Inside Acer Aspire 7 (A715-42G) – disassembly and upgrade options
The Aspire 7 (A715-42G) is a pretty interesting device, which combines a ULV processor with a full-blown graphics card.
Check out all Acer Aspire 7 (A715-42G) prices and configurations in our Specs System or read more in our In-Depth review.
1. Remove the bottom plate and battery
To get this notebook disassembled, you will need to remove the bottom panel. This happens by undoing 13 Phillips-head screws and prying the panel with a plastic tool.
2. Battery
The battery pack has a capacity of 50.3Wh, and it is the first thing you need to unplug before you proceed with the teardown.
3. Мemory and storage
Thankfully, there are two RAM SODIMM slots, which support up to 32GB of DDR4 memory in dual-channel mode. Storage-wise, there is one M.2 PCIe x4 slot.
4. Cooling system
Given the fact that this laptop has a low-voltage processor, we are happy to see that the cooling solution consists of three heat pipes. Two of them are common for the CPU and the GPU, with the third one dedicated to the graphics card. Also, you can see that the VRMs and the graphics memory are also actively cooled. Interestingly, we see a very long heat spreader, supported by a smaller one, which only has the GPU heat pipe connected to it.
Check out all Acer Aspire 7 (A715-42G) prices and configurations in our Specs System or read more in our In-Depth review.
Acer Aspire 7 (A715-42G) in-depth review
Acer is amongst the top brands on the market. However, they still stay behind the likes of Lenovo, HP, and Dell when it comes to market share, so they need to step their game up. Recently, they did well to improve their Predator gaming series to a new fresh look. Then, the Swift and Spin series followed, but as with the other manufacturers, there is one thing that sells best - budget laptops. As such, the Aspire subbrand is arguably the most important one in Acer's portfolio.But what if you want a budget notebook that has the power to perform more than just daily tasks. You might want to [...]
Pros
- Great cooling, which provides more performance than we expected
- Wi-Fi 6 + 2x SODIMM slots
- Good battery life
- PWM-free display (AUO B156HAN02.1 (AUODF87))
- Adequate pricing
Cons
- No Thunderbolt connection or SD card reader
- Covers only 51% of the sRGB color gamut (AUO B156HAN02.1 (AUODF87))
- All-plastic build (although it doesn't feel cheap)