Vista = Get another 1GB of RAM?

Hi all,

This should be the first of many posts, and it looks like this is a very knowledgeable and helpful group, so I'm glad I joined.

Lowdown is that I had to find a laptop for around $600 for my trip to new zealand for a few months. tried finding something with xp still on it but had no luck, at least not online.

so i ended up with this setup:
Acer Aspire 5100 3010, AMD Turion 64 MK-36 2.0GHz, 802.11b/g Wireless, 1GB DDR2, 160GB HDD, Dual Layer DVD RW, 15.4" WXGA, Windows Vista Home Premium

Trying to decide if I wanna send it back before I leave and get another, so if you have any comments on this overall model, please let me know.

But if I do keep it, I'm wondering
1-how easy and expensive is it to install new RAM myself in this thing and
2-should I try to cleanup vista instead of getting more RAM, or is another 1GB worth it?

Thanks in advance

 

get the ram...ram is cheap and its easy to install, and youll see a bigger improvement in performance, you should also try to clean up vista as well so you can get as much as possible for your money

 

Like the other guy said, just get the extra ram. It'll help a lot with Vista.

Heck, you can just ditch that 1GB you have right now and get 4GB for cheap.

 

Considering 2X1GB would cost about $40 I would upgrade. It is easy to install. MS says 1GB is enough but no one on here agrees.

As to Acer, I have seen many knock it's quality, it's heat issues (more likely w/AMD vs Intel), I do not know personally. I have found a notebook at BB with T2330 Intel Pentium Dual Core @1.6Ghx 2GB RAM 160GB HDD X3100 DVD-RW disk labeling for $550. I think far superior to a solo core. It is made by Gateway, very very good budget deal.

 

yeah definately get the extra gig of ram....... or two extra gigs lol... Didnt realize you only had one gig when I posted the last thing. But yeah memory is a need with Vista...memory and CPU power

 

Thanks for all the info so far guys. So can I just go to BB and get more RAM for my unit there pretty cheap, or is an online site better?

It's funny because I did research on finding a laptop for months, and it's crazy hearing everyone say something different. One tech at TigerDirect told me his current laptop was an Acer and had owned for two years, so I figured that was a decent sign. A BB tech told me any Intel laptops with a Pentium in them were never designed to be used in notebooks, so they would use more power and not be able to allocate it better. So I tried to avoid those. If only I could take my desktop with me, life would be easy.

Any other major suggestions? Do you guys think I should just stick it out with this unit? I got it for $580 so for what I got, i was pretty happy

 

Seems good to me, the extra ram will deffiantly help and mabey I will see you when you come to NZ lol.

 

If you want XP, one option is the Dell Vostro 1000. For $430 you get XP Home, AMD Sempron 3600+ processor (2.00 GHz), 802.11b/g Wireless, 1GB DDR2, 120GB HDD, Dual Layer DVD RW, and 15.4" WXGA. As far as I can tell the Sempron processor is nearly identical to the MK-36 you have in performance, and has about 1/6th lower power consumption. You'll probably want to upgrade the battery to a six-cell for $30 (I'm assuming that's what the Acer you have now has), but after that you still have a bit of room for 1.5 GB of RAM or a dual-core processor while staying below $600.

The Lenovo ThinkPad R61e is another option that comes with XP. It's a bit more expensive with the Vostro with slightly lesser specs, but ThinkPads usually are more costly, in exchange for better quality. The lowest price with XP is $636.30.

XP is difficult to find, especially in low-end notebooks, though. HP is very pro-Vista, and AFAIK Acer is as well.

If you do decide to stick with what you have, a RAM upgrade should be relatively easy, and should cost about $30 for each 1 GB stick ($30 yeilds 1.5 GB total, $60 yields 2 GB total). The user's manual should give specific instructions for upgrading your model. Cleaning up Vista (closing Sidebar, removing Acer's applications, etc.) will help, but it's no substitute for at least 1.5 GB of RAM.

 

I would be careful with Acer. They tend to have bad overheating and stability problems. AMD also runs hotter than Intel so this is not going to help you any. You can monitor heat on them with a program called speedfan. Also I would use a program like this one here: http://www.cpuid.com/pcwizard.php To make sure they actually installed what they advertised and you bought, because that company is also notorious for advertising higher specs than they install. Also make sure all your hardware (especially the DVDRw) is up and working with Vista, since they seem to have chosen to put a non vista compatible dvdrw in many laptops running Vista as well. Their tech support sucks too so better make sure you have all your ducks in a row now as you may have quite a hassle if you figure out things aren't up to par later on down the road. The most important thing is that you’re happy with it.. I would just.. proceed with caution because it’s an Acer.

It looks like you normally live in the US? If you are willing to wait until you get back home you can get yourself a Lenovo laptop with Windows XP. As someone mentioned above, the Lenvo R series would be good for you, but I would not get it with a Celeron processor (which is what the base price is). R61i, you could get one with an Intel C2D T5250 and Vista for $661.50, and you can totally add XP on your own (saw your other thread about doing that) because they offer customization with XP. It should make that as easy as possible for you.

 

I understand your confusion. Let's start with upgrading RAM. You will do better buying on line than BB. Onto all the info you heard about Pentium, a P4 or many other ones you might want to stay away from. But the Pentium Dual Core Mobile is a Core 2 Duo that has had it's L2 cache crippled to 1MB not 2MB. It is the same chip manufactured in the same place at the same time with the same underlying architecture. All Pentiums are not the same, that Tech at BB was wrong. I was also recommending one specific system I think is far superior to what you bought in the same price range, any substitution, this vs that is up in the air.

Now I read you paid $850? I would return if I paid $600 but $850, yea I would return you should easily get Dual core for that money. For $550 I showed you Dual core, $850 even more and better options.

 

Aren't the pentium mobile dual core the T2xxxx? The T2xxx aren't 64bits enabled so I doubt it's the same chip.

1GB is enough for standard user: tax softwares, internet browing & msn
1.5GB is nice for the same thing + better feeling.
2GB to be nice all around
3GB is perfect.

 

IT does here is a link.

 

Oh you're right sorry. I was messed up with the Core Duo (like with the desktop, the Core Duo E2xxx & the Pentium D being the same thing). Why does intel have to use so similar name for them?