Gaming problems with Acer Travelmate 8104/Questions.

[ahmad]

I recently purchased an acer travelmate 8104. Its pretty good with everything and normal use it runs perfectly. As published in reviews yes mouse pad gets a little warm and its annoying a bit.

However, the real problem begins when I play hard core graphics game, which run fine ! no lag. but the fan on the left side of the laptop heats up and yets up the entire top left corner of the laptop making it impossible to put it on ure lap and thats only about after 45 minutes of gaming, unless i put the cpu speed on normal, even then it gets hot but not extreemly hot.

What I want to know is, is this problem? should or should not occu to this model? because I understand its not a 'gaming built' laptop or isnt made for best cooling system. Also if i continue to let it run hot for couple of more hours what kind of dmg am i looking to laptop? and is it covered in the warenty acer provides?

Also the 2nd problem is the AC adapter. Which gets EXTREEMLY hot while charging the laptop no matter what, i have to take it off as soon as laptop charges its like, put it on, take it off, put it on take it off.. every 2-3 hour process. which is annoying but its the heat that comes out of it i am worried about.

I am wondering if all of this is normal and if not what sugestions, or if it is how can i improve it? I am open to any suggestions.

please post all ure comments and concerns to me. Also becaus eits not too well built for cooling and gaming laptop i kinda want to return it since i got it 3 days ago, but i understand acer has a non money refund policy? or something of the sort. atleast in Canada, where i live. any suggestions on how to get around it? or what to to abou tmoney refund as well.

[Capt Doufos]

I have a dell 9300 with a 1.73ghz Senoma PentiumM and a Nvidia 6800 Go, and it doesn't get very hot at all. Even after an hour of Counterstrike. It's a bit larger than the 8104, maybe that explains it. I know reviewers have commented on how hot the acer does get.

[Insomniac]

The AC adaptor getting warm is normal, but getting extremely hot sounds excessive.

You should be able to put your hand around it without any discomfort.

With the laptop getting hot, unfortunately, there really isn't anything practical you can do.

Putting serious hardware into a tiny case like a laptop causes all sorts of cooling issues.

If you aren't happy and it's under warranty, get a refund or contact Acer.

As far as their "no refund policy" that you state, I don't know if that is the case or not.

They can say what they like, but legally you are entitled to a refund.

[ahmad]

Is there any suggestion any of u can make to get which laptop that has a 128 MB video card, compared to ATI moility radeon x700 or better and also a laptop that is built for gaming unlike acer, which means it has a v-good cooling system which can allow for extreem gaming usage for a while.

[ahmad]

Also I have an Idea it turns out Acer isnt such a great choice with gaming, even though I really like the specs I just dont like the fact that I can't play games on it because acer doesnt know how to make a proper cooling system. I was wondering if its possible to Install an extra fan near the upper left corner where the head is alot to cool it down. But I havent been able to come up with a solution on that and find a fan made for acer travelmate 8104. Even then I am thinking about a notebook cooler pad, which can be only used during playing games. I dont know how much that will help though, especially since mostly the problem is on upper left corner. If anyone has any creative suggestions or whatever, please let it out !

[nichomach]

http://www.dabs.com/uk/Search2/Produ...hphrase=cooler

- Best I can suggest, I'm afraid. I've never been wild on Acers. If the AC adapter is too hot to hold comfortably, it's faulty. AC adapters get warm, sure, but that hot? Something's definitely wrong. If Acer respond that that's correct functionality tell them to get stuffed; it's a health & safety issue aside from anything else, and if they think that's acceptable, that just means that they've designed a faulty product (and possibly a dangerous one too).

As to the machine getting too hot, I can tell you now that they will respond "we don't call them laptops, we call them notebooks, and we advise their use on a desk or other flat surface".

[dkmech]

They do have a point about not using it on the lap. If you keep it on a flat hard surface it will have better cooling. You especially don't want to have notebooks running heavy-duty applications while lying on a bed or something soft like that, that deforms around the notebook and blocks all the air intakes or outputs.

[Insomniac]

No they don't have a point, they are just being pedantic and it's a cop out, something the computer industry is famous for.

I'm sure if he put the Acer on a flat, hard surface and used it in a similar way it would still get hot.

Not to mention the AC Adapter.

[dkmech]

I am not saying it wouldn't, but from my experience of laptops it does help. You can either try and cook it or, if possible, use it on a desk. Can't think gaming is easy to do when its on your lap anyway.

[Insomniac]

Gaming on a laptop isn't my first choice either, but they shouldn't release products that aren't right.

Even if you used it on a table, all that heat wouldn't be doing your hard drive and other components any good.

If you have to use a laptop or notebook or whatever you want to call it, I would at least get one that has adequate cooling, especially considering laptops aren't user serviceable friendly and the high price of parts.

[dkmech]

You get what you pay for. I am not sure what the specs of it are. It may not have been sold as a gaming laptop. Yes it should have adequate cooling, but it might well be adequate for its normal intended use.

Also how hot it gets is subjective - the laptops i've been using do get hot, its a question of whether its dangerously hot or not. Same goes for power supply.

[wasabi]

I really truly despise laptops. We have started suing more and more at work (against my recommendations) and all I'm doing all day now is running round rebooting crashed out crap or troubleshooting wireless notwork problems. You shouldn't be surprised this is what happens when you buy kit aimed and clueless mom's and pops.

[Insomniac]

If you pick the right one they aren't too bad, but I would certainly do my homework first.

The ones I detest are laptops that use a desktop processor to save money.