Couple Question

Hi, first time poster on the forums.

I'm a college student and I got this Acer Aspire 5520 about a year ago. I used to have a Gateway (Yeah don't want to talk about it haha) but I was searching and noticed that so many of you guys already have different processors, ram etc etc. I want to speed up the laptop by doing the best that I can and at an affordable rate if at all possible.

Right now my current setup is:
Windows Vista 32bit Home Prem
AMD Athlon 64 x2 Dual Core Processor TK-53 1.7 GHz
1 GB Ram (I ordered 2 GB from NewEgg)
140 GB HD
NVidia Geforce 7000M

I was thinking of buying an external HD which I saw on sale for a really good price too. It's 500 GB for $60.

But as for upgrading, is there anything that can be done?

Thanks.

 

i would say the only thing you can do is get 3gb

 

Hi Funnyguy, and welcome to the forums!
Let's take a look at the specs of your system.

First off, what are you hoping to do with it? Hopefuly not heavy gaming, because the GeForce 7000M is hopelessly inadequate, and not upgradeable either.
Upgrading to 3GB of RAM is a good move - Vista loves having more and more and more, and at today's prices, you have no reason not to. Heck, max the thing out at 4GB and run Vista 64-bit if you want!
In terms of price, an internal hard drive upgrade would be the next best move. Go for a 320GB 7200rpm for pure speed or a 500GB 5400rpm for gobs of space - heck, if you can find a Seagate Momentus 7200.4 500GB, you get the best of both worlds.
The CPU should be the last place to look for upgrades in your machine, although it may help increase certain tasks like virus scans and media encoding. According to Acer's own specs, the Aspire 5520 can handle quite a few of the Turion 64 X2 CPUs - look for a TL-60, TL-64 or TL-66 (at 2.0, 2.2, and 2.3 GHz respectively), but only if you can find one on eBay on teh cheep and you're comfortable with handling the fiddliest of bits in your machine.

 

Def not heavy gaming. No gaming actually, just want programs to be more responsive and not take almost an hour to load.

Where would it be possible to buy 4 gb of ram? Newegg had only offered 2gb.

Also, battery life, jeez, only lasts less than an hour. Is there an upgrade possible for the battery?

 

Well, you'd be getting two modules of 2GB RAM - laptops have two slots for memory. Stick 2GB in both, and you're laughing.
And RAM will DEFINITELY help in the responsiveness department - like I said, Vista looooooves more RAM.

As for the battery, go poking around the Acer website for your country - they'd be the ones selling spare batteries, including any extended-life such as 9-cell.
Wait, LESS than an hour? That ain't right. Try turning the screen brightness down and switching the power plan to Balanced or Power Saver.
If that still doesn't help, check whether you got a new battery or not.

 

Yeah I understand about the ram, but when I search for DDR2 PC24200 I only get 2 gb. I don't see 4 gb anywhere..

As for the battery, where would I search on the site? I've looked and they only sell the replacement. When its on battery its on Power Saver and its pretty dim.

 

Wait, why are you searching for PC2-4200 modules? Your laptop can actually take up to two DDR2-667/PC2-5300 modules, so get a pair of those instead and enjoy the extra memory bandwidth.

Not sure where on the site (which Acer site are you surfing?), but there does exist an 8-cell battery for the 5520.

 

DDR2 667 will get downclocked to DDR2 4200 on your computer (assuming that's the highiest speed that your memory controller will aceept).

Faster HDD and 3GB of ram will make the comptuer run really smooth.
500gig 5400rpm hdd will be faster than a 7200RPM 320GB hdd when you fill 250gigs of data in them.

 

So you're saying I can actually run 5300? Let me get this straight because I'm lost..I can buy two sticks of this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231147

And it'll work with my laptop?

I'm also on AcerUSA. I see the 8 cell, I thought you were talking about 9 cell.

What battery did my laptop come with? 6 cell?

 

DDR2 RAM will automatically downclock to the fastest speed that the chipset will support. Thus, any DDR2 RAM module will work in your machine.
For example, my laptop's maximum is DDR2-667. I can put DDR2-800 modules in my system with no ill effects - they'll just run at DDR2-667. And if I put DDR2-533 modules in my system, they'll run at their regular DDR2-533.

 

So buying two sticks of what I stated above is alright? I thought you had to buy them in a packed 2x2gb sort of thing..

 

Yup - as long as you get two of the same module, they'll run in dual-channel mode without problems. The 2x2GB packs just make that easier.

 

Oh well dang, I never knew that. Thanks!

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231147

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1428330&CatId=4152

Of those two, which one is the better buy?

