The battery is the biggest deal in this model. It comes with a 9 cell battery that extends out to the bottom of the laptop. While this may not be the perfectly traveling shape, it does offer a better keyboard angle

Most of the Timeline(older generation) and TimelineX only offers the intel graphics option. However, this model comes with both intel and a beefy ATi Radeon HD5650 packaged as “Hybrid graphics”. By using the intel, you get a solid 7-8 hours battery and pushable to 12 at extreme light use. The ATi does offer about 4 times more graphics power for gaming but it sucks away the battery like water for a 4-5 hours of light use and 2 hours in 3D intensive games.

Even a great battery life, it packs the following specs:

Intel Core i5 460M (2.53GHz up to 2.8GHz turbo)
ATi Mobility Radeon HD5650 1GB DDR3 (frequency: 550MHz core, 800MHz Memory)
4GB DDR3
640GB 5400RPM Western Digital drive
DVD Super Multi DL drive(no bluray)
Broadcom 802.11n (b/g/n support)
Bluetooth 3.0

The physical appearance is very clean and discreet. A solid black brushed aluminum finish with a pushed out textured and polished acer logo provides a professional feel. The profile is extremely thin(without the 9cell of course) under 1 inch. 5.4lbs with a 6 cell, and probably just under 6lbs with 9 cell still superior to my old 5920 6.6lbs!

the left side has a ventilation air exhaust followed by a VGA, HDMI, RJ45 Gigabit, USB 2.0, audio input, speaker headphone out that should be dubbed with S/PDIF aswell.

On the left front, there is a 4 in 1 multi card reader, the image above shows a after market MicroSD to SD adaptor so I can have one extra compatibility on the go.

The air intake right below the touchpad keeps it nice and cool even during a heavy use

On the right we have a power jack, DVD ROM without an eject button and 3 USB 2.0 ports, I would wish for a better location as if a heavy use of USB cables and devices, they will get in the way if you are using a mouse.

There is nothing at the back other than the huge 9 cell battery.

The screen is extremely bright, LED back lighting lits up the screen instantly without a warm up time like older generation of LCD does. The screen has a crisp 1366×768, an aspect ratio of 16:9 (I prefer 16:10 as it is closer to 1.618…) that makes the movie viewing experiences much more pleasant as no screen space is lost to black bars on HD contents. while the 768 pixel hight is not exactly enough for some taller apps or in some cases, 3D mark vantage benchmark.

The video card is a HD5650 that sits nicely at 550MHz/800MHz core/memory 3D profile clock speed, a little push to 700/1100 makes a jump from 7640 to 9499 where as the intel graphics only scores 1385 in 3D Mark 06 tests

The processor is a nice i5 that runs up to 2.8GHz, while it is not a 1.6GHz i7, most current applications can still take advantage of single thread at 2.8GHz if it is a single threaded application. While a multi threaded application can still the on 4 threads at both cores. This makes the CPU a great budget and a good performer

The 4GB DDR3 can be upgraded to 8GB max. Not the most packed but good enough for your Windows 7 64 bit and your office applications and the games that will run on the HD5650

Hard drive packed with this notebook is somewhat disappointing. 640GB is a great capacity but only a single partition on stock. where as most other acer laptops comes with 2 partitions instead. This drive makes a noisy and worrying clicking noise on typical use, no matter what stress the hard drive is under, it makes the clicks. A small help from QuietHDD app can fix this issue due to some AAM and APM settings on the hard drive itself.

The keyboard is a nice full keyboard with the new Acer’s keyboard design(water lily). Big room between keys to allow easy cleaning. The numeric keypad is what I have always been missing from my old 5920G. above the top right of the keyboard are 2 keys, one is a Acer power management only available when unplugged(providing extended battery use) and the other for DVD ROM ejecting as there are no buttons on the DVD ROM itself. The DVD will be powered down if the Acer power management is engaged and will be powered up again if the eject button is pressed once, and next press will then eject the drive.

