Aspire 5315 optical drive upgrade is easy.

[bizzybody]

Upgrading the optical drive on the Acer Aspire 5315 (and others based on the same HannStar ICL50 hardware and case) is very easy. Mine now sports a dual layer, dual format DVD burner, replacing the original DVD-ROM/CD-RW combo drive. Took me all of about 5 minutes to swap it out.

First remove the four screws holding the Thermal Door, the large panel covering much of the bottom.

Second, starting at the dimple, use a small, flat screwdriver or table knife to pry the cover loose. Work both ways around it. DO NOT PRY UP ALONG THE EDGE OPPOSITE THE OPTICAL DRIVE! The tabs there are longer and that side comes out last and goes in first.

Third, look right next to the dimple and you'll see a little black screw that was just under the edge of the Thermal Door. Use a #0 screwdriver and remove it.

Fourth, just below that screw you'll see a little metal tab. Push it toward the edge of the laptop and the drive will slide out.

Fifth, use the #0 screwdriver to transfer the bracket from the back of the original drive to the back of the new drive. Note the three holes have numbers to indicate the order to install the screws to ensure alignment of the bracket. These screws are VERY TINY. Take care to not lose them.

Sixth, slide the new drive in until the hole in the bracket aligns with the hole in the case and reinstall that screw.

Seventh, insert the long tabs of the Thermal Door into their slots along the outside edge then snap the small tabs in, working both ways around. You may need to apply some gentle pushing with a thumbnail or a small, flat screwdriver to get them down into the hole.

Eighth, reinstall the four screws and you're done!

[jeepman]

Thanks for this information! I too have the 5315 with the dvd-rom/cd-rw and would very much like to upgrade to a dvd burner. Nothing is obvious on the bottom of the laptop that I could ID as a way to remove the drive. I have visited one other site that stated that it looks like the drive would be very difficult to replace. So it is a relief to see this information online. What brand/model number did you buy, and where did you get it?

please also look at this picture that has been posted online. Is the black screw the one to the left (to the left of the labeled wifi card?)
http://members.aceweb.com/gregg1/ace...pire_5315.html

[bizzybody]

Yes, that black screw is all that holds the drive in. Just underneath that part of the case there's a metal tab to push on to pop the drive out after removing the screw. If you hold the laptop up you can look under and see the tab. Push it straight towards the side.

I got a TSST Corp TS-L632D, which is a Toshiba-Samsung drive. It was from a Dell and I snagged it for $27.50 on eBay. Dell's firmware was crippled to not support both dual layer formats or DVD-RAM so I flashed it with the latest revision of original Toshiba-Samsung firmware which enabled DVD-RAM and -R dual layer support. The only "problem" with the Dell version of this drive is the faceplate on the tray is spaced out a bit and leaves a small gap along the bottom, but I can live with that for getting it cheap.

[TxCommish]

Thank you! Thank you! Your direction were perfect. I bought a dvd burner with Lightscribe off of Ebay for less than $50 including shipping. It had no face plate but I simply put my old face plate on the new burner and it works perfectly.
You are the man!

[bigozone]

upgrading that slow, heat box they call a celeron is just as easy... why can't all laptops be this easy to work on?

if you have any ?'s about cpu upgrades on the ICL-50 feel free to PM me

bigozone

[bizzybody]

Just post a new thread on CPU upgrades, and a reply here pointing to the new thread.

Acer has released BIOS version 1.25 for this laptop.

[bigozone]

search for:
aspire 5315 cpu upgrade

search here or google... my nbr thread should be the top google for that query!

acer has a 1.33 bios on the euro site... i've been using it for a week.
http://support.acer-euro.com/drivers...k/as_5315.html

enjoy,
bigozone

[jeepman]

I am VERY interested in the cpu upgrade. so the core2duo t5450 works in the acer 5315? was it much trouble to change?

[bizzybody]

BIOS version 1.34 is there now. This constant updating is very nice! (Unlike Dell's method of throwing cheap PCs on the market then instantly abandoning them without ever producing any driver or BIOS updates.) It'd be nice if Acer would also post a complete changelog for the BIOS so we can see what has been updated/fixed.

I've Googled and Yahooed for CPU upgrade on this laptop but haven't yet found a step by step how-to, or even exactly which CPUs it supports.

[bigozone]

i have upgraded my CPU, and yes the T5450 or any socketP T5xxx version should work fine... i'm waiting on a user to report back to me on the success of his T7500 upgrade... we're almost positive the CPU will work, we just wonder if the chipset will support the 800Mhz FSB... it should according to all specs,, but i'm gonna wait to be sure,,,,

Originally Posted by bigozone
on the 5315, a cpu upgrade is very easy..
1. unplug power, remove battery,, and press power button to drain any residual power held by capasitors.

2. remove 4 screws (one at a time) from the bottom access pannel (large funny shaped pannel w/ circular fan hole).

3. w/ screws removed use small screwdriver to help prise the pannel up, (it takes some force to remove the pannel, just go slow and steady).

4. after pannel removal, locate the FAN.. remove the 3 screws from the fan, unplug fan power cable, then remove the fan.

5. now unscrew the 4 screws from above the CPU (they have springs between the screw heads and the cpu heatsink.

6. now w/ screws removed, lift the heatsink up off the CPU and remove the heat-sink assembly... it goes all the way to the fins that are in back of the fan...

7. with the heatsink assembly removed, you should see the CPU... hopefully you have a PINK cpu socket.
LET ME KNOW IF YOURS IS GREY!!!!!!

8. turn the screw at the top of the cpu socket. that should release the pressure on the CPU,, and now you should be able to lift the CPU out of the scoket.

9. place the new cpu in the socket, MAKE SURE IT IS FRIMLY SEATED w/ no gap between pins cpu and socket... then turn screw back to lock CPU in place..

10. re assemble the rest of the components in reverse order to re assemble.. (heatsink assembly, (screw it back in,, fan assembly- screw it back and hook up power,, replace back cover and replace screws.)

that should do it for you...

before doing all of this make sure you have updated your bios version to atleast version 1.31,, i'm using 1.34 w/ no problems,, and i'd suggest going w/ 1.34.


bigozone