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CharredPC's Acer Extensa 5620 Hot Rod Project


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Everything's sort of on hold while I finally move from Utah to Idaho. 802.11n wifi card did arrive, though shipping time was ridiculous. Everything's done except the battery and LCD; new 5200mAh battery is (again) on its way, and will order the screen (again!) shortly. It's driving me nuts not having my own laptop, especially now that it's seriously pimped out, so rest assured I will get this finished as quickly as possible :D

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  • 2 weeks later...

Quick update:

 

Got the new 5200mAh battery (Grape32 compatible). Turns out it works perfectly with the Extensa 5620, but needs a 90W supply to charge it. The original one is a 65W. The brand new Acer (not generic) charger was about $15 shipped, and now I have a 2.5 hour ETA under XP.

 

Got sick of waiting, so ordered a new LCD when a good deal came up. Not exactly the model I wanted, but should work; a brand new glossy Samsung LTN154P3-L05 WSXGA+ for $60 shipped. Also installed the 802.11n card. So in theory, by next weekend I will have a complete laptop once more, and can reinstall OSX ^_^

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awesome project! I was curious about upgrading the display on my laptop myself. I'm not too sure if I'm up for anything beyond that though. I was wondering if you ran into problems with moving from WXGA to WSXGA, like having to get a new inverter or getting into something really hairy. I've replaced an lcd panel for something identical and was wondering if the process would be as straightforward as that. I'd love to hear how this works out.

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  • 2 weeks later...
awesome project! I was curious about upgrading the display on my laptop myself. I'm not too sure if I'm up for anything beyond that though. I was wondering if you ran into problems with moving from WXGA to WSXGA, like having to get a new inverter or getting into something really hairy. I've replaced an lcd panel for something identical and was wondering if the process would be as straightforward as that. I'd love to hear how this works out.

 

Don't be so scared! The cpu / RAM / hd / battery / wifi upgrades all went fine (once I had working parts to install). If you're careful, it's not too hard. My new screen was delivered a few days ago- to my old address. I have someone picking it up, and should have it in my hands to install tomorrow afternoon! I cannot wait :wacko:

 

I haven't had to replace the inverter at all (thus far). The process is exactly like replacing an identical LCD, as long as you make sure the size is the same. Biggest question is if your chipset / 30-pin lcd cable / bios is happy with the transfer. From what I've seen, my chipset and bios are fine. The cable may not have a complete pin-set in my unit, but it tries anyway, and does seem to work.

 

Of course I'll post the results as soon as I get it together tomorrow night.

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Don't be so scared! The cpu / RAM / hd / battery / wifi upgrades all went fine (once I had working parts to install). If you're careful, it's not too hard. My new screen was delivered a few days ago- to my old address. I have someone picking it up, and should have it in my hands to install tomorrow afternoon! I cannot wait :)

 

I haven't had to replace the inverter at all (thus far). The process is exactly like replacing an identical LCD, as long as you make sure the size is the same. Biggest question is if your chipset / 30-pin lcd cable / bios is happy with the transfer. From what I've seen, my chipset and bios are fine. The cable may not have a complete pin-set in my unit, but it tries anyway, and does seem to work.

 

Of course I'll post the results as soon as I get it together tomorrow night.

 

Sorry but im new to this forum. I have an extensa 5620-6830 laptop and I am very interested in upgrading the dismal screen, the battery and the non exsistant bluetooth. You have been very descriptive about your endeavors but i was hoping that you could be a little more specific as how I could aquire the compatible hardware. Could you maybe post model numbers for the battey (and the 90 wt ac adaptor) as well as the bluetooth and LCD screen (1680x1050), or any instuctions on how to aquire them? any help would be greatly appreciated.

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Sorry but im new to this forum. I have an extensa 5620-6830 laptop and I am very interested in upgrading the dismal screen, the battery and the non exsistant bluetooth. You have been very descriptive about your endeavors but i was hoping that you could be a little more specific as how I could aquire the compatible hardware. Could you maybe post model numbers for the battey (and the 90 wt ac adaptor) as well as the bluetooth and LCD screen (1680x1050), or any instuctions on how to aquire them? any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

No problem, though I'd recommend waiting until I've tested everything before making the plunge... just to be safe and save money.

Finished: The battery is an Acer Grape32 5200mAh model. You will need to purchase a 90w Acer (model PA-1900-05) charger to use it. This aspect works great, and has been tested on my system. Both purchased off of eBay.

