RAM upgrade for Acer Aspire One D255E - How?

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stuman74

stuman74

Senior member
Oct 26, 1999
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I bought a cheap Acer Aspire One D255E netbook for my daughter yesterday and I would like to upgrade the RAM from 1GB to replace it with a 2GB stick.

Would anyone happen to know where to find instructions or a service manual for this particular netbook? Online chat with Acer support was useless and I couldn't find anything on their site. I've upgraded RAM in dozens of laptops before (even a Dell Mini 10v which was kinda a pain), but this particular Acer isn't obvious on how to do it. Thanks!
 
stuman74

stuman74

Senior member
Oct 26, 1999
874
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Anyone? :) This upgrade question would also potentially apply to the hard drive as well. Thanks!
 
stuman74

stuman74

Senior member
Oct 26, 1999
874
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Thanks for the links. Looks like a pain, but I think I'm up to the challenge. However, after a couple of chats with Acer's useless tech support, they say that the one I got at Walmart can only take a max of 1 GB.

I think I am going to just take it back, but at Costco tonight, I saw what looks like a somewhat upgraded version of the same netbook. It costs $299 (vs the other at Walmart which was $198). Key upgrades for the Costco version are faster processor, slightly faster RAM (which looks like CAN be upgraded to 2GB) and maybe most importantly it has a larger 6-cell battery. I also like that Costco's comes with a 2-year warranty included.

Is the Costco one still a good deal and worth getting since she really wants a small netbook? Here's how the two compare.

http://us.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/...5-LU.SDJ0D.145
 
mnewsham

mnewsham

Lifer
Oct 2, 2010
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The more expensive one has a dual core CPU. I think that alone would warrant the extra cost and is a worthy upgrade.
 
stuman74

stuman74

Senior member
Oct 26, 1999
874
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Thanks. Yeah, while still an atom, the N550 is noticeably faster than the N450. The battery is way better too. We've already decided to keep the costco one.

I sure hope I can get it apart ok for the RAM upgrade. Looks like it's only about $20-$25 for a 2GB stick. I do have an extra stick that was originally from my mid-2010 13" MacBook Pro. I think it's the same speed, but I don't know if there's anything special about it that would cause a problem in the Acer D255. Think it's worth a shot? Or just let the Mac stick sit on the shelf and go order a new stick for the netbook?
 
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wmwelborn5

Junior Member
Mar 6, 2011
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The 7 screws on the bottom of the laptop have nothing to do with accessing the ram. Remove the battery and gently remove the keyboard by using a small standard screwdriver to help pry the keyboard out. Underneath there are 5 screws marked "door." Remove these and you'll see where it says "door removal push here"..gently push and the bottom center will pop out exposing the ram, wifi, etc. It is a little bit of a pain, but not really all that hard.
 
stuman74

stuman74

Senior member
Oct 26, 1999
874
1
81
wmwelborn5 said:
The 7 screws on the bottom of the laptop have nothing to do with accessing the ram. Remove the battery and gently remove the keyboard by using a small standard screwdriver to help pry the keyboard out. Underneath there are 5 screws marked "door." Remove these and you'll see where it says "door removal push here"..gently push and the bottom center will pop out exposing the ram, wifi, etc. It is a little bit of a pain, but not really all that hard.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I haven't attempted it just yet. I figure I'll put in the ram and an extra scorpio black drive that I have laying around to get it as "quick" as it possibly can be (I know, I could SSD as well, but really not worth it for her).

Back to a previous question...will that Mac ram work in it?
 
Lanyap

Lanyap

Elite Member
Dec 23, 2000
8,106
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According to the specs I found the max is 2GB so a 4GB stick would probably be rejected by the BIOS and it would not boot.
 
T

thevan

Member
Aug 19, 2009
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I mean, was the upgrade to 2gb successful? I don't know how to do it on mine. Was thinking I would just pop the keyboard off and investigate when I get the chance.
 
mnewsham

mnewsham

Lifer
Oct 2, 2010
14,539
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Lanyap said:
You have a netbook?
Click to expand...

No, its the ASUS G73JH, BUT just because the listed MAX supported RAM is 2GB doesnt mean that the BIOS will not recognize larger DIMMs, it might not, depends on the model, but dont rule it out.
 
Q

QuantumGhost

Junior Member
Mar 22, 2011
1
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0
thevan said:
I mean, was the upgrade to 2gb successful? I don't know how to do it on mine. Was thinking I would just pop the keyboard off and investigate when I get the chance.
Click to expand...