 

Funnyguy, any RAM is good as long as it's backed by a lifetime warranty.
And since the Newegg link is for a single 2GB module, while the TigerDirect link is for a single 1GB module...obviously go for the 2G GSkill.

 

Oh wow, good catch on that. I thought it had said 2gb. Yeah def going with newegg.

Now I can't seem to find the Seagate HD you were talking about..whats the next "better" hd?

And how would I transfer all my files from this HD to the new one? Would I have to re-install vista?

 

The Seagate Momentus 7200.4 500GB does have some supply issues right now - if you can wait, do so.
After that, your best bet would be a 320GB 7200rpm drive - Western Digital, Seagate, and Hitachi all have superbly performing drives, but I do recall that Western Digital's WD3200BEKT is the best of the trio.
As for transferring, you could see if you could get a friend with a desktop to make an image your current drive and then copy that image over to the new drive.
If you don't have such a pal, you should burn your Acer recovery DVD, make a backup of your files to DVDs or USB devices, then use the recovery DVD once the new hard drive is installed - it'll turn your latop to its factory default state.

 

I went ahead and ordered the 4gb after I had returned the 2gb, so it'll be here in the next week or so. It's a shame I can't upgrade the gfx card.

But I'm most likely going to switch over to Windows 7 when it comes out, has those specs been released to what would be the min req?

 

Funnyguy,
I am running the Beta version of Windows 7 Ultimate on my Acer Aspire 5315 (2 Ghz intel 550 celeron, 2 gb ram). It requires 1GB ram and I beleive a 1 GHz processor min requirements. It uses less system resources ie ram and it is 100 compatable with all vista software and drivers. It is expected to be released by end Aug 09 if I remember correctly

 

Windows 7 requirements are just about the same as Vista.

 

So with the laptop all got all these "Acer" management programs..

Do I really need them?

Another thing..in add/remove programs, I have uninstalled something yet it still shows in my CP..how would I remove that?

Samething with a folder in my Control Panel, I've uninstalled something it yet the folder is still in my CP..

 

Well, if you haven't burned your Recovery DVDs yet, do so IMMEDIATELY using Acer eRecovery.
Most of them - like ePower and eAudio - are just front ends for Vista utilities.

As for the Add/Remove issue, I would try removing it again; Vista would pick up that it isn't there, and ask if you just want to remove the entry.

 

Does it only use 1 dvd? I've never really used it..is that what I would use for my new HD when I purchase it? Burn on DVD install new HD and run backup disc?

As for Add/Remove issue, when I did it, it already stated that it's been removed but it's still shown there.

Edit:

Also my laptop is running really hot..I'm anywhere from 69 to 74 degrees Celsius..I've been told its smart to "upgrade" the fan on my laptop..is that true?

 

I believe it uses two DVDs, or maybe one dual-layer one.
Since I'm running on a clean Vista install (and I have the Vista install discs from that), I can't tell you for certain.
But that should be what to do for the new hard drive. Just keep in mind that the recovery DVD will ONLY have your factory default state on it - any changes or documents you have will NOT be backed up on it.

The Add/Remove issue should be fixed when you reinstall Vista on the new HDD.

As for the heat issue, which part of your laptop is running hot? The CPU?
Turions have been known to get a little toasty - don't start worrying until you see yourself in the 80s, AFAIK.
Upgrade the fan? No, I've never heard that. Just remove the bottom cover and clean your vents and fan intake.

 

Alright cool thanks. It goes into the 80s from time to time and I do clean it once a month.

Another issue..my audio driver isn't showing and when I went to the acer website the audio realtek is only for WinXP..

Any other ideas to where I can get it? I tried to go on microsoft to get that "Fix audio issue after Sp1 install" but it states that I don't need it..

 

Get your Vista audio driver here. It's from the Acer Euro FTP, the BEST place to go for driver downloads for your Aspire.

 

Still doesn't work

Would it be smart to update all the drivers from the FTP you gave me?

 

Well, I would say to only update drivers if you have a specific issue. The lone exception is graphics drivers, as they can actually boost your performance by a bit.
179.48 is available from Nvidia directly and benchmarks well, but I found that 179.44 from HP/Compaq delivers better results.

 

Alright cool.

So what can be done with this no audio thing? Not having sound is horrible..

 

Not sure - try the generic Realtek driver from their website here.

 

Doesn't work still

Could it be possible that the audio fried?..

 

Entirely possible - contact Acer Support and see what they have to say.
The last option I could think of is to try a complete clean install of Vista, but wait until you chat with Acer.

