laptop upgrade thoughts...

[krazyq]

This is for my grand pa:
His laptop is a Toshiba Satellite A15- S1292
Intel Celeron 2.4ghz
240mb ram
27gb hdd.

I was thinking about adding more ram...maybe 1 or even 2 gigs if i can get it cheap and a bigger hdd.

I was wondering if thats worth it?

If yes, then what kind of ram and hdd should I get.

Thanks.

 

[KurrentEweser]

What's the price?

 

[krazyq]

What's the price?

?
price for what?
dont wanna spend more than 50-100 bucks...
he already has this laptop, has had it for 4 years now.

 

[Kubel]

I think RAM would be your best bet. 1GB is probably plenty (2x 512MB should be very cheap). I think that's a 400MHz FSB (quad pumped), so PC2100 should do fine.

Newegg.com - CORSAIR ValueSelect 512MB 200-Pin DDR SO-DIMM DDR 266 (PC 2100) Laptop Memory - Retail


For hard drive, you would want a PATA 80GB 5400RPM probably since they are pretty cheap and offer decent performance.

Newegg.com - SAMSUNG Spinpoint M Series HM080GC 80GB 5400 RPM 8MB Cache ATA-6 Notebook Hard Drive - OEM


So a little over $120 shipped for two very nice upgrades. I'm not sure if it's worth it, though. If the battery is dead or dieing, I would just save the money and put it towards a new system, since you are looking at close to $200 with a new battery to refurbish it. That's more than 1/3 the cost of a new laptop.

 

[krazyq]

I think RAM would be your best bet. 1GB is probably plenty (2x 512MB should be very cheap). I think that's a 400MHz FSB (quad pumped), so PC2100 should do fine.

Newegg.com - CORSAIR ValueSelect 512MB 200-Pin DDR SO-DIMM DDR 266 (PC 2100) Laptop Memory - Retail


For hard drive, you would want a PATA 80GB 5400RPM probably since they are pretty cheap and offer decent performance.

Newegg.com - SAMSUNG Spinpoint M Series HM080GC 80GB 5400 RPM 8MB Cache ATA-6 Notebook Hard Drive - OEM


So a little over $120 shipped for two very nice upgrades. I'm not sure if it's worth it, though. If the battery is dead or dieing, I would just save the money and put it towards a new system, since you are looking at close to $200 with a new battery to refurbish it. That's more than 1/3 the cost of a new laptop.

thanks for those suggestions bud dayum...thats so much..
im surprised why ram in still expensive for that old laptop.
i can get a 2gb for my mobo for like 35 bucks!!!

and for hdd...i guess thats pushing it.
maybe just ram..or i could buy one ram stick and add it on what he has so far.

 

[Jorsoft]

DDR so-dimms can get pretty expensive since it's not the current standard anymore. That would give him some performance gain but nothing enormous. Even if you did this upgrade I think he'd want a whole new notebook in a year or less anyways. With how cheap a dual core with 1-2gb of ddr2 is now it's probably best to invest in something new. Something like this, for example:
Newegg.com - COMPAQ Presario F750US(KC489UA) NoteBook AMD Mobile Athlon 64 X2 TK-57(1.90GHz) 15.4" Wide XGA 1GB 120GB 5400rpm DVD Super Multi NVIDIA GeForce 7000M - Retail

 

[krazyq]

DDR so-dimms can get pretty expensive since it's not the current standard anymore. That would give him some performance gain but nothing enormous. Even if you did this upgrade I think he'd want a whole new notebook in a year or less anyways. With how cheap a dual core with 1-2gb of ddr2 is now it's probably best to invest in something new. Something like this, for example:
Newegg.com - COMPAQ Presario F750US(KC489UA) NoteBook AMD Mobile Athlon 64 X2 TK-57(1.90GHz) 15.4" Wide XGA 1GB 120GB 5400rpm DVD Super Multi NVIDIA GeForce 7000M - Retail

i understand what your talking about , but this is my grand pa...whos like over 60 and doesnt really care too much. I actually think hes good with what he has...i just wanted to surprise him if these upgrades were cheap.
I might just have him buy a desktop instead...i know im against pre built, but i found this thats really cheap and good.
HP Pavilion a6200n Desktop PC, AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core 5000+ 2.6GHz / 2GB DDR2 SDRAM / 360GB Hard Drive / nVidia GeForce 6150 SE Graphics / Windows Vista Home Premium -Recertified - GN556AA#ABA - Buy.com

hmm...so 2100 is the ram i should be looking for, right? Cos then ill just look around ebay or something and see if i can find something really cheap.

 

[KurrentEweser]

?
price for what?
dont wanna spend more than 50-100 bucks...
he already has this laptop, has had it for 4 years now.

I didn't read your question correctly. I thought you were getting a second hand laptop.


Take a look at the memory. Is there two 128mb sticks or one 256mb stick? If there is one 256b stick then get one more 256 stick. 512mb is plenty for XP Home.

It would be cheaper just to get a USB flash drive.

 

[krazyq]

I didn't read your question correctly. I thought you were getting a second hand laptop.


Take a look at the memory. Is there two 128mb sticks or one 256mb stick? If there is one 256b stick then get one more 256 stick. 512mb is plenty for XP Home.

It would be cheaper just to get a USB flash drive.

well i was gonna do that but it was really late...
if its one 256 stick ill just get a 512 stick...and reformat to xp pro.

and why a flash drive? that only works with vista

 

[KurrentEweser]

well i was gonna do that but it was really late...
if its one 256 stick ill just get a 512 stick...and reformat to xp pro.

and why a flash drive? that only works with vista

Since when do flash drives only work with Vista?