Acer Aspire 1710 Review - Page 76

Hi friends! My Acer 1714 has 2 512 SDRAM (PC2700) simms with these specifications: NANYA 333 Mhz CL 2,5ms. I would like to know:

a) Which is the maximum tested memory size that is compatible with this laptop? 2GB or more ? The operational system that I use is XP SP3.

b) Which is the best available AND FASTEST memory to replace my current simms? Is DDR400 (PC-3200) compatible (e.g. http://cgi.ebay.com/1GB-PC3200-DDR40...3286.m63.l1177)? Can someone provide some links of quality memory that has been tested with this laptop? Unfortunately the last dialogues about memory in this thread go back to 06 so I don't know what is available now...

probably the same stuff as DDR is not really used anymore

I upgraded my Aspire 1712 to keep it working fast:

2 GB Kingstom RAM (the chipset "see" 2 GB - not more)
500GB ATA-133 Western Digital HD with 32MB cache memory

New replacement battery today
I would like to upgrade the DVD-R with a DL and faster... (searching...)

The system is very fast (I work with graphic programs as a graphic designer)
and I love this laptop like no other PC I have...

so if you need something, just ask...

Regards from Greece

Nice review

found 3 1710's

I found three 1710 series Acer in the garbage, i guess someone was done and just dumped them. There was a 1711, 1712smi, and a 1714smi. I used parts from the 1711 to get the 1712 and 1714 running, even though the 1714 looks like it suffers from a bad inverter. I was surfing the web to find info on these behemoths, when i cam across this review. It is a very thorough piece. I have a question for DWStrickland if he still checks out this thread or site, I know his responses were over 5 years old. Do you still know if you can find the daughter board to add BT to the units? I tried checking the numbers you have listed, but I keep coming up with nada. Any help would be appreciated. I plan on using the 1714 as a media hub for my entertainment center, seeing as I put a spare 500GB Seagate 7200RPM HDD in it I had lying around, don't use the old IDE drives anymore except for external storage. Both units already had the max 2GB of RAM. Was this a deficiency of the OS or the MOBO on these? I know Vista 32 bit will address 3.5GB out of 4GB, but I never saw if anyone ever did this. I have some older machine memory, unbuffered, lying around, thought I might put two 2GB sticks in it and see if the machine sees 3.5GB of it. Also was going to add n wireless to them, found some interesting N cards on Ebay that are PCI that should work, seeing as I plan on putting Vista on them. I already upgraded the 1714 to Windows 7 Ultimate 32, but now I have no WLAN, so I'm sure its a driver issue with the standard Acer b/g WLAN and the new OS since it was originally shipped with XP. I can't find any compatible driver for the WLAN, so any help there would be appreciated as well. Thanks!

. Wireless Driver for Windows 7: Have you tried letting Windows 7 updates picking it up for you?

. Bluetooth: ACER used Blutonium BCM2035 Bluetooth Module in the past, not sure if you can reference this and get something appropriate, or just settle with an external BT dongle.

. 2GB ram is plenty for 32-bit and also 64-bit unless you are into having cad apps. And for these old boards, 2GB was top for the time and it might not take more than that. As far as 32-Bit accessing more than 2GB, there are talks of between 2.9-3.5 access, but it all depends on the BIOS and chipset more than OS.

cheers ...

I tried to let Windows 7 update find them, had to use an external Netgear WLAN to get online, and it says it has the best driver, and that the device is working properly, but when I turn it on I get the red X over my signal bar and it says no wireless is available, even though I know there is, my Verizon FIOS router is only 10 feet away, and the Netgear sees it. I could have sworn that it worked before the upgrade to Win7. I even took the card out, cleaned the socket with air, and re-seated it, but still no internal WLAN. Any thoughts on how to check and make sure the card is still functioning? Another side note. When the wireless switch is on, the computer will "hang up" if I'm doing something else,like opening control panel or device manager, and when I turn it off, things unpause themselves and finish opening up.