 

I tried talking to them, but they charge you $70 an hour..

Acer has the option of wiping out C: so is that what you mean by "clean" install..because I bought the laptop with Vista installed on it.

 

Wait, what? $70 an hour?! That's ridiculous.
In this case, I'd use those recovery DVDs you have.
It'll restore C: to a factory default state, but it'll keep anything on D: safe, like your data (back it up just in case).

 

Yeah 70 an hour, look for yourself..

But I just did a clean up and re-installed vista and I'm doing windows update because still I'm getting no audio

So I'll see after updates if it works or not..

If it is the actual audio..is it replaceable? If so where would I find the part to replace it?

OR..

Maybe when I was putting in the ram/cleaning the fan I could have hit something and knocked it out?

Where would the audio wires be so I can see if it's loose..

 

Ah - probably because you're out of warranty, dude.
If it's the actual speakers, they can be replaced, but you'd need to know the Field Replacement Unit (FRU) part number.
And I have no idea where the audio wires would be.
Both of those will require you to locate the 5520's service manual. Sharing them here on NBR is illegal, but I'm sure if you search Google you can find it.

 

I have my laptop box with me actually, just open up the book and it'll have it there?

Then what would be the next step? Find it on the acer website and purchase?

 

Nope - the service guide is a document for technical support personnel only; it's not given to the end user. Thus, it's not freely available - you gotta go looking for it.

Once you have the FRU part number, the next step would be to find an Acer parts reseller (not Acer themselves) and place an order for the new part.

Alternatively, test to see if it's just the speakers that died or if it's the whole sound system by plugging some headphones in. If the headphone port still works, just get a set of external speakers to use. It'll probably be cheaper and less of a hassle!

 

Well when I put my headphones in, it doesn't work still nothing I get something from windows media player saying I don't have the correct drivers and such..

I found the service manual and I have it..now what should I look to be replacing?

Just the speakers?

 

OK, if the headphones port doesn't even work, then it's startings to sound like a software issue again.

Time for a clean install using a non-Acer disc. Go get a Vista SP1 disc from your favourite less-than-legal download website, burn it, and do a clean install to your C: drive (make sure to back up D:, just in case). Use the license key on the bottom of your system.
Then use the Acer Drivers & Utilities disc you burned from eRecovery to reinstall the important things like graphics drivers and such. If the clean install of Vista has working sound, then run with that.

 

I did a fresh install and still no audio..

But when I plug the headphones into the mic port I can hear the "sound waves of the mic"..

Do you have a diagram of the audio wires? I'm guessing I may have slipped up when I was cleaning the fan..

 

The diagrams would be buried somewhere in that service guide you got.
I am now officially absolutely STUMPED on this issue.
Sorry Funnyguy, but I have no clue what's going on anymore.

 

Ok let me sum it up..

So I decided to follow what you said about cleaning the fan, so I opened the laptop and cleaned the fan. I put it all back together and start up Vista..and I see the "No Audio Output Device is installed" so I reinstall driver. That doesn't work. I update driver and install the newest one. That doesn't work..I tried generic Realtek driver, that doesn't work.

Then I decide to try a System Restore. I do this and nothing still..I tried to update windows, nothing still the same problem.

So I do the Acer Disk Recovery and that re-installed Vista and cleans C: for me. So I start fresh and still get the same thing. Did the whole thing with the drivers and everything and still nothing.

Went into several places and the most expensive was Staples @ $369, and the cheapest was the local shop for $125 and this is JUST TO LOOK AT IT not even install or try to fix anything..

So tomorrow after class, I'm going to open the laptop because I'm thinking when I was using that "Air spray" stuff to clean the fan, it could have hit some wire with enough pressure to where the wire came off..but I'll see..

 

So this is the weirdest thing ever..

I just restarted my laptop and now its working?..

 

As for External HDs I plan on purchasing this one..

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136324

Good?

 

Seems like it - just make sure it's backed by a good warranty.
Good to hear the sound issue has cleared up (possibly).

 

Yeah, sound is working..so we'll see in the future.

 

Couple other questions..

Is there a way to turn off the touchpad without having to uninstall the driver?


Also I need to replace this keyboard because some keys are missing..I've already ordered it's replacement, but how in the world do I remove the keyboard?

 

If you have the Dritek Launch Manager, just hit Fn+F7 to disable the keypad.
The keyboard replacement procedure will be in the service guide you downloaded.

 

Glad to hear that your sound problem was fixed. Also, I don't know if this was recommended yet, but if you have any thumb drives, you can use those as additional ram. It's not the equivalent of a single stick, but it will boost your speed a bit.