IBM Thinkpad Upgrade

[cocoa]

I have an IBM Thinkpad, i series 1200 purchased in 2001. Celeron processor, 6gb hard drive and 64mb ram, Win 98. As you can imagine, the laptop is slow as molasses. I need to know what to do to make it faster and more efficient. Because the laptop is old, would it be best for me to buy a bigger hard drive and more ram or will I also need other components, i.e CPU?

Or, would it be better for me to just purchase a new computer?
Please advise

Thanks

 

[DJ-CHRIS]

Laptops are VERY hard to upgrade, usually cant handle much more ram than they have in it, and a newer faster CPU would usually melt the thing.

I recomend forking up some cash for a new laptop, spend 1200$ and you can get yourself a decent averatec.

 

[Inaris]

several things you can do would be to upgrade the memory to the max allowed on that unit. I think 256 would be about that. Then look into a new hard drive. The model you have is probably a 4500 RPM unit, and there are 5400 rpm units now that use the same interface. If you are set on keeping it, might consider moving to Win2k or XP too as it will give you better performance out of the system.

BTW, Laptops are not so bad to upgrade. if you know a little about them, ie what the mobo will support, you can do a lot to a laptop.
But you must understand, laptops parts are more expensive so keep that in mind when doing upgrades...
if you want, post the IBM information numbers, Serial and Model and I'll look into what your options are.
Good luck.

 

[hu_xu]

Laptops are VERY hard to upgrade, usually cant handle much more ram than they have in it, and a newer faster CPU would usually melt the thing.

I recomend forking up some cash for a new laptop, spend 1200$ and you can get yourself a decent averatec.

I agree big time. The only things I have ever upgraded in my laptop are HD (20 gb to 40 gb) and maybe add an Audigy 2 ZS notebook but that only could fry the entire system because laptops are made to handle very little power and overconsumption can cause things to fry like Chris said a high end CPU could melt your mobo.

 

[cocoa]

Thank you all. I have never upgraded a laptop or desktop before so this will be my first experience doing so.

@Inaris, it is not so much that I am set on keeping it. It is that I want to see if it is possible to salvage as opposed to buying a whole new laptop or desktop(here is the info you asked for;-).

I looked up the specs on ibm's website:
The processor is a 500mhz
The serial # is : AA FWXZH 00/07
The model # is: 1161-210

The max memory the machine can hold is 192mb, but IBM no longer sells the part, I guess it is discontinued since the laptop is so old.
It appears that the biggest hard drive available for the model is 12gb as this is what ibm listed under hard drive options on ibm website.

12gb is still very small. So now what, should I upgrade it or perhaps just buy a whole new system?

I don't know what the rpm is?

I haven't had a chance to look up the parts elsewhere then ibm's website to see how much the hard drive and the memory will be yet, about to do that now.

I would like to use XP as well, if possible.

Thanks all, all help is much appreciated.

 

[GrimReaper23]

buy a new one

 

[Vormund]

Just from past dealings with this... in fact, IBM too... I found it was FAR cheaper to:
-sell your current laptop on eBay, you can probably get $500 or more (I sold my P1 133MHz a few months back for $200)
-buy a new one IBMs are very expensive and lack any advantages, in fact, all but their newest have that dumb track point mouse (hate it! lol)

If you want IBM, it's best either to find one on the Web, or find an Employee, as they get a decent discount on them. Otherwise, look on the Web... My sister just got a Sager from eBay, and as far as I know she likes it/hasn't had any problems with it...it was a pretty decent laptop for gaming, for the price. Close to what my desktop is now, and I believe it was ~$1000. Better graphics card though.

So yeah, I strongly suggest a new one if you can.

However...if you want to upgrade...I'm sure you can find those parts on eBay or other websites, just Google them, but I don't think it'd be worth the money you'd be paying.