While the speakers are not as “Home Theater” as it claims, it does provide a better virtual surroundsound effect over the older 5920G. without the Subwoofer, the quality of music is not exactly the most enjoyable clarity like the 5920G, maximum volume is not on par with it either. However, it is bearable for most situations.

Touchpad is a multi touch touchpad with 2 finger scrolling and pinch zoom, the bottom 2 keys are fused together. Pressing left will give you a left click, and right will result right click, might require some getting used to. For those big on touchpad, the default driver DOES disable the touchpad for a good second if any keyboard keys are pressed. This is to prevent accidental clicking with your palm. This is not an option unless you use other drivers that does not offer this feature, it can be rather frustrating if you rely on the touchpad most of the time. This will make you wait for the touchpad to become responsive all the time. (gaming with this driver is impossible with a touchpad)

The webcam is a 1.3MP camera (up to 1280×1024) but the framerate is not as good as the 5920G’s 0.3MP at the same 640X480 setting. Even at 640×480, it will appear choppy unless under an extremely well lit environment.

Pros:
+Great battery life
+Good performance for it’s size
+Light
+Nice looking external design and very sturdy build

Cons:
-Typical laptop speakers
-Higher screen resolution at least 1440×900
-Most ports are on the right side.
-Big battery

Overall: 8.5/10

Box.net

V1.02 – July 29th, 2010
—————————————–
-Disabled the maximize option

-Added more fail-safe for resolution
saving

-Added error message for incorrect value
enterd

-Fix when extra line is added (like enter
is pressed)

-Cleaned up some more codes

-Disabled deleting ATires.reg file after
driver restart so it can be used when
updating the driver

-Added ability to load from backup .reg
file such as the saved ATiRes.reg or
even ones user manually Exported from
the registry

Morris Lee

Box.net

Instructions are simple:

-Click “Get Current Resolutions”
-Type in the desired resolutions according to the “Example”
-Click “Save the table”
-Click “Restart ATi driver”

You should now be able to use that resolution*, it is THAT EASY!
*resolutions added needs to be under what your monitor can handle otherwise it will not show up as an option in Catalyst Control Center or Windows Control Panels

Morris Lee

So I have showed you here how to simply upgrade your wireless card in the 5920G *IF* it is using 2 antennas like the original intel WiFi 3945ABG, what if you want to upgrade to say intel 4965AGN, intel 5300 or anything requires 3 antennas instead? Don’t worry, I got you covered here

However, you must be warned, this mod is slightly more challenging, as you will need to crack open more parts of the laptop.

——————————————————————
Here is my new chart of modification hardness (1-10):

1. Simplest, unscrew a few things involved, and simply put it back together again with a screw driver.

2. Simple, but requires some more effort for some parts of the modification such as more than just a screw driver is required.

3. Still simple, but can require more than a screw driver and may need some improvising tips I have provided.

4. Can be slightly challenging, requires all the above and specialty tools and materials.

5. Challenging, requiring all the above but for improvising tips and materials I have used may not be easy to come by, other possible materials or methods are up to your creativity.

6. Advanced, skilled hands on experiences required(my previous mods may provide the most applicable experiences).

7. Challenging advanced, semi-professional, has been following my modifications and have complete up to anything qualified as level 5 is preferred.

8. Advanced improviser, close-to professional that has done couple level 5′s and 6′s some sort of circuitry background is preferred.

9. Professional, fan of my mods and has been following all my mods, completion of from 75-90% of my modifications is strongly suggested.

10. Pro-Processioned, HARDCORE fan of my modifications and has done all or similar mods on different machines, access to multiple soldering tools or cutting and drilling tools is strongly suggested. **first with completion of this level with prove using pictures or videos may win prized on selected level 10 mods!!**

The above levels will be labeled in the title like: lvl(7/10)
——————————————————————

Without more babbling! Lets get our hands busy!

What you need:

Philips Screw driver shaped like this +
Old credit card or plastic card
Thick Double-sided tap (ones with foam in between the sticky sides)
Spare internal wireless antenna with the clip-on notch
A pair of sharp tweezers

First, we need to do some disassembling,

Remove the backplate and screws that are circled in red too.

