Full upgrade on Aspire 3680

I was just given a brand new Aspire 3680, and I want to know the full capabilities on upgrades on this laptops hardware. RAM, CPU, GFX, etc... I've read a little on this piece of crap, and its nowhere near impressive... So I want to give it a full make over. Please tell me I can do this!

 

The most viable upgrades that one can do to most notebooks are to upgrade the ram(get more of it) and the hard drive(faster rotational speed). CPUs(processors) can be upgraded as well but this will void your warranty and IMO aren't really worth it in the end for the trouble you have to go through.

GFX(graphics cards) on 99% of current notebooks are not upgradeable as the graphics cards are soldered onto the mainboard. There are a few exceptions to this rule but none of acer's current notebooks can be upgraded so in this department you are stuck with what you have.

So the best upgrades you can really do are:

1) Add more ram ( if you feel like you need it) 2GB is really the best option here.

2) A faster and larger hard drive( again if you feel you need it).
Look for 5400RPM or 7200RPM drives and avoid the 4200RPM ones as they are the slowest drives

As you can see notebooks are not really that upgradeable, so you have to get what you want when you are purchasing as your update paths thereafter are extremely limited.

 

wow, so I guess no video games on this pos...

 

The best performance booster will be to upgrade the RAM, the computer uses dual channel, so your computer runs faster on a pair of RAM vs just one.

Uninstall the bloatware crap that Acer installed.

You're not impressed with the speed. Well, it is just a budget laptop. Think of it as a Honda Civic, it gets the job done in 99% of driving task, but you wouldn't want to use it for racing.

 

actual you do if you build the motor and slap a turbo on it.

 

yes, you could, but wouldn't you have gotten there cheaper and faster if you just buy a sport car? In a similar vein, if someone wants a machine for gaming, he or she should not buy an Acer and upgrade to the max.

 

Well said.

 

A key point to his post is that he was "given" this laptop. If you are given a Civic, it would be cheaper to upgrade in most cases.

He could sell this laptop that was given to him and buy something more expensive but as cars, laptops lose the majority of their value when it's used the first time.