Obsidian Black Acer Aspire E 15 15.6 Inches Laptop Review

If you're reading this review it's because you're in the marketplace to buy a new puter running the latest i5 CPU or killing time. Well, read on. Here's my thoughts after tweaking this machine to my liking.

CPU - 5 *****
For the $$ it is fast.
2.5 GHZ turbos to 3.1 GHZ
PassMark has the i5-7200 rated at 4753. The i5-6200 is rated at 3923. The higher rating means better performance.
This i5 rocks over an i3.

Memory DDR4 - 4 *****
Kingston PC-2400R, one 8 GB stick.

SSD - None
SK Hynix M.2 SATA III 256 GB - 5 *****
Surprised to discover my rig is running with an M.2 SATA III stick instead of an SSD. The SSD hole is empty in case one wishes to add one. It's not PCI-e so you won't notice the difference in speed between this M.2 and an SSD. In a year or two I expect to see laptops with PCI-e capable M.2 sticks which will be capable of up to 32 GB speeds vs the 6GB SATA III speed.

GPU Nvidea GeForce 940MX... Read more

I spent way too much time researching laptops that would fit my budget and meet my needs. This little beauty is what I went with - ok, beauty isn't the right word, so let's go with work horse. To help others going through the rigorous process of researching a new laptop, I thought I'd write this review. I needed a fast computer, a full-size keyboard with an integrated 10-key, and significant processing power. I did not need a gaming rig or media center.

What this computer is:
First of all, it's a snappy workhorse. The Kaby Lake i7 processor is really powerful, and with a quick upgrade to 16 gb of RAM, this becomes a multi-tasking beast. I fall loosely into the power-user category as I work with big data and some CAD work, so I needed processing power and RAM. Before anyone is scared off by the idea of adding a stick of RAM, I literally spent more time googling an instructional video on YouTube than I did installing the RAM (TL/DR: three screws, a few snaps, plug... Read more

1) Not a hardware issue but beware the Windows 10 upgrade (for latest fixes) took 3 attempts (12 hours, 16 hours, and 20 hours) with a reboot between each. I do not know that if I waited for 20 hours on the first attempt it may have worked or if the 3 reboots were needed. It took the upgrade 3 hours to get to 99% and then just sat there.
2) The Windows recovery drive can be created on a USB 16GB stick. That is nice.
3) Purchased an extra 8GB RAM (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FRP217C/ref=cm_cr_ryp_prd_ttl_sol_2).
4) Purchased 480GB SSD (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B017UDPW1Q/ref=cm_cr_ryp_prd_ttl_sol_6).
5) Installed both RAM and SSD (no kit) without an issue (I reviewed each) (see pic). I also ordered the 42.GDEN7.SV1 kit to better secure the SSD.
6) What sold me was the fact this LT had an M.2 SSD making it possible to install an additional SSD. Other laptops with a regular SSD would only allow a HDD as the second storage device.
7) With no external... Read more