I think I just managed the upgrade.

My wife's Acer is a D255E, and I took it to 2Gb...it boots, but I don't have her password to check the System settings.

The above is correct, ignore the screws on the back they are a red-herring. Pry the keyboard off. To do this, look carefully on the left, right and top: there are small little tabs that are spring loaded that are easy to push back with a 1/8" jeweler's flat screwdriver. There are one each on the sides, and 3-4 across the top...once pushed back the keyboard can be popped out. I left it tethered.

Once behind the keyboard you'll notice a large silver metal plate about the size of a 2.5" drive. There are 4 screws labeled "Door", roughly on the 4 four corners of this plate that come out with an 1/8" jeweler's phillips. Ignore the other screws. Once these four are out, tip the netbook on its side and push a small screw driver into the hole in the plate....a section of the back will pop off (the area with the stickers and roughly bounded by the 4 rubber "feet") once this is pried off, the memory and hard disc are easily access.

To close repeat the above, in reverse (you made it this far, you'll be able to figure out how to undo it).

Good luck

-- J
 
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C

crimsondr

Junior Member
Mar 22, 2011
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0
What ram did you use for the D255E? I purchased a kingston PC3-10600 cl9 204-pin sodimm and it just gives me a black screen.
 
stuman74

stuman74

Senior member
Oct 26, 1999
874
1
81
For mine, I still haven't popped open my daughter's D255. Seems to run ok, but that small 1024x600 resolution kinda sucks.

I just ordered from the Dell Outlet a Mini 1012 netbook thinking I may take the D255 back to Costco. The Dell is $75 less and while it has only a N450 processor instead of N550, it also has a 6-cell battery as well as a 1366x768 resolution display. I'll report back when I get it probably next week.

The question is...

$325 for Acer D255 w/N550 and 1024x600
or
$250 for Dell 1012 w/N450 and 1366x768
 
stuman74

stuman74

Senior member
Oct 26, 1999
874
1
81
The Dell 1012 I received had a dead touchpad out of the box so I'm sending it back.

Yesterday at Costco, I saw a new model on display. It is an Acer D255E-1428. Has an N570 processor, but basically seems the same as the D255 with N550 that I have.

I can notice a slight physical difference in the power button and the texture of the touchpad button. But does anyone know really what the difference is between a D255 and a D255E line? Online tech support was useless when I asked. They said the E had more features. I can't tell. Still will plan to upgrade the RAM in it though.
 
B

bzliteyear

Junior Member
Mar 30, 2011
3
0
0
Hi all,

Great thread here as I just got D255E, though i'm not sure which version i have - it's the one from Costco for $299 and has 1GB ram.
My goal was to have something that was cheaper than buying iPad2 plus adding $99 for case/keyboard, but i'm finding the netbook to be quite slowwww...especially switching between applications and/or swapping tabs on on the website.

In addition, i loaded up msft outlook to hook up w/ intermedia for my work email, and the netbook often gets "not responding" as it's trying to dnload.
My hope is that perhaps by increasing the RAM(my old CPQ laptop improved dramatically after i added RAM), that it'll work efficiently.

Importantly, has anyone successfully added 4 GB ram, or shall i stick w/ the 2GB? Also, I was going to FRY'S...am I supposed to specific a particular type...and can anyone there help install? Thx in advance everyone.

Patrick
 
Beer4Me

Beer4Me

Senior member
Mar 16, 2011
564
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76
Just picked up a AOD255-1268 from MC for $229. Refurb'd, and it came with the 6cell battery. I did the upgrade, installed a 2 GB Crucial DDR3-1333 (PC10600) module. Works great! Like it very much. Did a clean install with Win7 Pro, and this thing is very snappy even with the 5400 rpm drive. I'm comparing this to a previous Eee-PC Atom N280 netbook that I had, and that thing was a pig. Sold on Ebay after 3 mos. Atom N550 is not bad at all. Admittedly, the AMD E-350 (HP dm1z) is still much faster, but more than I wanted to spend on what I consider a "throw-away".

3 things worth mentioning:
1) Only use DDR3-1333 memory. I tried to use a 2 GB DDR3-1066 module, and it would not boot at all.
2) Upgrade the BIOS first! Latest one is now v3.15. Mine came with v3.09. Referring to the AOD255 models. AOD255E models may be different.
3) Be very careful when removing the keyboard. It has a really flimsy aluminum backing.

So far, I really love this thing. I've gotten about 8 hrs out of the initial charge with Wifi enabled. The synaptics touchpad is very nice.
 
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