Upgrade or buy new?

[Deleted member 3023]

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?

 

[cdrkf]

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?

Well it depends what you want to do with the laptop?

also there are a few versions of that laptop around with different components, what is the spec of your machine (what CPU does it have?)... looks to be a Sandy bridge generation machine from what I can find...

 

[Deleted member 3023]

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.

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

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).

 

[cdrkf]

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.

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

Ah ok - looking at the specs I think the main issue you are going to have is that cpu has a fixed 1.3ghz clock speed, which is a really slow by modern standards. It's Sandy bridge gen so the per clock performance is decent, but desktop Sandy Bridge cpu's (which are still decent today) run at well over 3ghz.

Memory wise you could increase that to 8gb, and you could change out the old HDD for a solid state disk which should improve boot up / application loading times, but as that cpu is stuck at such a low speed I think it will still be pretty slow.

Honestly I don't think there's much point upgrading it.

 

[Deleted member 3023]

Ah ok - looking at the specs I think the main issue you are going to have is that cpu has a fixed 1.3ghz clock speed, which is a really slow by modern standards. It's Sandy bridge gen so the per clock performance is decent, but desktop Sandy Bridge cpu's (which are still decent today) run at well over 3ghz.

Memory wise you could increase that to 8gb, and you could change out the old HDD for a solid state disk which should improve boot up / application loading times, but as that cpu is stuck at such a low speed I think it will still be pretty slow.

Honestly I don't think there's much point upgrading it.

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.

 

[Deleted member 3023]

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

 

[cdrkf]

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

Yes you can buy a 2.5" USB drive enclosure to hook it up to your new machine - that is a good way to get access to all your old files.

 

[Deleted member 3023]

I'm planning to get a new laptop today/tomorrow & I've narrowed my choices to these 3:

1. Lenovo IdeaPad S340
2. Lenovo IdeaPad 3
3. Asus VivoBook

I am reading conflicting reviews on each though (& my head hurts after awhile ).
So, if need be, can I upgrade the memory on all of these or is the memory soldered onto the motherboard?

I'm leaning towards the Asus VivoBook, even w/the 128GB SSD; but I think it'll be ok.