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Acer Aspire 3 A315-54-35CL 15.6" Laptop (128GB, Has 2nd HDD/RAM Slots) $599 + Shipping @ JB Hi-Fi

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Acer Aspire 3 A315-54-35CL 15.6" Laptop (128GB, Has 2nd HDD/RAM Slots) $599 + Shipping @ JB Hi-Fi
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Geekomatic on 07/04/2020 - 17:41 jbhifi.com.au (2965 clicks)
Last edited 13/04/2020 - 14:40 by 2 other users

Mods can move this elsewhere if they wish, as this is the standard price, however, the following info on this model is NOT found anywhere— not at JB and not online:

This is the current gen i3, which is nearly as fast as a previous gen i7. The 128GB drive is NVMe. It is full high definition, when others more expensive are only HD. It has an easily-accessible RAM slot PLUS an included caddie/screws to install a SECOND drive. I've set this up for two clients so far (moving user folders to the 2nd SSD) and this laptop is incredibly smooth (especially once you turn off the Win 10 "eye-candy" settings). It has a substantial feel to it and is relatively thin, as well.

If you're in the market for a nice laptop, with upgrade potential, at a low price, this is it! Enjoy. :)

Key Features

15.6-inch FHD (1920 x 1080) LED LCD Display

Intel® Core™ i3-10110U Dual core processor, 4MB Cache, up to 4.1GHz

4GB RAM

128GB SSD Storage

Intel HD graphics

1 x HDMI Port

2 x USB 2.0 Port

1 x USB 3.0 Ports

Webcam

Bluetooth

Windows 10

Computing 15.6inch Acer Computer Laptop

Related Stores

JB Hi-Fi
JB Hi-Fi

closed Comments

  • JacobHarvey on 07/04/2020 - 17:54
    +39

    Not a bad price for a general use laptop.

    However regarding the statement 'This is the current gen i3, which is nearly as fast as a previous gen i7' you'd have to go back all the way to the 7th gen i7 U series chips to make that true as this 10th gen i3 is still a dual core with HT.

    From 8th gen onwards, all the U series i7s have been quad cores with hyperthreading, just clearing that up for anyone who is looking for 4 cores at a minimum.

    There's also a 6 core U series 10th gen i7 that was recently released (i7-10710U) and Ryzen 4000 U series CPUs with up 8 cores + HT that look pretty decent (but will obviously cost a good bit more)

    • Gorian4 on 07/04/2020 - 19:05
      +6

      This is true, you can also compare the PassMark Benchmarks and you'll quickly see that these are on par with 7th gen (early 2017) i7 U-Series CPU's

      • [Deactivated] on 07/04/2020 - 19:48

        if you care to step one generation back, i3-8130U is effectively rebranded i7-7500U. i3 hasn't advanced much for generations. even i3-7130U to i3-8130U was a very modest upgrade.

        • Zackeroo on 08/04/2020 - 11:41

          I'm using the i7-7500u at this moment to reply, and have to say it's an amazing CPU which is extremely powerful… I've done some research and found that it even manages to balance an Egpu system with a 1070, showing that it's a really powerful package for a 7th gen laptop CPU

      • klumsybot on 11/04/2020 - 01:29

        Passmark is one of the most useless benchmarks imaginable

    • CyberMurning on 07/04/2020 - 19:46
      +7

      wow Jacob you know lots about IT stuffs i almost thought your full name is jacob harvey norman.

      kidding :)

      • JacobHarvey on 07/04/2020 - 19:50
        +17

        From my past experiences with buying stuff from Harvey Norman i definitely would not trust their tech advice at all though

  • FTTNope on 07/04/2020 - 17:56
    +1

    Benchmarks indicate this i3 is the equal of an i7-7660U from 2017, certainly not any 2019 i7s, but otherwise this looks good.

  • superforever on 07/04/2020 - 18:01
    -8

    Is SSD replaceable and needs more ram.

    • DianaOfAmazonia on 07/04/2020 - 18:06
      +7

      I’m not sure you read the text on the post…

      • superforever on 07/04/2020 - 18:09
        -8

        So assume people know NVMe is replaceable and is it accessible without break it up？

        • tonyjzx on 07/04/2020 - 20:56
          +1

          fooken hell that engrish

          • superforever on 07/04/2020 - 21:00

            @tonyjzx:

            fooken hell that engrish

            No idea what you are talking about.

