Acer Aspire E5-573G
Selection

My present laptop is a Sony Vaio SVS1512ACXS. My son bought it when new as a light duty game machine, but later upgraded, and when my previous laptop died he gave the Vaio to me. It has these major characteristics:

• Display: 15.5in 1920x1080px
• Full size keyboard with numeric section.
• Multi-touch trackpad with clickable corners.
• CPU: Intel i7-3612QM @2.2GHz, draws 30W when idle.
• GPU: Separate nVidia GeForce GT 640M LE
• Battery: 5.2Ah, non-removable, present life 2hr
• Inception: about 2012-10-12 (3.4yr past)

Unfortunately the Vaio is starting to show its age. Several times while booting it has locked up. Incubation for several hours with line power unplugged brought it back; BIOS reset did not help. Eventually the disability is going to become permanent. So I'm picking a replacement.

Table of Contents

• Requirements
• What's Available
• Acer E5-573G Product Page
• The Acer Aspire E5-573G on Amazon
• More About the Acer Aspire E5-573G
• Hands-On Testing of Acer Aspire E5-573G
• What About a Solid State Disc?
• Amazon Order

Requirements

My major activities with the laptop are software development, system administration, and web browsing including webmail. Desired but less intense activities are graphic arts and video performance. Gaming is not a priority. What hardware is required to support these activities?

• The machine will be used a lot, many hours per day. for complex tasks involving multiple windows. This implies:

  • A largish screen. The old Xena had 1920x1080px 15.5in (395mm) diagonal, and this was quite good. The 1366x768px screens are rejected. I do graphic arts sometimes but not as a major part of the work. The old Xena's screen was excellent for graphic arts.
  • Responsive and comfortable keyboard.
  • An agile pointing device. A major complaint I have about the Vaio is that its touchpad is very sensitive to stray touches. Also when you position the cursor and lift your finger, the cursor often moves. It would be a really good idea to get hands-on access to an instance of the proposed new machine, and try out the touchpad.
  • Alternative pointing devices: a trackball would be nice (builtin, not on a separate table). I prefer the trackball for text work, but a separate trackball is impractical on a laptop. I find that the J-mouse is nice as a supplement but not as the primary pointing device. I'm not sure that a direct touch screen would be convenient because of the need to lift up my hand far from the keyboard, speaking from experience on my hybrid tablet. Separate mouse buttons are preferred but I have the Vaio set up for 3-button operation with physical clicking on the bottom edge of the touchpad.
  • A flat bottom that doesn't get too hot. One previous machine had a row of batteries across the bottom, which was a disaster, and it dissipated 30 watts and made sure you knew it.

• Operating system: Linux, OpenSuSE Leap 42.1. This is non-negotiable; I'm not going to have anything to do with Windows. However, for the laptop finally selected I'm going to need kernel 4.4.0 from the Tumbleweed (rolling, advanced) variant.

• Battery life: There are two modes of use: plugged in to wall power, and on battery. The tablet is very nice, being able to run all day on battery. The old Xena could do 3 hours (when new); the CPU burned 30 watts at idle. That was useful only for short unplugged forays, and most of the time I used it on wall power. The Vaio's battery (no longer new) lasts only 2 hours at 30W.

• CPU power: The faster the machine runs, the more it eats battery. Most of the activities I do require very little CPU. But not all of them: compiling a big project, or running a differential geometry simulation, takes serious CPU power, and slug-like performance is not appreciated. I will need to compromise very carefully in this area and use the compute server when needed. Modern chipsets use way under 30W, like, I just bought an Intel NUC with Core i5 and a rotating disc, at 9W idle.

• Disc: Software fits in an honest 10Gb; my home directory currently has 450Mb of which 237Mb is web browser caches (oink). Disc choices:

  • Rotating disc: 250Gb is just about the smallest you can get these days. Total overkill. However, if I want to work with a virtual machine on the laptop, it's useful to have large amounts of uncommitted space.
  • Solid state disc: The extra expense of a 250Gb SSD is probably not justified. [Hmm, prices have come down.] However, the SSD does use less power. Nonetheless the rotating disc frequently goes to sleep once all actually used software is in the memory cache.
  • SD card: A 64Gb card is inexpensive and is a real possibility.
  • mSATA or M.2: This is a SSD on a mini-PCI card with two kinds of special connector. I'm not familiar with this type of device but it would not be rejected if it seems appropriate on other grounds.