With those screws removed, we can pop off the power button plate like so

After that is done, we need to crack open the screen’s frame, staring with the rubber tabs

Peel them off using a pair of sharp tweezers and put them on the waxxed surface like the ones stickers comes off from or you can make your own by rubbing wax on a piece of paper until even and smooth. This is to keep the tabs in the mint condition.

Here is a picture of mine all kept nicely on the waxed paper from the double sided tape

make sure all 4 rubber tabs and the 2 plastic tabs right by the lid latch like so:

Now, we need to pop it open using the plastic card from the edge of the lid (TRY not to break any clips inside)

Now, the laptop should look something like this(I have the spare antenna lying on the keyboard)

Now, we can install the antenna! we can insert the antenna in this hole:

If done right, you can pull it out from the bottom right beside where the fan is, it may take a few tries

Hopefully the length of the antenna is long enough so you can attach it to the card

Following the left original antenna and double sided tape, I stick it just above the original white one (try not to have the metals touching.)

Tuck it in!

Putting it back together is as simple as snapping the screen frame and the power button panel back on and screw all the screws back. Remember to put the rubber and plastic tabs back on the screws for the screen frame!

Morris Lee

Apart from one of my other articles, the “Morris’ Aspire 5920 GPU Swap/upgrade”, use that as a reference for part of the dis-assembly for the cover and the GPU, now we are going to swap the heart of the 5920G out!

–Sorry for the poor image quality as I don’t have an actual camera for the pictures–

**Warning! Do this in your own risk, please observe other similar modifications and understand your own skills on these tiny operations, unplug the computer and eject the battery for safer working environment. REQUIRES A STEADY HAND for the physical part. I am not able to hold responsible for any damages to your own systems.**

Table of contents:

1a. Suggested Tools
1b. Materials
2a. Removing the back panel
2b. Screws and wires need to be removed
2c. Removing the heatsink
3a. Removing the CPU
3b. Installing the new CPU
4a. Putting everything back
5a. Remarks
6a. References
6b. Contact

1a. Suggested Tools

philips screw driver
flat-head screw driver

1b. Materials

Aspire 5920
Thermal Paste (Arctic Silver 5 or better)
Socket P (PPGA478) FSB 667 or 800MHz only compatible CPU (check here

2a. Removing the back panel

Remove the screws indicated above in red circles to pop open the back panel

2b. Screws and wires need to be removed

The 3 wires (two wireless antennas and fan power) can be removed by pulling them off gently, the screw in the battery compartment circled is for easier removal for the heatsink later.

The reds are the screws already removed for removing the GPU module, the ones in green has to unscrewed, the 4 silver ones(with springs) will stay on the heatsink even if it is unscrewed, that’s normal.

2c. Removing the heatsink

Pull on the edge where the smallest arrow is pointing up(close to the screw we removed in the battery compartment before), as it is lifted, pull the heatsink towards the harddrive and angle up slightly at the same time.

3a. Removing the CPU

Turn counter clock wise with a flat head screw driver on the “screw” just above the CPU to loose up the socket, pull out the CPU.

3b. Installing the new CPU

install the new CPU at the same orientation as the old one(notice the little copper/yellow arrow), turn the “screw” clock wise to lock it. Use some new Arctic Silver 5 on top of the CPU(put half of what I put there I put too much at the time of picture taken)

4a. Putting everything back

Insert the heatsink back at the same angle you pulled it out(make sure the thermalpads for the northbridge on the heatsink is not damaged), screw the 4 silver screws on, and the 2 other screws indicated in green, insert the GPU and put back the 4 screws that holds the GPU(the screws marked in red above)

Don’t forget to reinsert the fan cable and the wireless cables!!!

5a. Remarks

I got this CPU from u6b36ef user.