            • tonyjzx on 07/04/2020 - 21:11
              +12

              @superforever: Now you know how the rest of us feel when we read what you write.

              • superforever on 07/04/2020 - 21:16

                @tonyjzx: I did read the post but it didn't mention whether we can replace the SSD by ourselves or not.

    • dlovep on 07/04/2020 - 18:09

      Has 2nd HDD/RAM Slots

      Just add in any of those, but the 4GB seems solder on rather than replaceable

      • superforever on 07/04/2020 - 20:56

        So can't replace the build in NVMe, nowadays for most laptop you have to completely open it up to replace the drive inside.

    • KintaroOe on 07/04/2020 - 18:18
      +4

      Fair to assume it's Not Very Movable evidently

  • mathew42 on 07/04/2020 - 18:42

    What is the maximum RAM that can be put in the slot.

    • CyberMurning on 07/04/2020 - 19:47
      +15

      one ram in one slot. not more.

      • mathew42 on 07/04/2020 - 19:49

        Evidently this has a spare slot.
        What is the maximum size of the RAM that can be added (e.g. 4GB, 8GB, 16GB)?

        For most of the intended uses, this would be limited by RAM, not processor speed.

  • 1bug on 07/04/2020 - 19:53
    +1

    I've set this up for two clients so far (moving user folders to the 2nd SSD) and this laptop is incredibly smooth (especially once you turn off the Win 10 "eye-candy" settings).

    Under the Details tab, Operating system is listed as Windows 10 S (suitable for education, limited to apps from the Windows Store, Microsoft Edge as the default browser).

    Have you upgraded Windows 10 S to Windows 10 Home (or Pro)? If so, is there a cost to upgrade?

    • hardya on 07/04/2020 - 20:26

      is it essentially crippled, unable to install other programmes?

    • Riczter on 07/04/2020 - 20:52
      +13

      It is very easy to remove the windows S mode, the only requirement being you have to sign into the windows store to do it, which means extra steps if you are setting it up for another person, as you will then have to remove your microsoft account from the laptop afterwards.

      How to Turn Off Windows 10 S Mode:
      Go to Settings.
      Then select Update & Security.
      In the left sidebar, click Activation.
      Then click “Go to the Store.” …
      Press the “Get” button under the “Switch out of S Mode” section and wait for the process to complete.

  • tonyjzx on 07/04/2020 - 20:57

    This laptop is essentially functionally similar to the sub $500 acer around xmas time except this is a 15 and it has half the ram

  • Gunther on 07/04/2020 - 21:25

    Can anyone recommend a decent dock for this?

  • vash12 on 07/04/2020 - 21:39

    Got the 13” version with 8gb ram (1 ram slot is soldered)

    Good
    IPS screen, keyboard is decent, performance is decent with 128gb nvme, backlit keyboard.

    Bad
    Trackpad is kinda horrible, average battery life and the laptop is quite heavy.

    But for $400 its not a bad choice

    • tryagain on 08/04/2020 - 00:24

      $400? it's $599, isn't it?

      • vash12 on 08/04/2020 - 03:09
        +1

        Got the 13” from last deal, plus Trs

  • Plasma on 07/04/2020 - 21:41

    JB regularly has 15% off laptops - does anyone know if this model has been discounted previously?

  • shockrave on 07/04/2020 - 23:24

    I assume this has wifi? Doesn't say in the JB Hi Fi listing

    • Adoses on 07/04/2020 - 23:47
      +7

      First of all, a laptop without WiFi would be pretty useless…

      Second, under the 'Details' tab, it says 'Wi-Fi: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac'.

  • Zuba on 08/04/2020 - 00:29
    +3

    Only dual core. A bit of a deal breaker.

    • AussieZed on 08/04/2020 - 08:05
      +2

      IKR. This is 2020, not 2010… nobody should be buying a PC with less than 4 cores.

      • [Deactivated] on 08/04/2020 - 09:42

        The score of CPU is good enough for basic usage like web surfing, watching movies, word excel etc. I guess this laptop is geared towards such users only. Although, I would prefer it with 8GB RAM. Doing anything more and yes, 4 cores is a minimum for future-proofing. I would personally not buy anything less than 9750H.

