Acer Aspire 5251-1513 HD Upgrade

The upgrade this time is the hard drive:

Going from a:
Hitachi 250GB SATA 5400rpm, HTS545025B9A300, 8Mb Cache, 3GbS

To a:
Hard Drive:
Western Digital 500Gb SATA, 7,200Rpm, WD5000BEKT, 16Mb Cache, 300, 3Gbs.

While the maximum transfer rates are the same, the WD will perform much better than the Hitachi does.

Western Digital made the cloning process a snap with the use of the Acronis True Image software that is available for free at the WD website.
Cloning the drive was as easy as installing the software, attaching the new drive with an external enclosure and then running the software.
When Acronis is done running, you just swap out the drives, and you are DONE!
This was a VERY easy swap, program and all. It is up and running with no issues.
You can do this one easily!
Later all!

Me!

Linux on a laptop

So I was bored the other day and wondered what it would be like to run linux on a laptop? It was a tossup between Open SUSE and Fedora. Fedora was the winner (The Open SUSE disc was bad)

I have to admit, Fedora was an easy install? All of the components of the computer were recognized right away! and it connected wirelessly instantly!
Figurung out how to install
applications was something else! I know that all installations use "yum" but no one was explaining how to get to "yum". I figured it had to to with the Linux version of a command line, but again, no explanations on line?

The installation of applications is completely different than it is in Windows, not at all alike! But it is easier! And most all of the applications are free! I'll post more when I get to messing around with it. So many things to learn yet!

Later all!

Acer 5251-1513 Memory problems

So, I ran into a HUGE snag with this upgrade! It seems that if you upgrade the memory to 8Gb with PC 1333 the computer loses video resolution (Reverts to 1024X768) and you lose the HDMI output.
It seems that ACER has not yet discovered this issue, or they arent going to deal with it?
To fix this issue go to the AMD website and download the current Catalyst Control Center drivers. Install the drivers then restart the laptop. This will take care of the video resolution/ HDMI issue.
HERE is the updated driver that will fix the Issue.
I called Crucial, and Acer, only Crucial seemed interested in what I had found. Acer seemed to blow me off, when they transferred me to Level 2 support, they just weren't interested.
So, here we are, the first of three updates.
8Gb Crucial PC1333 memory, upgraded!


The next project:
Acer Aspire 5251-1513

Current Configuration:
Processor (CPU):
Type : AMD™ V Series Processor V120
Speed : 2.2GHz
Cache : 512KB L2 cache

Memory:
Up to 3GB (2GB + 1GB) DDR3 1066 SDRAM
Total slots : 2

Hard Drive:
250GB SATA 5400rpm, 8Mb Cache (Hitachi HTS545025B9A300) (3.0GbS)

Planned Upgrades:
Hard Drive:
Western Digital 500Gb, WD5000BEKT, 7,200Rpm, 16Mb Cache SATA 300, 3Gbs.

Memory:
2X Crucial 4GB DDR3 1333 PC3 10600 SODIMM

Processor:
Unknown as of yet, not sure as to how high I can go?

AMD Athlon II Dual-Core Mobile P340
AMD Phenom II Triple-Core Mobile P860
AMD Phenom II Quad-Core Mobile P960

Some major research before I can make this change, I'm limited by the power rating of the AMD V120 that is installed now, 25W, and what BIOS will recognize, more research ahead!

Still here

I'm still around and kicking! Believe it or not, winter has not claimed my sanity as of yet!
One of the free-bee computers arrived last week, it is a Gateway GP7. It has a MASSIVE 20Gb hard drive (snicker) 512Mb of ram and a P-III processor, not a speed machine in any way.
I have it all cleaned up and ready to go, I believe I may have a home for it, just need to make the call.
I realize that this is no speed machine, but for someone who could not afford a newer computer this machine would be fine. It surf's the web quite nicely with Firefox installed, if I haven't stated it before, I will now! I can't STAND Internet Explorer! WAY too stinking slow to be of any value.
I'll keep this one short, things to do even though I am not working.....
Have a great one!

Me!

P.S. I watched all three Resident Evil movies! WAY COOL! You got to see them! LOL!