 

Unfinished: The eBay "new" LCD showed up here looking used and DOA. Super PO'd, I immediately returned it and ordered a brand new $125 LG one from a reputable major seller. I'll try it out and post the results as soon as it gets here, hopefully within a week.

 

Finished, but waiting: The bluetooth module was from DealExtreme, but they have since changed the chipset so it's no longer OSX compatible. I'm working on finding a cheap replacement; as soon as I find and acquire one, I'll post a full guide on it.

 

Otherwise, thus far I've been using eBay to gather components. Just keep in mind that sometimes finding a killer deal means you're buying {censored}. That said, a lot of my parts were very cheap. When this project is complete, I plan on compiling all the info with pictures into a useful guide, not just my many delays and ramblings which is this thread :)

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WARNING: From here on out, things will get very technical, because I'm a hard-headed idiot who refuses to give up :thumbsup_anim:

 

 

This laptop (and seemingly most Acer's) has a WXGA LCD cable. This limits the data throughput to 1280x800. However, once you install any WXGA+, WSXGA, or WUXGA LG LCD into it, Windows will show higher resolutions as available. That is because all the hardware it can see (LCD + video chipset) look perfectly compatible to it. What it can't see is the LCD cable. So when you apply the higher resolutions, you get a sort of washed-out graininess, sometimes with lines.

 

Does that mean we're out of luck? Aw, heeeell no!

 

Let's look at exactly why this occurs, electronically. I give you the standard WUXGA/WSXGA+ dual channel 30-pin LCD pinout:

 

1 ground

2 +3.3v

3 +3.3v

4 +3.3v

5 nc/key

6 DDC Clock

7 DDC Data

8 A D0-

9 A D0+

10 ground

11 A D1-

12 A D1+

13 ground

14 A D2-

15 A D2+

16 ground

17 A Clock-

18 A Clock+

19 ground

20 B D0-

21 B D0+

22 ground

23 B D1-

24 B D1+

25 ground

26 B D2-

27 B D2+

28 ground

29 B Clock-

30 B Clock+

 

Now, the green highlighted connections are the only ones present in our WXGA Acers. Notice what's missing? Right, the entire second channel (B D0, D1, D2, B Clock). This is why things look poorly on the screen- half the data is physically missing.

 

So how to solve this? As the pins physically aren't there on either end of our connectors, tossing in extra wires wouldn't work very well. So I see one of two options: first, replacing our LCD cable with a full 30-pin cable. The big difficulty here is that while the 30-pin LCD connector is standard, our motherboard connector is not. Plus this also runs the webcam (usb) and connects to the inverter. We start messing with that, and things could get ugly.

 

The Acer Aspire 8920G has WUXGA resolution and a webcam, so its lcd cable might work. Or not. Anyone care to track one down and buy it to see? By the prices I see... no thanks. Not to mention the motherboard end of the plug likely being wired different, even if we get lucky and it's the same physical socket.

 

Here's how I plan to solve it. The existing WXGA cable (Wistron COLUMBIA 15.4" WXGA LCD+CCD CABLE 50.4T329.001, btw) has plastic release tabs on both ends; in layman's terms, the wires can easily be unhooked from both connectors, if you're careful. So instead of tracking down a perhaps mythical connector which likely won't work, I will just purchase a second standard WXGA cable. Then I'll unwrap / unclip some wires, add them to mine (restoring the missing data channel), and viola! Full 30-pin connector.

 

If this does in fact work out- electronically, it all should- I may go into business making modded Acer cables to allow us all 1900x1200 resolution on our budget machines :whistle:

 

As far as screens go: In my testing, every LG LCD I've tried works, no matter what the physical size or resolution. Perhaps other brands work, but I figured I'm taking enough chances experimenting here. I finally ended up with a new WXGA+ glossy LP154WP1(TL)(A3) for my build. Other than the screen's inverter jack being the wrong size (quick plastic plug swap fixed that) it fits perfectly. Once my cable's done, the bright, clear 1440x900 will be nice, and I could upgrade to anything higher should I want to later.

 

I know I keep promising it, but really- pictures to come of this wacky endeavor as work progresses.

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If this does in fact work out- electronically, it all should- I may go into business making modded Acer cables to allow us all 1900x1200 resolution on our budget machines :(

 

this is the only part that really caught my attention; if you in fact do this, I'll be the first in line for one of these cables!

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this is the only part that really caught my attention; if you in fact do this, I'll be the first in line for one of these cables!

