Acer Aspire TimeLineX 5820TG Notebook

[Lead Team]

Introduction

In times in which to take laptops more and more tasks, it is generally more difficult for manufacturers to strike a balance between mobility and performance. Those who want to cover with one unit as many areas that can, currently barely past the devices of the 15-inch class. Although notebooks offer a display diagonal 11:00 to 13:00 customs a greater degree of mobility, for the odd game or video on the couch at home, these screens offer then too little space and resolution. Beyond the mark of 15 inches of the mobility factor is always smaller here, you may take in the segment of "desktop replacement" notebooks that are a result of the size and weight is not really portable. Currently you can segment the 15-inch models from a variety of different components and configurations choose, including Intel's Core processors and DirectX 11-capable graphics chips from AMD and Nvidia. But not only performance and battery life are critical for devices that are to fulfill many purposes, including multimedia and productive skills are in demand.

With the Time Line-X models Acer wants to make this balancing act. Equipped with modern core processors and two graphics, depending on the model, these units get enough power on the one hand, lead to both but also due in more than eight hours. Based on the Time Line 5820 TG X in the execution of this test 484G75MNks/LX.RAF02.032 to clarify whether you can really satisfy all needs with one device.


Delivery

The delivery is relatively small. Apart from the actual notebook found in the package the six-cell battery plus charger, quick start guide, warranty conditions, and a microfiber cleaning cloth. The contents of the package at a glance:

• Acer Aspire X 5820TG (model 484G75MNks/LX.RAF02.032)
• Six-cell lithium-ion battery AS10B5E (6000 mAh, 64.8 Wh), manufactured by Panasonic
• Charger, electric power cable disconnected, the output power of 19 volts, 4.74 amps
• Quick Guide
• Warranty conditions
• Microfiber cleaning cloth

Pre-installed Software

In addition to a 64-bit version of Windows 7 in the Home Premium version numerous other programs are installed. In addition to the usual trial versions or free tool delivers Acer with some system programs. These include, for example, a backup tool and a program to restore the factory default. The pre-installed software at a glance:

• Windows 7 Home Premium, 64 bit
• Acer Backup Manager
• Acer Power Smart Manager
• Acer eRecovery Manager
• Acer Arcade Deluxe
• Acer Crystal Eye
• Acer Video Conference Manager
• Adobe Flash Player 10.1
• Adobe Reader 9.1
• eSobi
• Google Toolbar
• McAfee Internet Security Suite Trial
• Microsoft Office 2010 Starter
• Microsoft Silverlight
• MyWinLocker
• Norton Online Backup
• Oberon GameZone
• Skype
• Windows Live Essentials

As with many computers running Windows 7 is already installed, is in the User Account Control - UAC - only the second-highest alert level is set. Can thus also programs such as virus scanners without user intervention will be removed.


Properties

In the tested configuration 484G75MNks/LX.RAF02.032 to an Intel Core-5 480M and 6550M AMD sufficient power, the built-in processor graphics solution - Intel GMA HD - however, with the power-saving features of the processor for a long period. Due to the timing dependent on the situation - it varies from 2.67 to 2.93 GHz - the processor also has a degree of energy saving potential, even if a core course i3 is even more economical. The Thermal Design Power - short TDP - Intel is 35 watts with an equal clocked Core 2 Duo T9800 has the same value here, but this has neither an integrated graphics unit is still a memory controller. And the models of the i3 family - apart from the special low-power versions - are indicated with the same maximum consumption. The main functions of the 32 nanometer chips are manufactured in addition to the aforementioned turbo function Hyperthreading - up to four threads can be processed simultaneously - and the virtualization technology VT -x. On the encryption and decryption advantageous for AES instruction set must be representative of this Arrandale processors without. Only the core i5 models of the "500" family and the i7 variants have this just for business-oriented notebooks interesting feature. In addition to the integrated graphics solution in the processor - Intel GMA HD - for less demanding tasks, the notebook is also equipped with AMD's Radeon HD 6550M with a gigabyte of memory. Different than the name suggests, these are not a member of the new cutting-edge 6xx0 series, but simply a renamed representative of the 5000 series. The basis is the RV830 chip with 400 stream processors and 80 shader units, DirectX 11 is just like OpenGL 4.0. The GDDR3 memory is connected via a 128 bit wide interface.

With four gigabytes of DDR3 memory, the device is well suited to everyday use, only for memory-intensive applications, it should be something more, more competitive models offer also usually not. The same applies to the built-in optical drive: While the hard drive is one with its capacity of 750 gigabytes already at upscale amenities, is the DVD recorder and recording function rather standard and will produce at least all major formats are supported including DVD-RAM can be read and written. The rest of the equipment with various connection options, Bluetooth 3.0 and Wi-Fi "n" corresponds to fast then back to the usual standard in this class. Relatively good sound to the built-in stereo speakers with Dolby Home Theater audio enhancement. Unfortunately, the audio playback still lacks depth.

