those people, I got this one for my wifes bday and paid $410 (wish I got it for $350) and for what she needs, cruising the net, email, basic applications and pictures, its a kick ass laptop, dirt cheap! Hell, were not gaming on it and for the price, it's damn near disposable! Get rid of vista, max out the memory and upgrade the cpu (in my wifes case, the celeron runs apps as good as any cpu) and you have a great lappy at a resonable price. The only complaint I can see is the limted battery life, but she usually has it plugged in most of the time anyway.

Hellbore do tell my how the cpu upgrade goes, because it's a good way to extend the usable life of a laptop.

 

Yeah I heard the cpu upgrade to T5200 actually gives you more battery life because you can use SpeedStep. I'll keep y'all posted!

 

FYI, someone asked what network adapter I have in my 3680.

It's the Atheros AR5006 based wireless card. Checked it in PC Wizard.

And I installed the Core 2 Duo T5200 chip, and it totally works Dual core 3680 baby...

 

Hellbore?! You're my only hope :[

 

Sorry Baganga I forgot. Mine has the Atheros wireless networking. Did you try that one? Yours is probably Atheros since we have the same model of laptop.

 

Isn't there a non-wireless networking? I don't have wireless available to me.

 

Yeah I thought you were asking about wireless.

My non-wireless is Marvell Yukon.

 

SOB.
I installed both of those (at least, I TRIED to install the marvell yukon one, but it wouldn't let me.

And I can't get on the internet. Hellbore or Skibums willing to help out a little closer? Email me: [email protected]

 

Another 3680-2682 here in Atlanta.

Marvell Yukon 88E8038 PCI-E Fast Ethernet Controller

I am PO'd that the Bluetooth doesn't appear to be open. I think is locked to the Acer PC Card VOIP phone.

I got mine to pick up the PC Card Slot for Firewire to my Mini DV Camcorder and built in card reader for my Digital Camera on the road.

-=Ken=-

 

Baganga I think the problem is that those drivers are for Vista, I dunno if they provide XP drivers or not.

Why not just use Vista that came with it?

 

Baganga check your email. Try both XP & Vista drivers.

Because Vista is a memory hungry dog of a OS.

Congrats on the cpu upgrade, Hellbore! Great job!

 

Thanks Skibumbs, are you gonna do the upgrade on yours?

I decided I like this laptop enough to keep it! I was gonna sell it once my Thinkpad arrived but now I don't want to let go of it lol... it's so small and light and easy to deal with.

Good luck with the driver issue guys, I think someone posted a link to XP drivers for Acer, if I find it I'll post it here...

 

I think I'll change the OS to XP Pro. Right now, the wife is happy with the CPU speed. Though, I do see an upgrade to C2D in the ear furture!

 

Pay for all those upgrades, and you could have bought a decent ready-to-go laptop that doesn't void the warranty. Just do a little shopping and for $600 after rebates you can get a real laptop.

Here's just a few examples that took 45 seconds to find:

http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=344548&pfp=sep30

This one even has a built in camera:

http://www.compusa.com/products/pro...016&Ns=display_price|0&product_code=343932#ts

Or how about this one:

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Tosh...91736/catOid/-12963/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do

In general, these have twice the processor, twice the memory, and twice the disk space, twice the battery, twice the OS, and they have intact warranties.

Even better deals are out there. Slice and dice it how you want, you got suckered into a low spec machine that will eat your lunch in required upgrades. I know it hurts, but someone has to fall for these creative ways to market obsolete junk.

 

That may be true, PRH. Not everyone can afford to pay +$600, but thay may be able to afford a less expensive laptop and do some upgrading as they go. That initial $200 difference could mean a lot to a college student or someone on a limited budget.

And it's not obsolete junk, it works fine for what my wife needs it for.

 

PRH all those laptops have a slower CPU than the one I installed into this Acer laptop.

Acer laptop - $350 on sale
Used T5200 CPU on Ebay - $50
160 gig 7200 RPM hard drive left over from upgrading my Thinkpad - $0
1 gig RAM left over from upgrading my Thinkpad - $0

So by spending $400 I have a laptop that is faster than ANY of those you listed.

It is also very thin and lightweight (one good thing about being cheaply built is it is simple and LIGHT).

Right now it's pretty much the perfect school or carry-around laptop for me.

Besides even before I did anything to this Acer, when I first bought it, it already ran Windows Vista plenty fast, I don't think the average person would even care about the speed difference. Some people just want to save some money. Don't be such a snob!