• RAM: Right at this moment /proc/meminfo reports 8Gb total, 6.5Gb free, i.e. never used (since booting) for anything. I really don't use a lot of RAM. However, populating both sockets significantly speeds up memory access, for memory intensive tasks; but I've learned that a benchmark I thought was memory limited, wasn't.

• Virtualization: This is a fairly important plus. All AMD CPUs have virtualization. No Intel Atoms have it. Some mainline Intel CPUs have, some don't, particularly CPUs intended for laptops. I used virtual machines on the laptop before the Vaio, for development work: if you trash the OS it's not a big hassle to recover, as it would be on a physical machine, and the physical machine has its own work to do that should not be interrupted.

• Let's consider 2.5Kg as a hard upper bound on the mass of the laptop. One of my old laptops was this heavy. It didn't bother me, but my wife hated it for that reason. A lighter machine would be nice, though I'm not looking for an ultralight because it's too fragile. Along the same lines, thinness is not a major selection criterion.

• Do I require an optical drive? It's a nice feature but in practice I don't use it for playing media, and for software installation I currently successfully use a network installer on USB storage -- or the whole installation DVD on USB; I've installed successfully both ways.

• Miscellaneous features:

  • WiFi: Required, and must be reliable. 802.11bgn is available at my home. A band is a nice addition but I don't have an access point for it.
  • Wired Ethernet (802.3): Required (for installation); 100Mbit/sec over MOCA is what's available at home, but modern machines have gigabit Ethernet.
  • Bluetooth: A nice addition. On the old laptop I used it for audio playback to headphones. Just about every laptop has Bluetooth.
  • Wired headphone jack: 3.5mm required, no proprietary connectors. A 4-wire connector for a mic set is a nice addition.
  • Webcam and mic: A nice feature, but in practice I have rarely used mine.
  • Backlit keyboard: On the old laptop I was surprised to find that the backlight is not just a bourgeois affectation, but helps me to use the machine at night. It's a plus feature but not required.
  • Card slot: If a small SSD is used, the card slot can be very useful for expansion space if it turns out to be needed in the future. With a rotating disc on the old laptop, I rarely used the card slot, and it will be sufficient to use the one I have on a desktop machine.
  • USB ports: It's important to have one for installing the operating system, and for unexpected other uses, but I rarely plug in an external accessory. I have no USB-3.0 clients, so I don't care if the port is 3.0 or 2.0.
  • Video ports: In the future I might unexpectedly need to give some kind of presentation. Probably a HDMI port is the most versatile for that, with VGA as a second choice. I have never actually used the video port on my laptop, except once for testing a new TV; however, our son used his to play videos on our TV from his Netflix subscription.
  • WiDi (Wireless display interface): I don't have, and very likely will not get, the server.
  • Dock: I would not use it, unlike for the tablet, for which the dock (separate keyboard) is essential.

What's Available

PC Magazine's Best Laptops for College Students By Laarni Almendrala Ragaza (2015-11-11). PC Magazine has several 10 Best lists oriented to different audiences. The table below is a composite of several of those lists, focusing on machines that have a chance of winning, and excluding those that are obviously unsuitable, meaning each list has only one or two surviving members. The College Students list was the most productive.