 

If this works out as it should, I'll definitely build at least a couple extra. It would help this project to have other user's successful results. The theory is simple enough. I've even verified that the motherboard plug receptacle does in fact have all the pins... this cable is the only thing stopping full, clear high resolution.

 

My luck, I'll get this done successfully, then feel the need to buy yet another LCD so I have pointless/insane 1900x1200 ability :D

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  • 2 weeks later...

Success! Full 100% success!

 

Crystal clear WXGA+ / WSXGA / WUXGA capability in my little Extensa 5620. Was much easier than I'd hoped. Will post more once OSX 10.6 is installed and am on my own machine.

 

:D

 

Edit: Can't locate my OSX retail DVD. See, this is why I hate moving. Getting another, but have to wait... AGAIN. In the meantime, I reinstalled XP. Loving the 1440x900 resolution, plus this a much brighter screen than the original. Also, the Mac (BC4321) card I bought a while back refuses to connect to my router. Not sure if it's to blame, or if my AP is too crappy. The wife's 802.11n card has no issue, so I don't see why mine would... hrm.

 

I have enough wires left to convert one more WXGA cable into a full 30-pin cable. As I said, it was much easier than I hoped. Acer makes it easy :P

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  • 2 weeks later...

AeonModder: I don't have hard numbers, sorry- depends entirely on what I'm doing, what OS I'm in, etc. I can say that this new battery lasts over an hour, even under serious multitasking (web browsing + chatting + Q virtual machine + DVD drive + music) in OSX without speedstep. That's certainly better than my original.

 

Definitely loving this upgraded Acer.. it's like a whole new machine. No hesitation, no waiting on anything. The new screen is crisp and bright; the USB Ethernet works as a perfectly seemless wired network solution; the retail EFI install runs fast and smooth. All previous quirks are gone (X3100 'cold boot' issue) too!

 

If anyone else wants to do the WXGA+/WSXGA/WUXGA LCD cable mod, let me know. I have enough wiring left over to send someone else, and can include pinout diagrams and instructions. It's not as scary as it sounds. This will be an awesome laptop to use when I go back to school this spring.... ;)

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I would definitely like to get a cable from you so i can perform this upgrade. If you could e-mail me at drewhesse@gmail.com I can give my mailing adress, and i can cover any cost's that you had for the cable as well. Looking forward to hearing from you!

 

Just to clarify, I don't have a complete, ready to use spare LCD cable; I have half a dozen individual wires that need to be added to an existing LCD cable by inserting them properly into the connectors at either end. Just wanted to make sure you're aware of that. I'll happily send anyone the wires and instructions to do the mod, or if you send me an LCD cable I'll do it for you myself and mail back the completed product.

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So, just to clarify, if i pulled the LCD cable out of my acer and sent it to you then you would perform the upgrade to it?

 

I would not enjoy that part of this project and my electrical skills are weak, but i was prepared to do it myself, however if you could out of the kindness of your hear or passion for this sort of thing that would be a lifesaver! so.. whadda say :^)

Just to clarify, I don't have a complete, ready to use spare LCD cable; I have half a dozen individual wires that need to be added to an existing LCD cable by inserting them properly into the connectors at either end. Just wanted to make sure you're aware of that. I'll happily send anyone the wires and instructions to do the mod, or if you send me an LCD cable I'll do it for you myself and mail back the completed product.
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So, just to clarify, if i pulled the LCD cable out of my acer and sent it to you then you would perform the upgrade to it?

 

I would not enjoy that part of this project and my electrical skills are weak, but i was prepared to do it myself, however if you could out of the kindness of your hear or passion for this sort of thing that would be a lifesaver! so.. whadda say :^)

 

Yes, I would be happy to do that for you. Someone else here should attest to the nifty modification I created! Besides, what else would I use my extra wires for? You'd still have to acquire and install a higher resolution LCD to take advantage of it, but I'd be happy to mod the cable for you if you sent it to me. I'll PM you my address; USPS first class mail is cheapest, or a Priority Mail envelope is next best (if you want delivery confirmation tracking on it). Have you already figured out how to disassemble everything? If not, let me know, and I can give you some tips.

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Yes, I would be happy to do that for you. Someone else here should attest to the nifty modification I created! Besides, what else would I use my extra wires for? You'd still have to acquire and install a higher resolution LCD to take advantage of it, but I'd be happy to mod the cable for you if you sent it to me. I'll PM you my address; USPS first class mail is cheapest, or a Priority Mail envelope is next best (if you want delivery confirmation tracking on it). Have you already figured out how to disassemble everything? If not, let me know, and I can give you some tips.

