Acer Aspire 4740G Review

There is 1 confirmed bug on the Acer Aspire 4740/4740G Insyde EFI Firmware.

Bug 1:
DEP is disabled due to firmware bug.

This will have potential security implications on this laptop.

Update: Acer has already fixed it with a firmware update.


Bug 2:
They didn't remap the memory properly resulting in not all 4GB fully utilised. By rights if they are not going to utilise Intel HD Graphics they should have allocated 0MB to the Intel Graphics DVMT(or let user decide by enabling the menu in EFI setup menu).

I got my hands on one of the newer Acer Laptop: Acer Aspire 4740G
This is a rather cheap laptop with rather good specifications.
I won't be posting any picture of this laptop as you can google how it looks yourself.
To me performance is a more vital information source.
The specifications are as follows:

Operating System	Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium
Processor & Chipset	Intel® Core i3-330M processor (2.26 GHz, DDR3 1066 MHz, 3 MB L3 cache), supporting Intel® 64 architecture, Intel® Smart Cache Mobile Intel® HM55 Express Chipset
Memory	Up to 4 GB of DDR3 memory
Optical media drive	8X DVD-Super Multi double-layer drive
Storage	Up to 640GB hard disk drive Multi-in-1 card reader, supporting Secure Digital™ (SD), MultiMediaCard (MMC), Memory Stick® (MS), Memory Stick PRO™ (MS PRO), xD-Picture Card™ (xD)
Display	14" HD 1366 x 768 pixel resolution, Acer CineCrystal™ LED-backlit TFT LCD, supporting simultaneous multi-window viewing via Acer GridVista™ 16:9 aspect ratio 8 ms response time
Graphics	NVIDIA® GeForce® 310M with 512 MB of dedicated DDR3 VRAM, supporting NVIDIA® CUDA™, PhysX™, PureVideo® HD technology, OpenEXR High Dynamic-Range (HDR) technology, Shader Model 4.0, Microsoft® DirectX® 10.1 Dual independent display support 16.7 million colors MPEG-2/DVD decoding WMV9 (VC-1) and H.264 (AVC) decoding HDMI™ (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) with HDCP (High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection) support
Audio	Dolby®-optimized surround sound system with two built-in stereo speakers Optimized 3rd Generation Dolby Home Theater®7 audio enhancement, featuring Dolby® Digital Live, Dolby® Pro Logic® IIx, Dolby® Headphone, Dolby® Natural Bass and Dolby® Sound Space Expander, Dolby® Audio Optimization, Dolby® High Frequency Enhancer technologies True5.1-channel surround sound output High-definition audio support S/PDIF (Sony/Philips Digital Interface) support for digital speakers MS-Sound compatible Acer PureZone technology with two built-in stereo microphones, featuring beam forming, echo cancellation, dynamic gain control (TBC), and noise suppression technologies
Communication	Acer Video Conference1, featuring: • Acer Crystal Eye webcam with 640 x 480 resolution • Acer PureZone technology Acer InviLink™ Nplify™3 802.11b/g/Draft-N Wi-Fi CERTIFIED® network connection, supporting Acer SignalUp™ wireless technology or Intel® Centrino® Advance-N 6200 a/g/n Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ network connection with Acer Nplify™, supporting Acer SignalUp™ wireless technology, and featuring MIMO technology Bluetooth® 2.1+EDR (Enhanced Data Rate) Gigabit Ethernet, Wake-on-LAN ready 56K ITU V.92 with PTT approval12, Wake-on-Ring ready
I/O Interfaces	Multi-in-1 card reader (SD™, MMC, MS, MS PRO, xD) HDMI™ port with HDCP support Three USB 2.0 ports External display (VGA) port Headphone/speaker/line-out jack with S/PDIF support Microphone-in jack Line-in jack Ethernet (RJ-45) port Modem (RJ-11) port DC-in jack for AC adapter
Security	Acer Bio-Protection fingerprint solution, featuring Windows® logon, computer protection, FingerLaunch, ProfileLaunch, MusicLaunch, Password Bank, MyLaunch, FingerNav BIOS user, supervisor, HDD passwords Kensington lock slot
Power supply and battery	ACPI 3.0 CPU power management standard: supports Standby and Hibernation power-saving modes 48.8 W 4400 mAh 6-cell Li-ion battery pack: • 3-hour battery life 3-pin 65 W AC adapter Energy Star®
Keyboard & Special Controls	86-/87-/91-key keyboard, with inverted "T" cursor layout Multi-gesture touchpad pointing device supporting: •Circular-motion scrolling •Pinch-action zoom •Page flip 10 function keys, four cursor keys, two Windows® keys, hotkey controls, independent standard numeric keypad, international language support, Easy-launch buttons: WLAN, Bluetooth®, programmable key, file backup, volume up, volume down, touchpad lock Media control keys (printed on keyboard): play/pause, stop, previous, next
Weight and dimensions	342 (W) x 239 (D) x 23/38.6 (H) mm (13.4 x 9.4 x 0.9/1.5 inches) 2.3 kg with 6-cell battery
Software	Acer Arcade™ Deluxe featuring Cinema, Album, Music, HomeMedia, Online Media Acer Bio-Protection Acer Crystal Eye Acer GridVista™ Acer GameZone Acer Game Console Acer Launch Manager Acer Backup Management Acer ePower Management Acer Recovery Management Adobe® Reader® Adobe Flash® Player Google Toolbar™ Google Desktop™ McAfee® Internet Security Suite Trial NTI Media Maker™ Microsoft® Works with Office Home and Student 2007 Trial Microsoft® Windows Live™ Essentials
Warranty	One-year International Travelers Warranty (ITW)