• All Apple products are excluded: overpriced, and by running Linux I would be wasting the Apple cachet.
• Chromebooks are rejected out of hand: too underpowered, and I wonder if mainline Linux can handle the chipset.
• I've decided that I absolutely require the 15in screen, and I've mostly excluded the smaller ones.
• In machines costing over $1000, I don't see must-have features that would justify the higher price, so these are (mostly) excluded.
• Under Stars, * indicates Editor's Choice (for the various categories).
• The screen dimension is the diagonal size in English inches. Screens smaller than 1980x1080px are excluded.
• The number under Battery is how long the machine could execute PC Magazine's standard battery test, which is playing MPEG-4 video over and over. This test works without modification for all architectures and all operating systems. The screen is set to 50% brightness and no ambient light adaptation. Keyboard and decorative case lighting are off; so is Wi-fi. Endpoint is when the battery reaches 5%. Beware, some machines have a special mode for playing movies on airplanes, and the battery life on this test may not translate to performance on productive work.

PC Magazine review of Acer Aspire E5-573G-57HR

By Matthew Buzzi (2015-09-10). Pro: great price, discrete graphics, strong performance, long battery life. Con: He thinks the touchpad feels flimsy. No Bluetooth (later info says it does have it). No keyboard backlight. Bottom line: he thinks it's very good.

The Acer Aspire E5-573G-57HR's niche is a desktop replacement (whereas other reviewers place it as an entry level gaming machine). When the article was written it was picked as the current Editor's Choice. Not an IPS display but reasonable angular range. Keyboard has a numeric pad (looks a lot like the Vaio). Ports: 2x USB-3.0 (on left), 1x USB-2.0 (on right), VGA, HDMI, 3.5mm phone jack, RJ45, card slot, 802.11ac, and this paragraph says it has Bluetooth but the summary says it doesn't. (Other sources concur that it does have Bluetooth-4.0.) GPU: nVidia GeForce 940M with 2Gb VRAM. Excellent multimedia performance.

Jimc says: On paper this one looks like the leader. However it will be important to get my hands on one, and to try out the display and the touchpad. I should find out what Wi-fi/Bluetooth chip is in it (these days, they are usually integrated on the same chip), and verify that the Linux driver works. Found; kernel 4.4.x required. People re-installing Windows (recommended in forums) should previously download drivers for the wired NIC, Wi-fi and graphics, put them on a USB memory stick, and provide them during installation.

In the model number, E5-573G-57HR, the ending segment refers to the processor and (possibly) the screen size; a variety of these are available on Amazon. When searching for other reviews of this machine I'll search for E5-573G.

PC Magazine review of Acer Aspire Switch 11 (SW5-171-325N)

By Joel Santo Domingo (2015-03-24). Pros: Tablet with detachable keyboard; nice magnetic hinge. 1080p IPS display. Nice price. Cons: Top-heavy over keyboard. Wimpy speakers. Adaptive brightness set too aggressively.

Jimc says: I'm afraid that I wouldn't be happy with the machines with smaller screens. Better that I should make the existing Asus Transformer Pad Infinity perform well in my role.

PC Magazine review of Dell Inspiron 13 7000 Series 2-in-1 Special Edition (7352)

By Joel Santo Domingo (2015-07-20). Pro: Sharp detail from IPS touch screen. Core i7 CPU and SSD. Cons: A little bulky as a tablet. Bottom line: As a hybrid laptop/tablet it stands out with premium features.

You can invert the screen and use it as a tablet, but it's a bit bulky for this mode, best as a laptop. It does well in performance tests (but a competitor is slightly faster on most of them). The aluminum palm rest is a plus.

Jimc says: The Core i7 processor definitely adds to the price. The smaller screen is discouraging; see the Inspiron 15 7000 in the next review. I think this one is not going to win my competition.

PC Magazine review of Dell Inspiron 15 7000 Series (7559)

By Matthew Buzzi (2015-12-29). This is from PC Magazine: The 10 Best Laptops of 2016 by Joel Santo Domingo and Laarni Almendrala Ragaza (2016-01-07). These are their most preferred laptops across all categories. Among these, only this one gets through my exclusions.

The Inspiron 15 7000's niche is a gaming machine. Pros: Affordable, solid gaming performance, nice features. Cons: Heavy. Tinny speakers at high volume. Bottom line: With its strong build, ample storage, and full HD display, the Dell Inspiron 15 7000 Series (7559) is an excellent entry-level gaming laptop that delivers better performance than you'd expect for the price.

