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

[bankergolfer]

Excellent point. I really like how the screen as full range of motion. The HP Envy did not. It was quite stupid how its range of motion was restricted.

Perhaps due to the hinge design, they can't really design the battery towards back...

source: Notebookcheck: Review Acer Aspire 3820TG Timeline X Notebook

[Apex84]

Does anyone else get a squeaking noise when connecting something to the USB ports? I can't pinpoint the source of the sound but it seems to come from somewhere along the left side of the laptop.

OK I found some info in another thread and it seems to be the CPU that's making the noise when it enters a low-power mode. So the noise disappears when the CPU is under load.

[PlatinuM195]

Has anyone gotten 1920x1080 output from the HDMI port? Once I plugged it into HDMI, it automatically switched to ATI graphics.

However the resolution on my monitor (which is 1920x1080) isn't full screen which leads me to believe there might be some problem with 1080p output? I tried 1000p and it seems to work fine albeit still not full screen but at least the size looks right.

[MarineX]

Has anyone gotten 1920x1080 output from the HDMI port? Once I plugged it into HDMI, it automatically switched to ATI graphics.

However the resolution on my monitor (which is 1920x1080) isn't full screen which leads me to believe there might be some problem with 1080p output? I tried 1000p and it seems to work fine albeit still not full screen but at least the size looks right.

HDMI is tied to ATi GPU. No fault in that.

- - - I am on a 22" 1920x1080 Samsung Monitor. Full Screen/Resolution mode, no issue.

[Roman308]

Well this thread has pretty much convinced me to get a 3820TG. I have a 15" gaming laptop and a 10" netbook. I find one too big and the other too small; this looks nearly perfect.

I'm going to Staples tomorrow to pick one up as they're on sale for $699Can; I can't pass that up, it seems like a steal at that price. It's the model with the i5 and (unfortunately) the 5470, but I guess that's better than nothing. As long as I can play some SC2 when I'm away from home it'll be fine.

So I understand the CPU is upgradable (great pdf guide btw!), but is it quad capable?

Also is the 5470 upgradable? From the pictures I'm guessing it's not, but some confirmation would be nice. Thanks!

[lee_what2004]

About Quad, the only problem is unknown compatibility with the BIOS, no more switchable GPU, and as well, heat and power....
As for GPU, not upgradeable...

[Roman308]

That's kinda what I thought, thanks.

As for the quad, yeah that makes sense. I really don't need a quad in a laptop that size, I was just curious if anyone had tried it.

[Jay.]

Has anyone gotten 1920x1080 output from the HDMI port? Once I plugged it into HDMI, it automatically switched to ATI graphics.

However the resolution on my monitor (which is 1920x1080) isn't full screen which leads me to believe there might be some problem with 1080p output? I tried 1000p and it seems to work fine albeit still not full screen but at least the size looks right.

This is a known "issue" with ATI GPUs.

Go to your ATI CC and adjust your overscan settings. Picture should fit your TV just fine after that.

[cire]

Hello all, thanks for all your help in answering my questions. I went to see the thinkpad range of laptops and a lenovo y460, but finally I decided to get a 3820TG i5-450m with 5650. It's a plunge, I even went to a store that had to made me wait for stock, i hesitated and cancelled my order. At the back of mind I was still thinking of the y460.

I then went around again to check the y460 again, no warranty outside south-east Asia. So i wek to another store that had stock of 3820, so I bought it! Mine has a sliver lid, my favorite colour plus free ext DVD drive, retractable mouse & USB speakers.

Now on my way home, can't wait to set it up & see what it can do!

I also got a couple of questions for those who re-formatted their laptop, did your do it with a backup DVD? And does windows 7 come with it's own hdd partition utility?

[drsoran2]

Help!

I got my 3820TG with Radeon HD5650 but I can't install AMD GPU Clock Tool 0.9.26.0 (the one supposed to work with the card for overclocking). It always stops during the installation at the point when it installs the "insttool64.exe". What can I do about it? Also, ATI Tools, Riva Tuner, ATI Traytools and MSI Afterburner don't seem to work with the card either. I can start them, but either they can't display the correct clock rates or I can't change them.