Here is a more detailed specification from probing the hardware with Everest:

CPU Properties:
			CPU Type	2x , 2133 MHz
			Instruction Set	x86, x86-64, MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4.1, SSE4.2
			Original Clock	2133 MHz
			L2 Cache	256 KB (Asynchronous)
		Multi CPU (HyperThreading, Actual No. of Cores:2):
			CPU #1	Intel(R) Core(TM) i3 CPU M 330 @ 2.13GHz, 2128 MHz
			CPU #2	Intel(R) Core(TM) i3 CPU M 330 @ 2.13GHz, 2128 MHz
			CPU #3	Intel(R) Core(TM) i3 CPU M 330 @ 2.13GHz, 2128 MHz
			CPU #4	Intel(R) Core(TM) i3 CPU M 330 @ 2.13GHz, 2128 MHz

		Video Adapter Properties:
			Device Description	NVIDIA GeForce 310M
			Adapter String	GeForce 310M
			BIOS String	Version 70.18.3f.0.a
			Chip Type	GeForce 310M
			DAC Type	Integrated RAMDAC
			Driver Date	16/3/2010
			Driver Version	8.17.11.9716 - nVIDIA ForceWare 197.16
			Driver Provider	NVIDIA
			Memory Size	512 MB

Monitor Properties:
			Monitor Name	Generic PnP Monitor [NoDB]
			Monitor ID	AUO183C
			Manufacturer	B140XW01 V8
			Manufacture Date	Week 1 / 2009
			Serial Number	None
			Max. Visible Display Size	31 cm x 17 cm (13.9")
			Picture Aspect Ratio	17:9
			Gamma	2.20
			DPMS Mode Support	None

Harddisk Controller:
			Driver Description	Intel(R) 5 Series 4 Port SATA AHCI Controller
			Driver Date	3/3/2010
			Driver Version	9.6.0.1014
			Driver Provider	Intel
			INF File	oem8.inf

Windows Experience Index

Note: The harddisk is a upgraded WD BEKT 7200RPM 16MB Buffer Drive the default 5K500 Hitachi Drive doesn't give as much performance

3D Mark 06 Scores

CPU

The New Arrandale CPU i330 M330 (the lowest end)

The Throttling States is as follows:

Lowest Frequency: 1200MHZ Multiplier: x9.0  

(In between Multiplier changes from x9.0 to x16.0 depending on CPU Usage thus conserving power,
however sometimes it hits x7.0 Multiplier could be a bug,
QPI is fixed and no more Front Side Bus)

Maximium Frequency: 2100MHZ Multiplier: x16.0

It is Physically a Dual Core CPU with 2 Hyperthreading Cores so 4 Logical Cores in Total

Graphics SubSystem

Note: 

There maybe some errors regarding PhysX. Official Statement about PhysX is only 32 CUDA Cores GPUs are supported however G 310M only has 16 CUDA Cores. But I have tested AS4740G and it DOES support PhysX using the latest Nvidia 257.21 driver but I wouldn't count on the performance.
 

GPU is soldered to the board as VGA BIOS/Firmware cannot be read by GPUZ the normal way. Also Soldered GPUs can reduce the pricing of the laptop therefore this can explain the cheap price of Acer Aspire 4740G.
Below is a picture of the GPU and CPU
Note GPU is soldered onto the mainboard therefore NOT UPGRADEABLE.
CPU is a PGA Socket hence UPGRADEABLE.

Although the laptop has Intel HD Graphics onboard the CPU (see the 2 die above?), it is not activated or detected, you can pray that Acer will release a BIOS, no sorry EFI Firmware that will unlock Optimus or Switchable Graphics BUT from my past experience with Acer chances are as good as striking lottery...
New:

IRONLAKE-MOBILEd.0.Ä.C.0...................BIOS_DATA_BLOCK ˜...”.þê..d....1914Intel(R)Ironlake Mobile PCI Accelerated SVGA BIOS..Build Number: 1914 PC 14.34  10/15/2009  11:37:51..DECOMPILATION OR DISASSEMBLY PROHIBITED..............Co

I found the above VGA ROM (IRONLAKE is the Intel Code Name for Intel HD Graphics onboard the Intel Core iX CPU) data inside the BIOS dump which indicate Acer Aspire 4740G CAN ACTUALLY SUPPORT switchable except Acer disabled the ability in the EFI/BIOS.

