UPDATE - Jan/28/08
I've recently purchased an Acer Extensa 5420 laptop in order to talk to Dani and get some work done while back in the States. The following lists the some of the issues I and a few other people have had with the laptop and the resolutions, if any.
Here are the specs:
[source: bestbuy.com]
Extensa 5420-5687
- AMD Turion™ 64 X2 mobile technology TL-58
- 2GB DDR2 SDRAM
- Multiformat DVD±RW/CD-RW with double-layer support
- 15.4" WXGA LCD CrystalBrite Widescreen 1280 x 800
- 160GB SATA HDD 5400 RPM
- ATI RADEON X1250 graphics with up to 896MB HyperMemory
- S-video TV-out
- Built-in Crystal Eye Web cam and microphone
- 5-in-1 media card reader supports Secure Digital, MultiMediaCard, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO and xD-Picture Card
- IEEE 1394 (FireWire)
- 4 high-speed USB 2.0 ports
- Built-in wireless LAN (802.11b/g); 10/100/1000Base-T Ethernet LAN with RJ-45 connector; V.92 high-speed modem
- 6.4 lbs.
- 1.7" thin
- Lithium-ion battery and AC adapter
- Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Edition
- Acer GridVista, CyberLink PowerDVD, NTI CD-Maker and more
It's a very nice laptop, quite responsive and runs all the applications I need in order to get my work done - Photoshop, Apache Server, MySql Server, MS Office, etc. - the regular run-of-the-mill apps...
The hardware is more than adequate and keeps up well with the programs. The web cam is definitely a plus - I get to see my girl everyday!
I haven't used it for gaming or ran any graphics intensive application. I have my desktop for that.
I have no problems with Windows Vista Home Premium. It's just as fast as the Ultimate version I have installed on my desktop. However, I do wonder how much faster it would be on Windows XP or Ubuntu (or any Linux distro for that matter).
It'd be fair to say its a very decent piece of hardware for the price. I paid $649 for it but there are people who got a much better deal one month ago at Best Buy - only $499! I don't mind the extra money as long as everything works. I can't seem to find a good laptop with comparable specs for this price.
THE BAD
The wireless adapter can be testy. I have a linksys wireless router at home which all laptops connect to without any problems anywhere in the home. This one doesn't seem to like it much. At times I am in the same room as the router and still it won't work, or simply drop the connection intermittently. It might be an isolated hardware problem and may need looking at by an Acer tech.
Incidentally, I found another glitch, a nasty and somewhat puzzling one. Every now and then the screen goes blank. Instant kaput without warning. It's a screen black out that the computer does not recover from and all that I can do is push the power button for a restart. There's no hardware activity. The power and charge lights stay on but everything else just dies, seemingly without explanation, at any given time.
THE UGLY
This is not an isolated incident. As I perused the net, I've found several users who have had the same issue and are up #@&!'s creek without a paddle. Check out this post at Neil Galloway's Blog - Thoughts From My Life. (Thank you, sir!)
Acer Support ranges from utterly horrendous to basically inexistent. I couldn't find a direct phone number to tech support anywhere on their site - I might not have looked hard enough.
However, I did contact them via email and got the following cookie cutter answer from "Online Agent-05":
Discussion ThreadSo, only one week after buying the laptop, they suggest I ship it out to their Repair Center somewhere in the Midwest to get it back one month later, most likely with the same problem. Not happening. I honestly hoped that someone at Acer would acknowledge this problem openly, post it on their support site, and not leave their customers hanging.
Response (Online Agent-05) 01/24/2008 04:04 PM Dear Leo Silva,
Thank you for contacting Acer America. We apologize for the delay in responding to your inquiry.
Based on the information provided I suggest your Acer product be checked by our authorized repair depot. You can set this up for service yourself by going to http://www.acerpanam.com; click on the US or Canada then select the link for Depot Repair under Fix My Acer. I hope this is helpful.
Respectfully,
Acer America
Online SupportCustomer (Leo Silva) 01/23/2008 01:38 AM 1. The laptop screen blacks out and the machine will not return to activity. It has happened three or four times since I bought it, five days ago. The screen will turn black seemingly at no particular time or event. After the screen turns black there's no hard drive or cpu activity whatsoever. The notebook simply freezes and won't return unless booted manually by holding the power button down.
2. The wireless signal, although apparently "Excellent", is extremely poor at 3 feet away from the wireless router. The connection drops repeatedly at times. Other laptops in the house have excellent connection and no such issues.
I am left with two options: return it to Bestbuy or wait until someone figures out what the problem is and hope Acer will honor the warranty and fix it properly.