6a. References

http://ark.intel.com/ProductCollection.aspx?familyId=26548

6b. Contact

If you have other questions, please reply on the bottom here, www.theacerguy.com or Email me at morrismurphy@gmail.com

This is the card, Intel WiFi Link 5100 (looks cheap……)

Remove the 9 screws to remove the back plate

the corner by the RAM close to the battery compartment, you will find the old Intel 3945 or 4965 sitting (image shows that the antennas are pulled off, forgot to take a picture of it, but you can just pull them off vertically, but gently)

After the 2 top screws are removed, you will see that the card will lift up by itself, don’t worry, it is not going into an erection. You can now safely pull it out from the angle it lift up to.

What it should look like when it is pulled off

Comparison between the old 3945 and the new 5100(5100 looks kind of cheap eh?)

slide in the new card like the angle you pulled the old one off

while pushing it down flat, screw it in place

After you have screwed it in, attach the 2 antennas like it was attached to the old card before, you can just push it on,they are clip on antennas.

Woohoo!! 300Mbps, if you don’t have the full speed, it is ok, sometimes it will lower it when it is not needed, just make sure the “Channel Width” is set to auto in your router (image from my DIR-615 D-Link router)

Also make sure you go into Device Manager (run devmgmt.msc) and under “Network Adapters”, find the card name, double click and go to the “Advanced” tab and change “802.11n Channel Width for band 2.4″ and “802.11n Channel Width for band 5.2″ both to “Auto”.

Morris Lee

Start up Morrisoft ATi Custom Resolution Tool

Click “Get Current Resolutions” to start editing current ones or just start typing new ones

Once completed, click “Save and reboot driver”

Once driver is rebooted, you should be able to select the resolution in ATi Catalyst Control Center or the ATi Catalyst tray icon.

Enjoy!

As you can see, I have finalized the user interface to as simple as it can get! it even restarts the driver for you, no need to reboot to detect new setting table!

System Requirements:

• Windows XP/Vista/7 32 or 64 bit
• ATi Radeon 9XXX or above
• Monitor in DVI for desktops unless on a laptop

It is currently in RC, you can obtain a copy of evaluation by emailing me directly at morrismurphy (a) gmail.com, you will receive a reply with the software attached!

I found a useful Service Manual for the 5920G enjoy!

This is a DIY guide to install an internal USB bluetooth on the Aspire 5920 model, the physical USB Bluetooth installation instructions may apply to other machines with one or more Mini PCI-E slot/s and internal space.

Warning! Do this in your own risk, please observe other similar modifications and understand your own skills on these tiny operations, unplug the computer and eject the battery for safer working enviroment. REQUIRES A STEADY HAND for the physical part. I am not able to hold responsible for any damages to your own systems.

Table of Contents:

1a. Suggested Tools
1b. Materials

2a. Make the Mini PCI-E to USB Pins
2b. Plug it into the Mini PCI-E slot
2c. Make the holder to keep the pins steady in place
2d. Insert the USB Bluetooth

3a. Install the driver
3b. Install the Bluetooth remap patch
4a. Remarks
5a. Reference
6a. Contact

1a. Suggested tools:

Plier/s (sharp ended)
Piler/s with clip and hold (to hold on to tiny opjects for soldering)
Tweazers
Sissors
Soldering gun
Solder

1b. Materials

Aspire 5920 (models with Intel ReadyBoost might require the removal of the disk)
A short USB extansion cord
2 or more bobby pins
Normal transparent plastic tape
Paper clip

2a.Make the Mini PCI-E to USB pins

Here we make the Pins that will attach to the Mini PCI-E slot without needing to solder the USB cord on to the machine.

Bobby pins from your sister/s or mom or from places like the dollar store will do the job. Cut it in about the length of your finger nail.

bend the bobby pin to the shape of a mini crowbar (about 90 to 100 degress).

Peel the skin on each cable in the USB cord, twist the cable around the bobby pin’s bent corner.

