Adding SSD to Acer Nitro VN7-591G

Question

Hello! I have a subjected laptop in configuration without SSD (only hybrid HDD).How do I know about mSATA or M.2 ports presence inside?Or should I replace HDD with 2.5'' SATA-III SSD ? Thanks for attension.

Answer 1

For All, I ended up trying and successfully installing and migrating Windows 8.1 to this one based on IronFly's details about the Lite-on SSD that comes in some models of the V17 preinstalled. (Acer won't le tme post a URL, but I got this model:  Crucial MX200 CT250MX200SSD4 M.2 Type 2280SS (Single Sided) 250GB SATA 6Gbps (SATA III) Micron 16nm MLC NAND Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)) Newegg is no tax for me, but I'm sure Tiger Direct or Amazon have their sales as well.The 500GB version was on sale last week for $179, but I didn't need that much space.  I just keep My Documents off of Shortcuts on the 1TB HDD.  Win 8.1 plus all of my Programs and Apps only take up 67 GB for me.  Add about 32 GB to that for Swap and Hibernate (based on 16GB RAM after upgrade) and I live within 256GB minus formatting just fine with that big 1TB HDD also installed. If you do use a Crucial MX100 or MX200 drive, be aware that Acronis 2015 will not work.  It will hoze up / freeze up your Windows install.  You must use some other cloning program like Paragon Hard Drive Manager.  I did the USB stick bootable image to do my migration. Any M.2 (not MSATA) SATA (not PCIe) size 2280 will work.  You could probably use an M.2 to MSATA adapter as well for the older standard 50mm MSATA, but why bother unless you're using an MSATA you already have. The teardown is here:  It's not English, but you can clearly see what he's doing. (Acer won't let me post URL, but just search Bing Video for "Acer V17 disassemble" and it should be the first video - spoken in Deutch or German) I used a credit card to separate the palm rest over the optical drive area, (which the guy in the video does not do - I couldn't do it with my fingers) and worked my around.Make sure you remove the silver bar by the hings also - there's 2 screws under there.Be careful and go slow - you don't want to break off any of the tiny little black tabs.Don't mix up the screws either - there are 2 bigger ones that go underneath near the hinges.  The rest of the black screws are all the same size. There are a a few Silver screws inside that are smaller for the WLAN card, USB board, etc.  You'll need an extra one of those screws to mount the M.2 on the underside of the board.  I canibalized an old 2.5 inch HDD and took a screw from the case with a Torx head - luckily it's the same thread size.  That small silver screw is very hard to find otherwise, but I did find another one off an old PCIe desktop video card I had.  Home Depot or Lowes will not carry screws that small. The M.2 slot is tough to get to, you have to do a complete palm rest lift and board lift - but just go very slowly so you don't break anything.  You have to lift up the entire main board.  Go slow, have a flashlight, tiny phillips head, credit card, extra screw, and a small pick (I used a dentist scraper hook) to push open the keyboard plug latches (but a tiny flat blade screwdriver will work also).And be careful to ease out the Audio jack from the right side as it is wedged under a tiny lip of the bottom shell.Go slow, and have a small bowl to hold all those tiny screws. It's all about having a good open space to work, tools, container, time, screw, etc.I have taken apart many computers before, but this one was the most involved I've done.  They did a good job with the thinness and lightness, but there is Zero user access.  So if you're expecting something easy to upgrade and disassemble like a Lenovo T series - change your expectations, it is more involved.  That's what you get for thin, light, and good air flow - tradeoffs.  Also if you're going to do a 16GB RAM upgrade also, I recommend doing that at the same time.  You don't want to open up the computer twice - those tiny little black clips tend to break often.