NO FIX YET
I downloaded the latest drivers from the ATI website for the video adapter (Radeon Xpress 1250) bundled in the Catalyst Package 8.1. The driver version was exactly the same as the one pre-installed but it did install an extra item: the North Bridge Filter Driver v. 1.00.0000.1. I have no idea what that does but my screen hasn't blacked out yet and I use the laptop 12-15 hours a day.
John (AshWilliams) suggested it may be a hardware issue, and that may well be the case, which means no driver update will fix it and most if not all laptops in this lineup will be affected.
LINKS
18 comments:
Just a thought, have you tried the power option settings? I do IT work and have ran into a similiar problem at times, people claim their computer shuts off but it is infact in a deep sleep "power conserve" mode, where the hdd shuts off, like a extreme stand-by mode. all laptops are different and perhaps this model is set to turn off the hdd and screen, gpu (video card) and other devices after a period of time?
go to Control Panel >
then to Power Options and see what the settings are at.
hope this helps,
Unfortunately that is not the case. The laptop screen, HDD, and all activity come to a halt at any given time and will not return unless the machine is hard booted. A lot of people have been having the same problem and Acer will not acknowledge that fact.
I had the laptop replaced last Saturday and luckily so far nothing of the sort has happened.
Thank you very much for the suggestion, though.
I have the exact same model. I bought it at BestBuy for $649 and the next day it was in the Sunday ad for $499. I went to the store and they refunded the difference (very nice as I considered it a great deal at the price I originally paid.)
So far it has run very well. I haven't seen the issue you mentioned, but have noticed the power cord connection is a bit finicky (if it is not all the way in, it will dim the screen brightness like its been completely disconnected.)
I have recently been playing Hellgate London and it plays fine at minimum settings (need to disable anti-aliasing to make it playable.)
I am a Linux fan, so have been trying to get Ubuntu to work on it. This is going OK (I am typing this from Ubuntu - it is setup for dual-boot) except for the wireless card:apparently native Linux driver Broadcom support for this chipset is an issue, so I may have to go with the NDIS wrapper.
Overall very pleased. I hope you have good luck as well.
John
Hello John,
I have also tinkered with Ubuntu on my laptop but I'm not very familiar with Linux. When I first booted it I couldn't get the wireless card to work but like you said there's a workaround. I think this is what you were talking about: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=512828
From what I've read, it doesn't work for everyone so here is another article that might come in handy:
Atheros 5007EG with madwifi on i386 platform
Best of luck
I bought the same model on feb 1st 2008 at best buy for 549.00. Im working in phoenix (from chicago) and my 3 year old dell started having problems with the power connector. I have a ton of work to do so i had no choice but to run out and get something to hold me over.
I have experienced the black out once. I was loading 5 gigs of music from an external HD and i had the unit sitting on my lap. I assumed no ventilation led to the black out.
I have not experienced any issues with wireless connectivity/ stability.
Also.. the first one i got i opened up in the parking lot to take a look at it and i noticed something jiggling around inside so i exchanged it 5 minutes after i bought it.
I have always heard how great acer is. Well maybe they were 3 years ago when i was laptop shopping last :).
Yep, same reason I got an Acer. Good hardware for relatively low prices. If anything, this problem is very annoying. It hits you unexpectedly and you lose any work you might have been doing.
Check if your BIOS version is updated to v.1.16. There are other things people have been doing to try and get rid of this problem - link
Get the new BIOS here - link
I hope it helps
Good luck!
Leo
Karma: When the screen goes black the machine is dead but the monitor is lit. The only thing that works is holding the power button in till it shuts off.
It's Feb 8 and so far i have not seen the black screen again. I have had it powered up for 12-15 hours each day. Im working with multiple huge fireworks files while running itunes and Crestron vtpro-e. Fireworks and vtpro would crash my old p4 after a couple hours.
My bios is 1.14. I havent upgraded or updated any drivers or the bios.
The only thing ive done since it happened is i turned off most of the power management (all i could find in vista). No screen savers no sleep or hibernation. Back when i first got my hands on windows me i learned to shut all the "helpful" stuff off because it causes instability (or did with windows me).
The other thing that may or may not be important is that its normally cool in the house so heat isnt an issue for me. Mentioning this because i think heat might play a role.
When i found your blog i was researching the missing bluetooth module. The case has a bluetooth switch but i had to order the module from a guy on ebay because the unit doesnt come with it. Once i read thru your posts i searched and found people everywhere talking about this model and the black screen issue. Over at bestbuy's user reviews for the product i would say 1 in 5 report the problem.
