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| Asus E510 15' FHD Laptop |
I purchased this laptop using some points and spare cash I had, mostly it was a curiosity purchase to see how well a cheap laptop like this could be used. Trying to find actual reviews of this unit and similar cheap models was fruitless. I wanted to see if I could take this cheaper device and use it as a travel/work laptop and luckily for my case, it is totally that. That's not to say I didn't have troubles.
If you wish to buy this laptop then you can buy it Here (USA Site)
otherwise google the model to find it's equivalent in your country.
:: The OS ::
Windows is too bloated for such a laptop, yes it does come installed in Windows S mode and you can take it out of that, but usually it's in S mode for a reason. I went with Linux, Kubuntu specifically. If you need a reason why then I just like the KDE interface and have pretty much standardized on Ubuntu/Debian based Linux OS's. Call me a noob or whatever you want I like it, It works and I'm happy. It installed pretty easy and run's basically smoothly. Not perfect but perfect for my work needs.
:: The WIFI Problem ::
When I installed Kubuntu I noticed that my WIFI card was not being picked up, that happens sadly with some Linux distros on some laptops. However, with my trusty spare USB WIFI dongle it was a breeze to fix.
Now this worked for me, I am using Kubuntu, an Ubuntu flavor, but the site does list various fixes for this WIFI card for many other distros and flavors. If you are using this laptop it's at the top and easy to follow. If you have the same WIFI card in your specific laptop then follow this too and it should work.
To find the WIFI card in my laptop I just ran that "lspci" command in terminal, found this info and did the following in my terminal.
sudo apt install bc module-assistant build-essential dkms
git clone https://github.com/tomaspinho/rtl8821ce
cd rtl8821ce
sudo m-a prepare
sudo ./dkms-install.sh
git clone https://github.com/tomaspinho/rtl8821ce
cd rtl8821ce
sudo m-a prepare
sudo ./dkms-install.sh
Again, this worked for me running Kubuntu on this Asus E510, google your own WIFI cards on a working PC of phone if you are having this trouble.
:: The Hardware ::
As I usually do the first thing I did when I got this laptop was open it up, 10 phillips head screws on the bottom of the laptop and it pops off with a firm pop. There is not much I can say about it's upgrade-ability, you are limited as far as I know to the 4gb of ram. There is however a slot available for an M.2 SSD drive. Which had I known I would have ordered along side the laptop. I think I shall be getting this M.2 SSD when I feel like it. The benefits of doing so would mean you have a good sized D drive (secondary hard drive) or if you installed your OS and booted from it, possibly a faster Hard drive.
(I think the M.2's are faster than the internal SSD's, don't quote me on it)
and I would probably purchase a Intel based WIFI card to replace the one inside, but getting it fixed wasn't that bad I might not worry to much about it.
If you want to get a this laptop or a cheap on like it then go ahead, I will be using this for work and travel, something to stay connected (messengers, social media) and remote accessing my work and studio computers. If you want to keep windows on it then go ahead, I just need that extra oomph that windows cannot deliver on such a device.
:: The Update ::
Forgive the finger stains, this thing is a grease magnet, I washed my hands (with soap!) and wiped off the laptop but it picks up every palm stain it can suck up.
As you can see in the picture I have the M.2 SSD (500GB) and to the right of that is a pack of webcam covers, let me say I did some stupid things as a dumb teen and finding out how easy it was back then to get into peoples webcams and security cameras has forever scarred me. I'm not super tech literate just a script kiddy with a lot of patience. I do also realize that if I can do something with ease then it can be done to me with greater ease.
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| The only available slot inside the laptop. |
I opened up the laptop and popped in the M.2 SSD, I will say it did not come with a little screw to hold in the SSD, fuck me right? I must be stupid to assume that a $60 SSD would come with one little screw but no it's got to be ordered separately and I got impatient. I took a screw from the battery frame and used that, it's still in there pretty tough so no real worry.
Once I got the SSD in I booted from USB and installed Kubuntu to the new SSD. Everything went smoothly, had to redo the WIFI drivers but again I had them written down so it was good.
It might just be me but it seems to be running nicer from the M.2 SSD over the internal, soldered SSD. I wont run any speed tests cuz i'm not to fussed about that, but just using the laptop with Google Chrome it just seems to work nicer. The OS and start menu aren't laggy anymore and my office and email suite seem to load faster, could all be in my head though.
It might just be me but it seems to be running nicer from the M.2 SSD over the internal, soldered SSD. I wont run any speed tests cuz i'm not to fussed about that, but just using the laptop with Google Chrome it just seems to work nicer. The OS and start menu aren't laggy anymore and my office and email suite seem to load faster, could all be in my head though.
I say do this still, if anything just for the larger Hard Drive space.