This machine has become the new Editor's Choice for entry-level gaming laptops, displacing the Alienware 15, very similar capabilities at 2.4x the price. Graphics: nVidia GeForce GTX 960M. Jimc says: This machine is nice, but seriously overkill for my applications, and the mass is discouraging (as is the Acer Aspire).

PC Magazine review of Lenovo Yoga 3 14

By Joel Santo Domingo (2015-04-24). Pro: Innovative hinge. Full HD IPS touch display; large screen for a convertible hybrid. 9 hour battery life. Con: Feels huge in tablet mode. Shallow key travel. Adaptive brightness is too aggressive. Micro HDMI port (reviewer says it's proprietary but that apparently means you need a micro to standard adapter). Bottom line: It's a good system in a category with fierce competition.

Jimc says: This machine's strengths are in areas that aren't so valuable for me, so I'm not putting it in the lead.

PC Magazine review of Lenovo ThinkPad W550s

By Brian Westover (2015-05-21). This is from PC Magazine: The 10 Best Business Laptops of 2015 By Joel Santo Domingo, Laarni Almendrala Ragaza (2015-09-02). All of these are over $1000. Without reading the reviews I can tell that all of them are overkill for my application (or, I think, for anyone's application in the laptop area). I'm going to read the review for the Lenovo ThinkPad W550s, for completeness.

Pros for ThinkPad W550s: Excellent build quality. Slim, ruggedized chassis. High-quality keyboard. Good-looking 15-inch 3K touch screen. Cons: Dual-core processor and lower-end graphics card fall short on performance tests. (He expects a quad core processor, I think.)

It's a good blend of mobility and performance, but clearly balanced toward portability (jimc says: at just 5.5lb?). The Lenovo ThinkPad W540 (Editor's Choice) has a lot more performance. 2880x1620px display. Lenovo's keyboards are the best on the market, including this one. It has a J-mouse, and 3 separate buttons above the touchpad (plus clickable zones on the pad). Includes fingerprint reader. (Can Linux use it? Not very likely, unfortunately.) A 512Gb SSD is included in the price. There is an internal non-removable battery plus a second removable one which raises the runtime to an astonishing 17.3hr.

Acer E5-573G Product Page

The only difference (in the major specs) is the version of Windows. Here is the product page for E5-573G-52G3. Internal part number is NX.MVRAA.004. The reviewed 57HR product page. The full datasheet apparently is in an iframe; click on the link (not targeting a separate window) and it will appear. Again, the datasheets are word for word identical except for the version of Windows.

Though the in the box section mentions the battery as a separate item, the users manual (and comments by forum participants) indicates that it is embedded, i.e. not removable. [Confirmed when disassembling.]

Warranty summary (4 languages: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese):

• 1 year on parts and labor, mail-in fulfillment.
• 1 year of phone tech support for hardware (a fee applies after 1 year).
• 90 days software tech support for the OS only (installation, configuration, setup, troubleshooting).
• Does not cover (long list including add-on products not sold by Acer, and a cracked display).
• Returns or replacement parts: you pay shipping.
• Back up your data and/or retain the disc.
• Acer isn't responsible for anything. You don't sue us, we'll sue you.
• Repairs out of warranty are warranted for 90 days.
• Binding arbitration (except in Quebec, BC or Ontario).

How to obtain drivers and manuals; also BIOS updates: In the headline (says acer) in the upper right corner is a menu icon, 3 horizontal lines. Click it. In the menu that appears, expand the Support section. Go to Drivers and Manuals. Use one of the search options; I succeeded with the product and model: Aspire E5-573G. Expand the relevant category; in this case, Documents. Click on the target document's download link. You will get a zip file; unzip it and view the payload.

