tech/computer wizards

[turbojolt]

recently i bought a laptop from my sister gave her 80 quid for it becuase im nice, its a dell latitude d600 and isnt great tbh, it seems really slow and laggy so i deleted all usless crap on it and it made no real noticble diffrence :roll:

so im thinking about upgrading it, there is a video on youtube that showed me just how easy exhanging the cpu is, but i dont know what one to buy?


im not intrested in buying a diffrent computer would rather mess about with this one for a bit of fun, i dont want to spend over what i bought the laptop for making it better so there is a max 80 quid budget


also i want to play games on it so is it even possible to upgrade the graphics card/s :confused:


any help would be great :thumb:

[paul james]

Sounds like thats a really old laptop, unless google has misguided me. I wouldn't expect to be playing any 3D games made in the last 5 years or more on it. What version of windows is it running? how much RAM has it got? if its only got 256MB of memory for instance, then that will slow it down to a crawl as soon as you try and do anything. There will be a limit to how much you can upgrade the CPU, as the system will only accept a certain type, chances are you won't notice much if any difference from the fastest one you can put in there. A RAM upgrade and fresh install of windows (or some variety of linux if you feel like experimenting) is probably the best you can do for it.

[CorsaBBoomer]

Next page is from Dell support with specs:

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/latd600/en/ug/specs.htm

You can upgrade the memory but I doubt you will still find either a compatible CPU or memory for it.
Graphics card should be onboard so no option on that...

We have eliminated our D630's more then 5 years ago so I don't think it's gonna give you much fun when playing games

[turbojolt]

gaming isnt a big want as i have a xbox would have been nice, but never mind


so is it not worth buying a better cpu ive seen them for 10 quid so thourght it would be worth a punt

[turbojolt]

its running windows xp right now

[brainsnova]

At least get vista lol

[turbojolt]

would the computer be able to support windows 7

[paul james]

Nothing wrong with XP, I still use it and Microsoft still makes updates for it, and its less demanding on hardware than later versions. You'll be lucky to notice any difference with a CPU change, as most software won't run any better, so its generally wasted money. Right click on the My Computer icon, choose properties, then see how much RAM it has, anything under 512mb isn't really going to be enough.

[turbojolt]

it says 512 mb of ram, what is ram anyway?

[paul james]

Random Access Memory, simply put where your computers CPU does all its workings out :)
Every bit of software like web browsers and even Windows itself uses up a portion of RAM to operate, so the more you have the better. Once the RAM starts getting filled up, when you have lots of software running, then Windows uses the hard drive as virtual RAM, which is much slower. You can tell when this is happening as the hard drive light will be flashing like mad and the computer slows down a lot.

If you press Ctrl Alt and Delete at the same time, then click on performance, you can see how much of the RAM is currently being used. Even when you've just booted up the laptop you'll find Windows has used up a big chunk of RAM, before you've even done anything.

[turbojolt]

this is annoying me now, im trying to restore the laptop to its factroy settings to see if it makes much diffrence, but this whole push CTRL & F11 on start up crap isnt working at all and i dont have the orginal setup disc so what should i do?

[turbojolt]

reading up on these ssd drives looks like it would cost me about 50 quid to get one set up on the laptop, anyone ever done one of these kinda conversions

would be great to have loads more space so i can download shed loads of emulators and roms with out it effecting the laptop to much

[Mazz]

this is annoying me now, im trying to restore the laptop to its factroy settings to see if it makes much diffrence, but this whole push CTRL & F11 on start up crap isnt working at all and i dont have the orginal setup disc so what should i do?

What ever you do don't go on thepiratebay and download a updated copy of XP ;) Failing that PM me your address and I send you a copy! If your laptop is quite old, don't even bother with Vista, 7 or 8. Nothing wrong with XP..


reading up on these ssd drives looks like it would cost me about 50 quid to get one set up on the laptop, anyone ever done one of these kinda conversions

would be great to have loads more space so i can download shed loads of emulators and roms with out it effecting the laptop to much

SSD drives are great but why do you need one specifically? If your going to re-install XP, why not just chuck a bigger normal IDE (I assume) drive in? SSD's imo, are too new yet and so are still quite expensive for a relatively small capacity.

TBH, your best bet might be sticking a copy Linux Mint or Zorin on it, being old'ish - both a completely free to download and are geared towards people moving from a Windows based OS

http://www.linuxmint.com/download.php

http://zorin-os.com/free.html

[turbojolt]

i havent already got a torrent of the newist xp downloading :)


ive been doing more reading and i can get a straight forward swap harddrive for 30 odd quid, to bring it up from 20gb to 120gb so might just do that rather then mess about with the ssd's

also been reading up on upgrading the ram from 512mb, i can get it upto 1gb for around £20, the laptop can take upto 2gb but that will cost £40+ so im not sure if its worth the extra cash :confused:

[turbojolt]

p.s from what ive read vista would have been to much for this laptop to run as it is, so im glad i stoped and deleted that torrent, i mean didnt even start downloading it because thats naughty

[Southie]

Buy a Apple Mac product and enjoy IMO ;) worth the money and less agro of virus shÃ*t.

[turbojolt]

Buy a Apple Mac product and enjoy IMO ;) worth the money and less agro of virus shÃ*t.


never used mac, but by all accounts they produce a very well finished product, if i ever buy a brandnew laptop i would go mac but for now im going to give this laptop the nova treatment


nova treatment= spending loads of money on a old peice of **** in the vain hope it will be better then when you started

[Jack]

What ever you do don't go on thepiratebay and download a updated copy of XP ;)
Agreed. Microsoft will give it to you for free.