[Lead Team]

Design and Processing

The selected colors and the design make the timeline X appear in a noble light. This impression is particularly in the closed state by the cover in brushed aluminum. Like the bottom of the case - apart from the cover which is made of plastic - and the keyboard of this field is kept in black, only the silver-colored logo of the manufacturer is used as an eye catcher. The black is complemented by its open lid by the taupe-colored border around the keyboard field. Below the keyboard Acer uses the same look like with the lid, the narrow outer frame, however, is simply decorated.

Overall, the processing is convincing. Even with the housing intent is to elicit no creaking, the gap dimensions are themselves evenly on the cabinet bottom. Occasion for criticism only offer a few points. First, there was the ringing call display, despite very solid acting hinges, the screen wobbles obvious shocks. Next, as the game of the buttons below the touch pad could be mentioned here must repair Acer. Similarly, the piano-black finish in the area above the keyboard - which also houses the stereo speakers are installed - and around the display. These parts of the notebook work quality is not so high quality as the rest of the body. And finally the various status LEDs would be mentioned, almost all work positions vary in size and not uniform. On the bottom there are four very large rubber feet that give the device a secure footing. RAM and hard drive are behind a secured with eight screws, well-fitted cover.


Display

In addition to the endurance, the display is often the deciding factor in the notebook purchase. In addition to the diagonal - which indeed also affects the size of the device - also play the resolution, viewing angles and character of the display surface a major role. The latter will disqualify the 5820TG for use outdoors or in bright rooms, because it has a shiny surface. Even in normal daylight the distracting reflections on the screen, especially in dark contents. Also bad is the viewing angles. Is this still in the horizontal well enough to have to give the display in the vertical a bad grade. Here, the colors are represented properly only when looking at the image center of a 90-degree angle. Weaknesses provide the tester also in the brightness. The maximum value is 206 cd / m², but unfortunately not on the entire surface. Only in the upper left corner of the screen, this value is reached in the lower right area there are only 177 cd / m², the homogeneity is 83 percent. This is actually a more uniform illumination can be achieved with the use of LEDs as light sources. And the contrast is rather poor, 130:1 are an almost unacceptable level. At the lowest level brightness is 18 cd / m², which corresponds to the values of other notebooks.

Well, however, is the representation of gray tones, here the color temperature is about 6,300 with 6,100 K to K is very close to the optimum of 6,500 K. The image is relatively neutral in color, other displays here have sometimes high proportions of blue. Borderline is the pixel density. With a diagonal measurement of 15.6 inches and a resolution of 1,366 × 768 pixels, the test unit reached only 100 ppi. Here values are 100-120 as pleasant. From a normal distance - about 30 inches - are ever seen on the background of individual pixels.


Keyboard and Touchpad

Acer speak at the keyboard of the 5820TG of water lily design. Visually, the keyboard is different from so-called "Chiclet keyboard", as they are installed as Apple or Sony. The buttons are visually as floating flakes.

After a short adjustment period occur when writing any more problems. The writing experience is pleasant, the stroke is like most notebooks is very low. And the lettering of the keys has been successful. Acer omitted here on frills, but calls for clear signs. Only for the icons on some function keys are important is only at second glance. The touchpad is also one of the more accurate representatives of its kind to support multi-touch gestures such as "pinch-to-Zoom", offering the right edge of a scroll bar. The built below the touch-sensitive surface buttons for left and right clicks work also convincing.

Options

In addition to the tested version of the Time Line X 5820TG there are a number of other configurations. Starting with the processor - the Core i3-i7-330M up to 640M - about the dedicated graphics to the size of the hard disk makes a total of 16 different variants. Together, all including the display and the manufacturer's maximum term of more than eight hours.

[Lead Team]

Performance

The system performance is also significant in notebooks, particularly in units that are premeditated for multiple uses. Therefore, the momentum of the components of synthetic benchmarks, and with dissimilar games is determined.

PCMark Vantage

PCMark Vantage which is to be tested in the primary place performance in creative use. In adding to the CPU are in demand here, particularly memory and hard drive. The latter performance is the HDD unconnectedly recorded score.

The relatively poor showing in the disk test is the slow, running at 5,400 revolutions per minute, hard drive due. This will include the better performance of the HP Pavilion 5320 with the much faster, conventional hard disk. In contrast, a completely different league play SSDs.


3DMark Vantage

The second known benchmark made by Futuremark has a different focus. Here it is all about the gaming performance, in addition to a fast CPU is particularly important for a powerful graphics card. In the 2008 version introduced the Vantage to be assessed include the DirectX 10 capabilities of the authorities responsible for the graphics components.

Acer here can play all the cards. Besides the very fast CPU, the device naturally benefits from the dedicated Intel graphics solution. Unlike laptops, which have to make do with Intel's integrated graphics unit, promising the values of the test device enough power for current games.


WinRAR

Packing and unpacking is part of the everyday tasks. Especially when it comes to highly compressed archives, systems with fast hard disks are clearly at an advantage, even if does, of course, the performance of the processor a certain role. For measuring the performance is the one determined for unpacking the installation files for Adobe Photoshop CS5-trial time needed, on the other the duration of packing without compression of the installation files CS5 Design Premium suite.

