Have Laptop Will Travel

A workaround solution to the Acer 4520 keyboard lag problem

Originally posted on August 23, 2007 @ 7:33 am

I’ve been blogging about the Acer 4520 problem regarding keyboard lag and have posted some of the theories and “solutions” that owners have performed as a way of addressing the lag problem. All of the methods used have proven to be ineffective so the search for a solution continues.

Recently, an avid Have Laptop Will Travel reader from Singapore gave an ingenious workaround to the problem. His suggestion is quite simple and he said it will immediately address the keyboard lag.

The workaround? Just press F7 to deactivate the Touchpad of the Acer 4520. Of course you will now have to attach a mouse for navigation. Our reader said that it is the touchpad’s drivers that are creating a conflict in the system and producing the lag. As I mentioned earlier, this is more of a workaround than a total fix. He said that you will have to do this everytime you open your laptop, or else look for a way to deactivate the touchpad automatically everytime the laptop is opened. He said that until the conflicts are addressed by Acer through a Bios update or a patch then the “workaround” is the only option.

To Acer 4520 owners, why don’t you try the workaround that our Singapore reader has suggested? Do email me about your experiences with this fix.

Hot laptops on your lap, anyone?

Originally posted on August 18, 2007 @ 12:34 am

Heat is one of the things that annoy me the most in laptops.

Okay, it’s great that you can bring your computer anywhere with you and basically do anything you want, anywhere you want. Portability is really a great come-on for anyone, but heat issues with certain laptops can really dampen your enthusiasm for them.

Take for example, my trusty Acer laptop. We’ve been through so much together. It has been a very able and tough road warrior but what I hate about it is that I really can’t consider it a “laptop”. Any attempts to use my lap to prop up my laptop will only last for thirty minutes or less. The bottom gets uncomfortably hot for any extended usage time. It actually gets hot enough for me to worry about my fertility. I can imagine my little sperm cells boiling down there, all because of a little computer.

I hope computer companies make laptops with more effective heat dissipation designs. I’ve already heard of units that employ heatpipe technology to wick away ambient heat from CPUs. I look forward to future products that will employ more exotic heat dissipation solutions so I can finally get a laptop that I can put on my lap without fearing for my balls.

AMD to aggressively enter notebook sector

Originally posted on October 12, 2007 @ 10:02 pm

AMD has gained a firm foothold in the server market because of its high performance, low cost CPUs but the company is not content with its achievements. They are now poised to increase its presence in the notebook sector by releasing low power CPUs and GPUs that are specifically designed to achieve the best performance on notebooks.

According to AMD CEO Hector Cruz, the company’s acquisition of GPU manufacturer ATI has enabled them to finally give consumers a more complete solution as well as the ability to present a more robust and varied lineup of products — mainly, CPUs, chipsets and graphics — that allows consumers the freedom to choose the platforms that would fit their needs and budgets.

Ruiz also announced that it will be coming out with its Puma and Griffin processors by next year along with its Hardcastle cooperation with industry participants.

Ruiz’s comments are something that I knew will happen with AMD’s acquisition of ATI. Instead of the prevailing fear then of a monopoly, I knew that the merger will actually result in a better market overall for consumers. I’m glad that this is the direction that AMD and the market is taking because in this scenario, it is us the consumers who will be the winners.

Acer 4520 keyboard lag could be a BIOS problem

Originally posted on August 20, 2007 @ 10:58 pm

There has been a great response to my blog post about the keyboard lag problem on the Acer 4520 laptops. It seems that people who bought the laptop in other countries are also experiencing the same problem.

In that previous entry I talked about what some of the Acer owner sdid in order to address the problem — that is, they tried to swap the laptop’s memory in the hope that it may just be incompatible RAMs. But the keyboard lag still persisted. Another new tactic that was used that also proved to be ineffective was to reinstall the Windows OS on the affected units. Some people reported a “slight” improvement — meaning the lag was not as slow as before. But there were also some users who said the lag time was still the same.

From the number of users that are complaining about the keyboard lag, the inevitable conclusion that has been arrived at is that it is a system problem. The culprit being pointed at is the system bios, which really has no user level solution though. Acer 4520 users have no choice but to wait for the company to issue a bios update that can possibly address the issue of the keyboard lag.

Laptop battery fires are dangerous!

Originally posted on July 25, 2007 @ 11:40 pm


Practically every single one of the big name companies that manufacture either laptops or batteries for laptops (Sony, Hewlett-Packard, Toshiba and Dell, among others) have recalled batteries because of certain issues. Although I commend these companies for owning up to the defects or potential dangers that their products might possess and assuming the big financial burden that a recall entails, it should not mean that laptop users should become complacent if their laptops are not included in any kind of battery or product recall program. It is okay to think that your laptop is safe and functions well, but it does not mean that you should be too confident and not take the necessary precautions. I still have to warn laptop users to be extra mindful when using their portables especially during extended usage times. Heat is the biggest enemy of laptops and an overheated machine could actually cause the batteries in the laptop to explode with disastrous consequences.

To illustrate how potentially dangerous a laptop battery explosion is, just watch the video made by the team at PC Pitstop as they simulate a laptop battery fire. If that doesn’t make you more cautious, I don’t know what will.