Improving Speed on Acer Aspire E14

JoeM

A few years ago, we bought my daughter an Aspire E14 (Intel Celeron Processor, 4 GB DDR3L Memory, 500 GB HDD).  It is pretty slow.
This year, we bought my son an Aspire E15 (Intel Core Processor with Turbo Boost, 8 GB DDR4 Memory, 256 GB SSD).  His computer is very fast.

We would like to improve the speed on my daughter's computer.  What is the best way to do that (what will give us the "biggest bang for the buck)?
I am thinking it might be upgrading her RAM to 8 GB.  Would that do it?

Thanks

brummyfan2

Hi,
No problem, adding another 4GB module will certainly help but it won't be noticeable, you can migrate the HDD to SSD and no need to reinstall your OS and other programs, you need an external usb adapter like in the link below, install MiniTool Partition wizard Free, connect the SSD with the external USB adapter, use migrate feature in MT Partition Wizard, remove the HDD from laptop and install the SSD.
https://www.minitool.com/partition-manager/partition-wizard-home.html
https://www.amazon.co.uk/USB-SATA-Adapter-Cable-Drives-en-GB-SATA-USB-3-0-converter/dp/B01N2JIQR7/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1509838279&sr=8-3&keywords=USB+adapter+HDD

brummyfan2

Hi,
You are fine with the memory but you can upgrade the 500GB HDD to a SSD, that will improve the speed/performance immensely.

JoeM

Thanks

Is there somewhere I can find out which ones are compatible with our model?
Sorry, I am pretty new to this.  Usually don't work on computer hardware that much, but figure I can find a good YouTube video once I find the right part.
If I replace the hard-drive, I will also need to re-install everything, right?

So you don't think that upgrading the RAM will help much?

brummyfan2

Hi,
No problem, adding another 4GB module will certainly help but it won't be noticeable, you can migrate the HDD to SSD and no need to reinstall your OS and other programs, you need an external usb adapter like in the link below, install MiniTool Partition wizard Free, connect the SSD with the external USB adapter, use migrate feature in MT Partition Wizard, remove the HDD from laptop and install the SSD.
https://www.minitool.com/partition-manager/partition-wizard-home.html
https://www.amazon.co.uk/USB-SATA-Adapter-Cable-Drives-en-GB-SATA-USB-3-0-converter/dp/B01N2JIQR7/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1509838279&sr=8-3&keywords=USB+adapter+HDD

JoeM

Thanks for all your help so far.  I found on the Acer web site the compatible SSD, and they come in different sizes (120 GB, 240 GB, 480 GB).  How high should I go?  This will mostly be used with Office 365 for school work, and much of the files will be saved to the Cloud.  My goal is to upgrade, without spending too much money, if possible (otherwise, it would probably make sense just to buy a different laptop!).

Thanks

brummyfan2

Hi,
No problem, you will be fine with 240GB SSD for OS and few important programs, you can use the original HDD for additional storage.

JoeM

Thank you for the information.  It is very much appreciated!

brummyfan2

You are welcome 

JoeM

So, I was getting ready to do this, and got conflicting recommendations from two other people.  Perhaps I should have provided more information.  Almost all the stuff my daughter does is on-line - they use Office 365 at school, and she accesses that on-line.  And the rest is mostly web browsing.

Two other people said that it would be better to upgrade the RAM than the Hard Drive, since she won't be accessing the hard drive as much if most of her activity is on-line.  They said the RAM would used more than the hard-drive when on-line.

Would you agree?

JackE

>>>This year, we bought my son an Aspire E15 (Intel Core Processor with Turbo Boost, 8 GB DDR4 Memory, 256 GB SSD).  His computer is very fast.>>>We would like to improve the speed on my daughter's computer.  What is the best way to do that (what will give us the "biggest bang for the buck)?>>>

If your son's new system also meets with your daughter's approval, buy her one too. Or maybe even a faster one at a better price with all the holiday sales going on now. Then you get to use her old system and do what you want with it! A win-win situation.  8^ Jack E/Nj

brummyfan2

Hi,
Yes, more memory is good but it won't guarantee a faster computing because in a laptop the bottleneck is HDD, even just for browsing, SSD has better access time than a HDD, opening Office documents, Pictures etc will be faster with SSD than a HDD.
https://www.pcauthority.com.au/feature/how-to-how-much-ram-do-you-really-need-375815
https://www.techspot.com/article/1043-8gb-vs-16gb-ram/