During the test unit achieved thanks to its fast processor, while extracting a good value, for packing in comparison to other devices requires significantly more time. This is - due to the relatively slow hard drive - just as it did in PCMark Vantage.


CineBench

With CineBench get tested both the power of a single-core processor as well as the entire processor. In addition, the speed of the graphics card in a separate test is measured. As the basis of the test program is Maxon's 3D software Cinema 4D.

The power of a single-core i5-480M is slightly below the level of a core of the desktop processor Intel Core 2 Duo E8400, which runs at three gigahertz. The performance of the entire processor is higher than that here one moves on a level with a Core 2 Duo E8600 at 3.33 GHz. Even the smallest core processors for desktop computers perform better in this test from a Core i3-350 in total about 16 percent faster.

[Lead Team]

Battery life

For use away from power outlets a powerful battery is the same condition as economical components. Most laptops can be built because of the relatively simple technology of the two classes - assign - power or endurance. In the case of the 5820TG this is not quite so simple, one hand is the relatively strong and "power hungry" AMD HD 6550M a graphics solution for gaming and other demanding tasks. On the other hand, can be used for less performance-intensive tasks to the processor built in Intel graphics. We tested with a specially for the measurement of notebook run times Battery Eater program written in version 2.7. Battery Eater allows the simulation of a full load situation - CPU and graphics card at full capacity - and in so-called "Reader's Test" to determine the lifetime at low system load. In both cases, with a brightness of 140 cd / m² measured in order to create similar conditions to other devices. In addition, the wireless module is enabled.

Under full load, the battery must pay the energy needs of the processor and the graphics solution tribute to one and a half hours, the reserves of the current memory used up. Therefore the user is also a good performance for notebooks. In the energy saving mode, the user can work at least nearly five and a half hour battery or second battery, here are paying off the existing power-saving features of the processor and AMD graphic. In operation with the integrated Intel graphics, the term is extended to the maximum of Conservation - WLAN disabled, display brightness to a minimum - to about eight hours. In this case one can speak but not by very pleasant working conditions, the display is much too dark. Also in this mode, the optical drive is disabled, so it can be used only on the hard drive stored content. By special key can be changed at any time between the two operating modes. This only works when in battery mode. To replace the battery in run mode to load faster, the integrated power management features in Windows are used.


Volume

Not unexpectedly, the results of volume measurements. The built-in cooling fan runs constantly, at low system load, but almost inaudible. Under full load, the noise is annoying but quickly, even music in low volume, this only store still barely. Measurements were taken at head height of the user, about 30 centimeters from the display. This is the typical distance when using the device.

The maximum volume reaches the device during operation of the optical drive. At 52 decibels at maximum rotation speed of concentrated work to not think.


Temperature

Especially with powerful components of the subject cooling is important. Unlike a desktop PC can not be as many fans or other cooling devices are installed. With too little cooling power can lead at worst to damage to the components installed, however, the system should reduce this time the pace of processor and graphics chip.

An additional aspect is the benefit of the unit on your lap, here are more than just unpleasant to high temperatures. Therefore, in particular the position of the fan and the maximum values on the bottom of the case are interesting. After about 30 minutes of idle could at room temperature - about 21 degrees Celsius - the keyboard-side values are measured between 24 and well under 30 degrees Celsius. The coolest corner is it right below the keyboard, is the warmest it below the center air outlet on the left side of the keyboard. At the bottom of the device similar values are achieved. Directly below the exhaust vent, the temperature is around 24 degrees Celsius and is likely to be attributable, inter alia, the permanently running fan.

Under full load, showed how much to expect some higher values. After about 30 minutes, also the measured temperatures were in the right third of the keyboard-side between 24 and 26 degrees Celsius, similar to idle. In the middle third of the temperature rises to nearly 37 but already, on the left side below the exhaust vent to 39 degrees Celsius. The left wrist rest heats next to the touchpad under load is only about four to about 30 degrees Celsius. On the bottom, the temperatures change little, however, depending on the measuring area, it fell by the faster running fan even minimal. The warmest point of the housing is the outlet, under full load here was 58.2 degrees Celsius measured.


Conclusion

With the ability to choose between maximum power and maximum runtime to be able to Acer tries to combine the best of both worlds. Unfortunately, some weaknesses, the overall gloomy picture, so that a clear recommendation can not be pronounced. On the one hand, the 5820TG as a gaming notebook in every way. be too ambitious title - at a pinch with a slight drop in graphics quality - played fluently. In the range of 15-inch models to about Rs. 60000 to Rs. 65000 should include the tested device with the best. On the other hand, is hardly the test set for productive use. This is due primarily the display, which reflects in a very strong, is very dependent on the viewing angle to another. These problems will also be of long duration, the offset for the mobile usage in order continuous weight and good keyboard again. There are better devices, some with - apart from the two graphics solutions - comparable equipment.