Acer BIOS Update 1.25 did the exact opposite of what customers want...which is CHOICE

jGecko

I'm with "hammerhead" on this issue. It looks like Acer did the exact opposite of what people wanted.
I need the CHOICE to enable the keyboard LEDs to STAY ON when on battery power and/or when on AC power...until I enter Sleep/Hibernate/Shut-down or the computer goes below the "low-battery threshold" (when set).
Now the update description suggests with BIOS 1.25 Acer made it so the user can NEVER set the LEDs to stay on regardless of power source.
I AM VISION-IMPAIRED and I chose this notebook for its backlighting based on experience with other notebooks. When the Nitro5 AN515-53 LEDs switch off I can't even see the keyboard in low-room-lighting to position my hands.
If I'm ever in a situation I need maximum "on-battery" life then IF WE HAD THE CHOICE, I would be able to set it for maximum battery life OR keep the LEDs on.
Shutting off the keyboard LEDs negatively affects my performance on this notebook. WHY is this dirt-simple option not given to the customer?
Please, please fix this before Acer no longer keeps updating the BIOS for this model.

Commodore_1995#

Version 1.26 of the uefi firmware that was made available by Acer allows the user to choose whether or not the backlit keyboard shuts down every 30 seconds when the notebook is connected to the power adapter! When you download version 1.26, this option will be available:

andylb

Firstly you need BIOS update 1.26. To reach the bios screen pictured above, reboot and continuously tap F2 during bootup then Keyboard Lighting Timeout under the General tab, click Disabled. The keyboard will ALWAYS go off after 30 secs on battery but will stay on when plugged into power, so when on battery just reach out and tap the space bar

jGecko

Your answer remains confusing because you talk about "disabling" and then still directly refer to the 30 second timeout, and you still do not explicitly address the "while on battery power" part of the question. I'm rewriting my question and splitting into two questions so that a simple "Yes" or "No" answer should be possible for each question. Please understand how important this is to people and particularly people with vision disabilities.
Thank you.

Question 1) Under BIOS 1.26, can the user select an option so that the keyboard LEDs STAY ON and do NOT turn-off while the computer is running from the battery? (Yes or no, please.)

Question 2) Under BIOS 1.26, can the user select an option so that the keyboard LEDs STAY ON and do NOT turn-off while the computer is running from AC mains power? (Yes or no, please.)

If the answer to either Question 1 or Question 2 above is "No", then I (and clearly others) would like Acer to please give the customer the CHOICE to make the keyboard LEDs stay turned-on...no matter which power source is being used. I hope the menu example below will help make the goal more clear.

Keyboard LED Backlight Menu:
On Battery
"Keyboard Lighting Timeout = Never"  (with options of "0 seconds", "30 seconds", "Never")

On AC power (while using the power adapter)
"Keyboard Lighting Timeout = Never"  (with options of "0 seconds", "30 seconds", "Never")

Note: In this menu...
"0 seconds" means the keyboard LEDs are always OFF.
"30 seconds" means the LEDs will turn-off 30 seconds after the last keystroke, and will turn-on the next time a key is pressed (as long as the keyboard is active).
"Never" means the keyboard LEDs are always ON (in other words, backlighting LEDs are ON as long as the computer is turned on unless the computer is in Sleep or Hibernate mode.)

Commodore_1995#

1) No!

2) Yes!

You have to understand that the battery does not have sufficient capacity to provide excellent power autonomy and at the same time leave the backlit keyboard on all the time! If this were possible, the battery's autonomy would decrease dramatically!

andylb

jGecko said:

Your answer remains confusing because you talk about "disabling" and then still directly refer to the 30 second timeout, and you still do not explicitly address the "while on battery power" part of the question. I'm rewriting my question and splitting into two questions so that a simple "Yes" or "No" answer should be possible for each question. Please understand how important this is to people and particularly people with vision disabilities.
Thank you.

Question 1) Under BIOS 1.26, can the user select an option so that the keyboard LEDs STAY ON and do NOT turn-off while the computer is running from the battery? (Yes or no, please.)

Question 2) Under BIOS 1.26, can the user select an option so that the keyboard LEDs STAY ON and do NOT turn-off while the computer is running from AC mains power? (Yes or no, please.)

If the answer to either Question 1 or Question 2 above is "No", then I (and clearly others) would like Acer to please give the customer the CHOICE to make the keyboard LEDs stay turned-on...no matter which power source is being used. I hope the menu example below will help make the goal more clear.

Keyboard LED Backlight Menu:
On Battery
"Keyboard Lighting Timeout = Never"  (with options of "0 seconds", "30 seconds", "Never")

On AC power (while using the power adapter)
"Keyboard Lighting Timeout = Never"  (with options of "0 seconds", "30 seconds", "Never")

Note: In this menu...
"0 seconds" means the keyboard LEDs are always OFF.
"30 seconds" means the LEDs will turn-off 30 seconds after the last keystroke, and will turn-on the next time a key is pressed (as long as the keyboard is active).
"Never" means the keyboard LEDs are always ON (in other words, backlighting LEDs are ON as long as the computer is turned on unless the computer is in Sleep or Hibernate mode.)

Please note that neither myself or my colleague @egydiocoelho are employees of Acer we give our advice freely in our own time, this is a community of users helping each other not an Acer support site so any suggestions for Acer should be made directly to them. Thank you