I take it that you have no yellow ! in the devices manager for this internal WLAN. If so, sounded to me like signal compatibility more than anything else. Maybe trying different channel on the internal card (device properties)? Or try swapping the antenna around on the card?

cheers ...

You are correct, there is no yellow ! in my device manager over the WLAN.

My Fios router is an Westell A90-9100EM15-10 802.11b/g, so I would think it would be compatible with the WLAN card

Check the channels - try different ones and see if you can get any signals - have you tried swapping the antenna around inside the notebook?

cheers ...

When you say check the channels, you mean on the WLAN card correct? I did look and it was originally on 11, any idea what I should try to change it to first? Also, when I was looking in the properties, I noticed there was something to do with MAC addresses, and it was off, should it be on, and if so where do I obtain the address to put in there? I've never messed with the settings on router or on a WLAN card

On the card, yes. You can try with 5 or 6. MAC address should be automatic, if not then it is possible that the card was being hardwired from the beginning, in this case, time for another card.

cheers ...

Well I got all the bugs worked out on the 1714smi..YEAH! Got a cheap Atheros B/G card, and had hell finding windows 7 drivers, but eventually found them, so now it has internal wireless again. Found the BT daughter card, locally in Austin, TX no less for $20, so now it has BT. I'm looking for a new LCD inverter or a facility that can repair the old one. Currently have it hooked up to an external monitor in my daughter's room, her first lappy, with a wireless keyboard and mouse, and she loves it. I runs really well on Windows 7. Anyone know of a 64 bit CPU replacement, maybe a dual core that's cooler and more energy efficient, for this beast? Also, did anyone ever find a good replacement GPU for this unit? That's the only thing holding back in Windows 7. Thanks for the help with this. I have one unit left, the 1712smi to fix, Got another Atheros card, and 300GB HDD for it, just need another charger brick, only found two in the trash when I came across these units. It has been a really nice find. Going give the second to my mother in law and teach her how to surf the net..LOL!

Great show

I am not sure about replacing the P4 with another cooler CPU for this model. Chipset and BIOS can be a pain to find and get it to work. Just keep it elevated and work in a well ventilated area and you should be looking at keeping this machine for a long time

cheers ...

Well I found a Google link to a YouTube video of a kid that found drivers for the Nvidea GeForce Go 5600 to make Windows 7 Aero work, and it does! I loaded and now I have full Aero on the beast. It even improved my windows experience score from a 1, with the old driver, to a 34! Not bad for a driver update. And now Windows recognizes the graphics card as an Nvidea 5700, before it was seen as a generic card. The lone beast that i'm trying to save, the 1711, has a new hard drive, a full 2GB RAM, new wireless card, but I need a new graphics card. Its is toast. I get large vertical line on either its LCD display or an external monitor. Anyone have an old Go 5600 or 5700 they don't need?

Here's the link if anyone is interested: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A31zW4IA_3w

Also, one more question about my graphic card needs. On the first page of this thread, the pictures of the 1712 or 1714 video card, in the pic where the video card interfaces to the motherboard, that connection is AGP x8, correct? The connector with all the wires that plugs into the card, does that enable the card to interface with the video ports, VGA, S-video, on the back of the laptop and also the LCD? Could I use an older PC AGP x8 card with an interface cable and plug it into the laptop and just use the VGA and S-video ports on the external card? The card would get its power from the AGP x8 port correct? This may be my only way to salvage this unit if I can't find an internal card.

My Acer Aspire 1711 has finally given out. I bought the beast in 2004. I replaced the inverter once, and the LCD twice (after a dealer in Australia ripped me off with a dodgy unit) all myself - which was scary stuff. The Acer was out of action for about a year while I fished around to replace the LCD a second time, and then running for just a couple of days before, as it turned out, the motherboard shorted around one of the ICs. Apparently it can't be repaired. I'm tempted to go for a replacement motherboard, being pretty stubborn and having spent loads on the two replacement LCDs.

The case is huge. What are the chances of using a desktop baby AT motherboard and a more modern processor? Is that just nutty?

If you decide not to repair your 1710, would you consider selling me your video card? Let me know at dbsimms63@gmail.com.
Thanks!