I have 6 days to return it under the 14 day policy but its so hard to part with all the bells and whistles this thing came with for the price. I got it for $549.00 some got it for $499.00 and now its back up to $649.00. I thought i would be buying a new one in a year but now that im using it i think ill get 2 or 3 out of it easy based on my needs.
Same crap happened to me. I've been surfing the net and have been reading all kinds of crap about this comp. Mine has blacked out twice. I think it's why they dropped it at such low price. I'm pretty sure Best Buy is aware of this. I tried to bring it back and get my money back but they were gonna charge me a restocking fee. As they tried to prove nothing was wrong with the comp by sticking their CDs into it... alot of the stupid geek squad guys just gave me this weird (peering) look. Best Buy suxx I'm gonna buy my stuff circuit city from now on. The Plus side though... i did play half life 2 and spent about 20 hrs to complete it. Not once did it black out and the animation was superb. I'm just afraid it might black out permanently one of these daze
Hey, I was looking around for a fix to a different problem and came across this. One thing I've noticed is that the blackout only occurs when the laptop is unplugged (for me, at least). I don't know if that signifies some greater power problem, like I had thought way back when I posted on Thoughts From My Life, but it is peculiar. Also, the blackout seems to occur at a higher rate if I have Windows Media Player running while it's unplugged (VLC is better at improving the blackout rate in my experience; other programs don't seem to affect it). I know that sounds somewhat crazy, but it's just what I've seen.
Anyways, this computer is effed anyways with some fat malware, so I guess now would be the time to send it in/get it wiped.
AshWilliams
PS: Is ACER STILL refusing to acknowledge the problem exists?
Bought mine in January at BestBuy for 499. Blacked out on day 1 and several times since then. Annoying as crap. Been searching the web for a fix, such as the one for the Toshiba Satellite series, and have come up empty.
Another thing that sucks is the 6 cell battery and finding a replacement with decent life.
I love Mine and have had no problems with it but I will say this if any has one that is not working please let me know I will gladly take it off your I will pay for shipping and everything.
Patricia Williamson
armychick6906@aol.com
help guys..ive just experienced the "blackout" a few minutes ago,. ive tried the on/off button to no avail..and i cant find the reset button. can somebody tell me where can i find the reset button? i dont want to removed the battery again just to power up the pc.
polddope just hold the power button in until it shuts off to get it to reset.
I think the problem is definately heat related. Now that summer is here in Chicago im getting black screen 10 times a day. It happened to me 1 time when i first bought it months ago and it ran fine until this week. At 72 degrees F its too hot to run the Acer 5420. If i stick a laptop cooler under it it has no problems and within minutes of removing it my machine locks up.
I think this is why people are not blaming heat for the blackscreen.. at normal temps it doesnt seem like heat should be an issue but it is. My 2 cents anyway.
This looks like an old post but just in case anyone reads it, the screen blackout problem was an issue with the BIOS. It affected other laptops with the same chipset. Hop on down to Acer's support site, download the latest BIOS update, and your problem will go away.
I purchased this same model back in January and I had the same problem with the black screen just appearing randomly. I downloaded the latest BIOS from Acer's website, installed it and haven't had a black screen in months...
I have been having the black out issue as well. Be advised that the computer is still running as normal during the black screen. You can verify this by connecting the laptop by S-Video to your TV. A restart is necessary to get rid of the black screen.
i have had this problem and it is really annoying. i try to keep my sidebar that says how much memory my computer is using and try not to let it reach past 80-90% and if it does i stop doing something and let it go back down to 0 or so. sometimes this helps, and then when i dont notice it all the sudden the screen will turn black.
it hates certain things like if im doing a lot online and my mouse is plugged in. i was on cokerewards and my mouse was plugged in and i couldnt even put in one code before it turned black. so i unplugged the mouse cause i read online it might be a usb problem (but not the only problem :-/) so i unplugged my mouse and the website worked fine, its so finicky and so annoying. i dont know what to do but try not to do too many things on my computer.
using itunes i cant even convert more than 1 or 2 songs at the most before it turns black. ill have to do one or 2 and let it chill for a half a minute or a couple minutes. the same with buying songs and letting them download.
my computer didnt start having black out problems until a year after at least. so im just really mad and would lovce a solution but i feel like that is almost impossible :-(
I had the same problem with my wife's. After several disassemblies, I noticed that my bios changes were gone each time that it black screened when it was powered up. So far so good on hers now. Took it apart one more time and installed a new CMOS CR2032 battery and all seems to be good. It's a pain because it's on top of the board and you have to take the display, keyboard, and palmrest off. We'll see if it comes back. BIOS on this one is 1.17 and none of the other changes worked for me.
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