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Chat Area => General Discussion Area => Topic started by: Mr Skrunts on 09 August 2010, 12:48:57

Title: Laptop Upgrade time
Post by: Mr Skrunts on 09 August 2010, 12:48:57
Inspiron 1720

32 bit Home Premium

Only has a 120GB hard drive and 2 GB ram.

So not sure whether to upgrade the ram (not sure whay it will take at this point)

Or fit a bigger hard drive.  Been looking on ebuyer and it seems I can 32mb cache but they run at 7200rpm

http://www.ebuyer.com/search?sq=32mb&store=2&cat=392&subcat=3263&sort=pricelow&limit=10&page=1&subsearch=Go

Saying that the 16mb cache drives also tun at 7200rpm.

500gb seagate coming in arround £65

http://www.ebuyer.com/search?sq=16mb+cache&store=2&cat=392&subcat=3263&sort=pricelow&limit=50&page=1&subsearch=Go

In time the laptop will run 64bit windows 7


So upgrade for now,

Ram or Hard drive.

How much faster will Vista load with 32mb of hard drive cache over 8mb of cache.

Or will it load faster with more system ram.
Title: Re: Laptop Upgrade time
Post by: TheBoy on 09 August 2010, 13:08:32
Unless you really need the extra RAM, 2Gb is usually more than enough for Win7 and general use...
Title: Re: Laptop Upgrade time
Post by: cem_devecioglu on 09 August 2010, 14:40:26
if I'm not wrong 10 or 15K drives are not available for lappies.. 7200 is the fastest option available..

however worth checking these SSD disks .. if they are available for lappies..  :-[

they are available ;D

http://www.gadgetvenue.com/dell-laptops-with-ssd-04243151/
Title: Re: Laptop Upgrade time
Post by: Mr Skrunts on 09 August 2010, 15:34:46
They are available, but not cheap therefore no value for money for me to invest in one.

I allready have a 64gb SSD but it has no cache .

http://www.ebuyer.com/search?page=1&store=2&cat=385&subcat=3209

http://www.ebuyer.com/search?limit=50&store=2&cat=385&sort=pricelow&page=1
Title: Re: Laptop Upgrade time
Post by: johny5 on 09 August 2010, 16:30:09
The 1720 is upgradeable to 4gig memory. Mines got 3 in at the mo and runs plenty quick enough on windows 7. Also regarding the hard drive, dunno if u noticed but if u look underneath there is a space for a 2nd drive, it was an upgrade i was thinkin of doing so as you dont have to completely wipe the 1st drive. Not many laptops have this! this is one thing i like about it. :D
Title: Re: Laptop Upgrade time
Post by: Plomien on 09 August 2010, 17:21:58
32 bit operating system won't use more than 3 gig any way.
Just get an external HDD for your storage :y
Title: Re: Laptop Upgrade time
Post by: johny5 on 09 August 2010, 17:23:00
You dont need an external drive for this laptop mate, theres space for 2 built in!
Title: Re: Laptop Upgrade time
Post by: Plomien on 09 August 2010, 17:24:17
Fair enough then just stick a second HDD in
Title: Re: Laptop Upgrade time
Post by: Mr Skrunts on 09 August 2010, 17:59:04
Quote
The 1720 is upgradeable to 4gig memory. Mines got 3 in at the mo and runs plenty quick enough on windows 7. Also regarding the hard drive, dunno if u noticed but if u look underneath there is a space for a 2nd drive, it was an upgrade i was thinkin of doing so as you dont have to completely wipe the 1st drive. Not many laptops have this! this is one thing i like about it. :D

Am lazy, how many memory slots have we got, am assuming my 2gb is 2 x 1gb sticks

Looked into the 2nd hard drive option before i started this thread, £35 from EBay
Title: Re: Laptop Upgrade time
Post by: johny5 on 09 August 2010, 18:05:54
yeah u will have 2 slots of 1 gig each, i replaced a 1 gig with a 2 gig stick.

