Member Avatar for Darkzero45

We got a new laptop, the Acer Aspire V5-122P-0408. It has: AMD Dual-Core A4-1250 1GHz, 4GB DDR3, and 500GB HDD. Based on those specs, this computer should have zero issues doing things like facebook or watching videos. It should even be able to play vanilla Minecraft on low video settings. This computer is very slow. I'm talking brand new, just out of the box slow. I even uninstalled the extra junk that came with it. You all know the useless filler crap I'm talking about. Like on a phone you get stupid extra apps that you don't really need. That kind of stuff. So anyway, I'm not sure how to make it run faster. It's irritating.

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Short version: the processor in that model is a low-power mobile APU, so software alone can only help so much. As and pointed out, expect limitations; however a few focused changes usually make a new laptop feel usable for web/video work without buying a new machine.

Practical first steps (low risk, do these first):

  • Open Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc) -> Startup and disable high-impact items you don’t need.
  • In Task Manager/Processes sort by CPU and Disk to catch runaway apps.
  • Switch the Windows power plan to High performance and set visual effects to “Adjust for best performance.”
  • Update Windows and chipset/graphics drivers from Acer (or Device Manager) and run a full malware scan.
    These reduce background load and often relieve the “out of box” sluggishness.

If that isn’t enough, the two biggest effective upgrades are an SSD and more RAM:

  • Replace the 500GB mechanical drive with a 2.5" SATA SSD (clone or back up first). This is the single most noticeable upgrade for boot and app launch speed.
  • If the machine has a user-replaceable SO-DIMM slot, expand to 8GB. If RAM is soldered, you’ll be limited.
    Also consider a clean Windows install (after saving recovery media and drivers) or, if comfortable, a lightweight Linux distro — both remove manufacturer bloat that survives simple uninstalls.

Reality check and cautions: software tweaks help, but a low-power APU will never match midrange laptop CPUs for heavy multitasking or gaming. Before opening the case, check warranty terms and back up data. If portability and basic browsing/video are all you need, an SSD + lean software setup will probably be enough; if you need smooth gaming or heavy multitasking, a machine with a stronger CPU is the only true fix.

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Member Avatar for rubberman

Other than the snail-slow 1GHz CPU, the specs are OK. Video display is more a function of the GPU (graphics processor) which on this device is probably running at 1GHz as well, which doesn't do too well for rendering videos running at full resolution and frame-rates. I assume it is running Windows 8.x and you are probably using the bundled media player. Try installing VLC and see if that works better for media playback purposes (video). It won't help for the other stuff, but it is the best video player currently available, and cheap at 2x the price since it is FOSS (free and open source).

FWIW, dual cores doesn't mean that it is any faster at a single task than 1 core unless it is multi-threaded. It just means that it can do twice the number of tasks at the same time.

Member Avatar for gerbil

I consider that processor, the AMD Dual-Core A4-1250 1GHz almost cripplingly slow, more for a tablet than a laptop.
Forget games. It's for simple office stuff, processes which are not at all demanding. I would not expect it to perform well with video editing/playback. Okay, I'll say it: Acer should be ashamed to have put it into any laptop.

Edited by gerbil
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