Upgrade or buy new?

[CJW]

Concerning the Acer Aspire V5-531 laptop, would it be cheaper, easier & more fun to ...

1. Replace the hard drive & add new memory?
2. Buy a new laptop?

 

[flavallee]

What's the exact SNID number and exact serial number on it, and which country was it purchased in?

Once it's correctly identified and its support site is located and we know what specs it came with, it will be easier to address your questions.

 

[TechnoMage2016]

Concerning the Acer Aspire V5-531 laptop, would it be cheaper, easier & more fun to ...

1. Replace the hard drive & add new memory?
2. Buy a new laptop?

I looked up that PC on the web, and Amazon has one for sale.
The specs looked really good, so why do you want to upgrade it?
It should already have ample RAM and an SSD.
But, what about a DVD drive?

I suppose that you 'could' increase the ram, and install a larger SSD, but do you really NEED either of those? Doing both, would still be MUCH cheaper than buying a new laptop.

Your choice!

TM

 

[CJW]

What's the exact SNID number and exact serial number on it, and which country was it purchased in?

Once it's correctly identified and its support site is located and we know what specs it came with, it will be easier to address your questions.

SNID: 21905930820
M/N: MS2361
S/N: NXM2CAA0012190E7AC2000
Country: United States

Here's a link to the laptop's Data Sheet

The laptop is not used for anything heavy. Some online surfing, checking email, moving pictures to & from laptop, simple gaming.
And not everyday use, though that may change if the laptop runs better.

 

[CJW]

I looked up that PC on the web, and Amazon has one for sale.
The specs looked really good, so why do you want to upgrade it?
It should already have ample RAM and an SSD.
But, what about a DVD drive?

I suppose that you 'could' increase the ram, and install a larger SSD, but do you really NEED either of those? Doing both, would still be MUCH cheaper than buying a new laptop.

Your choice!

TM

After all these years, the laptop runs very sluggish, even after a full reset & software cleaning.
And it doesn't always want to charge correctly (forgot about that part).

 

[flavallee]

CJW:
You and I replied back at the same time, so I've deleted my last reply.
Give me a few minutes to look at your laptop's support site, then I'll get back to you.

 

[flavallee]

CJW:

It comes with an Intel Pentium 967 1.30 GHz dual core processor which has a very weak performance rating.
PassMark - Intel Pentium 967 @ 1.30GHz - Price performance comparison

It comes with only 4 GB of DDR3-1333 RAM, but it supports up to 8 GB.

It comes with a 500 GB SATA hard disk drive(HDD).

You can max it out with RAM and switch to a solid state drive(SSD), but it's still going to have a very weak processor.

My advice is to invest that money on a laptop which has newer and faster hardware.

 

[CJW]

CJW:

It comes with an Intel Pentium 967 1.30 GHz dual core processor which has a very weak performance rating.
PassMark - Intel Pentium 967 @ 1.30GHz - Price performance comparison

It comes with only 4 GB of DDR3-1333 RAM, but it supports up to 8 GB.

It comes with a 500 GB SATA hard disk drive(HDD).

You can max it out with RAM and switch to a solid state drive(SSD), but it's still going to have a very weak processor.

My advice is to invest that money on a laptop which has newer and faster hardware.

Well, it IS quite a few years old (ancient by laptop terms ), I was just hoping for a cheaper fix.
But it's probably best to move on & upgrade to a more recent laptop.
Thanks for the help & information.

 

[CJW]

Question: When I do get a new laptop, can I remove the drive in this one & use it as an external drive?

 

[flavallee]

I have no experience with external storage drives, so someone else here will need to answer that question.

 

[SIW2]

Question: When I do get a new laptop, can I remove the drive in this one & use it as an external drive?

If it is a standard 2.5 inch sata mechanical disk, then yes you can.


You could get an ssd for your current machine. That should make a noticeable improvement. Although ultimately you are limited by the cpu, maybe the improvement brought by an ssd will be enough to satisfy you for a while. Maybe not. It seems an awkward creature to take apart.

Acer Aspire V5-531 Hard Drive and Memory Replacement Guide - YouTube

 

[ian50]

>"Question: When I do get a new laptop, can I remove the drive in this one & use it as an external drive?"


Yes. You need an external 2.5" SATA case, USB3 and USB2 back-compatible. These are very cheap, eg. AUD$10. There should be sufficient power from the PC on the USB3 port for a 500GB disk although external cases can be bought with their own power supply if necessary.



I'm running three (3) external HDD's, each 2TB, off a 4-port USB3 hub cabled into the only USB3 port my machine has - sufficient power for all drives to copy and move 150GB files without problem.

 

[strollin]

Absolutely! Most likely, that laptop has a 500GB 2.5 inch SATA drive. You may need to find instructions to be able to disassemble your laptop but once you get the drive out you can install it into an enclosure like this: https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-Tool...4441061&sprefix=2.5+inch+sata+,aps,226&sr=8-3

 

[CJW]

Thank you everyone for the helpful input.
I'm going to get a new laptop & take out the drive from the old one to use as an external.

And thank you for the link to the enclosure strollin. The enclosure is probably just what I need; looks good (I like the clear version; but it's a gift, so not sure just yet), Plug & Play, Hot-Swappable, Tool-free design & the fact it doesn't need a separate power source is a plus.