 

if you ever need a second witness, I could send over my lcd cable as well. Also, I was hoping to enlist your guys' help with finding a grape32 power supply that won't charge me an arm and a leg. I've just gotten my laptop's dc jack repaired and am finding also that my battery's toast. I'm using this as an opportunity to get a grape32 psu with a stronger battery and could use any help I can get to keep costs down. Thanks again and congrats on cracking that code, charredpc!

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Great to see all the Extensa 5620 users here!

 

Dawntodon: I'm happy to take care of both your cable and AeonModder's, but as I let him know, I seem to be short on wires. I thought I had eight spare, but turns out I only have five. So if one of you could send a spare cable along with your own, that would give me plenty to modify both. If neither of you have a spare, perhaps you can split the cost of a used one off eBay or something...? I'm willing to do the work free, but not in a place financially to buy another spare cable, unfortunately.

 

As far as the charger goes, I used an Acer PA-1900-05. Taking a quick look on eBay, I see several of that model ending for pretty cheap... if you want an actual Acer branded one like I got, there are some new ones for $13.50 Buy It Now with free shipping.

 

For the Grape32 battery, still looking at eBay, you can either go with a new 4400mAh one (which is still slightly better than the original 4000mAh) for about $42 shipped, a 4800mAh one for $58 shipped, or the 5200mAh one for about $56. Not sure where you can find cheaper than that, unless you want to try a different model battery. Let me know if you have any questions or need more details.

 

Also, I finally wrote up a little guide that sums up the upgrades I did. You can view it here. If I end up modding someone's cable, I will add pictures of that. I'm simply too busy using my Acer to rip it apart and take pictures! :D

 

And never forget to install the generic speedstep kext when using OSX! All batteries die quick when the cpu is running at 100% all the time.

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Great to see all the Extensa 5620 users here!

 

Dawntodon: I'm happy to take care of both your cable and AeonModder's, but as I let him know, I seem to be short on wires. I thought I had eight spare, but turns out I only have five. So if one of you could send a spare cable along with your own, that would give me plenty to modify both. If neither of you have a spare, perhaps you can split the cost of a used one off eBay or something...? I'm willing to do the work free, but not in a place financially to buy another spare cable, unfortunately.

 

As far as the charger goes, I used an Acer PA-1900-05. Taking a quick look on eBay, I see several of that model ending for pretty cheap... if you want an actual Acer branded one like I got, there are some new ones for $13.50 Buy It Now with free shipping.

 

For the Grape32 battery, still looking at eBay, you can either go with a new 4400mAh one (which is still slightly better than the original 4000mAh) for about $42 shipped, a 4800mAh one for $58 shipped, or the 5200mAh one for about $56. Not sure where you can find cheaper than that, unless you want to try a different model battery. Let me know if you have any questions or need more details.

 

Also, I finally wrote up a little guide that sums up the upgrades I did. You can view it here. If I end up modding someone's cable, I will add pictures of that. I'm simply too busy using my Acer to rip it apart and take pictures! :D

 

And never forget to install the generic speedstep kext when using OSX! All batteries die quick when the cpu is running at 100% all the time.

 

hi charredpc,

 

again, thanks for your help. a quick search on ebay for terms "5200mah acer" for items over $50 seemed to yield batteries that are compatible with acers but not with my 5620. I would be interested in taking the plunge for a 5200 mah one. I had tried contacting aeonmodder but it doesn't seem s/he is too interested in working together on making this happen. would you mind directing me in the way of a link to one of these wires so i have an idea visually what to look for? kudos for your hard work and i suppose i can partially thank acer for making this one extensa so repurposable!

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hi charredpc,

 

again, thanks for your help. a quick search on ebay for terms "5200mah acer" for items over $50 seemed to yield batteries that are compatible with acers but not with my 5620. I would be interested in taking the plunge for a 5200 mah one. I had tried contacting aeonmodder but it doesn't seem s/he is too interested in working together on making this happen. would you mind directing me in the way of a link to one of these wires so i have an idea visually what to look for? kudos for your hard work and i suppose i can partially thank acer for making this one extensa so repurposable!

