upgrading our laptop

[big m]

hey ppl we hae been thinking about upgrading out laptop hardware wise and we just wanted to know of any good places in the act that you can get a good deal with for upgrading the processor and ram and stuff like that or if anyone knows a good place to buy the parts and i would have a go at it at home so yea any sujestions would be fantastic thanks

[VjamesY]

sorry man cant help, but i thought most laptops were pritty much impossible to upgrade except like ram, correct me if im wrong,
i just thought that from my experience cas i have a 2007 hp lappy n ive been told the only thing i can change is ram, everything is like part one the one unit like graphics card etc

[big m]

ohh ok yea not to sure hopfuly someone might be able to fill me in a bit more

[holdensupporter2005]

The most you can really upgrade on a laptop is the memory and the harddrive. Your cheaper option would be a new laptop.

Look around at places like Harvey Norman, WOW, The Goodguys, Joyce Maine. You can get some good specials at these places. Also a lot of Notebook manufacturers offer a cashback offer.

[VjamesY]

yeh lol, im a bit of a n00b haha when it comes to computer, so dont just go of my word lol, thats just what ive been told bout my computer,

i think also my lappy is quiet recent, maybe it might be different for kinda older lappies? what years urs?

[holdensupporter2005]

What is the model that you currently have???

[VjamesY]

The most you can really upgrade on a laptop is the memory and the harddrive. Your cheaper option would be a new laptop.

Look around at places like Harvey Norman, WOW, The Goodguys, Joyce Maine. You can get some good specials at these places. Also a lot of Notebook manufacturers offer a cashback offer.

yeh goodguys can always give good deals, thats where i got my lappy, mine was 1800 for lappy, got down to 1700 and free quality printer and tv tuner, they work on commision so u can kinda work around with them lol


mmmmm new lappy would be a decent decision, u can get some quality deals atm with economy n all, just look around,

[big m]

it is a toshiba satellite m-50 and we got it in 2005

[Tom_1569]

You CAN upgrade a laptop, but as said most things are on the motherboard such as graphics,sound etc etc. You can upgrade the CPU, RAM and hard drive, and the obvious CD-ROm drive. The CPU is hardly worth upgrading, as you have to stick to the same chipset, so your very limited in the upgrade and the costs far out way the benefits. RAM and Hard drive are easy enough, but thats really as far as sensible upgrades go on a laptop.
Cheaper to replace then upgrade, and sometimes cheaper to replace then repair.

[holdensupporter2005]

it is a toshiba satellite m-50 and we got it in 2005

What is the exact model number on the bottom of the notebook?

[big m]

yea because atm it only has a 192mb of ram and it only has a 1.50ghz processor and it is just starting to run way to slow

[big m]

psm53a-019003 that is the part number or did you want the serial number

[holdensupporter2005]

Here is the Exact Specs of your current notebook.


Intel® Celeron® M Processor 370 1.5GHz 1MB 400MHz
40GB (5400rpm) PATA
256MB DDR2 (533)1 free memory slot. Total memory expandable to 2GB
14" TruBriteTM Widescreen XGA (CSV High-brightness) Active Matrix colour display
>200 Cd/m2
1280 x 768
ATi RADEON® XPRESS 200M with up to 256MB shared video memory* (UMA) 64MB default (requires over 1GB system memory)
DVD SuperMulti Double/Dual Layer Drive
Read: CD-ROM 24x, DVD-ROM 8xWrite: CD-R 24x, CD-RW 4x, HS CD-RW 10x, DVD-R 8x, DVD-R DL 2x, DVD-RW 4x, DVD+R 8x, DVD+R DL 2.4x, DVD+RW 4x, DVD-RAM 5x
AC ‘97 Software Sound with Direct3DSound
Premium harman/kardon® speakers
One PC Card slot supports one Type II PC Card
S-Video
External Microphone port, Stereo Headphone port, Sound Volume Dial, SVGA (RGB) port
3 x Hi-Speed USB 2.0
-
-
-
TouchPadTM
CD / DVD play & control buttons
10/100 Base TX Ethernet
International V.92 data modem + fax
-
Integrated Atheros 802.11bg wireless LAN
Up to 2 hours*
2.3kg (May vary with spec)
343 x 242 x 29.4(front)/38(rear) mm
Microsoft® Windows® XP Home SP2 (OEM)Toshiba Utilities, Microsoft® OneNoteTM 2003, Record Now! Basic for TOSHIBA, DLA for Toshiba, Toshiba Speech System, Toshiba Touch and launch, Recovery Disk Creator, ConfigFreeTM, Intervideo WinDVD, WinDVD Creator 2 Platinum, Norton Antivirus (inc 90 day subscription), Adobe Acrobat Reader, Windows Movie Maker
Express Media Player (CD + DVD)
1 year international parts and labour warranty. Domestic warranty includes onsite courier pickup and return service
PSM53A-019003

If you don't want to spend a lot of money or don't want to get a new one. The best upgrade would be the memory. Maximum that it can take is 2GB

[big m]

lol bloody hell mate it would take me about 3 weeks to try and find all that info so if we just upgrade the ram to the maximum 2gigs how much faster would that make it run

[holdensupporter2005]

you could get 2 x 1gb DDR2 Kingston Notebook memory from MSY (http://www.msy.com.au/Parts/PARTS.pdf) for $25.00 each.

Take about 2 minutes to put in.

[holdensupporter2005]

You will definately notice a performance boost from 256mb ram. Especially if you are using norton as your antivirus software

[big m]

wow thanks mate i had a look before and te only prices i have found so far is about $130 each and that is for the same sorta thing so yea if i out them in would the laptop be alright running the new autocad 3d program or would i hae to look at upgrading more things or what

[holdensupporter2005]

It may run the autocad 3D after you upgrade the memory, but it will run the program very slow. If you are going to be using it for those type of programs you will need to look at purchasing a new notebook with a faster processor and a good graphics card & lots of memory

[big m]

kool thanks mate i will do some research i might even look at building my own desktop computer by the way do you know anywere that sell cheap external harddrives

[Tom_1569]

It may run the autocad 3D after you upgrade the memory, but it will run the program very slow. If you are going to be using it for those type of programs you will need to look at purchasing a new notebook with a faster processor and a good graphics card & lots of memory

Agreed, and prefereably dedicated graphics. I havent used the new Autocad, but have used the new Maya which is very similar, and those programs are very resource hungry, especially graphics and ram, you can never have enough. Personelly Id be running a high end desktop if your going to be doing alot of 3d desgining, if your not going to be doing alot and you have patience.

[savage1987]

Here is the Exact Specs of your current notebook.
........
If you don't want to spend a lot of money or don't want to get a new one. The best upgrade would be the memory. Maximum that it can take is 2GB

That is such a helpful reply

I'm looking to do a similar upgrade to my 2000 model Compaq Presario 2800... HDD and RAM. Are you able to share any info on that? At those sort of prices I'll do it sooner rather than later!