The Acer Aspire E5-573G on Amazon

The Amazon.com product page is titled: Acer Aspire E5-573G 15.6-Inch Gaming Laptop (Intel Core i5 5200U, 8GB, 1TB, NVIDIA GeForce 940M 2GB, Windows 10 Home). Sold by and ships from Amazon, a plus from my point of view. Current price is $500. Oops, overnight it's not sold by Amazon and the price is $558. Watch the vendor carefully. Possible upgrades:

• $500: i5-5200U @2.2GHz (5th generation), 15.6in screen
• $550: i5-6200U @2.3GHz (6th generation), 15.6in screen
• $700: i7-5500U @2.4GHz (5th generation), 15.6in screen
• $644: i5-5200U @2.2GHz (5th generation), 17.3in screen
• And various other combinations
• No extra charge for a white keyboard deck (vs. charcoal gray). Other colors are available on the Acer website (not Amazon). The shell is always black with a cloth texture.

I'm evaluating the i5-5200U, 15.6in screen, charcoal. Additional features:

• 8Gb RAM (DDR3 SDRAM); max 2x 8Gb, doesn't say whether they give you 2x 4Gb or 1x 8Gb. [It's 1x 8Gb.]
• 1Tb rotating disc, 5400rpm, SATA
• GPU: nVidia GeForce 940M with 2Gb VRAM
• Comes with Windows 10 which I would not be using.
• Display 1920x1080px
• 802.11ac Wi-fi and Bluetooth 4.0
• 802.3 gigabit wired Ethernet
• Includes webcam (1280x720px)
• Ports: 2x USB-3.0, 1x USB-2.0, HDMI, SD card slot
• LiIon Battery 2500mAh x 4 cells, quoted life 5 hours (not removable)
• 5.29lb / 2.4kg, 15 x 10 x 1.1in
• Model number: E5-573G-52G3 (vs. E5-573G-57HR in the review)
• First on Amazon: 2015-08-16

Amazon reviewer comments: Most of them love their machines. A minority have dead on arrival, or obvious software setup screwups that they should have been able to resolve themselves. There are several complaints that the touchpad is too twitchy; this means that you need to get into the Windows properties page, or equivalent Linux /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d file, and adjust it for a less aggressive basic speed and acceleration.

• TekSyndicus (2015-09-01) says: Great machine. You need to reinstall Windows to get rid of crapware. Speakers are worse than typical laptops (he uses headphones).
• Herminio Borges (2015-11-29) says: Amazing laptop for the price. But you aren't getting a $1000 case. It's a precision touchpad. No DVD but there's an expansion bay so you could put in a second drive. Add a second memory stick; by activating dual channel access you get 25% more performance.
• Kaye (2016-02-05) says: Replaced rotating disc with Samsung 250Gb SSD. Added second 8Gb RAM stick. Couldn't be happier.
• Anonymous (2016-01-27) says: Your finger has to actually touch the pad, nails don't count. (Jimc says: probably good.) (Other reviewers make vague comments about the pad.)
• One reviewer (didn't save the name) complained about viewing angles, but he was the only one so far.
• Seth Dickey (2016-01-10) says: others complain about the pad, screen and wi-fi; he thinks they're fine. Set the trackpad for less delay. (Less resistance to accidental touches.) It stays cool after long use.
• Johtull (2016-01-06) says: It's not Linux friendly. He tried to install Debian-8.2 Jessie (jimc research: it uses kernel version 3.16.0), and had endless trouble with drivers. (Jimc says: Not surprising; recent chipsets need recent kernels and X-Windows driver packages.)
• eunguyen (2016-01-04) says: battery life is below average: 4hr web surfing, 3hr youtube, 1hr gaming. (Jimc says: matches my estimates for these activities in Windows.)
• Joe Michalis (2015-12-17) says: It came with 1x 8Gb Samsung M471B1G73EB0-YK0; he upgraded with 2x(?) 8Gb Kingston HX316LS9IBK2/16. He confirms it's dual core. The phone jack is 4 wire (for a mic set).
• Iowrez (2015-11-25) says: His goal was to dual boot Win7 and Linux (what version?) You need to use Win10 to downgrade the BIOS (to what?) otherwise it will not allow you to run Linux. Also you need to set a BIOS password to disable secure boot. [Jimc research: BIOS 1.25 has a bug; 1.31 fixes it.]