 

This battery is a 5200mAh one for $48.75, and will work with the 5620. Don't forget you'll need the 90w charger as well to make it work. Here's a cable similar to the one I bought (the cable I actually purchased was here). The important thing is it should be for an Acer Extensa, and look very similar to ours- same tape wrapping, same 40 pin plug. That way, the wires will be transferable.

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If anyone's still following this thread- I've run into a pretty major glitch with the battery upgrade. Turns out that the aftermarket 5200mAh batteries from eBay's masterdealalert are NOT a good candidate for serious upgrading. Sure, it fits fine, charges fine, and will run your laptop... somewhat.

 

After all my upgrades, running with the charger plugged in yields 100% stability. Unplugging the charger, everything seems fine. Right up until too much amperage is drawn- then it dies, usually requiring the battery to be physically removed for a few seconds before it can turn back on again. I can trigger it every time nearly instantly using a cpu stress test app.

 

It would appear that these knockoff replacement batteries simply can't output enough. They're probably good for low amperage over a longer time, but due to the way they're made, can't supply more power quickly as needed. The only other battery I have here to test is the really-sad-shape original, of which even OSX's System Profiler says "Condition: Check battery" and expects a full charge to hold only 1200mAh. But even that doesn't shut off when I max out the cpu (it dies about two minutes later when the power runs out), so it's definitely a shoddy China workmanship issue. -_-

 

Maybe a middle-ground 4400mAh, 4800mAh, or just a higher quality battery is the way to go. As I said, as long as I'm only casually web browsing with everything off, the battery works fine, which is why I haven't noticed anything up till now. But obviously I'm not satisfied with that. It probably supplies just enough for the original hd and cpu. Anyone want to purchase it from me for $25 and find out? In the meantime, now I've got to find a proper replacement...

 

The original battery is Model TM00741. Supposedly compatible models to this are: TM00751, GRAPE32, GRAPE34, LC.BTP00.005, CONIS71, CONIS72, LC.BTP00.006, BT.00603.024, BT.00604.011, BT.00604.015, LIP6219VPC, LIP6219VPC SY6, and LIP6232CPC. I guess now I'm looking for something sold within the USA, by decent people who speak English and stand behind what they sell >_>

 

Everything on the web looks really dang expensive, so I guess we're stuck shopping at eBay. This one looks like a likely 4400mAh candidate, for $42 shipped. All the 4800mAh ones (like this) I can find currently are both from China and have an alternate voltage- 14.8v instead of 11.1v... sounds like a big risk to take for $50. Options for 5200mAh ones are this one (auction full of broken images doesn't inspire confidence, IMO) for $63; this one and this one, each for $60; the rest are China ones or more junk from masterdealalert. So which option to choose?

 

I think I've got to try for another 5200mAh, though I get a feeling that the 4400mAh one would work just fine, and looks like it's from a reputable company. The point of all this is to max out everything, not just nudge it up 400mAh. Give me a little while to gather funds again :D I've written to the sellers I listed above, asking about their quality vs what I previously ordered. Really bad financial time for this to occur, but I'll need a working battery for school come January. Plus I might as well finish being the guinea pig for everyone, so you can learn from it!

 

On a different note, I've ordered a supposedly Mac-compatible v2.0 A2DP capable mini USB Bluetooth module for $3 shipped which I will install inside my Extensa after modding it to fit. I'll try and get some pinouts, pictures, etc up when I do it. This was planned ages back, but the module I got wasn't Mac compatible.

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Hi Charred, I am stalking you from the stalled Acer thread over at

 

http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=77396

 

and have to say you are pretty much my hero on insanelymac, or certainly one of them! The battery thing sounds annoying, sounds like you had bad luck. I will be tuning in to see how that goes. Probably I will end up going for an HP 311 netbook with Nvidia ION to get decent battery life and improved HD playback, unless I can find an ultra cheap graphics co-processor like some Netbook buyers seem to go for. I need to research that one. Battery life on my 5620 with Windows 7 went up by a quarter for me over Vista. I am keen to try Snow Leopard on it, especially with 10.6.2.

 

Anyway, keep up the great work, strength to you! :) I'm going to pop up on the Mac Mini thread, now, too!! Similar obsessions.

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If anyone's still following this thread- I've run into a pretty major glitch with the battery upgrade. Turns out that the aftermarket 5200mAh batteries from eBay's masterdealalert are NOT a good candidate for serious upgrading. Sure, it fits fine, charges fine, and will run your laptop... somewhat.

