Acer Aspire ES1-512 really slow

conbrue
conbrue Member Posts: 4 New User

Hello, had this laptop a couple of weeks but can't belive how slow it is, it cam with Windows 8.1 installed and has 4gb of memory, i have updated the drivers etc but the performace is shocking and also the mousepad is the worst I have ever used, please tell me there is a solution to both my issues?

 

Thanks.

Answers

  • philetus
    philetus ACE Posts: 4,759 Pathfinder

    The first thing I do for a really slow computer is run 

    Download Malwarebytes Anti-Malware 2.04.1028 Final

     

    and see if it's being caused by malware.

  • conbrue
    conbrue Member Posts: 4 New User

     Hello, scan was clean.

     

     

    My main issue is the mouse pad, it is the worst I have ever used, too delicate when you type and none responsive when you browse web sites, if I use the up/down arrors I can browse fine but thats not what I want to do.

     

    Please help.

     

    ta

  • Don1
    Don1 Member Posts: 9 New User

    Seems to be an Acer thing. Mine was slow out of the box, and the mouse isn't worth *****.

  • shabeel
    shabeel Member Posts: 1 New User

    I have same issues. Very slow laptop and slow touchpad. I rang Acer, they told me to uninstall the touch pad driver and restart the laptop. Touchpad was fine for one day. My first Acer laptop and bad experince. If you open couple of windows same time  it starts freezing. I bought it for my son, he does not want to use it because it's too slow. I have same problem when i use it. 

  • Stewart
    Stewart Member Posts: 4 New User

    You need to isolate what system resource (CPU, Memory or Storage) is causing the laptop to run slow.

     

    Once you know this, steps can be taking to improve the results.

     

    1) CPU - Are unexpected tasks running in the background?

    Open the Task Manager and sort the processes first by CPU. If you have never done this remember, Google and YouTube are a great place to learn. You may find something installed is running in the background and consuming CPU resources making other tasks slower. The CPU used in the ES1-512 is not the most powerful in the world but it's fine for most tasks as long as a process is not being a CPU hog. Check if you have a CPU hog running.

     

     

    2) Memory - Windows can be memory hungry and each program running require memory. With 4GB of real memory, the laptop will slow if Windows is forced to page memory to disk. A common cause of this is the number of programs running such as browser windows/tabs opened. Use the Task Manager and sort processes by memory usage. This will help find items consuming memory that can be closed to make real memory available. The Task Manager can also show the amount of real memory available. If you are running out of memory, this laptop can be upgraded to an 8GB memory DIMM. It can really improve performance if you are running out of memory and paging to disk. If you are not running out of memory, additional memory will do nothing to improve performance.

     

    3) Storage - Laptop hard drives are no longer the fastest storage available these days. Flash Storage, also called SSD for Solid State Device or Solid State Drives are not only faster (if the right unit is selected) but use less energy which extends battery life. 

     

    I upgraded this laptop to 8GB of 1600MHz memory and a Samsung 850 EVO SSD (the Pro is also fast).

    Now, Windows 7 boots in under 10 seconds. It's a very nice laptop with these upgrades.

     

    Prior to these upgrades, I noticed I could over tax the laptop resources and poor performance would start.

    After the upgrades much more can be done concurrently on the laptop. The CPU at times can still be over taxed but this appears to be much less of a factor to good Windows performance.

     

    It is amazing the difference fast memory and fast storage can make to overall Windows performance.

     

    Stewart

  • Seattlerain
    Seattlerain Member Posts: 3 New User

    Hello,

    Purchased ES1-512 with 2Gb RAM, Win 8.1.  Started using 1-6-2015.

    Performance was sluggish from the start and the touchpad difficult to use effectively.

    Upgraded to 8Gb RAM, not much improvement.

    Upgraded to Win10, installed updated drivers.  Continued to be slow. 

    Scanned for virus, malware.  Continues to be slow.

    Scan disc, defrag disc.

    Check for unnecessary programs on start up. 

    Monitored for background programs with Task Manager, reduced all start up programs.

    Continues to slow.

    Any other ideas would be appreciated.

    Thanks.

  • Stewart
    Stewart Member Posts: 4 New User

    Check the speed of the memory you added, the processor will handle 1600MHz memory. Faster memory makes a difference. The IO performance of the storage subsystem makes a BIG difference to Windows. Purchase a fast SSD such as the Samsung 840 or 850 Pro. I've also tried the 850 EVO and found it to be almost as fast as the Pro. Fully format the storage. Don't use the quick formating option. As for W10, wait 18 months. Use W7, every driver is available.

  • Seattlerain
    Seattlerain Member Posts: 3 New User

    Hello Stewart,

    I appreciate the reply.

    The 8Gb of memory is Crucial 1600MHz. 

    This was purchased to be a everyday laptop for everyday email, surfing, etc.  I do not want to put anymore money into this laptop, such as with a solid state drive.  The basic system design should have been much better, in my opinion.  I would not recommend this laptop.

    ACER has updated all the drivers for Windows 10 and they are available for download.

    This slow performance makes it difficult to enjoy the experience.  The touchpad experience is poor as well.

    Lesson learned, spend the money for a higher end multi-core processer system.

    I believe I have done all I can to improve upon a poor system design.

     

  • Stewart
    Stewart Member Posts: 4 New User

    Did you check the task manager for a process/thread running in the background that is consuming the CPU?

     

    You will find once Windows has the necessary memory to avoid paging, IO performance is the next most important factor to overall system performance. In many cases, the CPU is waiting for IO to complete.

     

    That said, this laptop contains a lower end processor that was designed for 1 to 3 concurrent tasks. For many users, that's a perfect amount of CPU power. They won't use more CPU power if it was available. To this group of users, the processor selection saves cost and battery power.

     

    I use a mouse .vs the touchpad.

    I'm not a fan of touchpads.

     

    Take care.

  • Don1
    Don1 Member Posts: 9 New User

    I used mine as a door stop now. 7 months from the box to a piece of scrap. And no I did not buy another Acer.

  • ronnie4650
    ronnie4650 Member Posts: 2 New User

    hi i had same problem with a new machine i just carried out a bios download from acer support 

    and comps flying try it its system performance download

  • ronnie4650
    ronnie4650 Member Posts: 2 New User

    try system performance download from acer support you ll find it in bios updates for your machine