 

Reminds me of Monster Garage. They would build a $20000 vehicle for $5000. How? Oh, $15,000 of the equipment was donated and considered a "freebie" so it really only cost $5000 to build. Yea right. Good luck duplicating that result at home.

Yea, I got a 5672 Acer for $0.

How? I went home and it was there because I bought it a year ago. Yea, free computer!

Anyway, the point is, if you think you are going to buy a bottom of the line computer like the 3680, and you are going to go to the forums and suggest you came out on top of all the fools that paid $500-600 for a full featured laptop, you're wrong.

And I think I remember reading that the 3680 has motherboard limitations that means you aren't getting the full performance of that processor and hard drive.

Now, if you are poor, and can only afford $350, then buy this laptop and don't upgrade it. And don't pretend like you are smarter than the folks that were smart enough to do what it takes to earn the money to buy a full featured lappy.

That's all I'm saying really.

 

PRH, I think you're missing the point, it's still usually cheaper to buy a cheaper laptop and upgrade it than to buy it with a lot of RAM and hard drive space.

For example, my Thinkpad. Base options were 1 gig of RAm and an 160 gig hard drive.

To buy the same Thinkpad laptop with 4 gigs of ram added $500 to the price tag. To buy it with a 200 gig 7200 RPM hard drive added about $300 to the price tag.

Buying the same exact hard drive on Newegg.com cost me $200 and the 4 gigs of RAM was $200.

So do the math, it would have cost me $800 to buy the laptop that way, but instead it was $400 to upgrade it once I received it....

So, I actually saved $400 this way, AND additionally I had the leftover parts which I then was able to put into my Acer!

So all in all, I saved an A** LOAD of money if you count how much I saved on both laptops, Vs. how much it would have cost me to BUY 2 laptops that had those same specs!

Probably somewhere between $700 and $800 dollars vs. buying 2 laptops with those specs.

This is NOT counting any "free parts". This is just telling the rest of the story. Make no mistake... I started out with NO laptops or laptop parts, and the end result was 2 laptops which are both fast. This is the total cost. The only other thing I spent was time.

But, if you are too lazy or don't have the skills or time to upgrade your laptop that is a different story. I never said my way was the best for EVERYONE. Just don't try to tell me it doesn't have its advantages for those who have the wherewithal to do it this way!

Besides, why do you come into this with such a chip on your shoulder? It's like you resent anyone who can save some money or who likes to take their laptop apart and upgrade it. What is it about my story that bothers you so much anyway? I totally understand that some people don't want to "screw around" trying to upgrade a laptop or trying to scrimp and find bargains, that's fine, some people have more money than time. For some people it's not economical to spend their valuable time doing stuff like this and it makes more sense to just buy the specs they want or need. I can respect that, but that doesn't apply to everyone, why can't you respect MY way?

 

Still looking for the part where Hellbore told all those "fools" that his laptop is better than their $600 laptops. He talks about upgrading it to a great machine for little money, how he's having a great time making something better and sharing that info with others, but I'm still missing the part where his shoving it anyone's face.

I see; in your world, if your poor, you can buy this type of laptop but never try to upgrade. Because you are poor. And only "smart" people know how to earn enough money to buy a full featured laptop.

So, I take that people who fall into finance difficulties due to divorce, death of a spouse, traumatic illness or accident, loss of employment, total loss due to natural disaster, student paying for his/hers own education, young families just starting out, etc...must fall into that poor category and just aren't smart enough to buy that full featured laptop!

What an asinine, arrogont & egotistical (because you must see yourself as one of the "smart" people) statement that was, which you have made. Basically saying, that anyone how is less fortunate in this world, just ins't smart enough. The one redeemimg point of that statement; it does say loads about you character and what you think about people who just don't quite measure up to your standards.

Anyway after all is said and done, what the F do you care? You don't own the laptop, your much too "smart" for that! We're just sharing info & ideas. There are millions of different people out there, that have millions of different ways and reasons for doing what they want. But why does there always have to be that one jackass that always feels that his way is the only way.

 

Exactly, I didn't shove it in anyone's face, in fact, I posted this in the ACER forum, in a thread specifically about THIS model of laptop! This was only intended for owners of this laptop to read!

If you are "too smart" to buy a "cheap junk" laptop why are you even reading this thread and telling us who already OWN this laptop ? What are you even doing here? Just trying to lord it over us that you have a more expensive laptop?