        • AussieZed on 09/04/2020 - 07:02

          CPU might be good enough to do all those things now, but what about in 5 years? Many people plan on keeping a laptop for a long time, some laptops that are almost 10 years old are still in use today.

          • [Deactivated] on 09/04/2020 - 07:07

            @AussieZed: This is definitely not a 5 year thing. 3 to 4 years and then slog. You get what you pay for and this is not for future proofing.

            • AussieZed on 09/04/2020 - 08:43

              @[Deactivated]: It's actually remarkable that a $600 laptop could last for 3-4 years. I paid $4000 for a laptop in 1997 and it was completely obsolete after 2 years.

              • [Deactivated] on 09/04/2020 - 10:16

                @AussieZed: I dont know what laptop you paid 4000$ for on which you could not browse web or edit word documents after 2 years. If you tried anything more intensive than that, then this "segment" laptop is not for you. I am quite confident that laptops purchsed 3 to 4 years back with sensible configuration (UNLIKE https://www.jbhifi.com.au/products/hp-14s-dk0028au-14-laptop…) that costed 600 to 700$ can be used today for browsing web or editing documents or watching youtube and buying and selling stuff on gumtree, skyping or messaging here on ozbargain ;) That is all this segment laptops are useful for. A lot of people know only to do that and nothing more. And SSD will definitely make the laptop punchier.

                If you want to do anything more than that, a quad core is a minimum requirement.

                • AussieZed on 09/04/2020 - 13:14
                  +1

                  @[Deactivated]: A computer can be considered obsolete even if it can still browse the web and edit Word documents. Obsolete does not mean unusable, it simply means out of date. An example of an obsolete computer, for example, is one that runs an old OS, where upgrading the OS is not practical due to the outdated hardware.

                  • [Deactivated] on 09/04/2020 - 15:05

                    @AussieZed: Very sure laptops released 3 or 4 years back that had sensible hardware for 500 or 700bux were running windows 10 and still run windows 10 with all driver updates. This laptop mentioned in this page has a very respectable single threaded performance passmark score - which is very much required for snappy performance. Almost as much as my 3700X desktop CPU. And a multi threaded passmark performance of 4300. All I feel this needs is another 4 gigs of RAM and it will run all the new OS for another 3 or 4 Years just fine and for simple tasks snapily - ssd is a plus. Being 10th Gen, the integrated Iris Plus graphics is better than previous gen as well. Again, this laptop is geared towards those for whom every cent matters.

                    I am not against 4 cores at all especially when my desktop has 8. Just that, this laptop should work fine for simple tasks. But there is another thread where used laptops are being sold for 480$ which have 3000 Passmark score (6200U CPUs) and I am completely against those for purchase today.

                    • AussieZed on 09/04/2020 - 17:15

                      @[Deactivated]: Yes, but I'm talking about your comment regarding the $4k laptop I got in 1997, and how it couldn't be obsolete after 2 years. Microsoft released new OS's more frequently back then. It came with Windows 95 OSR2, which I later upgraded to Win98. But the hardware could not handle Win2k/XP.

                      • [Deactivated] on 09/04/2020 - 17:27

                        @AussieZed: Ya, I know. you were pretty much stuck with the driver that came in the CD/Floppy for years. On top of that lot of hardware incompatibilities. I got an Opti 16 ISA sound card instead of Creative sound blaster 16 as thats all my piggy bank had and I had let go of the card once i upgraded to 98. Bad but exciting times :)

  • aurotaro on 08/04/2020 - 08:29
    +1

    Will this be good for my dad to use for general dad purposes, work, excel, general browsing for work training purposes?

    • railspider on 08/04/2020 - 09:17
      +1

      100% fine for those tasks. Add an extra stick of RAM if he's the type to leave 100 tabs open or use larger Excel spreadsheets

  • Typical16-bitEnjoyer on 08/04/2020 - 09:16
    +1

    15.6" 1080p.

    Great value.

  • railspider on 08/04/2020 - 09:16

    OP, what are the "Win 10 "eye-candy" settings"? Wouldn't mind speeding up some my older i3 laptops

    • sudaraka on 08/04/2020 - 11:32
      +1

      Maybe he/she is reffering to these: https://www.windowscentral.com/how-disable-system-visual-eff…

      • Geekomatic on 08/04/2020 - 19:32
        +1

        Those and a few others. Have a look online.

