Out of curiosity... (about computers)

[dawsongirl]

I'm fed up with this OS. ME sucks. So I don't have the $$ to buy a new laptop so I thought I'd get this one upgraded. What goes into that anyway? Do they have your computer long? Should I clean as much off of it as possible? And anybody got some sort of ballpark figure of what it might cost?

[robyrob]

upgrading a laptop is not really too extensive in most cases - they are designed so specifically to the components, that it makes it pretty much impossible to upgrade much more than your memory, hard drive, and software (unless you have a modular cd drive, or plan to add PCMCIA card upgrades).

You can probably buy the upgrade version of XP Home Edition for $75-$100, it could run you $50-$70 to get someone to install it...

Memory prices would depend on what kind of laptop you have, labor to install it shouldn't be too bad - most laptops you can change the RAM in under a minute with just a Phillips screwdriver.

Laptop hard drives are pretty reasonable, but you need to make sure that whatever you buy will be compatible with your system - you may need to do a little research to find out the LIMITS of your laptop FIRST. Installation of MOST laptop hard drives isn't too bad, but some of the lower-end models you may have to remove the keyboard or crack open the case to change, which would be better left to someone that knows what they are doing - check your manual to see if it shows how to do it.

You don't need to worry about "cleaning it off", but you SHOULD back up any files you need, and make sure that you have access to all of your driver installation files and software...

[I am Roboto]

Originally Posted by dawsongirl

I'm fed up with this OS. ME sucks. So I don't have the $$ to buy a new laptop so I thought I'd get this one upgraded. What goes into that anyway? Do they have your computer long? Should I clean as much off of it as possible? And anybody got some sort of ballpark figure of what it might cost?

Laptops are the LEAST upgradable of systems, sorry. So you will have limited upgrade options. Most of which you could probably do yourself (seriously ). Even if you have limited experience, upgrading a laptop is fairly straight forward. (ie - one space/bay for disk drive, one for memory, ect). The internal graphics system of most laptops is integrated into the system motherboard and cannot be upgraded. The CPU is also usually a pain in the butt to fool with, and it is usually better to leave it alone rather than upgrading (at least more cost-effective - save the money for a new system).

Here's what you SHOULD be able to upgrade :

RAM Memory - you want at least 512MB. More definitely won't hurt.
Hard Disk - laptop drives usually spin at 5200RPM or less, and many do not operate at a fast transfer rate. You can buy a faster drive; one that uses a newer interface such as Ultra ATA is great if your system supports it.
CD/DVD Drive - Most machines ship with some combination of a CD-Rx/DVD-xx
drive. If you have a CD drive, and want to play DVD's, many times there are DVD drives available for your model.

You can also buy a variety of PCMCIA (also referred to as PC Card & "CardBus") cards for your laptop, which plug into the laptop's expansion slot (most come with one or two) & operate as a PCI card.

Available PC Card options include-
FireWire-1394/USB2.0
WiFi/BlueTooth
10-100MPbs Ethernet/56K Combo Cards
Standalone Network/Modem Cards
ATA, SATA, & SCSI Bus Interface Cards
Various multimedia cards
Card-based Hard Disk Drives

I don't know what your laptop model is so I have no way of knowing what you would want to put in that machine (or what it would allow you to put in it).

What is the model number/manufacturer & what are the specs? BTW, what is it you want to do with the system?



BTW, Yes, ME sucks. VERY badly.

[dawsongirl]

That would be my luck, wouldn't it?

It's a Dell Inspiron 2500. I have a DVD player, so that's no problem. I guess I mainly want to change the OS. Maybe it will stop giving me errors every single day. The solitare game that came with the computer would never open anymore, so I got rid of it. I can't have more than one window open at a time on the net or it causes an error, says it's going to close, but gets stuck instead and I either have to CTRL+ALT+DEL (if I'm lucky), or shut it off altogether. I almost can't do anything with it without causing some sort of error anymore.

And more HD space would be nice. 9GB is pathetic.

[I am Roboto]

Originally Posted by dawsongirl

That would be my luck, wouldn't it?

It's a Dell Inspiron 2500. I have a DVD player, so that's no problem. I guess I mainly want to change the OS. Maybe it will stop giving me errors every single day. The solitare game that came with the computer would never open anymore, so I got rid of it. I can't have more than one window open at a time on the net or it causes an error, says it's going to close, but gets stuck instead and I either have to CTRL+ALT+DEL (if I'm lucky), or shut it off altogether. I almost can't do anything with it without causing some sort of error anymore.

And more HD space would be nice. 9GB is pathetic.

Just checked the specs of that system. Are you still running it with 64MB of RAM? You will want to upgrade before going to another O/S. That model maxes out at 256MB. Windows 2000 will run comfortably on that system. You could also trim down Windows XP to run OK as well, and believe me, both are EXTREMELY BETTER than that POS ME that shouldn't have been released.

You could try searching for a bigger hard drive. If you're lucky you could find a faster one, as well. A 25GB laptop hard drive really shouldn't be that expensive nowadays.

[dawsongirl]

Originally Posted by I am Roboto

Just checked the specs of that system. Are you still running it with 64MB of RAM? You will want to upgrade before going to another O/S. That model maxes out at 256MB. Windows 2000 will run comfortably on that system. You could also trim down Windows XP to run OK as well, and believe me, both are EXTREMELY BETTER than that POS ME that shouldn't have been released.

You could try searching for a bigger hard drive. If you're lucky you could find a faster one, as well. A 25GB laptop hard drive really shouldn't be that expensive nowadays.

Hmm...I don't know. How do I find that out? I *think* it's 128MB.

[I am Roboto]

Originally Posted by dawsongirl

Hmm...I don't know. How do I find that out? I *think* it's 128MB.

In Windows

Right-Click the "My Computer" Icon on the Desktop.
Click "Properties"
At the bottom of the new window, it should say something like

GenuineIntel(r)
Celeron(tm) w/MMX,SSE
xxxMB of RAM

^
Look for a number in front of the MB. That is how much memory you have.

[SBTB Geek]

Am I the only one who is getting a really stronge urge to make a move to Mac? I'm tired of Windows.

[robyrob]

Originally Posted by SBTB Geek

Am I the only one who is getting a really stronge urge to make a move to Mac? I'm tired of Windows.

or Linux?

http://www.knoppix.org/

(free version that runs off bootable cd - you don't have to install or change ANYTHING on your hard drive to run it, even comes with free office suite, graphics editors, music and video software...)

[I am Roboto]

Originally Posted by robyrob

or Linux?

http://www.knoppix.org/

(free version that runs off bootable cd - you don't have to install or change ANYTHING on your hard drive to run it, even comes with free office suite, graphics editors, music and video software...)

I kinda like eComstation. Tried it yet? It's based on the OS/2 core. Brings back fond memories of DOS with its fully 32-bit text mode.

http://www.ecomstation.com/
http://www.ibm.com/os2