Hi: I am new here so please bear with me.

Hello again: I just purchased the Aspire 3 Model A315-31-C7CF. The laptop seems to be constructed very nice but I do have a few questions to ask. 1. I have an Acer 23 in. monitor. There is no vga connector on the laptop. I went out and bought an adapter to connect vga on 2nd monitor to HDMI input on laptop. I tried everywhere possible to get the 2nd monitor to work but iit doesn't. I went to the display in settings to make certain that I can connect both monitors. It says that unable to detect second monitor. I still don't know why the second monitor will not work even though it is an Acer. The AC to DC adapter is plugged in correctly and when I try to turn the monitor on, the red light does not come on. I know the external monitor works because I connected it to another HP laptop. Both monitors worked fine. So, I don't know what to do and if anyone has some ideas to forward, that would be great. 2. When looking up the specifications when I purchased the laptop, it has a fairly slow clock speed. It mentions that there is a burst speed around 2Ghz. How does that work? When does the burst speed take effect? 3. When on Acer support site, I noticed that there is not chat to get additional help. Am I looking in the wrong place? That is all the questions I have at this time and any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Mel or ezymel

Accepted answers

JackE

>>> I went out and bought an adapter to connect vga on 2nd monitor to HDMI input on laptop.>>>

Do you mean a 2nd external monitor? Jack E/NJ

ezymel

Thanks for your help in this matter. As far as the VGA connector, do you mean that I should plug in the 2nd monitor directly to the HDMI on my TV? I haven't tried that yet. When I plug the AC-DC adapter in on the monitor and press the AC on, the red light on the monitor does not go on. It might be an issue with the adapter itself but the monitor did work with my spare HP laptop. I have to try it again tomorrow and see if that is the problem or else it could be the VGA to HDMI adapter, like you said.

Thanks for the explanation on the burst speed.

As far as the SATA drive in the laptop, like you said it is the latest. So, I imagine it would be best not to change it. I do have A Seagate 500MB external drive. I could use that for backup.

It is too bad that memory cannot be changed. I wonder why Acer did that as on other laptops, you are able to increase RAM. I know if the RAM was set to 8GB, it would be plenty. That could have been easily incorporated or at least I think it can. I also notice that the battery is quite different from laptops I had previously and not easy to remove if need be. I guess you can't get everything.

Last question; Should I upgrade the BIOS or just leave it alone?

Well, that's about it and I am glad that Acer has a pretty good support site. I am also glad that this forum is available with lots of interesting answers. I will use it when I run into a problem or someone could ask me a question. Not yet though, as I have to educate myself on the new laptop and I really hope I made a good choice. I know that Acer has been around quite sometime, so I know that the support will be good.

Thanks again for your help. I appreciate that.

ezymel or Mel, my real name.

JackE

Mel-BIOS firmware updates are not advised. It has the highest risk of either bricking the laptop or causing adverse side effects of all the updates. It's a last resort measure to try to fix major or disabling issues.

Fixed non-upgradeable soldered RAM is a mainboard design to save production costs and reduce prices.

If you are trying to run two separate external monitors, that may not possible due to limited graphics & power output. However, you should check a direct HDMI connection to an HDMI-equipped TV to make sure the port is functioning properly.

Jack E/NJ

ezymel

Thanks again, jack E. Your help is greatly appreciated. It seems to me that there are many changes are the result of miniaturization. Although, manufacturers are cutting some corners, the user has to get used to what is in store for the future of laptops due to that. It does make it somewhat inconvenient as you expect certain changes but nothing is ever standard. So, a simple thing as having a vga connector where it makes it easier for the user and not have to buy another monitor, saving some money, is not always the case. I guess I will just have what is on the laptop itself. This is the first Ac er product other than HP, Toshiba and Dell. I know the Acer makes a fine product and does have a good web site for support as well as this forum. I knew, first hand that you have to give up some features when going for the basics but that is how it is. As long as my laptop functions OK, and lasts awhile, that is all I need. I am not going to use my laptop for gaming or graphics, so it should function OK. That is it for now and possibly talk later.

Mel

JackE

OK. Good luck with it. Jack E/NJ

All comments

JackE

>>> I went out and bought an adapter to connect vga on 2nd monitor to HDMI input on laptop.>>>

Do you mean a 2nd external monitor? Jack E/NJ

ezymel

Hi JackE:
Thanks for getting back to me. Yes, it is an external monitor but has the familiar vga connector which I had to buy an adapter so I can use it on my Acer Aspire 3 HDMI connector. However, it doesn't work. When I connected the 2nd monitor to my previous HP laptop, it was a direct connection and the 2nd monitor worked great. I was surprised the Aspire 3 did not have the vga connector added to my Acer. If I am correct, could it be that the vga connector would not fit on the laptop because of the dimensions on the side? When I first purchased the Acer, I was hoping that it was an Intel I5 which would enhance the speed but I couldn't afford it. I have always been used to 2.1Ghz clock speed but the Aspire 3 is only rated, I believe 1.1 Ghz. By the way, it does talk about burst speed to 2.1 Ghz but I don't know how that plays in the Aspire 3. Maybe you can clarify this for me? I am surprised it doesn't have a SATA hard drive. Is it easy to change the drive to a SATA? Just curious about that. I also can up the RAM. I am sure that will speed up the laptop. Please let me know what you can advise for these questions. Thanks much.

ezymel

JackE

VGA connectors are being phased out on newer laptops. Test the laptop's HDMI output directly on an HDMI input TV. It may be your HDMI-2-VGA adapter cable has an issue.