You can buy the caddys cheap on ebay if u can find sum1 breaking one that isnt a shop! but yeah ur prob lookin around £30 for the 2nd HDD option, at least with it built in u dont have extra wires and its quicker accessing data etc..
Title: Re: Laptop Upgrade time
Post by: johny5 on 09 August 2010, 18:11:00
by the way, 1 slot is in the back panel, and 1 is under the keyboard, bit of a pain in the ar$e.
Title: Re: Laptop Upgrade time
Post by: Mr Skrunts on 09 August 2010, 18:13:14
Quote
by the way, 1 slot is in the back panel, and 1 is under the keyboard, bit of a pain in the ar$e.

Great fun.   :-/
Title: Re: Laptop Upgrade time
Post by: johny5 on 09 August 2010, 18:15:09
Yeah but to be fair, its not that hard to get to, plus we have the added bonus that our keyboard dosent have a ribbon cable to break! it slots in like a card!
Title: Re: Laptop Upgrade time
Post by: Mr Skrunts on 09 August 2010, 18:17:50
Quote
Yeah but to be fair, its not that hard to get to, plus we have the added bonus that our keyboard dosent have a ribbon cable to break! it slots in like a card!

Ribbon cables, knew there was a reason I stayed away from laptop repairs.
Title: Re: Laptop Upgrade time
Post by: johny5 on 09 August 2010, 18:27:12
Do u find yours gets hot? When im playin a game or watchin videos it gets so hot underneath  >:(
Title: Re: Laptop Upgrade time
Post by: Mr Skrunts on 09 August 2010, 18:57:42
Quote
Do u find yours gets hot? When im playin a game or watchin videos it gets so hot underneath  >:(

Yes, but thats the same as all the other laptops I have.
Title: Re: Laptop Upgrade time
Post by: johny5 on 09 August 2010, 19:09:15
When i say hot, i mean unbearable to touch for longer then 5 seconds.
Title: Re: Laptop Upgrade time
Post by: Mr Skrunts on 09 August 2010, 19:10:44
Quote
When i say hot, i mean unbearable to touch for longer then 5 seconds.


Mines not that hot, check your cooling for dust.
Title: Re: Laptop Upgrade time
Post by: johny5 on 09 August 2010, 19:12:21
cant do that wivout taking it all apart im afraid!  :y
Title: Re: Laptop Upgrade time
Post by: Mr Skrunts on 09 August 2010, 19:13:19
I have a 3 fan cooler tray for one of my older laptops, bit noisy but worth considering.

http://shop.ebay.co.uk/i.html?_nkw=laptop+cooler+tray&_sacat=0&_sop=15&_dmpt=UK_Computing_LaptopAccess_RL&_odkw=laptop+cooler&_osacat=0&bkBtn=&_trksid=p3286.m270.l1313
Title: Re: Laptop Upgrade time
Post by: johny5 on 09 August 2010, 19:14:28
Yea i was thinkin of gettin one of those, need to do something my legs end up gettin so hot lol.
Title: Re: Laptop Upgrade time
Post by: eddie on 09 August 2010, 19:44:29
Do you particularly need 64 bit?
Threre are problems with Flash (youtube and the like) and Windows Security Essentials on 64 bit sytems.
It also wastes more space on the hard drive i believe.

eddie
Title: Re: Laptop Upgrade time
Post by: Mr Skrunts on 09 August 2010, 19:47:46
Quote
Do you particularly need 64 bit?
Threre are problems with Flash (youtube and the like) and Windows Security Essentials on 64 bit sytems.
It also wastes more space on the hard drive i believe.

eddie

I dont know, do I need 64Bit.

I have never actually used a 64 Bit OS, so am in the dark on this one.
Title: Re: Laptop Upgrade time
Post by: TheBoy on 09 August 2010, 21:24:50
Quote
yeah u will have 2 slots of 1 gig each, i replaced a 1 gig with a 2 gig stick.
And disabled the dual channel memory controller no doubt (assuming it has one ;)