        On my own I disabled WU, turned off Windows Search, turned off "index file contents", uninstalled every piece of rubbish included, set my system page file to dbl the ram min/max, etc. There are plenty of ways to tame the beast that is Win 10. This laptop is only here to help my clients. I'm a Linux girl. ;)

        • sudaraka on 09/04/2020 - 02:26

          Yeah, I see how that would improve things even further. Installing a good Linux flavour (I'm a MINT fan myself) will be even better 😊

  • jazzk on 08/04/2020 - 09:58

    The extra empty drive slot can hold 2.5 inches SSD or just m.2 ?

    • vash12 on 08/04/2020 - 10:16
      +1

      I believe it 2.5”only

  • [Deactivated] on 08/04/2020 - 10:39

    You can find teardown of A315 on youtube.

    Overall Acers are not bad, solid mid-range performers with weak point being battery lifespan and horrible power connectors. Hint - if yours started failing in 99% cases it's actually cable issue, not an outlet.

    • Geekomatic on 08/04/2020 - 19:34

      Not sure exactly how long mine lasts, but it seems to last a really long time between charges w/things tweaked as per above).

      • [Deactivated] on 09/04/2020 - 14:00

        Nah, what I meant batteries do not last on them. Mine is at only 50% capacity after a year or so, there's not many original batteries for sale and most aftermarket batteries you can find are crap.

  • MrBillions on 08/04/2020 - 11:58

    buy rating out of 10?

    • w37hsyea on 09/04/2020 - 13:17

      Low - I own this i5 of this.

      • Dacs on 09/04/2020 - 14:00

        What do you think is better in the sub-$600 price range?

  • capslock janitor on 08/04/2020 - 12:42
    -1

    As a rule I always avoid Black lappies, it gathers dust way too visibly and an eyesore hich any clean person ill anna ipe very fe hours.

    First hand regrets from someone ho just bought a black laptop for the good price.

    Only exception i'll make is Thinkpad range, I think it's material comes into play too

    • Geekomatic on 08/04/2020 - 19:35

      It has a sort of matte finish, actually. I also dislike dust and finger prints, but this one doesn't seem too bad in that dept. FYI

      • capslock janitor on 09/04/2020 - 11:00
        -1

        Ahh yes thought it was glossy, zooming in the striped pattern- could break it up in a good way.

        I bought the Dell 14" Vostro which is matte black it's bloody horrible dust magnet

  • w37hsyea on 09/04/2020 - 13:16
    -1

    I have the i5 of this and to be honest. It's really not that good. It is abit slow when alternating tasks between spreadsheets, word and a browser. It's abit slow with processing and the colours on the monitor are quite poor in quality - the whole monitor panel is lacklustre.

    Would recommend waiting for a discounted Dell G5.

    • Dacs on 09/04/2020 - 14:07
      +3

      Seriously? The G5 is a $2,500 gaming laptop. That's like suggesting someone buy a Maserati when they're tossing up between a Hiundai Getz or a Toyota Echo for the weekly drive down the road to the shops.

  • w37hsyea on 09/04/2020 - 13:18
    -1

    Acer has also disabled the user's ability to update the intel graphics card.

  • Geekomatic on 10/04/2020 - 14:58

    I should add that I personally got the deal on the Aspire 5 for $488. It has the same CPU, but 8GB RAM standard. I disabled Windows Update and went through and optimised the laptop for speed. Have a look online for Chris Titus Tech and follow his articles on doing this yourself.

    On my laptop, with the above settings in place, I go from pressing the power button to a working desktop in 8 secs. (average).

    I also have no issues with multitasking (multiple tabs in the browser, file manager open, VLC playing, etc…).

  • klumsybot on 11/04/2020 - 10:28

    Ms are getting pretty demanding about disc space for windows updates, generally 20gb now. If you have the basics on ~60gb of windows and programs, 20gb for junk/caches, there is only 40gb usable space.

    I welcome manufacturers selling low capacity drives that I can replace myself for cheap but not everyone is willing to do that. I'd like to see 250gb as my hard minimum.

  • duluxe2000 on 11/04/2020 - 20:50
    +1

    404 not found. I think it's out of stock.

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