Burst speed is like turbo speed. It is automatically used by the application when possible. It's a laptop power-saving feature not usually manually adjustable.

Your laptop has a newer m.2 SATA SSD card. You can also add another standard 7mm 2.5" SATA HDD or SSD. RAM memory is fixed at 4GB soldered to the mainboard and not upgradeable or replaceable.

Go to this link for specs on standard 2.5" SATA SSDs that are compatible https://www.crucial.com/usa/en/compatible-upgrade-for/Acer/aspire-a315-31

Jack E/NJ

ezymel

Thanks for your help in this matter. As far as the VGA connector, do you mean that I should plug in the 2nd monitor directly to the HDMI on my TV? I haven't tried that yet. When I plug the AC-DC adapter in on the monitor and press the AC on, the red light on the monitor does not go on. It might be an issue with the adapter itself but the monitor did work with my spare HP laptop. I have to try it again tomorrow and see if that is the problem or else it could be the VGA to HDMI adapter, like you said.

Thanks for the explanation on the burst speed.

As far as the SATA drive in the laptop, like you said it is the latest. So, I imagine it would be best not to change it. I do have A Seagate 500MB external drive. I could use that for backup.

It is too bad that memory cannot be changed. I wonder why Acer did that as on other laptops, you are able to increase RAM. I know if the RAM was set to 8GB, it would be plenty. That could have been easily incorporated or at least I think it can. I also notice that the battery is quite different from laptops I had previously and not easy to remove if need be. I guess you can't get everything.

Last question; Should I upgrade the BIOS or just leave it alone?

Well, that's about it and I am glad that Acer has a pretty good support site. I am also glad that this forum is available with lots of interesting answers. I will use it when I run into a problem or someone could ask me a question. Not yet though, as I have to educate myself on the new laptop and I really hope I made a good choice. I know that Acer has been around quite sometime, so I know that the support will be good.

Thanks again for your help. I appreciate that.

ezymel or Mel, my real name.

JackE

Mel-BIOS firmware updates are not advised. It has the highest risk of either bricking the laptop or causing adverse side effects of all the updates. It's a last resort measure to try to fix major or disabling issues.

Fixed non-upgradeable soldered RAM is a mainboard design to save production costs and reduce prices.

If you are trying to run two separate external monitors, that may not possible due to limited graphics & power output. However, you should check a direct HDMI connection to an HDMI-equipped TV to make sure the port is functioning properly.

Jack E/NJ

ezymel

Thanks again, jack E. Your help is greatly appreciated. It seems to me that there are many changes are the result of miniaturization. Although, manufacturers are cutting some corners, the user has to get used to what is in store for the future of laptops due to that. It does make it somewhat inconvenient as you expect certain changes but nothing is ever standard. So, a simple thing as having a vga connector where it makes it easier for the user and not have to buy another monitor, saving some money, is not always the case. I guess I will just have what is on the laptop itself. This is the first Ac er product other than HP, Toshiba and Dell. I know the Acer makes a fine product and does have a good web site for support as well as this forum. I knew, first hand that you have to give up some features when going for the basics but that is how it is. As long as my laptop functions OK, and lasts awhile, that is all I need. I am not going to use my laptop for gaming or graphics, so it should function OK. That is it for now and possibly talk later.

Mel

JackE

OK. Good luck with it. Jack E/NJ

ezymel

Thanks again jackE for your answers. It is too bad you are not able to upgrade RAM. Although it may be cost effective, it still puts a damper upon the user as being stuck with no way to upgrade RAM. I would think the cost wouldn't be a factor as much. I know that RAM, generally is plugged in to a connector that has gold plated contacts. Most computers have that. I personally wouldn't mind paying a few extra $$$$ to have that convenience. Meanwhile, it does affect the user as they are stuck with 4GB of RAM when adding more will make your computer faster. I guess you can't have everything. Meanwhile, this laptop is very nice and the graphics are great.

ezymel

JackE

Even if you could increase the RAM, the biggest speed bang for the buck with your particular model is still not adding more RAM but swapping out the 2.5" HDD for an 2.5" SSD. https://www.crucial.com/usa/en/compatible-upgrade-for/Acer/aspire-a315-31

Jack E/NJ

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