 

I don't remember when I bought my 3680 but I know it was spring of 07 to start summer semester. I bought it for $399, for browsing, researching and printing papers. At the time looking at Core 2 Duo laptops were like $800+. Let see right now I’m getting a core 2 duo for $50 on Ebay, $80 for 2gig of rams so $529 I'm excluding shipping and tax but they were minimal for me. So yea I'm just waiting for my core 2 to get here and it will kick ass than any the one you've listed.

You also missed the whole point of being a hobbist. Maybe most of us like to tinker around. Hey here's what we can do with this...

 

Hellbore, so now that all of thats out of the way. How's the laptop doing? Do you have any baseline to show the amount of performance increase? And what about heat? You mentioned it seem cooler, were you able to get any reference points prior to the upgrade? Did you use Artic silver? I never noticed the wife's 3680 getting relly hot, not like the 5672 I have. You can fry eggs on it after a gaming session.

Anyway good job. Thanks for sharing your info.

 

Well, unfortunately I never did any benchmarks before the CPU upgrade. I can try some benchmarks now, with the new CPU.

I also haven't measured the heat before or after. I did use Arctic Silver on the CPU install.

You're right the 3680 didn't get super hot even with the stock CPU, but it seems like it run cooler now, unfortunately since I haven't measured, this is really subjective, I could be imagining it...

I haven't been very scientific about this whole process, I have just been so busy with school lately, I just had to find time to squeeze this into my schedule so I could get this laptop going. Sorry I don't have more precise information, it definitely would have been better to have benchmarks and temperature readings and stuff before and after. If I had those I could pretty much do a cool little how-to writeup Maybe if I get time in the future I will put the old CPU back in and take those measurements, or maybe one of you can do it, if you are going this same path. It's a lot of fun to do if you ask me, you can't forget that part!

One thing I am happy to report though is that the laptop has been perfectly stable since the cpu upgrade, I have been using it A LOT for school. It has spent many hours turned on and in use, and it's rock solid.

One idea I was thinking about was trying to mod the voltage, I heard that Intel is really conservative with their stock voltages on the Core 2 Duos and that you can often times lower the voltage and still run stable, and thus get better batter life. It seems like a fun thing to try!

Battery life is somewhat of a concern for me with this laptop because the battery I got with it is only 2000 mAh, could any of you guys look at the sticker on your battery (have to take it out to see the sticker) and see what mAh it is? I got a little less than 2 hours before the CPU upgrade, on the power saving mode. I think I get a bit more now with the new CPU but I need to do a real test and see.

A bigger battery (like 4000 mAh) would be awesome on this laptop, but at the same time, it would suck in a way because it's kinda nice how small and light and compact it is without a battery that sticks out, I guess a bigger battery would stick out more.

 

When I get the time, (just finshed six weeks of painting and re-arrainging the house, moving the daughter's room, moving the son back to college & carpet coming Fri. & Sat.) I can get some baselines for ya. I believe we have the same model laptops.

The battery is the same, 2000 mAh, no big deal here. The wife usually leaves it plugged in only occasionally using battery power.

I've read somewhat about modding the voltage and pin modding, you need to be careful. Hate to ruin your new C2D trying to squeeze a few more minutes out of the battery.

I also enjoy ripping the laptops apart, I upgraded my 5672 to a C2D almost a year ago. Put the old Core Duo in a Asus s96j I put together for my son. I've rebuilt or upgraded quite a few lappys over the last couple of years, It seems like I'm always playing IT support for my family.

Just slapped the second 1GB stick into the 3680, runs pretty damn good. I think that it's about all the upgrading I'll be doing to it, unless the wife gets sick of Vista (she is already complaining about it)and I'll install XP Pro.

 

Yea good idea I'll get a baseline going. As a matter of fact I just received my T5200 today. I'm excited, so I'll start on some benchmarking and temperature readings with the stock CPU.

 

Cool, hope it works out, did you already flash in the latest bios? Hopefully the CPU is good and will work!

I heard stories of other people trying this and it not working, I don't know why that would be the case, unless they didn't have the right bios or something, or maybe the used CPU they were trying was bad or something...

 

Yea I got the bios flashed to 1.3505 ever since I upgraded to 2 gigs of ram. I pretty much had to for it work. Any how I'm hoping it will work when I install the t5200.

You guys have any software recommendation for benching? I'm using Sisoft Sandra atm.

 

Look toward the end of the first post, there is a list of benchmarking apps.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=123570