 

now I thought you warned against masterdealalert, but when I was battery shopping and referring back to your old post, the name masterdealalert disappeared. Well, I ended up buying from them anyway and the issue you mention doesn't seem to be something I ought to be concerned about? I say this because I'm assuming that the type of stuff I do while on battery -- ie surf the web -- is presumably not as power hungry as the stuff I do while plugged in (e.g. record audio).

 

taking a look at the cost of getting a new lcd panel AND an extra cable, I'm not so sure if I'm prepared to go into upswapping my LCD just yet. thanks again for this valuable information and for blazing the trails for extensa hot rodders to come.

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  • 2 weeks later...
now I thought you warned against masterdealalert, but when I was battery shopping and referring back to your old post, the name masterdealalert disappeared. Well, I ended up buying from them anyway and the issue you mention doesn't seem to be something I ought to be concerned about? I say this because I'm assuming that the type of stuff I do while on battery -- ie surf the web -- is presumably not as power hungry as the stuff I do while plugged in (e.g. record audio).

 

taking a look at the cost of getting a new lcd panel AND an extra cable, I'm not so sure if I'm prepared to go into upswapping my LCD just yet. thanks again for this valuable information and for blazing the trails for extensa hot rodders to come.

 

More confusion, hooray! ...my apologies, dawntodon.

 

Initially I thought masterdealalert's battery was to blame when it refused to charge. He gave me no real information, other than saying it "should work." It obviously didn't, so I quickly reported the issue here to save others from the problem. Some time later, from my own troubleshooting and research, I determined that the charger needed to be a higher amperage. Once I acquired a 90W charger and another of masterdealalert's batteries, it did indeed charge properly. I therefore edited previous posts so as not to slander an innocent seller.

 

Then came the shutdown issue while on battery. I was 100% certain that this was in fact his product's fault, due to the following facts:

 

1. It only happens while on battery power, not with the charger.

2. It only happens when cpu use is heavy, drawing more power.

3. A single test with my near-useless original battery appeared to work OK.

 

However, just to throw some more confusion into the mix (though perhaps good news), I'm revising my opinion once again. Recently I managed to do a true full retail installation that appears to handle things quite differently than previous attempts. The ACPI seems healthier- sleep worked immediately, for instance, and also the turn-off-using-battery issue has changed. The laptop still shut off when maxing out the cpu for too long, but it could be immediately turned back on without removing the battery. The BIOS isn't reset either.

 

I'm also now able to run iStat to monitor cpu temps, and this pointed me toward a very serious problem. Under full load, temps shot up to 80C! It appears that this is causing the instant shutdown, simply a BIOS-triggered safety measure. I dismantled the unit, and noted that I was apparently asleep when I installed the cpu... there was essentially no thermal paste applied. More shocking than my forgetfulness is the fact that it ran happily like this (with ~34C idle) for so long! The old hot 65nm T5250 could never have handled it.

 

This begs the question of why it isn't restarting itself while using the charger. I still haven't figured that one out. I suppose there could be some odd code in the BIOS allowing for higher temps while on direct power, though that makes no sense to me. Maybe I'll never know, but the thing to do now is to apply some AS5 or IC7 thermal paste and retest everything. The only problem there is I appear to be completely out, so have to order more. After reading all the good reviews, I'd like to try IC7, especially now that it can be had for about $7 shipped. It would be really nice if this fixes it- much cheaper than a new battery.

 

I'll leave the previous posts as they stand until I know for sure. I'm still not 100% pleased with this battery's quality, though. I can now run Coconut Battery, and it reports that it's already down to 79% capacity- closer to 4100mAh than 5200mAh. I'm betting it showed up at less than full capacity; I was just unable to test it within OSX, and didn't think to under XP. Since there's a choice, I'd recommend buying from one of the other sellers I mentioned. In the meantime, I've carefully cleaned the cpu / heatsink and put the laptop aside until the paste arrives. Hopefully it doesn't take long ;) I will of course post back as soon as I know more.

 

On a side note, I'm in the process of redoing my guide (linked earlier and in my sig). As part of that, I've collected all the proper apps and best drivers for this model laptop, putting them into a single downloadable package. I even did up some installers / uninstallers, so everything can be done with double-clicking. Some of the previously described links or methods did not in fact work properly when I tested them on my vanilla retail installation; I apologize. That's what I get for trying to write a guide after the work is already done. The new collection has been better tested. I've posted a link to it in the guide. A full retail walkthrough will be finished once my hardware's ready again :)

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