Laptop/notebook question...

[ialsohaveadream]

If I buy an older laptop (say a P-2, for example), how difficult is it to updgrade the processor? Would I have to buy an entirely new motherboard? If so, how hard is that to install?

I've done work on my desktop before, including hard drive installation, TV card, CD burners, RAM, etc. I've never worked on a notebook, though, and I'm hesitant to buy one because I imagine it's harder to upgrade.

[Jeffbx]

The big difference between notebooks & desktops is that notebooks are so proprietary, upgrades are usually not possible. Even within the same manufacturer & notebook line (i.e., IBM Thinkpads) there are so many different configs & form factors that the parts aren't even interchangable.

So the bottome line is that you can upgrade the RAM & usually the hard drive in a laptop, but that's about it.

[Joshua]

Originally posted by chosenfool
yeah, just get a notebook with the speed you want. from there other upgrades are easy.
i have one of those old IBM laptops and yep, the processor is not easy, actually near impossible to upgrade. thats fine for me since i wont be doing anything CPU-intensive. I DID max out teh RAM to 576MB and got a bigger FASTER hard drive, so its actually runs decent now.
i just dont expect it to rip DVDs or play 3D games, or even play any high bitrate media files. all i use it is for internet and basic word processing.

I have an old Sony Vaio with a Transmeta Crusoe processor. It runs similar to a fast Celery proc. Did you find that the hard drive upgrade gave you a noticeable speed bump, Chosen?

[elmalloc]

transmeta is a very slow processor unfortunately I don't know if much will help it...