Temperature Dissipation Test

This is a new Test I devised to measure how well the unit dissipate heat it can produce at maximium performance:

My opinion on this result is that this Acer Aspire 4740G handles heat pretty decently.
Considering that Acer uses Thermal pad on the GPU this is a very good result.
I estimate if the thermal pad is replaced by a Copper Shim temperature will fall by a good 10 degrees.
Only real Tests like the one I conducted can accurately determine if a particular model potentially has thermal issues, not old grandmother stories like how my Acer from 10 years ago overheat therefore all Acer overheat(This is a flawed argument by the way).
Anyway a computer that cannot dissipate the heat it produces is as good as a man who can't wipe his own backside (Acer Aspire 4530), so this laptop does pretty well.

Kombustor rate of temperature rise graph:

3 PowerMizer States are as shown below:

CUDA Capabilities as shown below:
It seems to indicates a decent CUDA Device.

So there you go all the information you need to consider this laptop for usage.

If you know how to reinstall an Operating System, always do a clean install for better performance.

Why, because if you go Windows Hardware Developer Central there is a report that stated over 80% of OEM Imaged Computers has lousier performance than a Clean Windows Installation. 

I believe this is due to OEM Crap pre-installed in the computers.

Remember to run idle task and defragment the harddisk so AFTER installing all drivers to ensure optimal performance.
If you want to do a clean install you can use the list below as a driver checklist.
Or click here for links to latest greatest driver. 

1. Intel Chipset Driver
2. Intel Rapid Storage Driver
3. Intel Management Engine
4. Nvidia Graphics Driver
5. Nvidia High Definition Audio Driver
6. Realtek High Definition Audio Driver
7. Acer Launch Manager
8. BroadCom Bluetooth Driver
9. Finger Print Driver (Available from Windows Updates)
10. SuYin/Chicony WebCam Driver
11. Conexant Modem Driver
12. Synaptics/ALP Touchpad Driver
13. Intel Management Engine Controller
14. BroadCom NetLink LAN Driver
15. Atheros/Intel Wireless Driver
16. Realtek Card Reader Driver
17. Acer Smart Power Manager & Optical Driver Power Manager

Conclusion about whats great and what sucks
What's Great:
1)This laptop although armed with the lowest end Core i3 Processor can even outmuscle any AMD Turion II Mobile Processor so you might want to reconsider buying any Turion II laptops.
It says something when you find a Turion II M 660 Flagship Processor can't beat the lowest end Intel Core i3 330M Processor. It says even more when the Turion II equiped laptop (4540G) cost more than this laptop (4740G).
2)The Audio is fantastic: Subwoofer + Bass on a 14 inch laptop (5.1 Surround Sound See Below)

3)Solid hinge from older Gemstone.
4)Cheap price for a Intel/Nvidia combo laptop.
Remember Nvidia Always has better drivers than ATi on both Linux and Windows.
5)Awesome heat vent much better than previous designs.
6)Easy to access bottom panel for fast component upgrades
7)Ultra Slient Exhaust Fan even when spinning at Full Speed.

What Sucks
1)The touchpad looks silly because when you use 2 finger scroll, the etches for the Touchpad 1 Finger slide seems pointless
2)Sound is not so good maybe because the drivers have not yet been stably corrected.
3)Fingerprint Magnet Monitor bezel.
4)WebCam driver image quality not quite there, needs better drivers.

What's Controversial
1)The new 14 inch form factor has lower height but broader breath, personally I like it as this gives it a more compact look like a 13 inch which give better mobility but the total screen area is conserved.
2)Keyboard needs some getting use to (Sort of VAIO/Macbook style keyboard I am too used to the old Acer Style)
3)Battery life is around 3 hrs on the default battery but I know it is possible to buy 12 Cell Batteries on Ebay to equip this laptop.
4)RW-Everything reported this laptop can support up to 16GB after BIOS data analysis but only 2 Physical Slots are available so it should take a Max of 8GB only.

Bottomline:
I don't think anyone can find an Arrandale Based Laptop with decent Nvidia Graphics for the same price Acer placed on this laptop so yea this is it.

If you already own this laptop you might be interested in Optimizing the System Disk & Touchpad Configuration and installing OpenSUSE on AS4740

Changing the BackUp Button to open other applications (Using Zune as an Example)
Note: This will only work if you install the LauchManager from Acer Aspire 4540G.
<------------------(Start Copying after this Line)------------------>

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Compal\LManager\Settings\Buttons\Backup]
"Command"="C:\\Program Files\\Zune\\Zune.exe"
"Command Type"="1"
"Label"="Zune"
"Remote Code"="C008"
"Description"="Zune Media Player"
"Configable"="1"
<---------------------(Stop Copying Before this line)------------------------->