More About the Acer Aspire E5-573G

What do other reviewers think about the Acer Aspire E5-573G? I don't find actual (reputable) reviews of the machine, beyond the one in PC Magazine, but there are useful forum posts about problems running Linux and how to deal with them.

Can't Install Linux

OP Valbogov (2015-09-xx). With BIOS 1.25 he could not install any Linux distro using either UEFI or Legacy. Downgrading to 1.15 allowed installation.

Rombr (2016-01-xx) asks if BIOS 1.31 is an improvement. Flavio is using 1.31 and successfully installed Ubuntu and Elementary.

Oreshkov (2015-09-xx) reports the error message: ACPI unable to load System Description Tables. The flasher refuses to downgrade.

Slowfoobar (2015-09-xx) gives these instructions to downgrade:

• Start at the driver download page.
• Search for Aspire E5-573G with the correct OS.
• Execute ZRT_115.exe (substitute targeted BIOS number). This is on Windows.
• It will fail, but don't close the installer.
• Navigate to C:\Users\name\AppData\Local\Temp\ which should contain XXXXX.tmp (random letters). Copy this folder elsewhere, then close the installer.
• In the copy, edit platform.ini changing VersionFormat from XN.NN to XN.DD. This prevents the installer from realizing that you are downgrading.
• Execute H2OFFT-W.exe . It deposits the BIOS and reboots.
• Press F2 to get into BIOS setup, and verify your BIOS version.
• He set a password (BIOS?), turned off UEFI, and installed a SSD. Ubuntu could be installed then.

Slowfoobar (2015-09-xx) replies to a query, everything seems to work except wi-fi. He thinks the card is Qualcomm Atheros QCA9377 (pci id 168c:0042), which then was not supported by the ath10k driver but is expected eventually. Jimc confirms, kernel 4.1.15's ath10k_pci.ko is not aliased to 168c:0042. Do modinfo ath10k_pci (or the filename) and look for the aliases. In another thread, ath10k_pci from kernel 4.2.3 did not have support. Jimc snooped in kernel 4.4.0 and it does have the alias.

Justin (Acer tech support, 2015-12-xx) says the engineering department is doing research on the issue of not booting Linux.

Several users (see Rombr and Flavio above, 2016-01-xx) report that BIOS 1.31 fixes the problem.

giananimohit (2016-01-xx) reports a new BIOS 1.35 and asks if it's going to work. (Jimc says: yes.)

Arch Linux Wiki Page for Acer Aspire V5-573G

My targeted machine is the E5-573G (not V5-573G). I think the V5-573G is an older model that coincidentally has a similar model number. Take a grain of salt with the information on this page, if applying it to a E5-573G. I've deleted all the notes from this wiki page because the E5-573G differs so much that the notes will confuse people. Plus discussion about the Atheros AR9462 Wi-fi chip; the E5-573G has the Atheros QCA9377 (pci id 168c:0042).

Ubuntu Forum: QCA9377 Incompatible with Lubuntu 15.10

OP Salvatore_Palomino (2016-01-xx) reports that the ath10k driver fails to support this chip (jimc confirms for kernel 4.1.15). Bucky Ball replies with a link, which is to another forum reply that contains a link to a precompiled kernel module from (not sure who).

A neighboring reply points to this Ubuntu forum thread about Atheros QCA9377. It would appear that the ath10k_pci driver in Ubuntu 15.04 Vivid Vervet supports the chip. But apparently this release (announcement updated 2015-09-13) is using kernel 3.19. Maybe with drivers backported from 4.4.x? Ubuntu 15.10 Wily Werewolf has kernel 4.2 and I don't know for sure which chips it supports; the OP's evidence is that QCA9377 is not supported.

OpenSuSE Tumbleweed has official kernel version 4.4.0 (and there are several 4.4.0's for 42.1 in developers' homedirs). I downloaded it, and ran modinfo on ath10k_pci.ko -- PCI 168c:0042 (Atheros QCA9377) actually is supported.

