Adding Extra Storage: Acer Aspire 3 A315-23 Second Drive?

WesTooLoose · October 28, 2021

I recently was gifted an acer aspire 3 that includes an m.2 drive.
when i go through the bios it says that a second drive (2.5 in drive) can be added but when i opened it up n could not see a cord to plug a second drive into.

can i buy a drive cord separately to install and upgrade another drive for storage?

BondiBlue · October 28, 2021

From what I can tell based on the pictures of that laptop online it doesn't actually come with a SATA connector for a 2.5" drive. There is a small header on the motherboard that you can use with the proper cable in order to connect a 2.5" drive. You'd need to also find the proper mounting bracket for the drive though, as I don't think it's included either. When you get those items you can install the drive underneath the ribbon cable running between the motherboard and the right I/O board, just next to the heatsink.

WesTooLoose · October 29, 2021

23 hours ago, BondiBlue said:

From what I can tell based on the pictures of that laptop online it doesn't actually come with a SATA connector for a 2.5" drive. There is a small header on the motherboard that you can use with the proper cable in order to connect a 2.5" drive. You'd need to also find the proper mounting bracket for the drive though, as I don't think it's included either. When you get those items you can install the drive underneath the ribbon cable running between the motherboard and the right I/O board, just next to the heatsink.

thank you! would it be better to go through acer for those components or third party sellers like ebay? (i dont know if acer is right to repair friendly so other alternatives may be the better option overall)

BondiBlue · October 29, 2021

38 minutes ago, WesTooLoose said:

thank you! would it be better to go through acer for those components or third party sellers like ebay? (i dont know if acer is right to repair friendly so other alternatives may be the better option overall)

I honestly don't know. You can certainly ask and see if they'd be willing to help you get the right parts, but if they aren't you can always turn to eBay.