The serial number though... you'll have to pay for that lol

Anyway, just put linux on. Much better :d

[turbojolt]

im dowloading linux as we speak the windows torrent i didnt dowload was rubbish


after more reading im now getting x2 1gb ram sticks & a caddy to replace the cd drive so i can run a 500gb sata harddrive

that lot will max out my budget so will have to do lol

[turbojolt]

can anyone recommend a good make of hard drives?

[Mazz]

tbh, most are fine - seagate, toshiba, western digital, samsung etc

[Jack]

Never had a WD drive fail on me, in fact I still have all the hard drives I've ever used on my desk next to me (hoarder lol) - the only non-WD drive is a seagate one and thats the only one that went U/S lol

[Jon_nova1]

western digital are by far the best and have been for quite a long time, i've also found Seagate to be a more respectable budget brand.

Whoever said ssd are too new they've been around for about 5 years, back then it would cost £400 for a 60GB drive, they have been getting quite affordable for about a year considering what they're capable of.

[Mazz]

Which is?

If your a normal user, then I doubt you'll see any noticeable difference between a good quality SATA and an SSD, imo. In TJ's case, its sounds like his laptop is as old as him, so completely pointless him getting an SSD!

[turbojolt]

cant beleive it my older brother was given 10 1tb harddrives and he sold them all before i found out :(


im not getting a ssd as for the price of a 120gb one i can get a 700+gb normal hard drive

[turbojolt]

if i was to buy a laptop to upgrade to something special (16+gb ram 1tb harddrive 4ghz etc..) what would be the best laptop to buy?


ive heared of people buying all the parts and making up there own custom towers, is it common place for people to build there own laptops aswell?

[mowgli]

ffs, you open some beans & have a trip to a&e.....if you try to make a computer, the planes will be dropping out of the sky at east mids.......lol

[Jack]

Building a computer is pretty straightforward tbh. A laptop is slightly more complex - you need to get all the right components to fit in the right chassis. You can only upgrade older kit to a certain point, so if you're after something all singing and dancing (in laptop form) you'll need to spend out on some modern kit.

[turbojolt]

ffs, you open some beans & have a trip to a&e.....if you try to make a computer, the planes will be dropping out of the sky at east mids.......lol

they call be osam bin irwin lol


its just one of them things, the more i read in to it the more intresting it gets, the more you want to do etc... bit like cars really lol

[mowgli]

they call be osam bin irwin lol


its just one of them things, the more i read in to it the more intresting it gets, the more you want to do etc... bit like cars really lol

or w&nk mags

[Pete]

Leigh you working yet? if so honestly get yourself a mac, i treated myself to one with a tax rebate i got and wouldnt look at another windows computer again.

There a lot of money outright but you can finance a apple product, ive just had a look and its like 16-17% APR over 2 years, works out to about £50'ish quid...

[turbojolt]

yer mate been back at work for a while now, what makes mac so much better?

funds are limited right now tbh got to pay work back 1200 quid and have to find 1500 before February for my solicitors as well, so no new computers will be bought just yet lol

[turbojolt]

its payday so ive bought x2 1gb ram sticks, im looking at a 160gb ide hardrive on ebay right now



also bought a 1.8ghz cpu to replace the 1.4ghz on in the computer right now, wasnt going to bother but won it for 90p, turns out its the wrong one anyways so will have to sell it on lol

[Mazz]

:confused:

2 x 1gb ram for what? That laptop or a desktop?

[turbojolt]

for the laptop its the max it can take, 2 1gb ram sticks

[turbojolt]

just put the 2gb of ram on this and i cant tell the diffrence, 20 quid well spent lol

[Prey]

honestly mate you're completely wasting your time - listen to what people are telling you - NO POINT WHATSOEVER even trying to upgrade something like that, it will still be absolutely shocking compared to even the cheapest (250 quid) new laptop.

[Mazz]

Unfortunately true...did you ever reinstall windose? imo, a clean install will be more noticeable performance wise than just shoveling more ram in!

[Southie]

Buy a Apple Mac product and enjoy IMO ;) worth the money and less agro of virus shÃ*t.

^ this is what I suggested lol

[turbojolt]

Unfortunately true...did you ever reinstall windose? imo, a clean install will be more noticeable performance wise than just shoveling more ram in!

nah i downloaded it was to large to be stored on my tiny 20gb hdd lol, plus the linux mint thing wouldnt fully download so i gave up :roll:

[mowgli]

have you simply cleaned all the crap out of it???

there is one where you alter the display options & it speeds them up like hell.. i'm getting bombarded with tracking cookies & other rubbish at the moment & they always slow things down a heap

[turbojolt]

have you simply cleaned all the crap out of it???

there is one where you alter the display options & it speeds them up like hell.. i'm getting bombarded with tracking cookies & other rubbish at the moment & they always slow things down a heap

yer got rid of loads of crap like old games and other rubbish she had saved on it and it helped a bit but still not brilliant

[mowgli]

start>all programs>accessories>disc cleanup is a good one, if you haven't already done it..

or select accessibility in control panel & wipe out the disabled options you don't need.

do a CTRL ALT DEL & check the processes working on it to see if a nasty is there

[turbojolt]

bumping this as i finally got a new hard drive for it, so its now running the original 20gb HD and a extra 120 GB sata HD, just moving all of the crap from the original HD to the new one so it only has to deal with booting up the computer and running all the operating programs


already feels better seems to load and start programs faster, not to forget i now have enough room to finally download the Linux mint software for it so it should really start to get going, so this upgrade appears to be worth while, not like the ram upgrade lol