Wi-fi is mandatory for my use of the machine. Pretty clearly I'll have to use kernel 4.4.0. Should it be from Tumbleweed, or a version for SuSE 42.1 from developers' homedirs? In the past for a similar problem I've used the Tumbleweed package successfully. Since I will be using only one package from Tumbleweed (or the developers), how am I going to keep it updated with security patches? And will my package management scripts refrain from installing it on the other machines?

Hands-On Testing of Acer Aspire E5-573G

The goal here is to find a brick and mortar store that has the E5-573G.

Best Buy doesn't have the targeted model. It does have the V5-573G which is not the model I'm looking for and is not really comparable.

Staples has the E5-571P-31LT, but not the model I'm looking for. CPU is a Core i3-4030U (4th generation), so this is an older model. Their other Acer models look less promising.

Costco's website shows what they describe as:

• Acer Aspire E5 / Intel Core i7 / 1080p / 17.3in screen -- $700. This is probably from the E5-573G family, other specs match up. But it includes a DVD, and Intel HD 5500 graphics (not nVidia).

Their price is somewhat higher than Amazon's for this model. It's worth a trip to Costco to see what they physically have in their computer department. Result of trip: lots of Hewlett-Packard machines, useless.

What About a Solid State Disc?

I'm considering two add-ons for this laptop. First, if I add 1x 8Gb memory (about $34) the two sticks will be interleaved using the dual channel feature. One reviewer quotes 25% increase in performance (not a lot of details). When I did that on the recently purchased NUC, memtest86+ reported that the memory bandwidth increased 1.5x, but that wasn't reflected in benchmark speeds -- I think the particular benchmark was supposed to be memory limited but really wasn't. Even so, I think I'm going to dumbly increase memory. The way I use memory, it would be better if I could have gotten 2x 4Gb, but the E5-573G's on Amazon all have 1x 8Gb.

Second, I'm thinking about replacing the 1Tb rotating disc with a SSD. It will cost me about $88, and I will have a $60 rotating drive unemployed. The benefits are much faster disc access, much lower power, and no fragility if the drive is tilted or bumped. Also, some users need very quiet operation.

In the reviews for the E5-573G, 6 people say they installed the Samsung 850 Evo 250Gb or 500Gb SSD (2.5in SATA-3). Others mention installing a SSD but don't state the brand. Nobody mentioned any other brands. This family is the #1 most popular SSD on Amazon. I think I'm going to follow the herd over the cliff.

Amazon's product page for the Samsung 850 Evo family has sizes from 120Gb to 2Tb (oink) with prices about proportional to size. Today's price for the 250Gb drive is $87.99 (sold by and ships from Amazon). Key parameters:

• Model number: MZ-75E250B/AM
• Capacity: 250Gb
• Form factor: 2.5in laptop drive, 7mm high
• Interface: SATA 6Gb/s (backward compatible with 3 and 1.5Gb/s)
• Sequential read speed: 540Mb/s
• Sequential write speed: 520Mb/s
• Random read speed: 100Mb/s
• Random write speed: 90Mb/s
• Full disc encryption is available (see criticisms of block cipher)
• Warranty: 5 year
• Cable, screws and bracket are sold separately. Modern chassis do not need a cable and include a custom-shaped bracket (equivalent to rails). The screws holding the original drive should be used with the new one.
• First on Amazon: 2014-12-09

Amazon Order

• Acer Aspire E5-573G-52G3, SBSF Amazon, $499.99 (Core i5 5th gen, i5-5200U, 15.6in screen, charcoal deck)
• Samsung 850 EVO 250GB 2.5-Inch SATA III Internal SSD (MZ-75E250B/AM), SBSF Amazon, $87.99
• Kingston HyperX Impact Black 8GB 1600MHz DDR3L CL9 SODIMM 1.35V Laptop Memory (HX316LS9IB/8), SBSF Amazon, $40.27
• Actual tax: $56.54
• Environmental fee: $4.00
• Order total (excluding non-computer items): $688.79
• Promised 2016-02-12 (Fri) except computer on 02-17 (Wed) to 02-22 (Mon)