Clamp the bobby pin to the pliers for soldering

Soldered, notice the melting of the plastic skin on the cable, should be normal. MAKE SURE IT COOLS DOWN BEFORE YOU WORK ON IT AGAIN

2b. Plug it into the Mini PCI-E slot

To plug the the pins in, make sure you take a look at both these locations
http://www.spielme.com/spiel/files/images/pinout.jpg Mini PCI-E pins
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB#Types_of_USB_connector Pin configurations
Noticed I stuck a piece of tape (2 pieces tapped together and cut into the same width as the bobby pins) to prevent the bobby pins to conduct both pins where it is placed (also to keep the pins in place), you have to be very careful for the first 2 pins as they are the power, you might short the computer anytime if you don’t have the current blocked.
Also make sure all the soldered ends are not touching each other, notices where I put a piece of plastic between the green and the white cable since the soldered section are closer with each other.

2c. Make the holder to keep the pins steady in place

This is a holder made with a paper clip, bend the circles for the screws accordingly to the two screw holes in the laptop.
The screws ARE THINNER then the ones used for CD-ROM’s, there is a standard type used for laptops.

Now the cable should be more stable, less chance for the pins to get pulled out while carrying.

2d. Insert the USB Bluetooth

disassemble the Bluetooth device like so

Tape the Bluetooth PCB board so it is safe from shorting other chip/devices in the laptop (top and botton)

The USB out, plug the USB Bluetooth in now.

Insert the USB Bluetooh under the metal looking plastic, just the space behind the card reader.

It should fit, cut out cunks that is in the way of the screw, there are plenty of height space, so the thickness of the USB port should be no problem.

Make sure things that are not suppose to be touching are not touching, then close the laptop.

3a. Install the driver

Start up your computer, if it does not power up, reopen it, make sure nothing is touching. If nothing is touching and not turning on, make sure you have the battery pulled out and the power unplugged for about 10 seconds for the memory to clear again, try booting then.

When it DOES boot up, you should see new device found, install the driver accordingly like usual.

3b. Install the Bluetooth remap patch

Once the driver has been installed correctly, bluetooth working fine, time for the coolest thing. Remember your useless Bluetooth button? let’s make it enable disable the USB Bluetooth we have in right now. To work around the Launch Manager that controls which button’s job, we change the Internet button to the bluetooth button, therefore, when you add a function to the internet button in Launch Manager, it you are changing the bluetooth button function. Since the Internet Button is regonized in windows to open up your default Internet Browser, this button should remain functional as well.

Here is the latest patch (V10.1) I have made for the Launch Manager (for 2.0.10, one click install, anything older requires you to exit launch manager prior to install), download and install the patch, you will see the taskbar icon has changed to the one in the installer’s screenshot.

you can find the latest patches here
Morris’ Launch Manager V10.1 x86+64-bit.exe

New Launch Manager Icon

After the patch has been installed, open device manager by running devmgmt.msc or under System Properties.

Locate your USB bluetooth device in Device Manager, right click and click propertise.

Go to the Details tab, select Hardware Ids, highlight the first item in the list, press “Ctrl + c” to copy the text.

Navigate to “C:BT” right click and edit all the “BT.cmd” file under the “current”, “disable”, “enable” folders

The line in the red circle, replace it using “Ctrl + v” to paste, notice the extra empty line is added, remove it so it looks like before, KEEP THE QUOTES.

Once all three BT.cmd’s has been modified and saved, the changes should take effect immediately when you press the Bluetooth button.

4a. Remarks:

- My Bluetooth device is Belkin F8T003xx1

- Enabling the Bluetooth device took away about 30 minutes of battery on my laptop

- This was my third try to make the Mini PCI-E to USB converter

- Using the internal Mini PCI-E to USB was inspired by the EeePC internal USB device MOD.

- Both bluetooth remap installer patch are packaged and configured by me

- This DIY guide is written by me.

- The primary opjective for this guide is to share my findings to worldwide. so others can follow, and no need to waste time for trial and error like I had to.

5a. References:
http://www.spielme.com/spiel/files/images/pinout.jpg Mini PCI-E pins
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB#Types_of_USB_connector Pin configuration Figure

6a. Contact

If you have other questions, please reply on the bottom here, www.theacerguy.com or Email me at morrismurphy@gmail.com

Morris Lee
Revision 1.1 Jan 2009 (first edition can be found here)